# Montreal Victoire

The Montreal Victoire (French: Victoire de Montréal) are a professional ice hockey team based in the Greater Montreal area that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home games at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.

## History
### Founding and inaugural season

On August 29, 2023, it was announced that one of the PWHL's first six franchises would be located in Montreal. On September 1, Danièle Sauvageau, the one-time coach for Canada's national team, was announced as the team's general manager. Kori Cheverie, a former assistant coach with the Canadian national team and the first woman to have coached a Canadian men's hockey team, was named the team's inaugural coach on September 13. Montreal's first three players—Canadian national team members Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, and Ann-Renée Desbiens—were signed on September 5, 2023. At the 2023 PWHL Draft on September 18, the team selected 15 players; their first pick, at sixth overall, was Canadian national team member Erin Ambrose.
The team colours were officially announced on November 14, 2023, as burgundy, "sand", and "storm". Later that month, it was revealed that the team would host the majority of its games at the Verdun Auditorium, with four games at Place Bell. On December 29, the team announced that Poulin would serve as team captain, with Stacey and Erin Ambrose serving as assistant captains.
Montreal's first ever game took place on January 2, 2024, against PWHL Ottawa; the 8,318 fans in attendance at Ottawa's TD Place Arena set a new attendance record for professional women's hockey. Claire Dalton scored the first goal in franchise history. Although Montreal twice trailed in the game, Ann-Sophie Bettez scored in overtime to secure the team's first win by a score of 3–2. The team hosted its first home game on January 13, with PWHL Boston securing a 3–2 overtime win in front of a sold-out crowd at Verdun Auditorium.
On February 16, 2024, Montreal 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. Two months later, on April 20, Montréal hosted Toronto in its first-ever home match at the Bell Centre, selling out the arena and setting another new attendance record at 21,105. This game was known as "The Duel at the Top", with the two teams vying for first place in the standings. Montréal managed to draw large crowds throughout the season.
Montreal clinched a berth in the inaugural PWHL playoffs on March on April 24 with a 5–2 win over PWHL New York. They faced Boston in the first round of the playoffs, and lost three straight games in overtime—including a triple-overtime affair in the second game of the series—to get eliminated from contention. After the season, Erin Ambrose was named the league's top defender for its inaugural year.
In September 2024, the team announced that Place Bell would serve as its primary home venue for the 2024–25 season.

## Season-by-season record

Key of colors and symbols :
| Color/symbol | Explanation |
| † | Indicates League Championship |
| * | Indicates Regular Season Championship |
Year by year results :
| Season | GP | RW | OW | OL | RL | Pts | GF | GA | GD | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2023–24 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 2nd | Lost Semifinal, 0–3 (PWHL Boston) |

## Team identity

Montreal operated without league branding during the PWHL's inaugural season, along with the other charter franchises. The team was known as PWHL Montreal and wore a league-wide jersey template that featured the city's name diagonally on the front. The team did have its own colour scheme, featuring burgundy, black, and beige. In October 2023, the league registered a trademark for the name Montreal Echo. Ultimately, when the league unveiled franchise names in September 2024, the team was given the name Victoire; it is a nod to the city's history of success in ice hockey. According to a report from The Hockey News, other names in contention for the team included the Lumieres and Metro. The team’s name ‘Victoire’ embodies Montreal’s joyously competitive spirit, acting as inspiration for the city to climb to even greater sporting heights. Win or lose, ‘Victoire’ is a mindset, celebrating the city’s pursuit of achievement. The logo features wing-like shapes, subtly alluding to the Goddess of Victory and symbolizing strength and agility. A hidden ‘M’ within the wings plays homage to Greater Montreal where the Victoire play their home games. Additionally, a fleur-de-lis, a national symbol of Quebec, is gracefully integrated and evokes the rich cultural history of the province and the city. The colour palette is anchored by a deep burgundy, representing the city’s rich sporting heritage and its unwavering passion for victory, with complementary shades of stone beige and sophisticated storm blue adding depth and versatility. Their away jerseys colour palette is anchored by sand beige with complimentary colours of burgundy and storm blue. They Victoire are the only PWHL team to have to French translation (LHPF) instead of the English version (PWHL) anagram on their jerseys.

