Questions and answers for Ottawa Charge at one-third mark of the PWHL season
Don Brennan poses some questions and answers for the Ottawa Charge as PWHL team reaches milestone in second season.
Article content
Once a defender, always a defender.
It was the position Carla MacLeod played throughout her career and the stance she took as coach of the Ottawa Charge after her team was decidedly outplayed in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Toronto Sceptres at TD Place, a score that flattered the home team.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Questions and answers for Ottawa Charge at one-third mark of the PWHL season Back to video
Oh, MacLeod wasn’t oblivious to the fact that goalie Emerance Maschmeyer was the sole reason the teams were tied with nine minutes left in regulation.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Toronto outshot Ottawa in all three periods — starting with a 14-5 margin in the first leading to a 39-24 total — but overtime was looming until a fumbled puck in the defensive zone allowed Blayre Turnbull to skate in for the winner.
“If we don’t have Masch in net, we’re in some trouble. It’s that simple,” MacLeod said while flanked by Victoria Bach and Mannon McMahon, Ottawa’s two goal scorers, at the post-game grilling session. “These teams are so even, but we weren’t even tonight with Toronto. They outplayed us. They deserve that win.”
MacLeod later intercepted two questions directed to her players as if it was 2007 and she was steering forwards away from Canada’s net at the women’s world championship again.
The second query came from a savvy veteran scribe who asked McMahon if this weekend’s takeaway tour game in Quebec City against Montreal might be viewed as a good chance to regroup from a lifeless loss.
MacLeod leaned forward to pick it off.
“We’re 10 games in (to the season),” she said in a shielding tone. “That’s two phases of five and we just had a really strong five-game phase. It’s not lost on us that tonight wasn’t what we wanted, but you look at the collective five games and we did a really nice job with the bulk of that being on the road.
“It’s now that reset moment (of) OK, how do we go into these next five? You’re growing in your first 10 games, but in your next 10, you really have to make sure you know what your identity is and start to establish it because that final 10 is a push. That’s kind of how the season works.
“So for us, it’s not about a timeliness of anything, it’s about recognizing in the last five games we made some gains and there are areas we definitely know we can get better in, and how do we implement that in those next five?
“I don’t think there’s anything that we’re worrying about, it’s just that next phase of development. Let’s establish our identity, so when teams face us, they know exactly what they’re going to get.”
With that, the availability was over and the coach and her players rose to leave the room.
MacLeod let the media know how she felt as she got up.
“It’s like a roller coaster every game with you guys, eh?” she said.
Absolutely it is.
Nice fluffy questions are asked when you play well and tougher questions are posed when you don’t.
That’s the nature of a relationship between a team and the reporters who cover it in professional sports.
TIGHTER THAN A SIZE 7 FOOT IN A SIZE 6 SKATE
If you’re a casual observer of the PWHL standings, you’re probably wondering what has happened to the Sceptres. Last season they finished the regular season first with 47 points (13-4-0-7), which was six more than second-place Montreal and 15 more than fifth-place Ottawa.
One-third of the way into the 2024-25 campaign, they’re last with 11 points (3-0-2-5). But four of their defeats have been by one goal and from only two of them have they taken a point in an overtime result. The only two one-goal losses that they left with nothing came against Ottawa.
Meanwhile, Toronto is only one point behind Boston, three behind Ottawa and New York, six behind Montreal and eight back of league-leading Minnesota.
In a league that rewards a regulation-time win with three points, it really is a tight race, with every game having much importance.
Just the way the PWHL wants it.
WHO WON THE BIG DEC. 30 TRADE BETWEEN THE CHARGE AND SCEPTRES?
Obviously, it’s way too early to tell.
But in a four-game small sample size for both teams since Jocelyne Larocque and Victoria Bach were sent to Ottawa for Hayley Scamura and Savannah Harmon, the Charge have seven points (2-0-1-1) and the Sceptres have four points (1-0-1-2).
Both Scamurra and Harmon are minus-2 and looking for their first points as Sceptres, while Larocque has one assist and an even-rating, and Bach has emerged as the early steal, with two goals, two assists and a plus-2.
WHO HAS BEEN THE CHARGE’S MVP THROUGH ONE-THIRD OF THE SEASON?
That’s an easy one: Maschmeyer.
Along with a 4-0-1-3 record, she has a sparkling 2.13 goals against average and a save percentage (.933 ) that is second-best in the league.
Other numbers that stand out are her minutes played.
Maschmeyer led all goaltenders with 1,332:07 of ice time in 2024 and the Charge wanted to lessen her workload this season. But with six more games on the schedule, the 30-year-old is on pace to eclipse her record numbers with 479:45 — that makes her the league’s second-busiest puck-stopper behind only Boston’s Aerin Frankel (487:58).
Ottawa’s goalie room also includes Gwyneth Philips and Logan Angers, and while they may turn out to be good ones, both are 25-year-old rookies.
With every game being a big one, it’s tough for MacLeod to keep her best player on the bench.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.