The Professional Women’s Hockey League hasn’t entered its “Broad Street Bullies” era, but as the season progresses, the rough play becomes more and more in the spotlight.
Certain rivalries are starting to take hold little by little, in a league which currently has six clubs. This is particularly the case of the one involving Montreal and Ottawa, who played a physical match on Sunday evening at Place Bell.
Sarah Bujold really started the hostilities when she was penalized for a strong check against Ottawa forward Brianne Jenner at the end of the first period. It didn’t take much for the emotions to rise a notch.
During the rest of the match, several skirmishes after the whistle ensued, and the players from both teams did not hesitate to apply good checks – sometimes bordering on legality.
At the end of this 4-2 victory for Ottawa, 20 penalty minutes were awarded in the game, the third highest total in league history. And for a third game in a row, Montreal received at least five minor penalties, which forced forward Laura Stacey and coach Kori Cheverie to walk on eggshells after the clash.
“That’s hockey. It is not an easy sport to referee. We would like to have more calls in our favor and we would like the referees to reconsider some of their decisions. That’s how hockey goes sometimes,” Stacey said diplomatically.
“The most difficult thing was that there wasn’t a lot of communication with the referees. This is what makes a person very good for their job, this ability to communicate and convey the message. It was difficult tonight,” added Cheverie.
They might have to get used to it. If the LPHF follows the example of the NHL, the game will become more and more physical, especially in the playoffs, and the referees will increasingly tend to put away their whistle.
When the league launched its activities, on 1er January, we could notice that body checks were a little more tolerated than usual, even encouraged. The players had to adapt for a few weeks, but the physical aspect is now an integral part of the teams’ style of play.
“It’s an adjustment we’re making to our game. We’re past the halfway point of the season, so I think we know that all teams are going to play physical. We especially expect this to be the case in the playoffs. This is a key element that we are trying to provide. We wanted to be more physical today against Ottawa,” said forward Sarah Lefort.
The Ottawa troop did not let this dictate to them. It must be said that she perhaps had a little more motivation than usual, since Montreal had won the first three duels of the campaign.
The rivalry between the two teams is palpable, and a first-round playoff clash is still possible. What do the players think?
“Do we want this to become a rivalry? asked goalkeeper Emerance Maschmeyer with a laugh, suggesting that her teammates may not have Montrealers in their hearts. The matches are physical between us, and it’s a good rivalry. There is also Toronto in the mix. »
One thing is certain, you might think that it is starting to resemble “hockey like in the days of Eddie Shore”.