PWHL champions Montréal Victoire return home, celebrate Walter Cup triumph with fans

A day after winning the franchise’s inaugural PWHL championship, Montréal Victoire players made their triumphant return home on Thursday.

Montreal defeated the Ottawa Charge in four games in the PWHL final, capped off by a convincing 4-0 victory in Ottawa in Game 4 Wednesday night.

The Victoire were greeted by roaring fans — dressed and draped in the team’s maroon and blue — outside the Verdun Auditorium, where the team practises.

Captain Marie-Philip Poulin walked off the team bus Thursday carrying the Walter Cup into a crowd of cheering supporters.

“I think all the effort of this group, it’s really, really, able to come back and show our fans that it’s a super job,” said Poulin.

“We were the most consistent team all year,” said goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens. “We were the best team out there during the regular season, playoffs. So I have confidence in this group and I’m really glad Walter came home.”

Fans across the city are celebrating what’s become another major moment for women’s hockey in Canada. They lined up for autographs, photos and a chance to celebrate alongside the Victoire stars ahead of a more official celebration in the near future.

“Oh my God, it was so unreal,” said Victoire fan Alex Auclair. “Like, I was really like hoping they win and they did and I’m just so proud of them.”

“I used to coach girls’ team sports and I’m just so happy to see it arrive at this level because when I started, people didn’t assume girls liked team sports. And these women are proving that to be totally wrong,” said Nora Powell.

“I am so excited,” added young hockey fan Éloïse Smith-Brake. “I am in a girls hockey team and I’ve seen the Victoire a couple times already. And it’s really so magical to see them and like that they won the Walter Cup.”

The Montréal Victoire championship is inspiring the next generation of players, including members of the Concordia Stingers women’s ice hockey. Those players say seeing a professional women’s team win on the biggest stage shows just how far the game has come.

“It’s so fun to see we can have a future in hockey,” said Stingers forward Emilie Lussier. “If we go back five years ago, girls after university was done and career was done.”

“It’s just to show that, like, women’s hockey is still a big sport and it’s not just the men’s that are out there and playing hockey and stuff,” added Stingers forward and defencewoman Émilie Lavoie.

“The message: there are opportunities right now,” added Concordia athletic director Claude Marin. “You can live your dream, earn your living doing what you love the most, what you’ve been doing growing up.”