Ottawa Charge
| Ottawa Charge Charge d'Ottawa (French) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Ottawa, Ontario |
| League | PWHL |
| Founded | August 29, 2023 |
| Home arena | TD Place Arena |
| Colours | Red, gold, white and storm |
| Owner(s) | Mark Walter Group |
| General manager | Michael Hirshfeld |
| Head coach | Carla MacLeod |
| Captain | Brianne Jenner |
| Website | ottawa.thepwhl.com |
| Championships | |
| Walter Cups | 0 |
 Current season | |
The Ottawa Charge (French: Charge d'Ottawa) are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario. They are one of the six charter franchises of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They play their home games at TD Place Arena.
History
[edit]Founding and inaugural season
[edit]On August 29, 2023, it was announced that one of the PWHL's first six franchises would be located in Ottawa.[1] Michael Hirshfeld, former executive director of the National Hockey League Coaches' Association, was named the team's general manager, and the Arena at TD Place, its home venue.[2][3] On September 15, Carla MacLeod, a former member of the Canadian national team and the head coach of the Czech women's national team, was named Ottawa's first head coach.[4] Each PWHL team was permitted three signings during the free-agency period, ahead of the 2023 PWHL Draft. Ottawa signed Canadian national team players Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, and Emerance Maschmeyer on September 5, 2023.[5] Each signed a three-year deal lasting through to the 2025–26 season.[6] Next, 15 players were selected in the league's September 18 draft, with Ottawa's first pick being American national team member Savannah Harmon.[7] On October 17, it was announced that Haley Irwin and Cassea Schols would be assistant coaches and Pierre Groulx would be the goaltending coach.[8]
The team colours—and jerseys—were officially revealed on November 14, 2023, as red, dark 'storm' blue, and white.[9]
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Ahead of the start of the inaugural 2023–24 season, Ottawa announced that Jenner would serve as team captain, with Clark and Jincy Roese serving as alternate captains.[10] The first game in franchise history took place on January 2, 2024, when Ottawa hosted PWHL Montreal at the TD Place Arena. The game set a new attendance record for a professional women's hockey game at 8,318.[11] Hayley Scamurra scored the first goal in franchise history to give the hosts a 1–0 lead; however, Montreal would go on to win in overtime with a 3–2 score.[11] Ottawa secured its first win at its second game, a 5–1 win against PWHL Toronto on January 13.[12] Its first win at home came on January 23, also against Toronto.[13] Ottawa would go on to miss the inaugural PWHL playoffs, eliminated from contention with a 5–2 loss against Toronto in the last game of the season.[14] However, despite missing the playoffs, Ottawa led the PWHL in attendance during its inaugural season.[15] Ottawa's finish meant they were awarded the second overall selection in the 2024 PWHL draft.[16]
Team identity
[edit]
Like all charter PWHL franchises, Ottawa operated without unique branding for the league's inaugural season—the team wore a league-wide jersey template that featured the city's name diagonally on the front, and was known as PWHL Ottawa.[17] The team did have its own colour scheme, featuring red and black. The league registered a trademark in October 2023 for the name Ottawa Alert, seemingly in homage to the early twentieth-century women's "world series" champion Ottawa Alerts.[18] However, Ottawa was ultimately given the name Charge when franchise names were unveiled by the PWHL in September 2024. The name Charge references Ottawa's motto, "Advance—Ottawa—En Avant".[19] The Hockey News reported that other names in contention for Ottawa included Advance—another clear reference to the motto—and Guard.[20] In addition to the Charge name, the league unveiled the team's logo, an in-motion unfinished circle that references "OC" initials; yellow was also added to the team's colour scheme.[19]
Players and personnel
[edit]Current roster
[edit]
Reserves
[edit]| No. | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 
|
Malia Schneider | F | R | 26 | 2024 | Millarville, Alberta |
| 95 |
|
Audrey-Ann Veillette | F | R | 23 | 2024 | Drummondville, Quebec |
Team captains
[edit]- Brianne Jenner, 2023–present
Head coaches
[edit]- Carla MacLeod, 2023–present
First-round draft picks
[edit]- 2023: Savannah Harmon (5th overall)
- 2024: Danielle Serdachny (2nd overall)
References
[edit]- ^ Wyshynski, Greg (August 29, 2023). "Six inaugural franchises revealed for new PWHL". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ Donkin, Karissa (November 16, 2023). "How PWHL Ottawa was built from scratch in less than 80 days". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
- ^ "Ottawa's pro women's hockey team to share TD Place Arena with junior 67's". Ottawa Citizen. September 2, 2023. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ "Carla MacLeod named head coach of Ottawa's PWHL team". CityNews. September 16, 2023. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ "Jenner, Clark, Maschmeyer become PWHL's first players after signing with Ottawa". Sportsnet. September 5, 2023. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ Kennedy, Ian (September 5, 2023). "Jenner, Maschmeyer, Clark Sign With PWHL Ottawa". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ Kennedy, Ian (September 18, 2023). "Savannah Harmon Chosen 5th Overall By Ottawa". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ^ Kennedy, Ian (October 17, 2023). "PWHL Ottawa Hires Assistant Coaches, Goalie Coach". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
- ^ Kennedy, Ian (November 23, 2023). "PWHL Releases Jersey Designs". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
- ^ Donkin, Karissa (December 29, 2023). "Marie-Philip Poulin, Brianne Jenner named captains of PWHL Montreal, Ottawa". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on December 31, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ a b Brennan, Don (January 2, 2024). "A Night to Remember: Montreal scores OT win in Ottawa's historic PWHL opener". Ottawa Sun. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Ibrahim, Abdulhamid (January 13, 2024). "Ottawa rides fast start, 2 power-play goals to 1st-ever PWHL win". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ "Ottawa finally wins PWHL game at home, beats Toronto". TSN. The Canadian Press. January 23, 2024. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ Adams, Alex (May 6, 2024). "'It Hurts' - PWHL Ottawa Misses The Playoffs". The Hockey News. Brantford, Ontario: Roustan Media. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ Pringle, Josh (May 6, 2024). "Ottawa now a destination for PWHL players following inaugural season, GM says". CTV News Ottawa. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Brennan, Don (May 6, 2024). "Shuffling the deck: PWHL Ottawa to make '7 or 8' player changes after missing playoffs". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ Ibrahim, Abdulhamid (January 2, 2024). "PWHL sorting out missing pieces like team names and logos as it goes along". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
However there are some missing pieces, such as names and logos for the six teams. "I don't, I don't," PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten said Monday on whether he has a timeline for those key elements to be included.
- ^ Steele, Alistair (November 4, 2023). "Ottawa Alert a tribute to women who helped break the ice a century ago". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Wawrow, John (September 9, 2024). "PWHL reveals names, logos for all 6 franchises ahead of second season". CBC Sports. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ Kennedy, Ian (September 9, 2024). "These Were The Final Four Names In Contention For Each Of The PWHL's Six Teams". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Donkin, Karissa (December 12, 2023). "PWHL teams release final 23-player rosters ahead of Jan. 1 season opener". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "PWHL Ottawa Roster 2024 Regular Season". ThePWHL.com. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) Roster Updates". March 22, 2024.
