The Montreal Victoire defeated the Ottawa Charge 4-0 in Game 4 of the 2026 Walter Cup final to clinch the franchise’s first-ever Walter Cup championship on Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Abby Roque scored twice, including a shorthanded beauty in the third period to provide the buffer the team needed. Ann-Renée Desbiens made 23 saves in the shutout win.
Maggie Flaherty also scored in the third period to make it 3-0 with a seeing-eye shot from the point. Flaherty is the first player to win three Walter Cups, having won two with the Minnesota Frost before coming over in free agency this summer. Lina Ljungblom added a fourth.
With 10:02 remaining in the third period and Marie-Philip Poulin in the penalty box, Roque broke free on a breakaway before moving to the backhand and roofing the puck over Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips.
She opened the scoring with a goal 3:49 into the second period with a turnaround shot that hit off of the stick of Ottawa defender Rory Guilday before beating Philips.
Poulin was named the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
It is the first professional women’s hockey championship in the city since Les Canadiennes won the 2017 Clarkson Cup, also at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Postgame reaction
(collected by SheilaP)
As the celebration unfolded on the ice, emotions poured out from Montreal’s players and coaches after capturing the franchise’s first Walter Cup title.
Captain Marie-Philip Poulin: “It’s very special, honestly, lots of emotion, but being able to do that with this group, it’s surreal.”
Poulin, who battled through injury during the playoffs and was named playoff MVP was asked how much pain she was in during the run, she said, “Lots, but it’s all worth it.”
When talking about Abby Roque’s jailbreak goal, Poulin said, “I think I peed a little in the penalty box, I was so excited”, she added, “I thought they were gonna go straight to the bench, but I’m so happy they came to see me.”
Alternate captain Erin Ambrose had nothing but praise for her captain, “She deserved this more than anybody in the world […] she’s the best player in the world, and she still won’t accept it.”
When Maggie Flaherty was asked about playing for the Victoire she said, “It’s one big family, it’s one of the closest teams I’ve ever been on, and there really is no one more deserving that this team to win this thing.”
After playing such closely contended battles during these playoffs, this decisive 4-0 win was icing on the cake. Hayley Scamurra, who is the first PWHL player to win an Olympic gold medal and a Walter Cup in the same season said, “I knew we were going to break through at some point […] it felt really good to have that for the last game here.”
Abby Roque: “The things that we battled through during these playoffs were just out of this world […] the amount of heart on this team. I love everybody and I couldn’t be prouder.”
When Poulin was asked what it means for Montreal to win their first Walter Cup she said, “It was very special. It’s been a tough year, I’m not going to lie, since February. It was ups and downs, coming back to this group, just fighting through. It hasn’t been easy—injuries, sickness, a lot of things—but we stuck together. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy in this building when we showed up today, but we remained patient with our game.”
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