The 2025-26 Ottawa Charge were a team full of surprises, who came together in a season full of big moments and significant challenges. The Charge needed to navigate the first-ever post-expansion process, arena question marks, and a life-changing diagnosis for the head coach. Despite all of that uncertainty, the Charge did what many believed was impossible and returned to the Walter Cup Finals.

It has now been almost a week since Ottawa suffered a 4-0 loss in Game Four to Montreal. While it did not end the way the organization and fan base would have liked, it remains a season in which statistics, expectations, and expert opinions meant virtually nothing.

What follows are seven key moments from Ottawa's season, with many more out there to explore, and will start before the season, with the Expansion Draft, before moving into the season and concluding with fans' reflections.

The 2025-26 season saw the addition of two teams, the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent. Ottawa had entered the process by first protecting goaltender Gwyneth Philips, defender Ronja Savolainen, and forward Emily Clark. Charge fans didn't have to wait long before they saw fan favourites part ways with the team.

Ashton Bell, a defensively reliable, crucial part of the team's first run to the Walter Cup Finals, was selected first overall by Vancouver, followed immediately by defender Aneta Tejralová. Two big hits to the back end of the team. The team then followed up by protecting forward Gabbie Hughes with their fourth pick.

Following the expansion process, Ottawa then faced the first step in rebuilding, or rather remodelling the team. Shiann Darkangelo, who finished third on the team in regular-season scoring, departed for Montreal, followed on the same day by leading scorer Tereza Vanišová (Vancouver). 

The team would also see Natalie Snodgrass (Seattle) and Jincy Roese (New York), and Zoe Boyd (Boston) sign elsewhere. Ottawa also re-signed many of its players, headlined by forward Rebecca Leslie, and also including Gabbie Hughes, Anna Meixner, Sam Isbell, Mannon McMahon and Stephanie Markowski, to name a few. Each of the team's draft picks would also sign contracts for the 2025-26 season.

The Charge would also sign defender Brooke Hobson, who would go on to have a strong season in the nation's capital. Then came July 28, 2025, a day many Charge fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief, as Gwyneth Philips signed a two-year extension with the team, followed by Emily Clark re-upping for two years on August 7.

The Charge entered the 2025 PWHL Draft held in their backyard, starting with the fifth overall pick, and would go on to select towering defender Rory Guilday out of Cornell. She developed instant chemistry with fellow vertically gifted defender Ronja Savolainen in training camp. Though the two would spend much of the season split up in the top four, they were reunited for the team's playoff run.

Ottawa also held the 13th pick (Anna Shokhina), 21st (Sarah Wozniewicz), 29th (Peyton Hemp), 37th (Sanni Ahola), and 45th (Fanuza Kadirova). When zooming out and taking a look at the haul, the Charge came away from the draft, it's undeniable that most of the players ended up having an impact. Wozniewicz finished sixth in rookie scoring with 13 points, including a league-leading four game-winning goals, setting the team's rookie scoring record in the process, and found a home alongside captain Brianne Jenner and hometown hero Rebecca Leslie, where she would help the trio score 34.8% of the Charge’s 178 total team points. She would then carry that success into the playoffs, where she recorded a point in four straight games leading up to Game Four of the Walter Cup Finals, a PWHL postseason record.

Hemp may not have had the offensive season Wozniewicz did, but her impact was equally felt, as she helped the team's fourth line, composed of teammates Alexa Vasko and Taylor House, become an effective penalty-killing line. Any time a penalty needed to be killed, or the faceoff started in Ottawa's end late in a game, Hemp was on the ice. And Charge fans will forever remember her biggest goal: the game-tying goal late in Game Three of the Walter Cup Finals.

Fanuza Kadirova may be the name that stands out the most among the draft picks, as she became an instant fan favourite, whether it was for the way her hair swooped out of her helmet, how quickly she adapted to the league's game, or how relentless she was on every shift. Kadirova finished fifth on the team in scoring during the regular season and fifth in league scoring during the postseason, including two primary assists in Ottawa's series-clinching Game Four win over Boston, and along the way, never looked out of place.

