2024 PWHL team previews: Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
We’re a little over a week away from the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season getting underway. With just six teams, each team is stacked with talent.
Earlier this week, we looked at the three American teams. Today, we look at the three Canadian teams, breaking down their star players and how they stack up to the rest of the league:
Montreal
I mean, we have to start with someone who has a case for being on hockey’s Mount Rushmore: Marie-Philip Poulin.
Poulin has a laundry list of accomplishments that would make any professional athlete in the world blush: three Olympic gold medals, all of which she scored the game-winning goal in, multiple World Championships, and in the now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), she took home two Clarkson Cups while winning league MVP three times.
But like any team with championship dreams, a glance past the top player shows that the talent doesn’t fall from the proverbial tree. Forward Laura Stacey produced at over a point-per-game pace last season with Team Adidas in the PWHPA (21 points in 20 games). Her speed and ability to battle in the corners and come out with the puck will be a valuable asset.
The same description could apply to second-round pick Kristin O’Neill, who after producing more than a point per game in three of her four seasons at Cornell University, continued her scoring ways with Team Adidas and is now a massive part of this forward group.
It’s a young blue line for Montreal with everyone on it being under 30, led by offensive phenom Erin Ambrose. The 29-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in November during the Rivalry Series and missed the entire PWHL preseason. Her presence was greatly missed in the Rivalry Series, with Canada going 0-for-16 on the power play.
In goal, Ann-Renee Desbien may be in a class of her own, having led Canada to Olympic gold in Beijing 2022 with a perfect 5-0-0 record and a .940 save percentage, as well as a 9-4-0 record with a .935 save percentage last season in the PWHPA. Now playing in a league with so much dynamic talent, being arguably the best goalie in the world could pave the way to securing the PWHL’s first championship.
Ottawa
In the nation’s capital, while there is plenty of talented players at the top of the roster, their 0-3 start in the preseason highlighted a lack of depth that may be a concern as the season progresses.
That top-heavy talent is led by Brianne Jenner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who was named tournament MVP after scoring nine goals in Beijing 2022. She will likely be on the top line with Emily Clark, a fellow gold medal-winning Olympian with elite-level skill.
But after that, Ottawa will spend most of its inaugural season trying to maximize the production out of their lines. Forward Gabbie Hughes is coming off a five-year college career with the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she averaged over a point per game in each of her five seasons, highlighted by a 2021-22 campaign that saw her score 33 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in 40 games, resulting in being named a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award.
Mikyla-Grant Mentis, the PHF’s 2020-21 MVP, wasn’t selected by any of the league’s original six teams in last September’s draft, but she could wind up being one of the most consequential players on a team that’s looking for scoring beyond its top line.
On the blue line, Ottawa spent its first three draft picks on defenders, starting with Savannah Harmon, taken fifth overall. Captaining the Clarkson Golden Knights to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2016-17 and 2017-18, she would split her professional seasons between the PHF’s Buffalo Beauts and the PWHPA before being named to the United States’ National Team, earning a silver medal in Beijing 2022 and winning gold at the 2023 World Championships.
Ashton Bell and Jincy Roese-Dunne would be picks two and three, respectively. Both defenders played on national teams at the 2022 Olympics, with Bell winning gold with Canada and Dunne earning silver with the U.S.
During her final season with Minnesota-Duluth in 2022-23, Bell scored 33 points in 39 games, one of the best offensive seasons by a defender in the NCAA. Meanwhile, Roese-Dunne’s strong two-way game was on full display during her time at Ohio State, as well as when she represented the U.S. in 2022.
In goal, Emerance Maschmeyer was one of the team’s original three signings (with Jenner and Clark). Having won an Olympic gold medal in 2022 and two World Championship golds in 2021 and 2022, she brings a pedigree and a level of stability to an Ottawa team that goes into its inaugural season with more questions than answers.
Toronto
Like Montreal, the talent that Toronto possesses could lead the way to a championship. Led by forwards like Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull, Natalie Spooner and Emma Maltais, along with a defense led by Renata Fast and future Hall of Famer Jocelyne Larocque, the volume of Canadian Olympic talent might be the envy of the league.
Nurse is coming off an Olympic performance where she set the record for the most points (18) and assists (13) in a single tournament. Having dominated the game at every level she’s played, we’re watching the prime of someone who could wind up among the game’s greatest by the time she retires.
Beyond the Canadian Olympians, there’s a lot of versatility at forward. Eighth-round pick Brittany Howard led the PHF’s Toronto Six in scoring with 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points in 20 games, leading them to the final Isobel Cup awarded in league history.
Meanwhile, fifth-round pick Jesse Compher is coming off her final college season, having played four years with Boston University and finishing with the University of Wisconsin, where she scored 40 points in 41 games.
On the blue line, Dominika Laskova provides depth beyond Fast and Larocque, having won an Isobel Cup with Howard in Toronto. Her and Kali Flanagan, who won a gold medal with the U.S. in Pyeongchang 2018, round out the top-four defenders who will see the majority of ice time.
Kristen Campbell will likely see the majority of starts in goal. The Brandon, Man. native helped backstop the University of Wisconsin to a national championship in 2018-19 and has been on the Canadian National Team roster since 2021, winning Olympic gold in Beijing 2022 and two World Championship golds in 2021 and 2022.
There must be some comfort in Toronto knowing that, before the season has even started, each of the team’s home games, which will be played at Mattamy Athletic Centre, formerly Maple Leaf Gardens, will be sold out. It’s no surprise when you consider how excited the PHF’s Six fanbase was while the team was here. Now Toronto and its hockey fans hope to see a second consecutive women’s championship brought to the city.
Link to the full PWHL schedule
🏒 Introducing the Daily Faceoff Clothing Collection – Where Every Day is Game Day!
🚨 Elevate your wardrobe with our dynamic fusion of style and hockey passion.
🔥 Check out the lineup at https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff