Ottawa Charge's Storybook Season Ends in Tears
Despite a heartbreaking Game 4 loss, the Charge overcame impossible odds to reach the PWHL final—and inspired a city in the process.
The Ottawa Charge's remarkable season ended Wednesday night the way so many good stories do: not with triumph, but with the raw, unfiltered emotion of people who gave everything and came just short.
Down 4-0 to Montreal in Game 4 of the Walter Cup final at Canadian Tire Centre, the Charge stared down elimination. They'd already defied every oddsmaker in the league—picked to finish last after losing their top goal scorer, franchise goaltender, and two solid defenders to expansion and free agency, they clawed their way back into the playoff conversation with a franchise-record six-game winning streak in January. They beat Boston in the first round despite being 18 points behind in the standings. They pushed Montreal to the brink twice, coming within three seconds of stealing Game 1 and staging a dramatic comeback in Game 3 before a playoff record crowd of 16,894.
But Wednesday, the bounces didn't go their way. A jailbreak goal late in the third. A turnover in front of the net. Four goals in the loss that felt like a lifetime.
What made the postgame press conference unforgettable wasn't the score, though. It was coach Carla MacLeod, who'd been diagnosed with breast cancer midseason, visibly composing herself as captain Brianne Jenner spoke about her battle. "It's pretty unbelievable when the leader of your program comes in every day the same way, the same energy, the same positivity," Jenner said, her voice breaking. By the time MacLeod spoke—talking about how her team had wrapped her in support when she had to step away for treatment—all three were in tears.
"And when I had to step away, it was unbelievable to me how this team, players and staff, just engulfed me with support, love, and said 'go take care of you, we've got us,'" MacLeod said. "I'm grateful for this group. I'm grateful for these ladies. It's been a year."
Defender Jocelyn Larocque summed it up best: "This group was so special. We were so resilient. We had so much love for each other. It's truly a group I won't forget."
Expansion will scatter this roster next season. But for now, the city can sit with what they built—not just on the ice, but in that room.