Ottawa Charge Well Represented At 2026 Senators Skills Competition

Four members of the Ottawa Charge took part in the 2026 edition of the Ottawa Senators Skills Competition, and each came away with bragging rights.

The competition featured two teams, Team White, captained by Drake Batherson, and Team Black, captained by Thomas Chabot. Gabbie Hughes and Sarah Wozniewicz joined Team White, while Ronja Savolainen and Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie skated with Team Black.

There were six individual competitions, along with a 3-on-3 challenge to close out the day. Here is a full recap of the competition.

First up was the Puck Control Relay, which featured all four Charge players. Team Black earned the early lead with a winning time of 1:44.899.

Leslie and Wozniewicz followed in the Fastest Skater competition, recording times of 14.664 and 14.430, respectively.

The Charge earned their first event victory in the shooting accuracy competition, as Leslie won with a time of 9.542 after going 4-for-5 in the drill.

"It was lots of fun. I missed the first time, I was a little bit nervous," Leslie said. "I feel like it's when you do stuff like that every day, you should hit them. I was like, 'Oh, I better do this.' But yeah, it was lots of fun."

Savolainen was up next in the Individual Obstacle Course, which combined speed, stick handling, and accuracy. She finished third with a time of 1:01.594.

"It wasn't easy, especially going first. I had no idea what to do," Savolainen said. "Sometimes I can be skilled, but this day I came in super late yesterday (from the Olympics). But it was just fun to come here and meet these people and see a lot of people watching."

Two more events followed: the 5 Puck One-on-One Challenge, which gave participants forty seconds to score with five pucks, and the 3-on-3 Challenge to close the competition. Team White claimed victory with a 30-25 win.

Following the skills competition, the players stayed on the ice and signed autographs, including Savolainen and Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark, who traded signed sticks.

"That was the first time I talked to him. He didn't know I could speak some Swedish," Savolainen said. "So then we just started to speak Swedish, and then he introduced his whole family to me, and we just talked about everything. He was just super pumped to watch our games."

Taking part in the event was not lost on Leslie, who reflected on what the experience meant.

"It kind of reminds me of being on the outdoor rinks," she said. "I would set up cones and shoot for hours, and then do some stick handling stuff and go through pylons. It was just fun getting back to kind of what you did when you were kids."

For Wozniewicz, the competition marked her first time participating in an event like this in Ottawa.

"I think it was a super cool experience for me," Wozniewicz said. "And it's just so cool to watch the NHL players and how they play and stuff, and then allowing us to come out here with them and be in the skills comp. It was great. It was a lot of fun."

With questions remaining about the Charge’s long-term home, events like this offer another opportunity to strengthen the connection between Ottawa’s two professional teams and their shared fanbase.