The Montreal Victoire lost their pre-season opener 3-1 to the Boston Fleet on Wednesday afternoon at the Verdun Auditorium. It was a chance for both teams to play for the first time, with the season opener just over a week away.
Montreal dressed their top line of Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Lina Ljungblom but their expected second line centre Kristin O’Neill sat out as did second-round pick Jennifer Gardiner. Both are expected to play on Friday in the team’s second and final pre-season game. Also out for Montreal was Amanda Boulier, who was a regular at practice as she works back from an off-season injury. Dominika Lásková, Kennedy Marchment, and Catherine Dubois are all expected to miss the start of the season. First-round pick Cayla Barnes is still out but the team hasn’t officially ruled her out of the season opener.
What is the roster situation?
Warning, the following paragraph has math. Montreal has 31 players at camp, one under the maximum allowed. The team will have to name 23 players to the active roster and three reserve players, which means 26 players. Players on injured reserve and long-term injured reserve do not count towards the limit. Montreal has five goaltenders in camp, which means at least two will be cut, which brings the total to 29. The team has three players currently expected to miss the start of the season, which means players are battling for active roster spots.
Players who are tryouts must be placed on waivers before signing a reserve contract, meaning that other teams can offer them an active roster spot and standard player agreement.
Who is fighting for spots?
If we assume that all players under contract will get a spot on the roster (not an absolute given since some contracts are not guaranteed), there are 10 healthy forwards, four healthy defenders (counting Cayla Barnes as injured right now) and two healthy goaltenders. This leaves three roster spots for forwards, three for defenders, and one goaltender, with then three reserve spots. Montreal could decide to use an additional roster spot for a skater and have a goaltender on reserve as well, but lets assume they do not do that for simplicity’s sake.
Let’s look at each position
Forwards
Signed: Laura Stacey, Jennifer Gardiner, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Maureen Murphy, Abigail Boreen, Lina Ljungblom, Marie-Philip Poulin, Claire Dalton, Kristin O’Neill
Injured: Catherine Dubois, Kennedy Marchment
Unsigned: Gabrielle David, Alexandra Labelle, Sarah Bujold, Dara Greig, Clair DeGeorge
The five unsigned players are essentially fighting to see who gets the three active roster spots to start the season. The standouts in the first pre-season game were Labelle (who centred Murphy and Boreen on the team’s second line) and Greig and DeGeorge (who, along with Claire Dalton, were one of the more effective lines on the ice). Bujold and David, however, have experience with the team from last season. If you’re looking for the toughest battle at camp, look no further.
Defence
Signed: Erin Ambrose, Kati Tabin, Mariah Keopple, Amanda Boulier
Injured: Dominika Lásková, Cayla Barnes
Unsigned: Catherine Daoust, Anna Wilgren, Kelly-Ann Nadeau, Anna Kjellbin
This battle is a little easier to handicap. Wilgren and Kjellbin are both likely to be ahead of the others. Whether or not Barnes is ready to start the season, they are likely to make the team regardless.
A lot rides on Barnes’ status. If she is not ready to start the season, Daoust and Nadeau, both Montreal-based, will be fighting for the seventh defender spot with the other likely to get a reserve spot. if Barnes is ready for the season, they are likely to battle for a reserve spot. Daoust played last year with the Victoire, while Nadeau played at the Université de Montréal.
Goaltenders
Signed: Ann-Renée Desbiens, Elaine Chuli
Unsigned: Marlène Boissonnault, Sandra Abstreiter, Tricia Deguire
Boissonnault was the third goaltender last year but did not get into game action, and didn’t even dress in uniform for a game. Abstreiter was the backup in Ottawa a year ago, while Deguire took a year away from playing after time at McGill University and the Montreal Force of the PHF.
Abstreiter is likely the top goaltender of the group, but the question is will she willing to sit behind two more established goaltenders and bide her time. She is the top German goaltender, and it is not ideal for her to be sitting without playing. Last year, she played in only three games with Ottawa before an outstanding World Championship: 3-2-0 record, 1.50 goals against average, and .950 save percentage.
What happened in the game?
Hilary Knight scored two goals on Ann-Renée Desbiens and Shay Maloney added an empty netter in the 3-1 Boston win. Maureen Murphy scored for Montreal.
Un beau p’tit but de Murphy 😎
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) November 20, 2024
What’s up 21! pic.twitter.com/wxTZfvMpxr
Boreen had an outstanding chance to tie the game, with a wide open net at the side of the net with the extra attacker. She missed the net, and Boston went the other way.
Desbiens made 22 saves on 24 shots through the first two periods. Abstreiter played the third period and saved all seven shots she faced. Montreal was outshot in the game 32-28.
The biggest shakeup came with the league’s new “No Escape” Rule. The rule forces the players on the ice to not change after a penalty is taken that leads to a power play. An example: the line of Poulin, Stacey, and Ljungblom is on the ice and the pairing of Ambrose and Tabin. Tabin takes a penalty. The next penalty kill starts with Poulin, Stacey, Ljungblom, and Ambrose on the ice, similar to an icing call.
The rule is to increase scoring opportunities and to attempt to even out the rule that allows a shorthanded goal to end the power play completely. To combat that, Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie played 17 players while shorthanded, including putting scoring forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis on defence. The reason is because any player could find themselves playing on the penalty kill depending on whether they are on the ice when a penalty is called. Cheverie also mentioned that all players will now be part of the penalty kill meeting.
