Latest news with #ShiannDarkangelo
Calgary Herald
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
How can the Ottawa Charge safeguard its PWHL future?
Article content Served alongside the Ottawa Charge's PWHL finals defeat was a bitter side dish: that their current collection of players will not have the privilege of running it back next year. Article content Following an exclusive free-agent signing window from June 4 to 8, each of the PWHL's original six franchises will lose four players to the league's two new franchises in Seattle and Vancouver on June 9. That's before league-wide free agency opens, when teams will be gutted even further. Article content Article content Teams will be afforded just three slots with which they can protect players, with an additional player being eligible for protection once two players have been lost by either the signing window or the draft. Article content Article content While it may seem like Ottawa has little control over the coming roster upheaval, the three players the Charge puts down on its protection list next Tuesday will significantly influence the direction of the franchise — and its timeline for a return to the PWHL finals in a parity-driven league. Article content Ottawa faces the challenge of identifying the select few players it can truly build a perennial championship contender around, and sentimentality can't factor into that equation. Article content Fortunately for the Charge, general manager Mike Hirshfeld has shown he's not afraid to make tough calls. Over the past two seasons, he's demonstrated a willingness to make bold, even unpopular, roster moves in pursuit of a stronger competitive edge. Article content Article content In March 2024, he acquired forward Shiann Darkangelo from the Boston Fleet, parting with fan favourite Lexie Adzija. Despite posting just a single assist with Boston, Darkangelo became a top-six fixture for Ottawa this season, finishing third in team scoring with 17 points. Meanwhile, Adzija scored just six points for the Fleet. Article content Article content Another tidy piece of business was swapping depth defender Amanda Boulier for the Montreal Victoire's Tereza Vanišová on the same day. Vanišová blossomed into the Charge's top goal scorer this season, with only Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight lighting the lamp more across the PWHL. Article content Hirshfeld's most criticized move came this season, when he shipped out defender Savannah Harmon, the team's first-ever draft selection, for the league's oldest player in Jocelyne Larocque. All she did was regain her elite shutdown form alongside Ashton Bell, anchoring a defence-first approach en route to the PWHL finals.
Ottawa Citizen
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
How can the Ottawa Charge safeguard its PWHL future?
Served alongside the Ottawa Charge's PWHL finals defeat was a bitter side dish: that their current collection of players will not have the privilege of running it back next year. Article content Following an exclusive free-agent signing window from June 4 to 8, each of the PWHL's original six franchises will lose four players to the league's two new franchises in Seattle and Vancouver on June 9. That's before league-wide free agency opens, when teams will be gutted even further. Article content Teams will be afforded just three slots with which they can protect players, with an additional player being eligible for protection once two players have been lost by either the signing window or the draft. Article content Article content While it may seem like Ottawa has little control over the coming roster upheaval, the three players the Charge puts down on its protection list next Tuesday will significantly influence the direction of the franchise — and its timeline for a return to the PWHL finals in a parity-driven league. Article content Ottawa faces the challenge of identifying the select few players it can truly build a perennial championship contender around, and sentimentality can't factor into that equation. Article content Fortunately for the Charge, general manager Mike Hirshfeld has shown he's not afraid to make tough calls. Over the past two seasons, he's demonstrated a willingness to make bold, even unpopular, roster moves in pursuit of a stronger competitive edge. Article content Article content In March 2024, he acquired forward Shiann Darkangelo from the Boston Fleet, parting with fan favourite Lexie Adzija. Despite posting just a single assist with Boston, Darkangelo became a top-six fixture for Ottawa this season, finishing third in team scoring with 17 points. Meanwhile, Adzija scored just six points for the Fleet. Article content Article content Another tidy piece of business was swapping depth defender Amanda Boulier for the Montreal Victoire's Tereza Vanišová on the same day. Vanišová blossomed into the Charge's top goal scorer this season, with only Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight lighting the lamp more across the PWHL. Article content Hirshfeld's most criticized move came this season, when he shipped out defender Savannah Harmon, the team's first-ever draft selection, for the league's oldest player in Jocelyne Larocque. All she did was regain her elite shutdown form alongside Ashton Bell, anchoring a defence-first approach en route to the PWHL finals.
Calgary Herald
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
Facing a franchise-defining week, Ottawa Charge can safeguard its future
Served alongside the Ottawa Charge's PWHL finals defeat was a bitter side dish: that their current collection of players will not have the privilege of running it back next year. Article content Following an exclusive free-agent signing window from June 4 to 8, each of the PWHL's original six franchises will lose four players to the league's two new franchises in Seattle and Vancouver on June 9. That's before league-wide free agency opens, when teams will be gutted even further. Article content Article content Teams will be afforded just three slots with which they can protect players, with an additional player being eligible for protection once two players have been lost by either the signing window or the draft. Article content Article content While it may seem like Ottawa has little control over the coming roster upheaval, the three players the Charge puts down on its protection list next Tuesday will significantly influence the direction of the franchise — and its timeline for a return to the PWHL finals in a parity-driven league. Article content Ottawa faces the challenge of identifying the select few players it can truly build a perennial championship contender around, and sentimentality can't factor into that equation. Article content Fortunately for the Charge, general manager Mike Hirshfeld has shown he's not afraid to make tough calls. Over the past two seasons, he's demonstrated a willingness to make bold, even unpopular, roster moves in pursuit of a stronger competitive edge. Article content Article content In March 2024, he acquired forward Shiann Darkangelo from the Boston Fleet, parting with fan favourite Lexie Adzija. Despite posting just a single assist with Boston, Darkangelo became a top-six fixture for Ottawa this season, finishing third in team scoring with 17 points. Meanwhile, Adzija scored just six points for the Fleet. Article content Article content Another tidy piece of business was swapping depth defender Amanda Boulier for the Montreal Victoire's Tereza Vanišová on the same day. Vanišová blossomed into the Charge's top goal scorer this season, with only Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight lighting the lamp more across the PWHL. Article content Hirshfeld's most criticized move came this season, when he shipped out defender Savannah Harmon, the team's first-ever draft selection, for the league's oldest player in Jocelyne Larocque. All she did was regain her elite shutdown form alongside Ashton Bell, anchoring a defence-first approach en route to the PWHL finals.
