Ottawa made a point of preparing for the PWHL's physicality, upgrading its goaltending and paying attention to the little details. This preseason will show if they've kept pace everyone else
Ottawa made a point of preparing for the PWHL's physicality, upgrading its goaltending and paying attention to the little details. This preseason will show if they've kept pace everyone else
For all the talk of making big roster improvements and trying to make the playoffs this season, the Ottawa Charge won’t really know what they have in their 29 players until they face another PWHL team.
They’ll finally have that opportunity as they prepare for scrimmages against the Boston Fleet and Montréal Victoire on Nov. 21 and 22 at Verdun Auditorium.
“I'm really excited, obviously,” Danielle Serdachny said. “A new challenge for our group and to kind of finally play games against some different teams rather than ourselves every day is really exciting for sure.”
Head coach Carla MacLeod wouldn’t allude to roster decisions, but the next two games will ultimately play a large role in shaping how the roster is finalized by Nov. 27.
“These exhibition games are going to prove to be really valuable, for I think all of us in the league and in particular obviously our program,” MacLeod said. “We're excited to see where our group's at.”
The head coach said there’s an art to balancing playing time for veteran players and bubble players in a preseason game.
“There's women here that need the looks, but we also need to make sure we're prepared for November 30th,” MacLeod said.
A total of 21 players have already been signed to contracts for the upcoming campaign, but the final roster can include a maximum of 23 active players, plus up to three players signed to reserve player contracts. That leaves many spots up for grabs among all the positions.
Taylor House and Audrey-Ann Veillette are the two forward camp invitees, and they’ll be trying to put the pressure on some of the veteran players in the lineup. Meanwhile on the blueline, there’s an even more heated battle with invitees Jessica Adolfsson and Sam Isbell duking it out with draftees Madeline Wethington and Stephanie Markowski. There’s 10 defenders at camp, so there will be tough decisions.
One thing that was made clear over the past week is that nobody is making the team who can’t handle the physicality. The PWHL has clarified its rules on body checking ahead of this season to make officials’ lives easier, and players expect physical play to be central to the game this year. MacLeod said physicality was a competitive concern last season.
“[We] learned a lot in that first year, and the biggest thing for us was our capacity to defend and making sure that we could physically compete in this league. And that was our starting point here for camp.”
Ottawa made a point of adding physically-inclined players in the offseason, including larger defenders Ronja Savolainen, Madeline Wethington and Stephanie Markowski. Serdachny said it’s been a critical point for her adjustment from the college game, and the way the team has practiced should lend itself to game situations.
“The way we've been practicing will allow us to adjust to the games a little bit easier, just consistently competing and being physical with one another,” Serdachny said.
Another lesson learned last season was that missing the little details can come back to bite a team. Case in point: Ottawa lost a league-high six overtime games last season.
“We got ourselves into a lot of 3-on-3 games [last season], but it's not like we were outworked,” MacLeod said. “It was a subtle mistake here or a missed opportunity there. It's not like we were way off the mark.”
Knowing that, MacLeod has implemented plenty of 3-on-3 scrimmages and specific special teams scenarios into her practices so that the team stays disciplined in those circumstances.
“[We] try to cover all the different facets of the game. You could also argue if we can defend better 5-on-5, we won't get ourselves into overtime. So there's all those nuances to it, but it's definitely a part of the game.”
It will also be interesting to watch the four goalies Ottawa has been breaking in through camp. MacLeod didn’t confirm who would be playing in the two games, but it would be a valuable opportunity to see newcomers Gwyneth Philips, Logan Angers and Allie Lehmann face some of the league’s top shooters.
Angers and Philips are signed, but Lehmann has been just as good as anyone through camp. She should receive a long look before the roster deadline.