The Montreal Force () were a professional women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

(PHF), based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. 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 The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL; , LPHF) is a women's professional ice hockey league in North America. The league comprises eight teams, four each from the United States and Canada. The teams play a Season (sports), regular season ...

(PWHL).

History

Montreal was long planned as a location for a PHF expansion franchise, but uncertainties due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

led the league to delay its plans. 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. The team's name, logo and jersey were revealed in a press release from the league the following month. 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 The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

shoulder patches. 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. The team's first goal was scored in its inaugural match, a 5-4 shootout win against the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, at the Northtown Center. The Beauts were established in 2015 as one of the four founding f ...

, by captain

Ann-Sophie Bettez Ann-Sophie Bettez (born October 14, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward that played for the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Playing career CIS She was CIS rookie of the year in 2008 and voted l ...

. The Force did not have an official

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, 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 Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

, the in

Saint-Jérôme Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the North Shore sector of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its reso ...

, and the Centre Premier Tech in

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city (Quebec), city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the Judicial districts of Quebec ...

; the team was also expected to play at venues in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, and Sept-Îles. 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. In August, it was announced that Montreal had been awarded one of the six charter PWHL franchises. PWHL Montréal made its debut on January 2, 2024.

Team

2022–23 roster

Coaching staff and team personnel * Head coach: Peter Smith * Associate coach: Pierre Alain * Assistant coach: Katia Clement-Heydra

Front office

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

Season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Awards and honors

*Laura Jardin, 2023 PHF Foundation Award

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal Force

Force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

Ice hockey clubs established in 2022 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2023 Premier Hockey Federation teams Defunct women's ice hockey teams in Canada 2022 establishments in Quebec 2023 disestablishments in Quebec 2020s in Montreal Women's ice hockey teams in Montreal