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
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.
| 1 || January 2 || @ Ottawa || 3–2 || OT || Desbiens || TD Place Arena || 8,318 || 0–1–0–0 || 2 ||
| 2 || January 6 || @ Minnesota || 0–3 || || Desbiens || Xcel Energy Center || 13,316 || 0–1–0–1 || 2 ||
| 3 || January 10 || @ New York || 5–2 || || Chuli || UBS Arena || 2,201 || 1–1–0–1 || 5 ||
| 4 || January 13 || Boston || 2–3 || OT || Desbiens || Verdun Auditorium || 3,245 || 1–1–1–1 || 6 ||
| 5 || January 16 || New York || 3–2 || || Desbiens || Place Bell || 6,334 || 2–1–1–1 || 9 ||
| 6 || January 20 || Toronto || 3–4 || SO || Desbiens || Verdun Auditorium || 3,232 || 2–1–2–1 || 10 ||
| 7 || January 24 || @ Minnesota || 2–1 || || Chuli || Xcel Energy Center || 5,001 || 3–1–2–1 || 13 ||
| 8 || January 27 || Ottawa || 2–1 || OT || Desbiens || Place Bell || 8,646 || 3–2–2–1 || 15 ||
| 9 || February 4 || @ Boston || 2–1 || OT || Chuli || Tsongas Center || 4,210 || 3–3–2–1 || 17 ||
| 10 || February 16 || @ Toronto || 0–3 || || Desbiens || Scotiabank Arena || 19,285 || 3–3–2–2 || 17 ||
| 11 || February 18 || Minnesota || 2–1 || || Chuli || Place Bell || 10,172 || 4–3–2–2 || 20 ||
| 12 || February 21 || @ New York || 2–3 || SO || Desbiens || UBS Arena || 2,128 || 4–3–3–2 || 21 ||
| 13 || February 24 || Ottawa || 6–3 || || Desbiens || Verdun Auditorium || 3,232 || 5–3–3–2 || 24 ||
| 14 || March 2 || Boston || 3–1 || || Chuli || Verdun Auditorium || 3,232 || 6–3–3–2 || 27 ||
| 15 || March 6 || @ New York || 4–3 || || Desbiens || Total Mortgage Arena || 728 || 7–3–3–2 || 30 ||
| 16 || March 8 || @ Toronto || 0–3 || || Chuli || Mattamy Athletic Centre || 2,554 || 7–3–3–3 || 30 ||
| 17 || March 10 || Ottawa || 2–4 || || Desbiens || Place Bell || 10,172 || 7–3–3–4 || 30 ||
| 18 || March 17 || Toronto || 1–2 || || Desbiens || PPG Paints Arena || 8,850 || 7–3–3–5 || 30 ||
| 19 || March 24 || @ Minnesota || 2–3 || SO || Chuli || Xcel Energy Center || 7,268 || 7–3–4–5 || 31 ||
| 20 || April 18 || Minnesota || 4–3 || || Chuli || Verdun Auditorium || 3,084 || 8–3–4–5 || 34 ||
| 21 || April 20 || Toronto || 2–3 || OT || Desbiens || Bell Centre || 21,105 || 8–3–5–5 || 35 ||
| 22 || April 24 || New York || 5–2 || || Desbiens || Verdun Auditorium || 3,232 || 9–3–5–5 || 38 ||
| 23 || April 27 || @ Ottawa || 2–0 || || Desbiens || TD Place Arena || 8,452 || 10–3–5–5 || 41 ||
| 24 || May 4 || @ Boston || 3–4 || || Desbiens || Tsongas Center || 5,964 || 10–3–5–6 || 41 ||
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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.
