Montreal Force

The Montreal Force (French: la Force de Montréal) were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), based in Montreal, Quebec. The team was established in 2022 and debuted in the 2022–23 PHF season. The Force played only one season, as the PHF's assets were purchased, and the league dissolved, at season's end. This was part of the creation of a new, unified professional women's league, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).^[2]

Montreal Force Force de Montréal
City	Montreal, Quebec
League	Premier Hockey Federation
Founded	2022 (2022)
Folded	2023 (2023)
Home arena	Centre 21.02 (practice site only for 2022–23)^[1]
Colours	Black, maroon, white
Owner(s)	BTM Partners
General manager	Kevin Raphaël
Head coach	Peter Smith
Captain	Ann-Sophie Bettez
Website	Official website

History

Montreal was long planned as a location for a PHF expansion franchise, but uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic led the league to delay its plans.^[3] An expansion franchise was announced by the league in July 2022, with the owners announced as BTM Partners, which also owns three other PHF teams.^[4] The team's name, logo and jersey were revealed in a press release from the league the following month.^[5][6] Three uniforms were used during the inaugural season, one maroon with white stripes, one black with maroon stripes, and one white with maroon stripes, all with fleur-de-lis shoulder patches.^[5]

The team announced in September 2022 that Peter Smith would be the team's first head coach, with Pierre Alain as associate coach and Katia Clement-Heydra as assistant coach.^[7]

The team's first goal was scored in its inaugural match, a 5-4 shootout win against the Buffalo Beauts, by captain Ann-Sophie Bettez.^[8]

The Force did not have an official home, but instead played home games at select rinks across the province of Quebec, including the Aréna Raymond-Bourque in Montreal, the Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, the Aréna régional de la Rivière-du-Nord in Saint-Jérôme, and the Centre Premier Tech in Rivière-du-Loup; the team was also expected to play at venues in Gatineau, Quebec City, and Sept-Îles.^[1][9]

In June 2023, the PHF's assets were purchased and the league was ultimately wound down as part of the creation of the Professional Women's Hockey League, the first unified women's professional league in North America.^[2] In August, it was announced that Montreal had been awarded one of the six charter PWHL franchises.^[10] PWHL Montréal made its debut on January 2, 2024.^[11]

Team

2022–23 roster

As of January 20, 2023^{[5][12][13][14]}

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
4		Taylor Baker	D	R	26	2022	Toronto, Ontario
24		Ann-Sophie Bettez (C)	F	L	36	2022	Sept-Îles, Quebec
12		Catherine Daoust (A)	D	R	29	2022	L'Île-Bizard, Quebec
23		Gabrielle De Serres	D	R	26	2022	Mont-Royal, Quebec
18		Deziray De Sousa	F	L	26	2022	Montreal, Quebec
17		Christine Deaudelin	D	L	26	2022	Beloeil, Quebec
33		Tricia Deguire	G	L	26	2022	Sherbrooke, Quebec
9		Kim Deschênes	F	R	32	2022	Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick
39		Marie-Soleil Deschênes	G	R	29	2022	L'Île-Perrot, Quebec
27		Jade Downie-Landry	F	L	28	2022	St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
28		Catherine Dubois	F	L	28	2022	Quebec City, Quebec
64		Maude Gélinas	F	L	32	2022	St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec
60		Sally Hoerr	D	L	27	2022	Colchester, Vermont
25		Alyssa Holmes	F	R	24	2022	Hamilton, Ontario
8		Kaity Howarth	D	L	25	2022	Thunder Bay, Ontario
5		Samantha Isbell	F	L	26	2022	Thunder Bay, Ontario
29		Laura Jardin	F	L	23–24	2022	Calgary, Alberta
13		Alexandra Labelle	F	L	28	2022	St-Louis-de-Gonzague, Quebec
26		Brigitte Laganière	D	L	27	2022	Anjou, Quebec
16		Sarah Lefort (A)	F	L	30	2022	Ormstown, Quebec
		Autumn MacDougall	F	L	26	2023	Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
7		Kristina Shanahan	F	R	25	2022	Montreal, Quebec
3		Brooke Stacey	F	L	27	2022	Kahnawake, Quebec

Coaching staff and team personnel

• Head coach: Peter Smith
• Associate coach: Pierre Alain
• Assistant coach: Katia Clement-Heydra

Front office

As of October 11, 2022^[15]

• President: Kevin Raphaël
• Vice president: Emmanuel Anderson De Serres
• Ownership group: BTM Partners

Awards and honors

• Laura Jardin, 2023 PHF Foundation Award ^[16]

References

1. Kennedy, Ian (August 30, 2022). "New PHF Team in Montreal Named Force". The Hockey News. from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
2. Wyshynski, Greg (June 29, 2023). "Sources: Premier Hockey Federation sale could unite women's hockey". ESPN. from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
3. Wawrow, John (April 28, 2021). "NWHL delays Montreal expansion, doubles salary cap to $300K US". CBC.ca. from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022. Our view is that it's a little better to take more time, build up better infrastructure for that new team, get the right people in place and really have a good go at that.
4. Wawrow, John (July 12, 2022). "Montreal awarded PHF women's hockey expansion team after pandemic delay". CBC.ca. from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
5. Krotz, Paul (August 30, 2022). "PHF Montreal Named Force And Unveil New Logo And Jersey". Premier Hockey Federation (Press release). from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
6. Shilton, Kristen (August 30, 2022). "Montreal Force to enter as PHF's seventh team". ESPN.com. from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
7. Krotz, Paul (September 13, 2022). "Montreal Force Announce Inaugural Coaching Staff". Montreal Force (Press release). from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
8. Kennedy, Ian (November 6, 2022). "PHF Opening Day: Montreal Force Earn First Win". The Hockey News. from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
9. Burgess, Melissa (September 30, 2022). "PHF Notebook: Getting Ready for Season 8". The Victory Press. from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
10. "PWHL unveils locations of first six teams, player selection process". Sportsnet. AP. August 29, 2023. from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
11. Brennan, Don (January 2, 2024). "A Night to Remember: Montreal scores OT win in Ottawa's historic PWHL opener". Ottawa Sun. from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
12. "Montreal Force, 2022-23 PHF > Roster". Premier Hockey Federation. from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
13. "Montréal Force, 2022-2023 Roster". Elite Prospects. from the original on October 17, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
14. La Force de Montréal [@laforcemontreal] (October 23, 2022). "Nos meneuses./Our leaders". Retrieved October 23, 2022 – via Instagram.
15. Murphy, Mike (July 12, 2022). "PHF expanding to Montreal for upcoming 2022-23 season". The Ice Garden. from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
16. Krotz, Paul (May 4, 2023). "PHF ANNOUNCES 2022-23 FOUNDATION AWARD RECIPIENTS". Premier Hockey Federation. from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023.

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Official website (in French)