‘There’s a good rivalry’: Charge, Victoire set for all-Canadian PWHL final

OTTAWA — For the first time in Professional Women’s Hockey League history, the Walter Cup will be won by a Canadian franchise.

The Montréal Victoire, who finished first overall in the regular season 16-6-2-6, will take on the Ottawa Charge in the best-of-five championship series. The first game gets underway Thursday in Montreal.

“As a Canadian, it’s pretty exciting,” said Charge captain Brianne Jenner said Wednesday in a video conference. “I think for Canadian hockey fans, you know, there’s a good rivalry between our fan bases with how close we are, so I think it’s really exciting and we’re looking forward to puck drop tomorrow.”

The Victoire knocked off the two-time defending Minnesota Frost Tuesday with a 2-1 victory to clinch the semifinal series three games to two. The Charge defeated the Boston Fleet in four games to advance to the final for the second straight year.

This will mark Montreal’s first trip to the final.

Ottawa defeated the Victoire in last year’s semifinal in a tightly contested four-game series marked by a dominant performance from Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips.

As the first overall seed the Victoire had the choice of picking between the Fleet or the Charge as its semifinal opponent and selected Minnesota.

Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie was asked about their decision to bypass Ottawa, despite being the lower seed.

“I don’t know if anything was about avoiding, because I would say that playing the back-to-back Walter Cup champion is probably just as hard of a competition that we could face,” said Cheverie. “You know, at the end of the day, we’ve said we have to go through everybody if we want to get to where we want to get to.”

Ottawa battled its way to get into the playoffs and has seen its game build through the post-season, but it can also draw on last year’s experience.

“There’s a lot to be said for having played in it last year,” said Charge head coach Carla MacLeod. “We’ve got a core group of players that have experienced it. You know, we have players that were actually on the Frost that are now in our dressing room too. So, there’s a value always in these moments from an experience perspective.”

Montreal dominated the regular-season series between the two teams taking three of the four games.

Philips will undoubtedly be a factor once again, but the Victoire can build off their success in beating the Charge goaltender during the regular season.

“With a goaltender as athletic as Philips and where she’s at in her current game I think, you know, maybe you focus a little bit more attention on some of the areas that you can, you know, really work to beat her specifically,” said Cheverie. “But I like our game right now.”

Montreal would love nothing more than to help captain Marie-Philip Poulin hoist her first Walter Cup, seeing as it is the only championship the decorated player has yet to win.

Last year Poulin was held to one goal and one assist in the semifinal against Ottawa. But the captain, who scored the game winner in Game 5 against the Frost, is still a game-breaker.

“We know she’s a threat,” said Jenner, who has played with Poulin on Canada’s national team. “She’s a 200-foot player, so it’ll be our job to kind of get in her way and make her life as difficult as possible.”

There’s a good chance Poulin will see a lot of Emily Clark, Gabbie Hughes and Peyton Hemp, who did a good job shutting down Boston’s top line.

Clark, who had five points (three goals, two assists) through last year’s eight playoff games, has yet to find the scoresheet this post-season, but MacLeod says it’s unfair to evaluate her solely on point production.

“She’s such a phenomenal player, and you know, is one that is just willing to outwork anyone and everyone,” said MacLeod. “So, for us, it’s not really ever been a concern from a results perspective. I think the energy she brings on the ice, the impact she has every shift, our bench feels that our team feels it, and she’s continuing to lead by example every single game.”

If last year’s semifinal is any indication hockey fans are in for a long, tight series. Last year, the teams played the longest game in PWHL history before Montreal’s Catherine Dubois scored at 15:33 of the fourth overtime.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2026

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press