# 2023–24 PWHL Montreal season

The 2023–24 PWHL Montréal season was the team's inaugural season as a member of the newly created Professional Women's Hockey League. They played their home games at Verdun Auditorium in Montreal and Place Bell in the suburb of Laval. They also played one game at the Bell Centre on April 20.
Montréal finished second overall in the league standings, clinching a playoff berth on April 24, 2024, with a 5–2 victory over PWHL New York. Montréal faced PWHL Boston in the playoff semifinal. Montréal lost the series in three straight games, with all three decisions coming in overtime, including a triple-overtime loss in the second game of the series. After the season, Erin Ambrose won defender of the year honours from the league.

## Offseason

On September 1, 2023, Montréal hired Daniele Sauvageau as its general manager. The team then hired Kori Cheverie as its first head coach on September 13. In November, it was announced that the team would split its home games between Verdun Auditorium and Place Bell.
On September 5, Montréal announced the signings of its first three players, Canadian national team members Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Ann-Renee Desbiens. Poulin was named team captain, with Stacey and Erin Ambrose named assistant captains.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Toronto (Y) | 24 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 69 | 50 | +19 | 47 |
| 2 | Montreal (X) | 24 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 41 |
| 3 | Boston (X) | 24 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 50 | 57 | −7 | 35 |
| 4 | Minnesota (X) | 24 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 35 |
| 5 | Ottawa (E) | 24 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 62 | 63 | −1 | 32 |
| 6 | New York (E) | 24 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 53 | 67 | −14 | 26 |
* 1 2 Greater number of games won, excluding games won by Shootout: Boston 11 wins, Minnesota 10 wins

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

Montréal played its first ever game on January 2, 2024, against PWHL Ottawa at TD Place Arena. In front of what was a women's professional record crowd of 8,318, Montréal won the game in overtime by a score of 3–2 on a goal by Ann-Sophie Bettez; Claire Dalton scored the first goal in team history in the second period. Montréal hosted its first game on January 13, with PWHL Boston visiting Verdun Auditorium. In front of a sell-out crowd, Boston won 3–2 in overtime; Ambrose scored the first home goal in team history. The team hosted its first game at Place Bell on January 16, defeating visiting PWHL New York by a score of 3–2, with Poulin scoring the game-winning goal.
On February 16, 2024, Montréal played a match hosted by PWHL Toronto at Scotiabank Arena in a game dubbed "The Battle on Bay Street". The game set a league and women’s hockey attendance record with a sell-out crowd of 19,285, beating the previous record of 18,013 at the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship. On April 20, Montréal hosted Toronto at the Bell Centre in a game dubbed the "Duel at the Top"—with the two teams vying for first place in the standings—and the sell-out crowd of 21,105 established another new attendance record.
Montréal clinched a spot in the inaugural PWHL playoffs on April 24 with a 5–2 win over New York.

### Regular season schedule

The regular season schedule was published on November 30, 2023.
Regular season schedule (Home: 6–1–3–2; Road: 4–2–2–4) :
January: 3–2–2–1, 15 points (Home: 1–1–2–0; Road: 2–1–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1January 2@ Ottawa3–2OTDesbiensTD Place Arena8,3180–1–0–02
2January 6@ Minnesota0–3DesbiensXcel Energy Center13,3160–1–0–12
3January 10@ New York5–2ChuliUBS Arena2,2011–1–0–15
4January 13Boston2–3OTDesbiensVerdun Auditorium3,2451–1–1–16
5January 16New York3–2DesbiensPlace Bell6,3342–1–1–19
6January 20Toronto3–4SODesbiensVerdun Auditorium3,2322–1–2–110
7January 24@ Minnesota2–1ChuliXcel Energy Center5,0013–1–2–113
8January 27Ottawa2–1OTDesbiensPlace Bell8,6463–2–2–115 :
February: 2–1–1–1, 9 points (Home: 2–0–0–0; Road: 0–1–1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
9February 4@ Boston2–1OTChuliTsongas Center4,2103–3–2–117
10February 16@ Toronto0–3DesbiensScotiabank Arena19,2853–3–2–217
11February 18Minnesota2–1ChuliPlace Bell10,1724–3–2–220
12February 21@ New York2–3SODesbiensUBS Arena2,1284–3–3–221
13February 24Ottawa6–3DesbiensVerdun Auditorium3,2325–3–3–224 :
March: 2–0–1–3, 7 points (Home: 1–0–0–2; Road: 1–0–1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
14March 2Boston3–1ChuliVerdun Auditorium3,2326–3–3–227
15March 6@ New York4–3DesbiensTotal Mortgage Arena7287–3–3–230
16March 8@ Toronto0–3ChuliMattamy Athletic Centre2,5547–3–3–330
17March 10Ottawa2–4DesbiensPlace Bell10,1727–3–3–430
18March 17Toronto1–2DesbiensPPG Paints Arena8,8507–3–3–530
19March 24@ Minnesota2–3SOChuliXcel Energy Center7,2687–3–4–531 :
April: 3–0–1–0, 10 points (Home: 2–0–1–0; Road: 1–0–0–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
20April 18Minnesota4–3ChuliVerdun Auditorium3,0848–3–4–534
21April 20Toronto2–3OTDesbiensBell Centre21,1058–3–5–535
22April 24New York5–2DesbiensVerdun Auditorium3,2329–3–5–538
23April 27@ Ottawa2–0DesbiensTD Place Arena8,45210–3–5–541 :
May: 0–0–0–1, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
24May 4@ Boston3–4DesbiensTsongas Center5,96410–3–5–641 :
Regulation Win (3 points)
  Overtime/Shootout win (2 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
  Regulation Loss (0 points) :

