Montréal Victoire wins first Walter Cup with 20,000 celebrating downtown
PWHL champions defeat Ottawa Charge, parade through Quartier des Spectacles draws massive crowd.
An estimated 20,000 people flooded the Quartier des Spectacles Saturday for the Montréal Victoire's first championship parade, celebrating the team's Walter Cup victory over the Ottawa Charge.
The celebration marked a historic moment for the franchise, which claimed the Professional Women's Hockey League title for the first time in the organization's brief history. The energy downtown reflected how quickly the team has captured the city's imagination since its inaugural season.
Photographer Jean-François Savaria documented the scene, capturing crowds that stretched through the downtown entertainment district. The parade route took fans through one of the city's most visible and accessible public spaces, turning the championship into a shared civic moment rather than a contained arena event.
The victory arrives as the PWHL enters its second season, and Montréal's success signals the league's growing hold on Canadian cities—particularly in a market where hockey runs deep but professional women's hockey remains relatively new. The Victoire's ability to draw this many people to the streets speaks to both the team's appeal and the hunger for women's professional sports in the city.