Ottawa Charge braces for more losses after heartbreaking defeat to Frost in PWHL final

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The Ottawa Charge lost much more than just a dream with Liz Schepers’ second Walter Cup-clinching goal in the PWHL’s two years of existence on Monday night.

At some point, the team will have another shot at the title.

This particular tight-knit collection of players will not.

“That’s the toughest part,” captain Brianne Jenner said moments after the Charge was on the short end of yet another 2-1 overtime battle with the Minnesota Frost, giving the defending champs the best-of-five championship series in four games. “The last few minutes in the dressing room … this was a special group. We went through a lot this season. Showed a lot of resiliency, and I think these last couple of weeks did something really special.

“The effort, just the buy-in, that was a special run, and it’s going to sting for a while, for sure. But I’m really, really proud of this group.”

From the emotional moments on the ice and behind closed doors at Xcel Energy Center, to the tears in their beers at a gathering spot in the Twin Cities, the Charge will fly back to Ottawa on Tuesday night for exit meetings and post-season media interviews later in the week.

The players will then sit back and watch that special group of theirs slowly torn apart by the expansion draft and free agency.

Management decisions will be very difficult and the latter could very well be affected by the former.

Ottawa, as well as the other original six PWHL teams, will lose four players to Seattle and Vancouver on June 9.

If Jenner, for instance, is left off the unprotected list submitted next Tuesday, there will be a greater need and salary cap room to re-sign Tereza Vanisova.

The Charge was tied with the last-place New York Sirens for fewest goals scored in the regular season and, in the playoffs, that trend was its ultimate undoing.

The offence produced in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Victoire to open Round 1 never was matched as Ottawa scored just 10 times in its remaining seven post-season games.

In its eight playoff dates, the Charge totalled 13 goals, one less than the Toronto Sceptres scored in four.

Losing both Vanisova — one of the league’s top goal-getters with 15 during the season and the only Charge markswoman on Monday — as well as Jenner, who has scored 18 goals in 60 total games combined for Ottawa, would be a tremendous hit.

But it’s quite conceivable both will be gone, which is why it seems imperative that Danielle Serdachny is among the three of the 15 available players the Charge protects in the first phase of the expansion draft, even though she was, by all accounts, a disappointment in her rookie season.

Ottawa can’t even wait until Phase 2, when teams are allowed to put one more player on their hands-off list after losing two.

It’s too risky.

Serdachny, the second player selected in last June’s draft, scored twice and had six assists while Sarah Fillier, who was picked first, shared the PWHL scoring title with Hilary Knight by racking up 29 points on 13 goals and 16 assists for Sirens.

Serdachny was trusted with nothing more than fourth-line minutes in the playoffs until she was elevated on Monday to the top unit, where she showed new life while setting up Ottawa’s only goal and becoming its most dangerous player.

Putting aside the growing pains that included giveaways and defensive shortcomings, the just-turned 24-year-old is a legitimate power forward who could be every bit as productive as Fillier next season.

Goalie Gwyenth Philips is a no-brainer to be protected because of her youth (also 24) and tremendous body of work, while Serdachny should be a keeper based on her obvious offensive skills and the promise shown in her last outing.

That means only one more can be shielded on a list that starts with the complete player and franchise face that is Emily Clark, punishing defender Ronja Savolainen, the shutdown backline pair of Ashton Bell and Jocelyn Larocque, plus Gabbie Hughes, Mannon McMahon and veterans Emerance Maschmeyer and Jenner.

As the Charge leader and most accomplished performer, Jenner blamed herself when asked Monday about the frustrations associated with the team’s offensive woes, which include a dreadful power play that was good on just one of 18 chances in the playoffs.

“Obviously, that’s something that I want to be able to do for this team and in the big moments and I wasn’t able to do that,” said the 34-year-old, who had two goals and three points in Games 1 and 2 against Montreal but nothing after. “So definitely, I’ve got to look in the mirror and see what I can do better to help this group succeed. Definitely frustrated.”

Also sitting at the interview table was Philips, whose status MVP was vindicated by the four 2-1 overtime games in the final with teammates that couldn’t finish, and coach Carla MacLeod, who wouldn’t use the wear and tear of a four-overtime marathon in the Montreal series as an excuse.

“I appreciate the leadership beside me, but every everyone on our team gave everything they had,” MacLeod said. “What we saw in this was an absolute championship series. It wasn’t about a singular player. It was about a team effort on both sides. It was just so hard-fought the ice, the space was so limited in the series for both teams that everybody was doing their darndest to try to score a goal and negate a goal. So this isn’t on one player’s shoulders or one moment’s shoulders. This was actually just the reflection of two great teams playing incredibly good hockey.

“The reality of sport is when you get yourselves an opportunity like this, you’re going to feel every emotion, and we’re absolutely going to be OK feeling every emotion, because they’re all true,” MacLeod added. “You’re disappointed, of course, because there’s something that was right there. You’re right in the fight. But what I’m most grateful for, for our group and our organization, is that we’ll walk away from this incredibly proud, and that will be the lasting feeling. So the sting is real. We know it, the undercurrent of what we’ve established this year and what we’re able to accomplish together was truly special. You just allow every motion to be real, because they’re all true.”

Just as is the reality that the Charge roster will be gutted by the loss of four core players even before the free agent market opens.

And the possibility that, in such a parity-filled league, it could be a while before Ottawa gets back to the Walter Cup final.