### Playoffs

On May 6, 2024, PWHL Toronto, who finished first overall, elected to play PWHL Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Therefore, the Montréal drew a semifinal match-up against PWHL Boston
Boston upset Montréal, winning the series in three straight games. All three games were decided in overtime, including two games in Montréal. In the second game, which was settled in the third overtime period, Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel set a playoff record with a 56-save performance. The series loss knocked Montréal out of contention for the Walter Cup as Boston moved on to the finals.
2024 PWHL Playoffs :
First round vs. PWHL Boston: Boston won 3–0
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceSeriesRecap
1May 9Boston1–2OTDesbiensPlace Bell9,1350–1
2May 11Boston1–23OTDesbiensPlace Bell10,1720–2
3May 14@ Boston2–3OTDesbiensTsongas Center2,7810–3 :

## Player statistics

    As of May 04, 2024

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | SOG | +/− | PIM |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 21 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 69 | +8 | 14 |
| Laura Stacey | 23 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 96 | +4 | 2 |
| Erin Ambrose | 24 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 47 | +5 | 4 |
| Maureen Murphy | 24 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 57 | +3 | 4 |
| Claire Dalton | 20 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 22 | +3 | 0 |
| Kristin O'Neill | 23 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 44 | –1 | 8 |
| Catherine Dubois | 21 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 22 | –4 | 12 |
| Gabrielle David | 23 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 20 | +4 | 4 |
| Kati Tabin | 24 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 50 | +6 | 14 |
| Mélodie Daoust | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | +6 | 4 |
| Ann-Sophie Bettez | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 17 | –2 | 2 |
| Sarah Lefort | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 0 | 10 |
| Sarah Bujold | 21 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 25 | –6 | 18 |
| Leah Lum | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | –2 | 6 |
| Jillian Dempsey | 24 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | +1 | 2 |
| Amanda Boulier | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | –3 | 0 |
| Mariah Keopple | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 21 | +2 | 12 |
| Mikyla Grant-Mentis | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| Kennedy Marchment | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Catherine Daoust | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | –2 | 12 |
| Madison Bizal | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | +1 | 4 |
| Brigitte Laganière | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | +1 | 0 |
| Dominika Lásková | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| Alexandra Poznikoff | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | SOG | +/− | PIM |
| Maureen Murphy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | –3 | 2 |
| Kristin O'Neill | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | –2 | 0 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | –2 | 0 |
| Erin Ambrose | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | –2 | 0 |
| Madison Bizal | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mikyla Grant-Mentis | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | –1 | 0 |
| Laura Stacey | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | –2 | 0 |
| Alexandra Poznikoff | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sarah Lefort | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Amanda Boulier | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | –2 | 2 |
| Claire Dalton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | –1 | 0 |
| Catherine Daoust | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | –3 | 0 |
| Mélodie Daoust | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | –4 | 2 |
| Gabrielle David | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
| Jillian Dempsey | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 0 |
| Catherine Dubois | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –2 | 2 |
| Mariah Keopple | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | –2 | 0 |
| Brigitte Laganière | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Leah Lum | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kati Tabin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | –1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders
## Awards and honours
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Claire Dalton | 1st goal in franchise history | January 2, 2024 |
| Claire Dalton | 1st career PWHL goal | January 2, 2024 |
| Claire Dalton | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Laura Stacey | 1st career PWHL goal | January 2, 2024 |
| Laura Stacey | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Sophie Bettez | 1st career PWHL goal | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Sophie Bettez | 1st career PWHL overtime goal | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Sophie Bettez | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Jillian Dempsey | 1st assist in franchise history | January 2, 2024 |
| Jillian Dempsey | 1st career PWHL assist | January 2, 2024 |
