Cayla Barnes discusses being selected by PWHL Montreal and heading to Canada for her first professional season. The PWHL released their schedule for the 2024-25 season on Tuesday, and Montreal fans have many dates to now mark on their calendars. Following a semi-final round exit at the hands of Boston, the newly named Montreal Victoire are poised to start the season on a revenge tour. Here are just a few games to keep in mind for the upcoming campaign: NOV. 30 SEASON OPENER AGAINST OTTAWA CHARGE: Opening night is obviously the most awaited day of the year for fans, but the initial contest against the Charge will reignite the battle between the bars. Both teams benefited from stellar netminding in the inaugural year. Ann-Renée Desbiens and Elaine Chuli combined for an astounding 1.64 goals against average and .932 save percentage in their 24 games for Montreal. Emerance Maschmeyer is one of Team Canada’s premiere goaltenders and she’ll be geared up to shutdown the tough top line of Montreal. She led the league in games played with 23 last season, surpassing 1300 minutes while meritting a 2.30 GAA and .915 save percentage. Fans will have to wait to see what two of Team Canada’s best goaltenders have in store come Nov. 30. DEC. 28 FIRST TEST AGAINST WALTER CUP CHAMPIONS: If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. For the time being, the only team to lift the Walter Cup is the Minnesotta Frost, and any time you play against them, you see where you measure up to the defending champs. In their five matchups last year, Montreal got the best of the regular season series three games to two. The teams were neck and neck in all games excluding the first, with four out of five results ending with a one-goal-advantage. It’s always a fun watch when Walter Cup MVP and first-overall draft pick in league history Taylor Heise is on the ice, and year two will see how she and company play against sixth-overall pick erin Ambrose. DEC. 30. REVENGE MATCH AGAINST BOSTON FLEET: Whether it was poor line management, a lack of depth, or just a few bad bounces, Montreal was eliminated in three straight games in a series they were seen as the top dog. A perfect way for the Victoire to enact their revenge is to beat the Fleet on their home ice in year two. The 2024 regular season series ended a tie at 2-2, but with new additions such as forward Hannah Bilka for the Fleet and blue liner Cayla Barnes for the Victoire, the coaches will showcase more line depth compared to the semi-final last year. Don’t get it twisted, however, Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey versus Hilary Knight and Alina Müller is still the main event. FEB 25. RETURN FROM RIVALRY SERIES AGAINST TORONTO SCEPTRES: If you’re a fan of Team Canada hockey, then you know the majority of talent that comprises their international roster is divided into the three Canadian teams, but the arguably biggest names fill up the Toronto and Montreal depth charts. Following the two Rivalry Series games on Feb. 6 and 8, the players will return to their respective teams and face off Feb. 30 with Montreal as the home team. How will both sides fair when they go from Rivalry Series to Toronto-Montreal rivalry in another edition of the battle of Bay Street? The break also can galvanize scoring touches for some players. Toronto’s Sarah Nurse, for example, didn’t register her first goal in the PWHL until after the Rivalry Series in February, but found twine more consistently after Canada swept their opponents in the three games. NEUTRAL SITE GAMES: Last but not least are the numerous neutral site games that have been added to the calendar. With exhilarating attendance results in cities not affiliated with a team such as Pittsburgh and Detroit, and the record breaking 21,105 attendees for the Bell Centre game, one can only imagine the impact these games will have in year two. The game that peaks particular interest is the one slated for Jan. 19 against Ottawa. Quebec City has campaigned for a neutral site game [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/quebec-city-wants-a-pwhl-neutral-site-game-and-eventually-a-team], and a contest between the two cities in the PWHL which speak the most French would fit perfectly. It may not be the sole neutral site game on the schedule, but it is one of two that Montreal will host, with the other being against the Fleet on April 28. The Montreal roster definitely has the best of Quebec, and the game against Ottawa should be the best showcase of talent for the Quebec City faithful.
