I wasn’t alive when Phil Esposito gave his speech during the 1972 Summit Series. I wasn’t in the room when Wayne Gretzky spoke to the media at the 2002 Olympics. When I was listening to Montreal Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie get on the media for being too negative, I was in the room, and my mind instantly went to those two moments.
While those moments defined Canadian hockey on an international stage, Cheverie’s comments reflect something different, a coach navigating the pressures of expectation in a city where winning isn’t just a goal, it’s the standard. Is that harsh? Maybe, but that’s hockey in Montreal. The team itself is literally named for it. Patrick Roy once said that hockey is a religion in the city, and you’re either a sinner or a saint, there is no in between.
If you haven’t seen or heard what was said by Cheverie at the post-game conference after Montreal’s 1-0 loss to the New York Sirens on Tuesday, here’s a recap. Cheverie was asked by Radio-Canada’s Christine Roger about whether the PWHL’s international break is poorly timed with the issues the team is having. Cheverie replied that she feels she has been asked that several times over the last few weeks. Roger then responded that there have been games played since then and the vibes would have been different with a win rather than a loss.
“I celebrated so many positive things,” Cheverie said. “And I think that’s what we need to focus on a little bit instead of being negative all the time. It’s constant.”
Cheverie was then asked if she meant the media’s questioning to which she said yes.
“The vibe in the room, [Jennifer] Gardiner misses an empty net on a six-on-five, we lift her up. We don’t take her down. Our penalty kill was amazing. [Goaltender Elaine Chuli] was amazing. Our power play had great looks. That’s what we’re celebrating in the room. We’re not down on ourselves because that locker room is really, really special and there’s really great things that are happening in that dressing room.”
“Do I hate to lose?” Cheverie continued. “A hundred percent. That’s where my mood is at right now. But in terms of being proud of that team, it’s through the roof. So I hope that when [the players] come in here, you guys can celebrate some of their positive things. It would be nice.”
As a member of said media, and like I said, I was in the room, I reflected on her critique. While I can’t speak for everyone, I thought about my role. Was I being too harsh? Too negative? On the surface, it looks odd to see the recent negative line of questioning when a team has been in first place for most of the season and holds a one-game lead over second place. They are the only team at this moment to have a playoff spot clinched. That’s part of the context.
Another part of the context is that since the team had their six-game winning streak snapped on February 18, they have gone 5-7, and of those games they are 2-5 in regulation. With the PWHL’s point system, that matters. Flipping even two of those games could be a six-point swing.
The final part of the context is that the team had only 16 shots against the team in last place and this game came right after they had 17 shots in a 4-1 win. This wasn’t only about one game, or two, but a trend.
So is this line of questioning, this downturn of vibes, a result of their own success? Perhaps. They are also a victim of their past. While the team doesn’t like to dwell on how last season ended, it’s an important part of the story. Cheverie has said multiple times, including at the start of this season, that those three games in the playoffs were the best three games they played all year. It ended in them being swept with three overtime losses.
You can harp on process, and its importance, and yes, it is important, but process doesn’t always lead to winning. Montreal defender Erin Ambrose called those types of games “infuriating.” The issue here is that Montreal didn’t get robbed by a hot goaltender. New York’s Corinne Schroeder made 16 saves and not many were from dangerous areas.
That’s beside the point. Cheverie wasn’t taking the media to task because of this one game, and I think part of it was just her general frustration. I think the bigger part of it was that she wanted to be clear to us and her players that she had their backs.
The media’s role isn’t to sugarcoat a team’s struggles, nor is it to dwell on failure. In a market like Montreal, scrutiny comes with the territory. Cheverie knows that. But in this moment, her message was clear. She wants her players to feel supported, not scrutinized. However, that’s her job not ours. We know why she’s saying it, and I understand where she’s coming from, but we don’t need to take direction from it.
Asking negative questions after the Victoire lost 1-0 to the team in last place while being outshot 31-16 gets the line of questioning it, frankly, deserves.
Even Cheverie herself called out the team’s second period (“we basically wasted 20 minutes”) and the team’s lack of secondary scoring (“At the end of the day, the players have a great opportunity to take a spot and run with it and they’re not.”)
She knows the media’s role. This isn’t really about a women’s professional league coming into its own and facing criticism for the first time. Last season had just as many downs than ups. I also didn’t take her comments personally. She has her own role too, and part of it is to stand up for her players. To instil confidence when some questions might take it away.
It’s perhaps fitting that one of the players to follow Cheverie in the press conference room was Kristin O’Neill. The forward has been penciled into the team’s second line from the time she was the team’s second-round pick in 2023. On Tuesday, she was listed on the fourth line. In her last 20 games, she has one assist.
She’s definitely not the only reason that Montreal has only four goals (out of 21 total) when a member of the top line (Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Jenn Gardiner) is not on the ice over the last 11 games.
“I want to help the team in any way I can,” said O’Neill. “It is a mentally challenging situation, but that’s what practice is for. I have a lot of great resources around me, great teammates to ask questions to and lean on for support.”
For O’Neill and the rest of the team, the challenges are clear. But so is Cheverie’s message. This is a team still fighting for a championship, and she’s standing by them every step of the way.