| Jillian Dempsey | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Kennedy Marchment | 1st career PWHL assist | January 2, 2024 |
| Kennedy Marchment | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Tereza Vanišová | 1st career PWHL assist | January 2, 2024 |
| Tereza Vanišová | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 1st career PWHL assist | January 2, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Kati Tabin | 1st career PWHL assist | January 2, 2024 |
| Kati Tabin | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Kristin O'Neill | 1st career PWHL assist | January 2, 2024 |
| Kristin O'Neill | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Mariah Keopple | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Catherine Daoust | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Gabrielle David | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Brigitte Laganière | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Leah Lum | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Maureen Murphy | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Sarah Lefort | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Erin Ambrose | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Sarah Bujold | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Dominika Lásková | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st win in franchise history | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st career PWHL win | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st career PWHL game | January 2, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st loss in franchise history | January 6, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st career PWHL loss | January 6, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 1st career PWHL goal | January 10, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 1st career PWHL hat-trick | January 10, 2024 |
| Catherine Dubois | 1st career PWHL goal | January 10, 2024 |
| Kennedy Marchment | 1st career PWHL goal | January 10, 2024 |
| Erin Ambrose | 1st career PWHL assist | January 10, 2024 |
| Maureen Murphy | 1st career PWHL assist | January 10, 2024 |
| Gabrielle David | 1st career PWHL assist | January 10, 2024 |
| Elaine Chuli | 1st career PWHL win | January 10, 2024 |
| Elaine Chuli | 1st career PWHL game | January 10, 2024 |
| Erin Ambrose | 1st career PWHL goal | January 13, 2024 |
| Ann-Sophie Bettez | 1st career PWHL assist | January 13, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st career overtime loss | January 13, 2024 |
| Gabrielle David | 1st career PWHL goal | January 16, 2024 |
| Leah Lum | 1st career PWHL goal | January 16, 2024 |
| Tereza Vanišová | 5th career PWHL assist | January 16, 2024 |
| Maureen Murphy | 5th career PWHL assist | January 16, 2024 |
| Sarah Bujold | 1st career PWHL goal | January 20, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 5th career PWHL goal | January 20, 2024 |
| Leah Lum | 1st career PWHL assist | January 20, 2024 |
| Claire Dalton | 1st career PWHL assist | January 20, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st career shootout loss | January 20, 2024 |
| Alina Müller | 1st career PWHL goal | January 24, 2024 |
| Alina Müller | 1st career PWHL power play goal | January 24, 2024 |
| Jamie Lee Rattray | 1st career PWHL goal | January 24, 2024 |
| Megan Keller | 1st career PWHL goal | January 24, 2024 |
| Maureen Murphy | 1st career PWHL goal | January 27, 2024 |
| Laura Stacey | 5th career PWHL goal | February 4, 2024 |
| Sarah Lefort | 1st career PWHL goal | February 18, 2024 |
| Madison Bizal | 1st career PWHL assist | February 18, 2024 |
| Catherine Dubois | 1st career PWHL goal | February 21, 2024 |
| Claire Dalton | 1st career PWHL hat-trick | February 24, 2024 |
| Claire Dalton | 5th career PWHL goal | February 24, 2024 |
| Erin Ambrose | 5th career PWHL assist | February 24, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 5th career PWHL assist | February 24, 2024 |
| Laura Stacey | 1st career PWHL assist | February 24, 2024 |
| Sarah Bujold | 1st career PWHL assist | February 24, 2024 |
| Melodie Daoust | 1st career PWHL goal | March 2, 2024 |
| Melodie Daoust | 1st career PWHL game | March 2, 2024 |
| Mariah Keopple | 1st career PWHL assist | March 2, 2024 |
| Jillian Dempsey | 1st career PWHL goal | March 6, 2024 |
| Kati Tabin | 4th career PWHL assist | March 10, 2024 |
| Kristin O'Neill | 1st career PWHL goal | March 17, 2024 |
| Kati Tabin | 1st career PWHL goal | March 24, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 10th career PWHL assist | April 18, 2024 |
| Erin Ambrose | 10th career PWHL assist | April 18, 2024 |
| Laura Stacey | 5th career PWHL assist | April 18, 2024 |
| Maureen Murphy | 10th career PWHL assist | April 20, 2024 |
| Catherine Daoust | 1st career PWHL goal | April 24, 2024 |
| Kristin O'Neill | 5th career PWHL assist | April 24, 2024 |
| Laura Stacey | 10th career PWHL goal | April 27, 2024 |
| Maureen Murphy | 5th career PWHL goal | April 27, 2024 |
| Mélodie Daoust | 1st career PWHL assist | April 27, 2024 |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 1st career PWHL shutout | April 27, 2024 |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | 10th career PWHL goal | May 4, 2024 |
| Mikyla Grant-Mentis | 1st career PWHL goal | May 4, 2024 |
| Mikyla Grant-Mentis | 1st career power-play goal | May 4, 2024 |

