Ottawa Charge still 'super positive' after 'Mustard Marathon' PWHL loss to Montreal Victoire

Article content

Among the newer kids on the pro sports team block in the nation’s capital, Ottawa Charge people don’t fully understand those of us who have lived here for a long time.

They don’t get our skepticism.

They surely know about the rarity of playoff appearances around these parts, but they probably don’t realize that next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Ottawa Senators’ most recent Stanley Cup win and that Ottawa CFL teams have brought home exactly one Grey Cup in the past 47 seasons.

So when Charge coach Carla MacLeod suggested a few times over the past few months that her team had a one-in-six shot of capturing the PWHL championship, we thought, yeah right, sure it does.

The cynicism, in large part, was backed by the stats.

The Charge finished the season with the same goals for (71) and against (80) as the cellar-dwelling New York Sirens.

In both categories, the two teams were last in the league.

The Charge also had the worst power-play percentage (14.9) and the second-worst shorthanded percentage (80.2).

When Ottawa snuck into the playoffs on an overtime goal by Katerina Mrazova in the regular-season finale, it was a pleasant surprise.

Along with providing a little excitement, the experience would be good for the group — even in getting swept from the best-of-five by the mighty Montreal Victoire, which not only finished in first-place with a powerful core, but would also be hungry to avenge last season’s failure to win a single game in a similar post-season showdown with Boston.

Not only does Montreal have the best line of women’s hockey players in the world — with Laura Stacey flanked by her spouse, the great Marie-Philip Poulin, and another national team member in Jennifer Gardiner — but they would be going against an Ottawa defence missing injured veteran Jincy Roese and with rookie Gwyneth Philips in goal.

When the two teams meet for Game 3 at TD Place on Tuesday (7 p.m.), many expected it would be the swan song for the 2024-25 Charge.

But a funny thing happened in two games over four days at Place Bell.

The Charge proved that a stretch of four victories in its last five games was more than just a run of desperation.

If taking the series opener against Montreal wasn’t enough, Ottawa was also the superior team for most of the 5 1/2 hour “Mustard Marathon” that the Victoire pulled out with fear of reaching the brink of elimination for Game 3 at TD Place on Tuesday (7 p.m.).

The Charge now has home-ice advantage in what has become a best-of-three to face the winner of the Minnesota Frost-Toronto Sceptres series.

And do you know what? Ottawa is not only a legitimate Walter Cup contender, but might be considered a good bet.

FanDuel sportsbook has the Charge as only a slight underdog (-104) to eliminate the Victoire (-118), and as of Monday morning, Ottawa does not have the longest Cup odds.

The defending champion Frost, which finished the season in fourth spot, is the favourite at +160 after taking a 2-1 series lead against Toronto with Game 4 in Minnesota on Wednesday.

Montreal is next at +220, while Ottawa is at +310 and Toronto is +550.

What’s evident now is that Philips, who took over the No. 1 duties when Emerance Maschmeyer went down with an injury two months ago, is quite capable of leading the Charge to a Walter Cup win. Plus, while Stacey and Poulin are a dangerous and dynamic duo, Emily Clark is the best all-round player on either team and Ottawa GM Mike Hirshfeld was the winner in all of his three trades over the past year in acquiring Tereza Vanisova, Shiann Darkangelo and Jocelyne Larocque.

Also know that the Charge players were not in the least discouraged by their four-overtime loss on Mother’s Day — the mood in the room afterward was described as “super positive.”

That was confirmed by comments made at the post-game press conference.

“There’s so much to be proud of,” said Larocque, a veteran defender who displayed her leadership skills with a team-high 56:01 of ice time. “We never gave up. We tied it up late in the game, we gave an amazing effort … so I’m proud of our group. I’m proud to be a Charge and I know that we’re going to learn from a few things, but I think there’s still a lot to take into the next game, and I still feel like we do have momentum.”

While the Charge outshot Montreal 65-56, the Victoire looked like they had more left in the tank as the game wore on, outshooting the visitors 18-13 in the last two periods of overtime.

That may have had something to do with Montreal having more to lose with a defeat.

Ottawa players, meanwhile, should be energized by a packed house and a loud crowd on Tuesday.

And don’t be surprised if the Charge players again have to break out the mustard packets they inhaled to help keep from cramping in another long game.

“Honestly, I’m feeling good,” Clark said after the 2 p.m start that turned into a 7:40 p.m. finish “Obviously, the legs are a little bit sore, but there’s no long faces (in the room). I think at some point you just laugh, like, it’s almost comical, but it was just a blast.

“This is what you grow up watching, dreaming of, the mustards coming out, the pickle juice. You love this. This is exactly what we want to do. The difference of a shot … it was an incredible effort by both teams.

“I had a lot of fun, so yeah, I’m doing good.”

So are the Charge’s chances of advancing and, who knows, maybe even bringing Ottawa a rare championship trophy.

Despite the recent setback, this team is still coming together at the right time.