| 1 || May 9 || Boston || 1–2 || OT || Desbiens || Place Bell || 9,135 || 0–1 ||
| 2 || May 11 || Boston || 1–2 || 3OT || Desbiens || Place Bell || 10,172 || 0–2 ||
| 3 || May 14 || @ Boston || 2–3 || OT || Desbiens || Tsongas Center || 2,781 || 0–3 ||
Player statistics
= Indicates team leader Skaters
Regular season Player Marie-Philip Poulin 21 10 13 23 69 14Laura Stacey 23 10 8 18 96 2Erin Ambrose 24 4 14 18 47 4Maureen Murphy 24 5 11 16 57 4Claire Dalton 20 5 4 9 22 0Kristin O'Neill 23 4 5 9 44 8Catherine Dubois 21 2 4 6 22 12Gabrielle David 23 2 4 6 20 4Kati Tabin 24 1 5 6 50 14Mélodie Daoust 6 3 2 5 13 4Ann-Sophie Bettez 15 2 3 5 17 2Sarah Lefort 24 1 4 5 32 10Sarah Bujold 21 3 1 4 25 18Leah Lum 23 1 3 4 11 6Jillian Dempsey 24 1 3 4 14 2Amanda Boulier 6 0 3 3 11 0Mariah Keopple 24 0 3 3 21 12Mikyla Grant-Mentis 7 2 0 2 9 4Kennedy Marchment 9 1 1 2 11 0Catherine Daoust 24 1 1 2 16 12Madison Bizal 21 0 2 2 10 4Brigitte Laganière 17 0 1 1 5 0Dominika Lásková 7 0 0 0 6 8Alexandra Poznikoff 8 0 0 0 6 0
Playoffs Player Maureen Murphy 3 1 2 3 11 2Kristin O'Neill 3 2 0 2 11 0Marie-Philip Poulin 3 1 1 2 18 0Erin Ambrose 3 0 2 2 10 0Madison Bizal 3 0 1 1 1 0Mikyla Grant-Mentis 3 0 1 1 13 0Laura Stacey 3 0 1 1 17 0Alexandra Poznikoff 1 0 0 0 0 0Sarah Lefort 2 0 0 0 7 0Amanda Boulier 3 0 0 0 5 2Claire Dalton 3 0 0 0 8 0Catherine Daoust 3 0 0 0 1 0Mélodie Daoust 3 0 0 0 12 2Gabrielle David 3 0 0 0 3 0Jillian Dempsey 3 0 0 0 1 0Catherine Dubois 3 0 0 0 2 2Mariah Keopple 3 0 0 0 3 0Brigitte Laganière 3 0 0 0 0 0Leah Lum 3 0 0 0 1 0Kati Tabin 3 0 0 0 21 0
Goaltenders
Regular season Player Ann-Renée Desbiens 16 975:33 7 5 2 37 2.28 478 0.923 1 0 0 2Elaine Chuli 8 483:41 6 1 0 13 1.61 253 0.949 0 0 0 0
Playoffs Player Ann-Renée Desbiens 3 247:11 0 0 3 7 1.70 102 0.931 0 0 0 0
Awards and honours
Milestones
Regular season Player Milestone Reached Claire Dalton 1st goal in franchise history January 2, 2024 1st career PWHL goal 1st career PWHL game Laura Stacey 1st career PWHL goal 1st career PWHL game Ann-Sophie Bettez 1st career PWHL goal 1st career PWHL overtime goal 1st career PWHL game Jillian Dempsey 1st assist in franchise history 1st career PWHL assist 1st career PWHL game Kennedy Marchment 1st career PWHL assist 1st career PWHL game Tereza Vanišová 1st career PWHL assist 1st career PWHL game Marie-Philip Poulin 1st career PWHL assist 1st career PWHL game Kati Tabin 1st career PWHL assist 1st career PWHL game Kristin O'Neill 1st career PWHL assist 1st career PWHL game Mariah Keopple 1st career PWHL game Catherine Daoust Gabrielle David Brigitte Laganière Leah Lum Maureen Murphy Sarah Lefort Erin Ambrose Sarah Bujold Dominika Lásková Ann-Renée Desbiens 1st win in franchise history 1st career PWHL win 1st career PWHL game Ann-Renée Desbiens 1st loss in franchise history January 6, 2024 1st career PWHL loss Marie-Philip Poulin 1st career PWHL goal January 10, 2024 1st career PWHL hat-trick Catherine Dubois 1st career PWHL goal Kennedy Marchment 1st career PWHL goal Erin Ambrose 1st career PWHL assist Maureen Murphy 1st career PWHL assist Gabrielle David 1st career PWHL assist Elaine Chuli 1st career PWHL win 1st career PWHL game Erin Ambrose 1st career PWHL goal January 13, 2024 Ann-Sophie Bettez 1st career PWHL assist Ann-Renée Desbiens 1st career overtime loss Gabrielle David 1st career PWHL goal January 16, 2024 Leah Lum 1st career PWHL goal Tereza Vanišová 5th career PWHL assist Maureen Murphy 5th career PWHL assist Sarah Bujold 1st career PWHL goal January 20, 2024 Marie-Philip Poulin 5th career PWHL goal Leah Lum 1st career PWHL assist Claire Dalton 1st career PWHL assist Ann-Renée Desbiens 1st career shootout loss Alina Müller 1st career PWHL goal January 24, 2024 1st career PWHL power play goal Jamie Lee Rattray 1st career PWHL goal Megan Keller 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 Catherine Dubois 1st career PWHL goal February 21, 2024 Claire Dalton 1st career PWHL hat-trick February 24, 2024 5th career PWHL goal Erin Ambrose 5th career PWHL assist Marie-Philip Poulin Laura Stacey 1st career PWHL assist Sarah Bujold Melodie Daoust 1st career PWHL goal March 2, 2024 1st career PWHL game Mariah Keopple 1st career PWHL assist 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 Laura Stacey 5th career PWHL assist 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 Laura Stacey 10th career PWHL goal April 27, 2024 Maureen Murphy 5th career PWHL goal Mélodie Daoust 1st career PWHL assist Ann-Renée Desbiens 1st career PWHL shutout Marie-Philip Poulin 10th career PWHL goal May 4, 2024 Mikyla Grant-Mentis 1st career PWHL goal 1st career power-play goal
Awards Award winnersAwardRecipientRef.Defender of the YearErin Ambrose
Transactions Signings