### Awards

Award winners :
| Award | Recipient | Ref. |
| Defender of the Year | Erin Ambrose | |

## Transactions
### Signings

| Date | Player | Position | Term | Previous Team |
| September 7, 2023 | Ann-Renée Desbiens | G | 3 years | Team Harvey's |
| September 7, 2023 | Marie-Philip Poulin | F | 3 years | Team Harvey's |
| September 7, 2023 | Laura Stacey | F | 3 years | Team Adidas |
| October 30, 2023 | Kristin O'Neill | F | 3 years | Team Adidas |
| November 7, 2023 | Kennedy Marchment | F | 2 years | Connecticut Whale |
| November 9, 2023 | Jillian Dempsey | F | 1 year | Boston Pride |
| November 13, 2023 | Erin Ambrose | D | 3 years | Team Sonnet |
| November 14, 2023 | Claire Dalton | F | 1 year | Yale |
| November 15, 2023 | Ann-Sophie Bettez | F | 1 year | Montreal Force |
| November 15, 2023 | Sarah Bujold | F | 1 year | Metropolitan Riveters |
| November 20, 2023 | Elaine Chuli | G | 1 year | Toronto Six |
| November 20, 2023 | Kati Tabin | D | 2 years | Toronto Six |
| November 21, 2023 | Dominika Lásková | D | 2 years | Toronto Six |
| November 21, 2023 | Mariah Keopple | D | 1 year | Princeton |
| November 29, 2023 | Maureen Murphy | F | 3 years | Northeastern |
| December 11, 2023 | Tereza Vanišová | F | 2 years | Toronto Six |
| December 11, 2023 | Gabrielle David | F | 1 year | Clarkson |

## Draft picks

Below are the PWHL Montreal's selections at the 2023 PWHL draft held on September 18, 2023.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | Position | Previous team |
| 1 | 6 | Erin Ambrose | Canada | Defence | Team Sonnet (PWHPA) |
| 2 | 7 | Kristin O'Neill | Canada | Forward | Team Adidas (PWHPA) |
| 3 | 18 | Maureen Murphy | United States | Forward | Northeastern (Hockey East) |
| 4 | 19 | Dominika Lásková | Czech Republic | Defence | Toronto Six (PHF) |
| 5 | 30 | Kati Tabin | Canada | Defence | Toronto Six (PHF) |
| 6 | 31 | Kennedy Marchment | Canada | Forward | Connecticut Whale (PHF) |
| 7 | 42 | Tereza Vanisova | Czech Republic | Forward | Toronto Six (PHF) |
| 8 | 43 | Madison Bizal | United States | Defence | Ohio State (WCHA) |
| 9 | 54 | Gabrielle David | Canada | Forward | Clarkson (ECAC) |
| 10 | 55 | Maude Poulin-Labelle | Canada | Defence | Northeastern (Hockey East) |
| 11 | 66 | Jillian Dempsey | United States | Forward | Boston Pride (PHF) |
| 12 | 67 | Claire Dalton | Canada | Forward | Yale (ECAC) |
| 13 | 78 | Elaine Chuli | Canada | Goaltender | Toronto Six (PHF) |
| 14 | 79 | Ann-Sophie Bettez | Canada | Forward | Montreal Force (PHF) |
| 15 | 90 | Lina Ljungblom | Sweden | Forward | MoDo Hockey (SDHL) |