Charge moving on from 4OT loss to Victoire as PWHL playoff hockey makes Ottawa debut
OTTAWA - With a quadruple-overtime loss in Montreal behind them, the Ottawa Charge are focused on responding Tuesday night when they host a Professional Women's Hockey League playoff game for the first time.
The Charge returned home with their best-of-five semifinal series against Montreal tied 1—1 after a gruelling Game 2 that lasted over 140 minutes — the longest game in PWHL history — with the Victoire winning 3-2 on a goal from Catherine Dubois.
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CBC
12 hours ago
- CBC
'An honour': Inside the PWHL's expansion draft with the 1st overall pick
Ashton Bell was anxious all day on Monday as she waited to learn her fate. Just two weeks ago, the 25-year-old defender was battling for the Walter Cup with the Ottawa Charge. She'd carved out a role on the team's top defensive pairing alongside veteran Jocelyne Larocque, and blocked more shots than any other player during the playoffs. But on Monday, she didn't know if she'd be returning to Ottawa or heading west to play for Seattle or Vancouver. She had been left unprotected by the Charge ahead of the PWHL's first expansion draft. She knew Vancouver had interest, after speaking with GM Cara Gardner Morey during an exclusive signing window prior to the draft. But exactly how things would play out was remained a mystery. "I didn't really know what to expect," Bell said in an interview with CBC Sports. "I knew that there was the possibility that I could get picked up by either team. When Vancouver got the first pick, I was just kind of like everyone else, sitting at home, just waiting to hear my name called." She didn't have to wait long. After winning a lottery, Gardner Morey had to choose between keeping the first pick or making the second and third picks instead. She opted to make the first pick, and used it to select Bell. "It was definitely very exciting for me and just such an honour," the player from Deloraine, Man. said about being chosen first. The PWHL's expansion process has triggered a reset across the league, with every team's roster shaken up and left with holes. Ottawa lost two key defenders back to back in Bell and Aneta Tejralová, who was selected by Seattle with the second pick. Players who were taken in the expansion draft now need to plan a move to the west coast. Bell has family in Vancouver, which will make her transition easier. Many already want to buy season tickets. She's also joining a team built strong from the net out by Gardner Morey, who coached Bell with the Canadian Under-18 team several years ago. "She is just the exact person you want on your team," Gardner Morey said. "Not only is she extremely talented on the back end — she's played both offence and defence in her career — but she's also one of those great teammates and great human beings that's just always showing gratitude and doing things the right way. Her work ethic is outstanding and, to me, that's the exact type of player we wanted to bring in." A strong defensive core Bell's teammates on the blue line will include Defender of the Year nominees Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques, who both just won the Walter Cup with the Minnesota Frost. Both signed with Vancouver before the expansion draft. Thompson and Bell won an Olympic gold medal together in 2022. Did the PWHL expansion draft go too far? 23 hours ago Duration 1:18 "Those two are unbelievable and showed that this season with Minnesota and brought home the Walter Cup," Bell said. "I've played alongside them with the national team and know them as people as well. They're just incredible players, and I'm so excited to get to share the blue line with them." Vancouver also drafted promising rookie defender Sydney Bard from the Boston Fleet, a player who Boston GM Danielle Marmer described as only showing a glimpse of what she can do in her one and only season in Boston. "I think you're going to see a lot of interchangeable positions where you might not know who's forward and who's the [defence] on the ice at certain times," Gardner Morey said. Change afoot When the expansion rules were announced during the playoffs, eyebrows went up across the league. Teams could only protect three players to start, with a fourth to be added after a team surrendered two players to expansion. It meant every team was going to have to give up good players. In Ottawa, Bell and her teammates had to focus on the playoffs. But in the back of their minds, they knew their team would look different next season. "There were lots of kind of rumbles in the locker room every now and then, just us trying to figure out all the rules and logistics of it all, and just bouncing questions off each other and what it could possibly look like," Bell said. After the Charge fell short to the Frost in four games, hard decisions had to be made. Ottawa Charge GM Mike Hirshfeld opted to protect forward Emily Clark, goaltender Gwyneth Philips and defender Ronja Savolainen to start. Hirshfeld said Savolainen's size and speed were factors in choosing to protect her. "It was her first year in this league, and we felt like she played incredibly well as she was adjusting to the league," he said. "We think at her age, her best days are ahead of her now that she's acclimatized to the PWHL for a year." After losing Maschmeyer to Vancouver and forward Danielle Serdachny to Seattle, Hirshfeld used his final protection slot on forward Gabbie Hughes. The tough-to-play against centre was part of Ottawa's best line in the playoffs between Clark and rookie Mannon McMahon. But it meant going into the expansion draft with three top defenders — Bell, Larocque and Tejralová — all at risk. Only one was left on Ottawa's roster when the dust settled. "I think incredibly highly of Ashton," Hirshfeld said. "I think Bellsy's been great for us for two years. I can't say enough about how she performed in the playoffs this year. She was on the top line with Jocelyne Larocque and I think they did an incredible job. But again, we made a decision. It's a very difficult decision." A new beginning Bell sympathized with the challenge GMs faced in the expansion process. With a pre-signing window and the draft, there were so many variables that were hard to predict. "Gabbie Hughes [is] an amazing hockey player, one of our best centres, so that was kind of a no-brainer for them," she said. "I respect their decisions, and obviously Clarky, Gwyn and Ronja, too. Just amazing people and incredible players as well, so I'm super happy for them that they get to stay in Ottawa and continue to build that franchise." WATCH | Vancouver Griffins were the city's 1st women's pro hockey team: Long before PWHL expansion, the Vancouver Griffins were the city's 1st women's pro hockey team 2 days ago Duration 2:12 Vancouver Griffins owner Diane Nelson reflects on starting Vancouver's first pro women's hockey team and the challenges that came with it. A day after the draft, Bell was still processing the reality that she will be leaving her teammates and the fans in Ottawa. But she also looks forward to being a part of what Gardner Morey is building in Vancouver. "Leaving them behind is obviously sad," she said. "I'm still kind of processing all of that. But just the excitement of starting and being a part of a new franchise out west and being able to grow women's hockey out there is really exciting for me."
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
Women's hockey on the rise in Pacific Northwest, with young girls excited about PWHL's arrival
SEATTLE (AP) — Elly Garcia-Dudek can't help but gaze out toward the ice during hockey practices at the Kraken Community Iceplex. The 12-year-old Garcia-Dudek is a big fan of women's national team stars like Hilary Knight, who starred for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League last season. Pretty soon, Garcia-Dudek — who started playing through the Seattle Kraken's Learn to Play program — won't have to look across the country for role models like Knight.
National Post
a day ago
- National Post
The work is just beginning for the Toronto Sceptres
Any advantage the Toronto Sceptres enjoyed in having just one of its established veterans taken in the expansion draft is going to be a short-lived one. Article content All six existing clubs gave up four players in the expansion draft process that stocked each of PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle with their first 12 players. Article content Article content Toronto lost one of its first building blocks in the process with Sarah Nurse signing with Vancouver during the exclusive signing window both expansion clubs had in the five days priors to the actual draft. Article content Article content But on draft night all three of the Sceptres names called were coming off their rookie seasons. Julia Gosling, Izzy Daniel and defender Megan Carter were Toronto's first, second, and third round picks a year ago at the entry draft. Article content Because of their lack of tenure in the league, all three were also on entry level deals which becomes a problem for GM Gina Kingsbury beginning Monday when she goes looking to fill their spots with the opening of free agency. Article content 'It's difficult to lose all four of those athletes,' Kingsbury said Tuesday. 'They bring a tremendous amount of value to our organization and to our team. Three of those four came in just last season so more of an entry-level salary which doesn't free up a whole lot of room for us in this (upcoming signing period). Article content 'However obviously Sarah did carry a little bit of salary where we will have some space there, but it's definitely all different factors that come into play during this period of time and definitely something we are going to have to navigate in the next couple of weeks and ensure we can re-sign some of our key players.' Article content First on Kingsbury's list though is her own free agents and bringing as many of those back into the fold as possible. That list includes Natalie Spooner, Hannah Miller, Jesse Compher, Kali Flanagan, Hayley Scamurra and Maggie Connors and that's just the beginning of the list. It's actually 11 deep and while the goal is to bring them all back, again the economics of the situation likely won't support that. Article content You have the money they earned in their final years of the contract coming off the books but signing them for the same or less doesn't seem likely. Yes the salary cap increases to $1.34 million this year, an annual 3% bump as per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but that won't offset the raises some of these free agents negotiate. Article content 'I do think we have a chance at re-signing them, from what they are telling me, where Toronto has been home for them,' Kingsbury said. 'They love our market. They love our fans. They love the city and enjoyed our staff and entire organization. So, I do think the familiarity of our market and how we have been operating over the last two years will definitely be a factor as well. We will try to be as competitive with the salaries as we possibly can and hopefully retain as many of those great athletes as we can here in the next couple of weeks.'
