Ottawa Charge signs forward, GM tells fans all good after roster exodus: 'Let's not react to two days'

Article content

False is any notion that Ottawa Charge GM Mike Hirshfeld has been twiddling his thumbs while all other PWHL teams — as well as league owner Mark Walter, who reportedly is buying a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers for a deal that values the NBA franchise at $10 billion US — have been actively spending money the past few days.

Hirshfeld is also, as Will Smith would say, “gettin’ Jiggy with it.”

On Thursday, the Charge announced the signing of free agent Elizabeth Giguere, a right-shooting forward who has spent the past two seasons with the New York Sirens.

Giguere, who is no relation to former NHL goalie J.S. Giguere, has scored just five goals and three assists in 53 PWHL games, but there’s reason to believe she has yet to tap the surface of her potential.

In 2020, the 5-foot-10, 28-year-old Quebec product won the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top female college player in the United States, and was a finalist in two other seasons.

As a junior at Clarkson, she was a member of the NCAA national champion Golden Knights, and in 2019-20, she was the country’s leading scorer with 37 goals in 37 games.

Upon transferring to the University of Minnesota-Duluth for her final season, she had 62 points in 40 games to finish one-two in team scoring with current Charge star Gabbie Hughes to wrap up her collegiate career with 295 points in 177 games, sixth in all-time NCAA Division 1 scoring.

She went on to play for Team Canada at the 2022 Rivalry Series while racking up 22 points in 18 games with the Boston Pride of the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation.

“We think she’s incredibly talented and offensively gifted,” Hirshfeld said. “We’re really excited about her and we just think that there’s incredible upside in her game.”

The Charge does have a history of developing scorers such as Daryl Watts, Tereza Vanisova and Shiann Darkangelo — each of whom was lost to free agency.

It’s believed Hirshfeld made competitive offers for all three players, but money wasn’t the determining factor.

While Watts left to play with her hometown Toronto Sceptres last season, Vanisova opted to join a star-studded PWHL Vancouver expansion squad this week, just as Darkangelo was deciding she wanted to play with Marie-Philip Poulin in Montreal.

After losing goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, forward Danielle Serdachny and defenders Ashton Bell and Aneta Tejralova to the expansion draft — and Vanisova, Darkangelo, Zoe Boyd, and Jincy Roese via the open market — the Charge still has a solid base.

Along with the signing of Giguere, Ottawa announced Thursday that it had re-signed two forwards: Local product Rebecca Leslie and Taylor House.

Under contract now are 14 players, including the aforementioned three and six other forwards (Emily Clark, Gabbie Hughes, Katerina Mrazova, Brianne Jenner, Mannon McMahon and Anna Meixner), four defenders (Jocelyn Larocque, Ronja Savolainen, Stephanie Markowski, Madeline Wethington) and star goaltender Gwyneth Philips.

Hirshfeld will also sign more free agents, either before next Tuesday’s draft or when the window opens again a week later.

“We’re confident we’ll be fine,” Hirshfeld said. “There are still trades, there are still other things to happen here. We’ve got a draft ahead of us and we’re very confident in our process. We’re very confident that we’re going to get five or six players that really help us and we’re confident this coaching staff can elevate players.

“Just because you have all the superstars doesn’t mean you win. I understand why fans are upset (at the loss of free agents), I do, but my message would be that we’re working hard at this. Please let everything play out. Let’s not react to two days. We’re in a good spot, and we’ll be fine. It’s going to be a competitive league like it is every year.”

And the Charge has an ace in its hand.

“We’ve got the best goalie in the world,” Hirshfeld said. “I think also people need to remember that. We’re going to be in every game, just because we have the best goalie in the world.”