How Ottawa Charge Rebuilt to Reach PWHL Final

The Ottawa Charge weren't supposed to compete this season. Expansion had stripped them of key defenders and scorers, and analysts had pencilled them into the basement of the Professional Women's Hockey League standings.

Yet there they were in Laval, Quebec, preparing for the Walter Cup final after a rebuild that GM Mike Hirshfeld and his staff executed with surgical precision. Speaking between playoff games, Hirshfeld reflected on how Ottawa managed to field a team capable of challenging for the championship despite losing more than 30 goals to expansion and free agency.

The secret was focus. "We just put our head down, and we're like, 'OK, we've got to rebuild this, here we go again, let's do this,'" Hirshfeld said. Rather than chase superstars—a luxury reserved for teams picking higher—the Charge zeroed in on a very specific type of player: skaters. "If you can skate, you're going to be in a good spot," he said.

The strategy paid off across the draft class. Rory Guilday, the first-round pick from Cornell, became a defensive anchor despite her 5-11 frame, finishing with the third-most hits in the league. Sarah Wozniewicz, a third-round selection, became the highest-scoring rookie on the roster with 17 goals and was the first player in league history to record a point in four straight playoff games. Peyton Hemp emerged as a shutdown forward, and Fanuza Kadirova, a 5-4 Russian import, overcame physicality concerns to lead the team with 17 goals.

Even when a swing-for-the-fences pick like Anna Shokhina didn't work out in Ottawa, Hirshfeld wasn't afraid to pivot mid-season, trading her to Vancouver and bringing in Walter Cup experience. That flexibility, combined with shrewd free-agency adds like defender Brooke Hobson, kept the team competitive through the regular season and into the finals.

The Charge may have lost this year's championship, but they've proven that smart scouting and clear identity beat raw talent when resources are limited.