PWHL Ottawa is set to make history as they host Montreal for their home opener. Damian Smith breaks down the match up.
PWHL Ottawa is set to make history as they host Montreal for their home opener. Damian Smith breaks down the match up.
On the second day of the PWHL’s history, Ottawa will take on Montreal in their opening game of the season. The two francophone cities will butt heads at TD Place today in front of a sold-out crowd of over 8200 people. Ottawa will have a tough task against Montreal.
The Opponent: Montreal
The visiting opponent will look to spoil Ottawa’s home opener and manage the pressure that will go against them. With the oldest roster in the league, Montreal boasts a solid leadership group with big names headlining their roster. They are set in goal with Canada’s own Ann-Renee Desbiens, who guided Canada to Olympic gold as the starter back in 2022. She was the PWHPA’s best goaltender last year with a .935 save percentage in 13 games. With one of the highest ceilings in the league, Desbiens has the ability to shut the door when the pressure ramps up. Erin Ambrose will be the staple on the backend, coming off of a point per game performance in the World Championships in April. She's making her return to pro hockey with Montreal after also playing for the Montreal Canadiennes for two seasons in the CWHL.
Just like every PWHL team, Montreal comes into the season with a fresh identity. Players from all over the world have come to play in the PWHL to promote and unite a league that looks for stability in the long-term. Montreal might be the most marketable team in the league because of one player: Marie-Philip Poulin.
“Captain Clutch” will look to make her mark as the face of the franchise after signing a three-year contract as an inaugural player. The Quebec native comes into the league with a dominant career, and it does not appear that she is slowing down any time soon. In 2022-2023, Poulin led the PWHPA in scoring with 27 points in 20 games. The 32-year-old is a star studded forward with all the tools to take over a game. Since 2010, she has amassed three Olympic gold medals and three World Championship gold medals, along with two CWHL championships. Poulin has been a captain since 2015, and Ottawa is going to have to respect every move she makes on the ice in order to shut her down.
Now onto Ottawa, who look to be the most captivating team around the league, with a strong fan following selling out their first two home games.
Ottawa is a big hockey town
With TD Place Arena as their home base, it will be very accessible for fans to go to a game. Unlike Montreal, Ottawa enters the season as the youngest group. They even have the youngest player in the league in Akane Shiga, who comes from Japan.
The beauty of the PWHL is no one knows who is going to come out on top. Players have moved from Japan, Hungary, Germany, and Czechia to play for Ottawa. The team sits as the most diverse team with only half their players being Canadian. The squad will be guided by Brianne Jenner, a decorated forward who signed a three-year contract this Fall. Jincy Roese, an American native, will wear an ‘A’ as she patrols the backend. Roese will be playing a key role on the top two pairs. The last part of the leadership group is Emily Clark, who’s career is trending in an upward trajectory.
She struggled in the World Championship with two points in seven games but was arguably the second-best player in the PWHPA last year behind Marie-Philip Poulin. The Saskatoon native put up 23 points in 20 games. She just turned 28 this past November, sitting right in the prime of her career. Like Jenner, Clark is also signed until 2026. It would not be a surprise if Clark is a top scorer league wide by the seasons end.
The Ottawa community has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time – the city has not had a professional team since the 2009-2010 season when they were forced to leave the CWHL. The women’s hockey community is strong in the nation’s capital, developing some of the top talent across the country. No matter what the outcome today, the young girls in the crowd will have one thought as they leave the rink: they can play professionally in the league they see right in front of their own eyes.
The game will be broadcasted on TSN and RDS, along with YouTube as the sole streaming platform. History will be made at TD Place and let us see how Ottawa fares in the 2024 PWHL season.