Ottawa revamped their goaltending depth over the offseason, headlined by college star Gwyneth Philips. She'll challenge Emerance Maschmeyer for the starting job
Ottawa revamped their goaltending depth over the offseason, headlined by college star Gwyneth Philips. She'll challenge Emerance Maschmeyer for the starting job
Of all the offseason moves Ottawa Charge general manager Mike Hirshfeld made, much has been made about his first two selections at the 2024 PWHL Draft, Danielle Serdachny and Ronja Savolainen, and for good reason.
But perhaps none will be as critical to Ottawa’s chances of success in its sophomore season than bringing in goaltenders Gwyneth Philips and Logan Angers. They’ll be joined by camp invite Allie Lehmann to compete for the backup role behind Emerance Maschmeyer in November.
After glancing at their resumes, it’s safe to say Maschmeyer is going to have to battle a bit more for crease time this season.
Philips is turning pro after leaving Northeastern University with the best save percentage (.958) in NCAA history, while Angers compiled an impressive 24-11-1 record with a 1.88 goals-against average last season with the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
Thirty-year-old Maschmeyer welcomes the challenge.
“At this point in my career, I want to be pushed,” Maschmeyer said. “I want to have that challenge of, ‘let's compete every single day and make each other the best that we can be to get that extra one percent in our game.’”
Maschmeyer was a workhorse in 2024, playing in 23 of Ottawa’s 24 games, while backup Sandra Abstreiter played just 117 minutes all season.
From the get-go, Ottawa’s hesitancy to put Abstreiter in net was clear. It became even more obvious as the rest of the league’s teams deployed effective tandems, headlined by the Minnesota Frost’s sparkling duo of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney. Minnesota had the luxury of riding the hot hand en route to the first Walter Cup championship.
Looking at the surface numbers, Abstreiter was a perfectly serviceable backup goaltender. In three games, she posted a 3.08 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. She gave a virtuoso performance against Minnesota on March 5, stopping 43 of 46 shots in a 4-3 shootout loss.
However, her inconsistency was otherwise difficult to ignore.
In Abstreiter’s first 17 minutes of action in 2024 against the Boston Fleet on Jan. 24, she allowed two goals on 12 shots before getting injured and leaving the ice.
On March 3, she was tasked with putting a cap on the Toronto Sceptres’s early 3-0 lead after Maschmeyer was pulled, but the Sceptres’ next shot trickled past Abstreiter.
These are problems newly-hired Ottawa goaltending coach Pierre Groulx, whose resume includes stints with the Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators, isn’t anticipating on having in year two.
“We felt with the goaltenders we've added, we've upgraded our goaltending position,” Groulx said. “Just like every other position in our team, we wanted to have a good competition level and increase the skill level.”
Philips, the NCAA goaltender of the year in 2023 and a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist in each of the past two seasons, brings oodles of skill. The first goalie taken in the 2024 draft, she’s expected to challenge for starts, and possibly contend for rookie of the year.
Even Lehmann, who’s currently playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies in the SWHL, carries the potential to surprise her way onto the roster. Philips, Angers and Lehmann may have different expectations, but they’re all 24 years old and unproven at the pro level.
That’s where Groulx comes in. He’s worked with all four Ottawa goalies through the offseason, preparing them for the transition to pro hockey.
So far, the reviews have been dazzling.
“He's super on top of things,” Philips said. “I've already learned a lot from him [...] he's not the type of guy to sit back and let bad habits build.”
Even Maschmeyer, a seven-time world championship medalist, has gleaned new perspectives from Groulx’s coaching experience.
“We're honestly so lucky to have him,” Maschmeyer said of Groulx, who’s worked with NHL goalies including Carey Price, Jaroslav Halak, Craig Anderson and Tomas Vokoun. “Right away when I stepped on the ice with him, I could tell that we were going to get along really well.”
The Olympic gold medalist said Groulx has brought attention to the “little details” of her game. She also said she feels very rested after a long offseason, but more importantly, she feels more settled than last season.
“Last year, everything was so new: new teammates, new rink, new travel schedule, everything was brand new, so you're learning as you go,” she said. “This year, there's going to be a little bit of adjusting and kind of managing [my] load, however that may look, but now I’m way more prepared than I was last year for what to expect.”
Maschmeyer is also a new parent, which she said will require her to time manage better, but also brings something new to her athlete life.
“It's going to be really awesome to have that balance in my life as well, because I'm someone who's all in on hockey all the time," she said. "When I come home, seeing his face smiling at me, it'll kind of put everything into perspective and it'll help me be in the moment, whether I'm at home or at the rink.”
But with a bump up to a 30-game schedule, it’s all but guaranteed that Maschmeyer will cede more starts this season, presumably to Philips.
“They played [Maschmeyer] a lot and I think she just got tired, which is totally understandable, so I think they're trying to build from the back end a little bit, and I think that's why they signed three [goalies],” Philips said.
Philips expects to be right there with Maschmeyer, and she recalled how her experience backing up Boston’s Aerin Frankel for three seasons at Northeastern University together has prepared her for a backup role.
“I'm comfortable being there, knowing how to be supportive and also be on their heels a little bit,” she said.
For Ottawa’s benefit, there’s even an outside chance Maschmeyer and Philips go head-to-head internationally in the November Rivalry Series. Both goalies are expected to be third-string options for their respective countries.
Regardless of whether she sees any playing time for the U.S., Philips will get every opportunity to show she’s deserving of Ottawa’s net in training camp, as will Angers, and even Lehmann.
“In the end, we understand that we need goaltending depth and we need the goaltending to help us win games,” Groulx said. “So they will all battle for ice time and they will all try to show us who deserves to play.”
Last season, Maschmeyer was the de facto starter for Ottawa. Even though that still holds true, she’ll have to prove it in a way she didn’t have to last fall.
“I always treat it like I have to earn my ice time no matter what,” Maschmeyer said. “I know it's never guaranteed.”