In a decision the city will undoubtedly regret in both the short and long term, councillors approved moving forward with Lansdowne 2.0 by a 15-10 margin on November 7. The redevelopment of Lansdowne will reduce TD Place's capacity by roughly 3,000 seats in favour of a "new and improved event centre," new housing, and public spaces. What Lansdowne lacked in modern amenities, it made up for in fan experience. While that will be missed by many, the team's move to the Canadian Tire Centre for the playoffs proved that reducing seating capacity was never going to work.

On two separate occasions, head coach Carla MacLeod stepped away from the team to pursue treatment following the announcement that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The outpouring of support on social media and at TD Place was resounding, and the team united in a way that inspired the fan base and Ottawa's performance on the ice. With assistant coach Haley Irwin at the helm during the final games of the season, the team would go on to finish the season 4-1, including two shutouts of Toronto, en route to clinching their second consecutive playoff berth.

On January 18, the Charge sent Mannon McMahon, Anna Meixner and Anna Shokhina to the Goldeneyes in exchange for Michela Cava, Emma Greco and Brooke McQuigge. The number of players included was truthfully the bigger storyline here than any one particular player making a tremendous impact with their new team. That was, until Game Four of the semifinals, which saw Cava score arguably the biggest goal in franchise history, deflecting Kateřina Mrázová's pass into the back of the net in double overtime to send the Charge to the Walter Cup Finals.

On the backs of a strong finish to the season and inspired by MacLeod's battle, the Charge faced the league's second-best team in the Boston Fleet in the semifinals and defeated them in four games. While each game was close, except Game Two, Ottawa wasn't playing its best hockey, yet still found a way to come out on the winning side.

Performances from Cava to clinch a Walter Cup berth, Leslie to secure the Game Three victory, Philips and her MVP-calibre play in goal, and Savolainen's goal in the final minute of play are just some of the moments fans shared during the team's playoff run.

The team also saw its playoff games moved to the Canadian Tire Centre, a sign of the likely full-time switch for next season. 53,665 total fans attended games at the CTC over the four playoff dates, including a playoff record-setting 16,894 in Game Three of the Walter Cup Finals, and saw the team go 3-1 over that span.

"This season truly meant the world to me as a fan - despite losing some big pieces in the original expansion, the fact that we actually showed the league that you don't wanna count Ottawa out. Like making the Finals twice? That's impressive." - @ottxfan

"I've never had a feeling like that, to have been part of the pure joy of triumph...But I know I will continue to chase that feeling again next year with whatever team the Charge becomes." - @bnjmnwood 

"I came to the Charge later this season (after the Olympics), but was hooked...my partner and I travelled to Ottawa at the end of April to catch their last regular season game, and it was magical. We are already planning how many times we can catch the Charge next season..." - @alauder 

"I'm a cancer survivor, I understand what it takes. She [Carla MacLeod] would have been good staying at home, we would have understood. She was there anyway, and I think that her players showed up for her." - @sbourgoinl 

"My wife and I became avid fans of the Charge in the playoffs last year. Wife's favourite player is Philips, I can't decide between Guilday and Wozniewicz...Seeing the youth develop during the season was my biggest takeaway." @expresso_self 

"I'm sad to say I doubted them at the beginning of the season - it just seemed like we'd lost so much of the previous year's magic, but boy am I glad I was wrong...I'm also so in awe of Carla. You know she was going through a lot, and yet she still showed up with everything she had." - @sticksandstoneshomemade 

"A special year in what may be their last at TD Place. Enjoyed skating to and from games in the winter. Fun to see the rookies grow [Guilday, Wozniewicz, Kadirova], especially. [Kate Reilly] undrafted. [Leslie] and [Jenner] chemistry. [Hughes'] goal against Seattle. I was in [Toronto] for the 2-0 win in April. [Philips] was magic." @AHawleywood 

"This season was so special to me, especially being able to propose at the second home game this season meant so much to me." - @t_kelly15

"It's the 3rd year that I share the Charge with my students. This year, the kids made it extra special...they had hope and love for a team they didn't know. They cheered when they won...This season made me appreciate everything more. We saw the talent grow and saw underdogs continuously challenge themselves. Even in dark times, they persevered. Beautiful qualities to be able to show my students." - @ashleycm06 

The Ottawa Charge will now turn the page on the 2025-26 season, and will do so while looking ahead to the similar uncertainty faced this time last year. Through it all, one thing is clear: while there were certainly notable bumps along the road this season, the Charge laid the foundation for what it means to be a member of this team and to represent the city of Ottawa.