Ottawa Charge General Manager provides comment the team’s direction after expansion losses and Lansdowne 2.0
Since falling to the Montreal Victoire in the Walter Cup Finals, the Ottawa Charge have continued to face more losses off the ice. From players moving to expansion teams and arena setbacks due to Lansdowne 2.0, the Charge are in a period of change with a new path ahead.
After narrowly making the playoffs this past season, many viewers were surprised to see the Ottawa Charge qualify for the Walter Cup Finals. This unsuspected success could be attributed to Ottawa’s captain, Brianne Jenner, and assistant captain, Emily Clark, who shined their way through the season and supported their team during the process, with the statistics to prove it. In the 2025-2026 regular season, Jenner carried the team with 12 goals and 14 assists, while Clark delivered 3 goals and 6 assists.
In June, it was announced that Jenner and Clark will soon move their talents to Hamilton’s new team (which remains unnamed), leaving the Charge with a gap in their leadership, but with potential opportunities in the 2026-2027 draft.
During a media conference on June 27, Charge’s General Manager (GM), Michael Hirshfeld, emphasized that during these times of roster changes and expansion, the Ottawa Charge “…wanted to invest in and develop players who are entering the primes of their careers, and with the explosion on hold for a couple of years … [they] want to build around this younger core.”
For the Charge, this core consists of their newly drafted players: Vivian Jungles, Jordan Ray, Tereza Pištěková, Tory Mariano, Neena Brick and Taylor Otremba. Hirshfeld noted that “…we know the type of player that works in our organization, we know what an Ottawa Charge player looks like.” Hirshfeld further commented on how the new four forwards and two defenders fit into the team’s style of boxing out in front of the net and playing with speed as they enter the offensive zone.
Hirshfeld emphasized that all three goaltenders, including Sanni Ahola, Gwyneth Philips and Kendra Woodland, will continue to play for the Charge this coming season. These players staying in Ottawa is a strong asset to the team as Hirshfeld noted that the Charge’s goaltending is probably “…the deepest in the league.”
In addition to six defenders returning from last season, the Charge will have an advantage over the expansion teams as they will be able to utilize collected data from the past three seasons in the fall.
The team’s roster is not the only change that Charge fans will notice this coming season. The City of Ottawa’s Lansdowne 2.0 project, announced in November 2025, meant that the capacity of the new arena would decrease by 3,000 seats. Considering the high popularity and demand for the games, this was an unwanted outcome for the Charge.
Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Amy Sheer commented, “We [the Ottawa Charge] will not go backwards.”
These uncertainties raised questions around the Ottawa team itself moving to another city if Lansdowne 2.0 wouldn’t accommodate their capacity demands. Sheer’s statement came to fruition for the team, as it was recently confirmed that the Charge will be playing their 2026-2027 season at the Canadian Tire Centre with a multi-year agreement.
Although shifting the team’s home from Lansdowne Park to Kanata decreases its central accessibility, Charge fans can rest assured that the franchise will still be Ottawa’s.
