The Montréal Victoire are your 2026 Walter Cup champions.
Abby Roque scored twice to power Montréal to a 4-0 win over the Ottawa Charge on Wednesday night, clinching the team’s first-ever Walter Cup. Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens earned a shutout in the win, while Maggie Flaherty and Lina Ljungblom added late insurance goals.
The Victoire are the second-ever Walter Cup champions, after the first two championships were won by the Minnesota Frost. Montréal head coach Kori Cheverie is now the first female head coach to lead a team to a Walter Cup.
Roque opened the scoring for Montréal, firing in a puck that deflected off Rory Guilday’s stick and past Gwyneth Philips. She scored again in the third period, this time short-handed on a breakaway. Roque finished tied for the league-lead in playoff goals (4) and points (8). Linemates Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey each picked up an assist in the win, finishing with eight and seven points, respectively.
Defender Maggie Flaherty added a second insurance marker in the third, beating Philips from the point. Flaherty finishes with three goals and an assist in this postseason. She’s the only PWHL player to win the Walter Cup three times.
In between the pipes, goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens earned her second shutout of the postseason, turning away all 18 shots she faced. Desbiens was stellar throughout the playoffs for Montréal, finishing with a 6-2-1 record and a league-leading .942 SV%. She conceded five goals in the opening game of the postseason, but responded by allowing just nine across the following nine.
Prior to this season, the Victoire had suffered two first-round exits in their first two seasons. Their only win across those series came last year in quadruple overtime against Ottawa. This year, the Victoire finished first in the PWHL for the second year in a row and opted to face the two-time defending Cup champion Minnesota Frost. They defeated Minnesota in five games to advance to the Final.