Marie-Philip Poulin and Gabrielle David make no secret of it: “It still hurts. »
“It’s already been better,” says Ann-Renée Desbiens. “It’s still very disappointing,” said Erin Ambrose.
The elimination in three games of the Montreal team, in the semi-finals of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF), left a bitter taste within the team.
After finishing the season in second place in the standings, the team was unable to secure a victory against Boston, in a best-of-five series in which all three games ended in overtime.
We can look everywhere for the cause of this failure, but the answer will almost systematically be the same: a sudden inability to score goals.
Despite the brilliance of goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens (goals against average of 1.70 and save rate of .931), the attack generated a total of four goals in three games, including three on the power play.
“It’s hard to find what we missed,” admitted forward Gabrielle David. I think we played well, but it’s really [le manque de] goals that made the difference. » Like many of her teammates, since the final defeat on Tuesday evening, the Quebecer has been reviewing “over and over again” the chances she missed, notably a shot in overtime during the first match.
In front of journalists gathered to attend the club’s assessment, general manager Danièle Sauvageau and head coach Kori Cheverie affirmed Friday that if it had to be done again, the recipe would probably be the same.
Sauvageau pointed out that Montreal had dominated the series in terms of anticipated goals and that they had increased the rate of their shots on target compared to the season.
Paradoxically, when we look at our statistics, our best matches of the year were our last three.
Danièle Sauvageau, general manager of the Montreal team
“In the first game of the series, we generated 12 high-quality scoring chances [grade A], which was a high for us this season, continued Kori Cheverie. I’m very happy with the adjustments we made to generate these chances. We came up against a goalkeeper on fire, we hit a few posts, we missed some gaping nets… We didn’t capitalize, and the Boston players did. »
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The head coach of the Montreal team, Kori Cheverie
Danièle Sauvageau added that she was firmly convinced that “the same performance could have won us all three matches”.
Workforce management
We understand from the two leaders that they would not change the way in which the workforce was managed either.
The sharing of ice time within the Montreal squad has indeed raised questions throughout the (short) series.
In the first game, no fourth-line attacker had a single appearance. In the second, which nevertheless stretched into the third overtime period, three defenders played less than 6 minutes – not even 60 seconds, in the case of Madison Bizal and Brigitte Laganière.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Marie-Philip Poulin
Conversely, attackers Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Kristin O’Neill, Maureen Murphy and Mélodie Daoust were overtaxed, as were defenders Erin Ambrose, Kati Tabin and Amanda Boulier.
During the last match, even if the minutes were significantly better distributed, a large gap separated the best players from the support staff.
Danièle Sauvageau defended herself by noting that the Boston team had imposed ice times of more than 30 minutes on “approximately the same number of players”. As for those nailed to the bench, “there is a context”, insisted the DG. “There are elements of answers that will remain between us,” she added. We are allowed to believe that some of them were injured.
Sauvageau also recalled that Montreal had to approach the series in the absence of five skaters, notably starters Dominika Laskova, Kennedy Marchment and Ann-Sophie Bettez, who all suffered serious injuries during the season.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Kristin O’Neill
Among over-demanded players, the famous match no 2 left its mark. Kristin O’Neill, who played more than 50 minutes that night, admits to feeling tired during the next match. Erin Ambrose, who saw more than 60 minutes of action in this second duel, assured that she had regained her strength before the third, but revealed Friday that her body was “worn out”.
That being said, their teammates who played much less did not complain about their fate.
They never stopped cheering us on from the bench. After the second overtime, they were the ones who continued to give us energy in the locker room.
Gabrielle David
“We made sure that the girls [avaient] water, Gatorade or snacks,” confirmed Catherine Daoust. She nevertheless conceded that it was “not ideal”, or even “not fun” to play so little. However, she has always believed that “we win and we lose as a team”, and her opinion has not changed.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Catherine Daoust
It’s a team game. We are given a role and we take it. Even though you’re frustrated, you want the team to win, no matter how.
Catherine Daoust
We know that the team ultimately did not win. His esprit de corps, one of his strengths since the start of the season, was not shaken, however.
This is possibly one of the elements that Danièle Sauvageau had in mind when speaking of the “very strong foundation” of her club. The season did not end as we had hoped. But all is not lost. Far from there.