MONTREAL 鈥� Laura Stacey learned a lot about playoff hockey in her first trip to the Professional Women's Hockey League post-season a year ago.
The razor-thin margins. The gruelling physical demands. The resilience needed to rise back up after a crushing defeat.
Stacey will draw from that experience when her Montreal Victoire face the Ottawa Charge in a best-of-five semifinal series, beginning Thursday at Place Bell in Laval, Que.
The Victoire forward and many of her teammates will also try to turn the page on last year鈥檚 agonizing opening-round loss, when Montreal dropped three straight games to Boston in overtime.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 a new year,鈥� Stacey said. 鈥淟et's take those memories, let's take that as motivation. But then we have a completely new team here. We have a different mindset, a different approach, a different opponent.鈥�
An opponent they chose.
The Victoire (12 regulation wins, seven overtime wins, three overtime losses, eight regulation losses) led the standings and earned the right to select the third-place Charge (12-2-4-12) over the fourth-place and defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost.
The decision sets up a series between the six-team PWHL鈥檚 closest geographical rivals, while Minnesota and the Toronto Sceptres battle it out in the other semifinal matchup.
"We're extremely motivated, regardless of that situation. But yeah, I think it puts a little extra chip on your shoulder,鈥� Charge captain Brianne Jenner said of Montreal鈥檚 pick.
Ottawa made the playoffs for the first time after falling short in the PWHL鈥檚 inaugural season.
The Charge clinched with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over the Sceptres on the regular season鈥檚 final day. They finished in a three-way tie with Minnesota and Boston, which lost the regulation wins tiebreaker.
Montreal led the season series 4-2, but Ottawa won their two most recent meetings, including a 3-2 victory on April 26.
"It's a team that showed during the season that it could be really tough and fast,鈥� Montreal goalie Ann-Ren茅e Desbiens said. 鈥淎t the end of the year, when they needed wins, they were able to go out and get them."
Backstopped by Desbiens, who led all goalies in every major statistical category, the Victoire allowed the fewest goals this season (67) while scoring the second-most (77).
The Charge, meanwhile, tied for last in both with 71 goals for and 80 against.
And Ottawa will have its hands full trying to stifle Montreal鈥檚 high-powered first line.
Stacey, captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Jennifer Gardiner 鈥� three members of Canada鈥檚 national team 鈥� combined for 35 goals this season, including a league-best 19 from Poulin.
鈥淥ur mindset and mentality is to prepare with excitement,鈥� said Charge forward Emily Clark, likely to be matched up against Poulin this series. 鈥淚t's a fun challenge. Everyone knows Marie-Philip Poulin and how amazing of a player she is.
鈥淵ou want to play against the best, and you want to push yourself.鈥�
A question for the Victoire is whether they can get scoring from deeper down the lineup. Abby Boreen, Montreal鈥檚 next-best point producer, hasn鈥檛 scored in 15 games, although Catherine Dubois has caught fire with goals in three straight.
Lack of depth was a glaring issue last year, when defender Erin Ambrose famously played 61 minutes in a triple-overtime Game 2 against Boston.
Stacey and Poulin also totalled eye-popping ice times as Kori Cheverie shortened the bench, a decision the head coach still staunchly defends.
"We're going to use the players who are going to put us in the best position to win,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll three games went to overtime. It was our three best games of the year that just didn't end in the right result.
鈥淚f Erin is the best to be on the ice in that moment, she's the best to be on the ice in that moment, regardless of if she's played 100 minutes or 1,000 minutes that game, we're going to use her."
The Victoire lost some steam late in the season, dropping six of eight games before winning their final two outings.
The Charge won four of five down the stretch, scoring by committee while rookie goalie Gwyneth Philips held it down in the crease.
Philips, a U.S. national team member, replaced injured starter Emerance Maschmeyer in March and is riding a hot streak into the playoffs.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen recently, Gwyn Philips is really good in nets, we鈥檒l need to put a lot of traffic,鈥� Poulin said. 鈥淭hey have a really physical defence 鈥� and on offence there鈥檚 Jenner, Clark, (Tereza) Vanisova 鈥� extremely good players.鈥�
Poulin鈥檚 trophy chest is brimming with hardware, but a Walter Cup is missing now that the PWHL is established.
"It's a dream,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e all want to win it."
The Charge hope to make her wait at least one more year before hoisting the league鈥檚 trophy.
"We've had a pretty good rivalry going with them all season,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淥ur last game against them last week definitely felt like playoff hockey, with the physicality, the intensity, the emotion.
鈥淚 can only imagine what it'll be like Thursday night.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
