Ottawa Charge Explained

Current:2024–25 Ottawa Charge season
Bg Color:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#A6192E 5px solid; border-bottom:#4B4F54 5px solid;
Team:Ottawa Charge
City:Ottawa, Ontario
League:PWHL
Arena:TD Place Arena
Colours:Red, gold, white and storm
Owner:Mark Walter Group
Gm:Michael Hirshfeld
Coach:Carla MacLeod
Captain:Brianne Jenner
Championships1 Type:Walter Cups
Championships1:0

The Ottawa Charge (fr|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

Founding and inaugural season

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] 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. 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

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.

Players and personnel

Current roster

[21] [22]

Reserves

[21]

Team captains

Head coaches

First-round draft picks

See main article: List of Ottawa Charge draft picks.

Notes and References

  1. News: Wyshynski . Greg . August 29, 2023 . Six inaugural franchises revealed for new PWHL . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230901224830/https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38282089/new-professional-women-hockey-league-reveals-six-franchises . September 1, 2023 . September 5, 2023 . . en.
  2. News: Donkin . Karissa . November 16, 2023 . How PWHL Ottawa was built from scratch in less than 80 days . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231201034906/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwhl/pwhl-ottawa-first-camp-day-2-1.7030975 . December 1, 2023 . December 17, 2023 . .
  3. News: September 2, 2023 . Ottawa's pro women's hockey team to share TD Place Arena with junior 67's . https://web.archive.org/web/20231103221138/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawas-pro-womens-hockey-team-to-share-td-place-arena-with-junior-67s . November 3, 2023 . September 5, 2023 . Ottawa Citizen.
  4. News: September 16, 2023 . Carla MacLeod named head coach of Ottawa's PWHL team . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231209225757/https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2023/09/16/carla-macleod-named-head-coach-of-ottawas-pwhl-team/ . December 9, 2023 . January 5, 2024 . CityNews.
  5. News: Jenner, Clark, Maschmeyer become PWHL's first players after signing with Ottawa . September 5, 2023 . . September 5, 2023 . en . September 5, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230905183732/https://www.sportsnet.ca/women-hockey/article/jenner-clark-maschmeyer-become-pwhls-first-players-after-signing-with-ottawa/ . live .
  6. News: Kennedy . Ian . Jenner, Maschmeyer, Clark Sign With PWHL Ottawa . September 5, 2023 . . September 5, 2023 . en . September 5, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230905231037/https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/jenner-mashmeyer-clark-signs-with-pwhl-ottawa . live .
  7. News: Kennedy . Ian . September 18, 2023 . Savannah Harmon Chosen 5th Overall By Ottawa . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231102201932/https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/savannah-harmon-chosen-5th-overall-by-ottawa-pwhl-draft . November 2, 2023 . September 19, 2023 . The Hockey News.
  8. News: Kennedy . Ian . October 17, 2023 . PWHL Ottawa Hires Assistant Coaches, Goalie Coach . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231114201848/https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/pwhl-ottawa-hires-assistant-coaches-goalie-coach . November 14, 2023 . October 18, 2023 . The Hockey News.
  9. News: Kennedy . Ian . November 23, 2023 . PWHL Releases Jersey Designs . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231114154251/https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/pwhl-releases-jersey-designs . November 14, 2023 . November 14, 2023 . The Hockey News.
  10. News: Donkin . Karissa . December 29, 2023 . Marie-Philip Poulin, Brianne Jenner named captains of PWHL Montreal, Ottawa . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231231052420/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwhl/pwhl-montreal-ottawa-captains-1.7071370 . December 31, 2023 . January 5, 2024 . CBC Sports.
  11. News: Brennan . Don . January 2, 2024 . A Night to Remember: Montreal scores OT win in Ottawa's historic PWHL opener . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240104225658/https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/pwhl/a-night-to-remember-montreal-scores-ot-win-in-ottawas-historic-pwhl-opener . January 4, 2024 . January 5, 2024 . Ottawa Sun.
  12. News: Ibrahim . Abdulhamid . January 13, 2024 . Ottawa rides fast start, 2 power-play goals to 1st-ever PWHL win . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240114204842/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwhl/pwhl-ottawa-toronto-recap-jan-13-1.7082882 . January 14, 2024 . January 25, 2024 . CBC Sports . The Canadian Press.
  13. News: January 23, 2024 . Ottawa finally wins PWHL game at home, beats Toronto . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240124033749/https://www.tsn.ca/pwhl/ottawa-finally-wins-pwhl-game-at-home-beats-toronto-1.2066841 . January 24, 2024 . January 25, 2024 . TSN . The Canadian Press.
  14. Web site: Adams . Alex . May 6, 2024 . 'It Hurts' - PWHL Ottawa Misses The Playoffs . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240506145041/https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/it-hurts-pwhl-ottawa-misses-the-playoffs . May 6, 2024 . May 21, 2024 . . Roustan Media . . en.
  15. News: Pringle . Josh . May 6, 2024 . Ottawa now a destination for PWHL players following inaugural season, GM says . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240509061807/https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ottawa-now-a-destination-for-pwhl-players-following-inaugural-season-gm-says-1.6874871 . May 9, 2024 . June 9, 2024 . CTV News Ottawa.
  16. News: Brennan . Don . May 6, 2024 . Shuffling the deck: PWHL Ottawa to make '7 or 8' player changes after missing playoffs . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240507184905/https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/pwhl/shuffling-the-deck-pwhl-ottawa-to-make-7-or-8-player-changes-after-missing-playoffs . May 7, 2024 . May 21, 2024 . Ottawa Citizen.
  17. Web site: Ibrahim . Abdulhamid . January 2, 2024 . PWHL sorting out missing pieces like team names and logos as it goes along . limited . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240118121106/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/article-pwhl-sorting-out-missing-pieces-like-team-names-and-logos-as-it-goes/ . January 18, 2024 . 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..
  18. News: Steele . Alistair . November 4, 2023 . Ottawa Alert a tribute to women who helped break the ice a century ago . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231105103623/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-alert-a-tribute-to-women-who-helped-break-the-ice-a-century-ago-1.7015481 . November 5, 2023 . October 8, 2024 . CBC News.
  19. News: Wawrow . John . September 9, 2024 . PWHL reveals names, logos for all 6 franchises ahead of second season . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240910150437/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwhl/pwhl-names-logos-reveal-1.7317373 . September 10, 2024 . October 8, 2024 . . The Associated Press.
  20. News: Kennedy . Ian . September 9, 2024 . These Were The Final Four Names In Contention For Each Of The PWHL's Six Teams . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240909151513/https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/these-were-the-final-four-names-in-contention-for-each-of-the-pwhls-six-teams . September 9, 2024 . October 8, 2024 . The Hockey News.
  21. Web site: OTTAWA CHARGE ANNOUNCE 2024-25 ROSTER . November 29, 2024.
  22. Web site: Ottawa Charge Roster 2024-25 Preseason. November 29, 2024.

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