Victoire need depth to step up this season
Published
The Montreal Victoire finished second overall in the regular season with 41 points, but their playoff run left a sour taste in their mouths with a three-game sweep from Boston where they lost every game in overtime.
With captain Marie-Philip Poulin leading the way, the Victoire will continue to be among the league’s best. The 33-year-old forward tied with Toronto’s Sarah Nurse for second in points with 23 and tied for third in goals with teammate and wife Laura Stacey, who finished second in team scoring with 18 points.
American forward Maureen Murphy finished tied for third in rookie scoring with five goals and 16 points in 24 games after a six-year NCAA career with Providence College and Northeastern University.
On defence, Montreal will continue to rely heavily on Erin Ambrose. In 24 games last season, she had four goals and 18 points. In 14 of 24 games, she averaged over 25 minutes of ice time as she earned PWHL top defender of the year.
Amanda Boulier returns to Montreal after being acquired from Ottawa in March via trade. In her six games with Montreal, she averaged about 20 minutes of ice time.
Defenders Dominika Laskova, Mariah Keopple and Kati Tabin also return on one-year deals.
The Victoire drafted defender Cayla Barnes fifth overall, but her PWHL debut will have to wait as she recovers from an injury suffered with Team USA during the Rivalry Series.
Barnes is coming off a senior season with Ohio State where she scored 11 goals and 36 points in 39 games. The 25-year-old has had a very successful international career thus far, winning Olympic gold in 2018 and two Women’s World Championship titles.
In goal, Montreal boasts one of the best tandems in the league in Ann-Renée Desbiens and Elaine Chuli.
Desbiens appeared in 16 games last season, going 7-5-2 with a .923 save percentage and 2.28 GAA. Chuli was no slouch as the backup in her eight appearances, going 6-1-0 with a .949 save percentage and 1.61 GAA, allowing just 13 goals in eight games.
Eyes will be on Swedish forward Lina Ljungblom, who inked a three-year contract with the team after being taken with the final pick in the 2023 PWHL Draft. The 23-year-old centre had 23 goals and 46 points in 36 games last season with MoDo in Sweden, earning SDHL MVP and Forward of the Year and was named Swedish Player of the Year.
Montreal’s core of Poulin, Stacey, Desbiens and Ambrose consistently delivered last season and are virtual locks to do it again. But if this team wants to be more of a threat deep in the season, the rest of the roster needs to find a way to elevate their play to complement its stars.