Claire Thompson versus Sarah Wozniewicz. Source.

We join the 2025-26 PWHL season already in progress. The Vancouver Goldeneyes visit the Ottawa Charge. The two are seventh and eighth in the league with 12 points each.

This is the league’s third season, as well as Ottawa’s. In Year One they finished fifth and missed the playoffs. Last year they finished third and reached the playoff finals, but fell to Minnesota in a series that went to overtime in every game.

There has been a lot of turnover in the Ottawa squad. This year’s team has fourteen players in common with last year’s, and only five in common with Year One’s: Clark, Hughes, Isbell, Jenner and Mrázová. The Goldeneyes have four players from last year’s Ottawa squad: Bell, Maschmeyer, Schneider and Vanišová.

Rebecca Leslie is the only Ottawa Charge player who is actually from Ottawa.

Ottawa’s top scorer is Brianne Jenner with 10 points; Vancouver’s is Claire Thompson with 7.

The City of Ottawa and Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, who own the CFL team and the Ottawa 67s, have cut a deal to rebuild the Lansdowne Park* north stand with a 5,850 capacity hockey rink inside. The Charge were out of this decision-making loop, but the PWHL brass have stated that the club will not play in a smaller rink than the one they have now. Whether that means relocating to the Palladium* in Kanata or to a big stadium in another city like Quebec remains to be seen. (*Rely on me to use the old names for things.)

The Goldeneyes play at the Pacific Coliseum, built in 1968 and the Canucks’ home until 1995. It seats 16,000.

[Ottawa 4, Vancouver 2.]

The Leafs visited the Ottawa Auditorium on this date in 1931. They were third in the Canadian Division with 21 points. The Senators were fifth (i.e., last) with 11.

1930-31 was the last season that the Leafs had the Mutual Street Arena as their home rink. They moved into Maple Leaf Gardens in November 1931. The Mutual Street Arena was built in 1912 and seated 7,500. After the Leafs moved out it continued as a multi-use venue and was not demolished until 1989. The Leafs played under the name Toronto Arenas in the 1918-19 season.

The Leafs’ roster was heavy on Ontario talent, with fourteen Ontarians, two Americans, and one each from Quebec and Manitoba. Charlie Conacher, Busher Jackson, Red Horner, Bob Gracie and Alex Levinsky had all played for the Toronto Marlboros. Ace Bailey and Joe Primeau were former Toronto St Mary’s players. Harold Cotton and Babe Dye had played for Toronto Aura Lee.

Conacher, Jackson, Bailey, Primeau, Horner, Dye, Hap Day and King Clancy all went on to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

King Clancy had played nine seasons for the Senators when he was traded to Toronto in 1930. He was a Leaf for seven seasons before moving up to coach the team. You may remember him as Harold Ballard’s sidekick in the 1980s. He played for St Brigid’s in his early days in the Ottawa City League.

The Leafs’ Rolly Huard appeared in only one NHL game, on December 13th, 1930, against Boston, but he scored a goal. He had played for the University of Ottawa and the Montagnards in the Ottawa City League.

First period: goal by Baldy Cotton (Toronto).

Second period: goals by Hec Kilrea (Ottawa), Danny Cox (Ottawa) and Busher Jackson (Toronto).

Third period: no scoring.

Overtime: no scoring. In those days the NHL had regular season overtime in the event of a tie, but if no one scored the tie stood.

Final score: Ottawa 2, Toronto 2.

Montreal Senior Group:
Game 15, December 22: McGill 0 – 1 Canadiens
Game 16, December 22: Montreal AAA 3 – 2 Victorias
Game 17, December 29: Montreal AAA 3 – 1 Canadiens
Game 18, December 29: Victorias 4 – 1 Columbus
Game 19, January 5: Victorias 0 – 3 McGill
Game 20, January 5: Montreal AAA 1 – 1 Columbus