Bank Street to become 'Charge Avenue' as Ottawa faces Montreal Victoire in PWHL playoffs

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The “playoff vibe” truly sunk in with Ottawa Charge players after Tuesday morning’s practice at TD Place when media scrums surrounding players being interviewed included at least 10 reporters, when typically there are no more than two or three on a good day.

“I’m a little bit overwhelmed,” goalie Gwyneth Philips beamed as she waited in front of the cameras and microphones for questions. “This is kinda nuts. But I’m excited for the playoffs.”

That level reached new heights after Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe announced on TSN1200 that the city would be installing “Charge Avenue” signs on Bank Street, from Sunnyside Avenue to First Avenue, on Wednesday. (Ottawa Citizen photographer Julie Oliver was there when the signs went up Wednesday.)

“That’s awesome,” said captain Brianne Jenner, whose team makes its PWHL playoff debut with a best-of-five first-round series against the Montreal Victoire that begins Thursday night in Laval. “That’s really exciting. You saw the energy in the city when the Sens were in the playoffs and how great they performed, and how proud the city was. So, we’re excited that the city’s behind us and we want to do them proud.”

By finishing atop the regular-season standings, Montreal earned the right to choose its opening-round opponent and opted for third-place Ottawa over the Minnesota Frost, which wound up in fourth.

The reasons are logical — Ottawa is a two-hour drive from Montreal while Minnesota is a two-hour flight and the Frost won the Walter Cup last season after coming in fourth, which means its players have the playoff experience Ottawa lacks.

Still, Ottawa players now have the opportunity to adopt a “be careful what you wish for” rally cry as they prepare for an opponent that dominated them for most of the league’s first two seasons, but also one they defeated the past two times they met.

“At this point of the season, you take motivation out of anything,” veteran forward Emily Clark said. “We’re excited for the matchup, excited that they’re just down the road. And, yeah, no matter who we’re playing, we’re gonna definitely be getting up to play them. So we’re excited to head to Montreal.”

Giving the Charge another emotional lift has to be the return of No. 1 goalie Emerance Maschmeyer to the rink.

Maschmeyer suffered a lower-body injury in early March that was projected to keep her out of action for at least six weeks and, while she is not yet taking part in drills with the team, she has been on the ice before practice.

If she does get back to the game roster before the series with Montreal ends, it almost will certainly be in a backup role as Philips has played very well in her stead. But Maschmeyer, a beloved team leader, can provide a boost just by her presence in the room and on the bench.

Philips, meanwhile, is no stranger to high-pressure games.

Down the stretch, with the Charge in a playoff push, she allowed just seven goals in the last five games.

Philips also worked the Team USA crease in the final of last month’s world championship game as a replacement for injured starter Aerin Frankel.

“This year, especially, I’ve been trying to approach every game the same,” said the 24-year-old third-round pick from Athens, Ohio, who posted an 8-5-1 record with a 2.11 goals against average and .919 save percentage as a rookie with the Charge. “I’ve been thrown into some big moments and that’s no different with playoffs.

“I’m going to come in each game with the same routine, the same kind of vibe or mojo, and I trust that my teammates are kind of doing the same thing.

“I think we’re all pretty comfortable and we’ve been playing pretty good hockey, so we’re just gonna keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

After finishing nine points behind Montreal in the regular season, Jenner said the playoffs offer a new slate.

But the Charge will want to borrow from the way they ended the campaign — winning six of its last 10 games (Montreal won three of its last 10) including the finale in Toronto, a 2-1 victory with the season on the line that represented Ottawa’s most complete three periods of play in 2024-25.

Now it’s a matter of carrying that momentum into the post-season.

“I think having that experience of handling that pressure like we did in the last game … I think it was a really good 60-minute performance from everyone on our team … we certainly keep that in our back pocket,” said Jenner, whose team has a 13-1 record during games in which she has scored. “And if we find ourselves in situations like that again, which we will to make a Walter Cup run, there’s going to be games where your back’s against the wall and you’ve got to pull out a five-on-three penalty kill, or whatever it is.

“So I think that experience helps us. But I think there’s momentum swings within the games, but not necessarily game-to-game in this league, as we’ve seen kind of time and time again.

“I think we’re feeling really excited to just play in the organization’s first playoff series, but I think as excited as we are for that opportunity. We’re not satisfied just to make the playoffs.

“We want to see how far we can take this thing.”

After Games 1 and 2 on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.) at Place Bell in Laval, the series heads to Ottawa for Game 3 at TD Place on Tuesday (7 p.m.)

Game 4, if necessary, will be at TD Place on Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m., and, if a fifth and deciding game is needed, it will be at Place Bell on Sunday, May 18, at 7 p.m.