Ottawa Citizen
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Facing a franchise-defining week, Ottawa Charge can safeguard its future
Article content Served alongside the Ottawa Charge's PWHL finals defeat was a bitter side dish: that their current collection of players will not have the privilege of running it back next year. Article content Following an exclusive free-agent signing window from June 4 to 8, each of the PWHL's original six franchises will lose four players to the league's two new franchises in Seattle and Vancouver on June 9. That's before league-wide free agency opens, when teams will be gutted even further. Article content Article content Teams will be afforded just three slots with which they can protect players, with an additional player being eligible for protection once two players have been lost by either the signing window or the draft. Article content Article content While it may seem like Ottawa has little control over the coming roster upheaval, the three players the Charge puts down on its protection list next Tuesday will significantly influence the direction of the franchise — and its timeline for a return to the PWHL finals in a parity-driven league. Article content Ottawa faces the challenge of identifying the select few players it can truly build a perennial championship contender around, and sentimentality can't factor into that equation. Article content Fortunately for the Charge, general manager Mike Hirshfeld has shown he's not afraid to make tough calls. Over the past two seasons, he's demonstrated a willingness to make bold, even unpopular, roster moves in pursuit of a stronger competitive edge. Article content Article content In March 2024, he acquired forward Shiann Darkangelo from the Boston Fleet, parting with fan favourite Lexie Adzija. Despite posting just a single assist with Boston, Darkangelo became a top-six fixture for Ottawa this season, finishing third in team scoring with 17 points. Meanwhile, Adzija scored just six points for the Fleet. Article content Article content Another tidy piece of business was swapping depth defender Amanda Boulier for the Montreal Victoire's Tereza Vanišová on the same day. Vanišová blossomed into the Charge's top goal scorer this season, with only Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight lighting the lamp more across the PWHL. Article content Hirshfeld's most criticized move came this season, when he shipped out defender Savannah Harmon, the team's first-ever draft selection, for the league's oldest player in Jocelyne Larocque. All she did was regain her elite shutdown form alongside Ashton Bell, anchoring a defence-first approach en route to the PWHL finals.
National Post
17-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Ottawa Charge salvaged its PWHL season when it was divided
A month before thousands of fans at TD Place ushered the Montreal Victoire into an early offseason with haunting chants of 'You Chose Us,' any PWHL team would have picked the Ottawa Charge as a first-round playoff opponent. Article content Article content Before the first week of April, the Charge was as inconsistent as Toronto Blue Jays bats. Article content With a record of 10-1-4-11 (wins, OT wins, OT losses, regulation-time losses) that included the wild swing of an 8-3 victory and 5-0 loss against the Minnesota Frost, Ottawa was in serious danger of missing the postseason tournament for the second straight year. Article content Article content Then came back-to-back victories leading into a women's world hockey championship that seemed to be coming at a bad time. Article content As it turned out, it did not. Article content It was the three-week interruption of the PWHL schedule — when half the team's players were in Czechia to represent their countries and the other half held short-staffed practices at TD Place — that is being remembered as the turning point. Article content With veterans like Shiann Darkangelo and Rebecca Leslie leading the way, those who stayed home treated the 'break' like a training camp and worked harder than ever while vowing to salvage the season. Article content When the global tournament was over, the group reunited and league action resumed, the Charge made a strong push to qualify for the playoffs by winning two of its last three games. Article content That determination was never more evident than in the first round against Montreal, when Ottawa directed the Victoire to an early exit by taking the best-of-five in four games. Article content 'Those three weeks were long weeks,' Leslie said Friday night. 'We (didn't) play games. We were grinding every single day, practising. Our teammates who were out representing their countries were doing great things, but we knew (they'd be drained) and we kind of had to lead the way when they came back. Article content Article content 'So I think that we really bonded, the group that was here. We took the energy and the good vibes, and we just brought them into the group when we came together. Those three weeks were really important for us.' Article content Article content Emily Clark, a key member of Team Canada, agreed. Article content 'As a player that was gone for the international break, that was a huge turning point,' she said. 'Coming back, knowing how much work they put in and how much energy they had coming out of that break was super inspiring and filled our tank right away. So it's a huge testament to the players that were here.' Article content Whether they wanted to admit it or not, Charge players were the underdogs against Montreal, which finished nine points ahead of Ottawa in the regular-season standings. Article content And, despite ending up in third while Minnesota was fourth, the same could be said for the Walter Cup showdown.