## Players and personnel
### Current roster

    As of March 16, 2025
| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 30 | Sandra Abstreiter | G | L | 26 | 2024 | Freising, Germany |
| 23 | Erin Ambrose (A) | D | R | 30 | 2024 | Keswick, Ontario |
| 3 | Cayla Barnes | D | R | 26 | 2024 | Corona, California |
| 24 | Abigail Boreen | F | R | 24 | 2024 | Somerset, Wisconsin |
| 44 | Amanda Boulier | D | R | 31 | 2024 | Watertown, Connecticut |
| 20 | Elaine Chuli | G | L | 30 | 2023 | Waterford, Ontario |
| 42 | Claire Dalton | F | R | 24 | 2023 | Toronto, Ontario |
| 26 | Clair DeGeorge | F | L | 25 | 2024 | Anchorage, Alaska |
| 35 | Ann-Renée Desbiens | G | L | 30 | 2023 | La Malbaie, Quebec |
| 28 | Catherine Dubois | F | L | 29 | 2024 | Charlesbourg, Quebec |
| 12 | Jennifer Gardiner | F | L | 23 | 2024 | Surrey, British Columbia |
| 18 | Mikyla Grant-Mentis | F | L | 26 | 2024 | Brampton, Ontario |
| 17 | Dara Greig | F | L | 24 | 2024 | Camden, New Jersey |
| 2 | Mariah Keopple | D | L | 24 | 2023 | Hudson, Wisconsin |
| 13 | Alexandra Labelle | F | L | 29 | 2024 | Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, Quebec |
| 96 | Dominika Lásková | D | R | 28 | 2023 | Prague, Czech Republic |
| 25 | Lina Ljungblom | F | L | 23 | 2024 | Skövde, Sweden |
| 22 | Kennedy Marchment | F | R | 28 | 2023 | Courtice, Ontario |
| 15 | Maureen Murphy | F | R | 25 | 2023 | Buffalo, New York |
| 43 | Kristin O'Neill (A) | F | L | 26 | 2023 | Mississauga, Ontario |
| 29 | Marie-Philip Poulin (C) | F | L | 33 | 2023 | Beauceville, Quebec |
| 7 | Laura Stacey (A) | F | R | 30 | 2023 | Mississauga, Ontario |
| 9 | Kati Tabin | D | L | 27 | 2023 | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| 5 | Anna Wilgren | D | L | 25 | 2024 | Hudson, Wisconsin |
| 19 | Kaitlin Willoughby | F | R | 29 | 2025 | Prince Albert, Saskatchewan |

### Reserves

    As of March 3, 2025
| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 8 | Gabrielle David | F | R | 25 | 2023 | Drummondville, Quebec |
| 4 | Catherine Daoust | D | R | 30 | 2023 | Île Bizard, Quebec |
| 51 | Kelly-Ann Nadeau | D | R | 26 | 2024 | Mont-Laurier, Quebec |

### Team captains

* Marie-Philip Poulin, 2023–present

### Head coaches

* Kori Cheverie, 2023–present

### First-round draft picks

* 2023: Erin Ambrose (6th overall)
* 2024: Cayla Barnes (5th overall)

## Franchise milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date | Opponent |
| First penalty | Marie-Philip Poulin for Holding | January 2, 2024 | PWHL Ottawa |
| First goal | Claire Dalton Assisted by Jillian Dempsey and Kennedy Marchment | January 2, 2024 | PWHL Ottawa |
| First win | Ann-Renée Desbiens | January 2, 2024 | PWHL Ottawa |
| First hat-trick | Marie-Philip Poulin | January 10, 2024 | PWHL New York |
| Longest goal streak (4) | Laura Stacey | February 22, 2025 - March 05, 2025 | PWHL Ottawa, PWHL Toronto, PWHL Boston, PWHL Minnesota |