History was made this season with expansion a part of thePremier Hockey Federation’s new era.
The introduction of the Montreal Force as the league’s seventh team provided a second Canadian entry, showcased the PHF and professional women’s hockey across the province of Quebec, and elevated the player pool with an influx of talent.
Among the league’s brightest new stars is Jade Downie-Landry who led the Force in scoring and developed into one of the top producing newcomers in the entire PHF. She reflects on a memorable season alongside her new teammates.
“This year overall was just about growth as individuals, as people, as hockey players and even more than that as a team because realistically we’re a new team,” Downie-Landry said.“We were playing with players that we had never played with before. It’s kind of unusual since most of the teams have been together or have had a group of girls already playing together. Our reality is that we had to adjust to the environments and a lot of new faces, new styles, new systems, and everything was pretty much new. At the end of the day we didn’t win, and it is disappointing, but I think we are all looking at this from more of a global standpoint.”
Downie-Landry joined the Force following a decorated U SPORTS career that included Player of the Year honors with McGill University in 2021-22. She found chemistry with captain Ann-Sophie Bettez and scored 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in her first 24 PHF games while leading the team in shots on goal, faceoff wins, and even scored the game-winner at the All-Star showcase. She enjoyed her first professional season but considers it bittersweet while on the outside and looking in at the current playoff picture.
“It’s not exactly what we had envisioned but I think overall we were pretty focused on our development and the process for this year, and we pretty much followed our game plan along the way,” she said. “We lost a lot of games by one point and those could have been the game changers, but at the end of the day I’m really proud of the group and what we accomplished during the year.”
The Force led the league with 14 one-goal games and found themselves on the wrong side in 10 of those scores including eight in regulation, one in overtime, and one in shootout. Montreal was the first team to wrap up their regular season schedule last weekend on the road against the Riveters. A few favorable bounces along the way may have changed the final outlook.
“This past weekend we knew that we were not in the running for playoffs anymore, but still when those two games ended we were pretty bummed,” Downie-Landry said. “I’ve never been in a situation where you play two hockey games knowing that you aren’t going to make the playoffs. It was interesting to see the ambience in the room. We lost the games, but I think we were more disappointed and above all we were hungry for next year. At the end of the day, we are satisfied with what we did this season but we still want more and are capable of more and I would say that everyone is on the same page in that regard.”
Sorting through Downie-Landry’s statistics it’s easy to point to her five-point game on Nov. 26 as a highlight which included the franchise’s first hat-trick. But she remembers it for the record crowd and atmosphere at Verdun Auditorium that helped lift the team to victory in their historic home opener.
“We had an incredible fan base that game,” she said. “It was insane. I remember stepping onto the ice during warmup and we already had so many people. During the game you couldn’t hear anything but the fans. It was a great experience, and I think it really highlighted what it meant to be a professional athlete.”
Even when they were at ‘home’ the Force were regularly on the move playing in front of new fans over the course of their unique touring schedule in six different communities across the province.
“It was for a good purpose,” Downie-Landry said. “We showcased what our team, players, and league had to offer to the game of hockey. The travel became like a habit and part of our preparation, every weekend just leaving on a trip. We had a lot of little girls and a lot of different teams come watch us play and it was pretty special to see them looking at us as role models and professionals and dreaming to one day maybe play for the PHF as well.”
The 27-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, was recently recognized as a Top-8 U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian for her achievements last season. Downie-Landryspent her first professional season as a graduate student pursuing her second bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Healthand in a few weeks will complete her field experience and be fully qualified to teach. Hockey remains her passion and she’s focused on taking her game to the next level.
“This summer I’ll be putting in the work on and off the ice to prepare for when I come back next season,” she said. “I didn’t really have that many expectations for myself (this season). I went in with an open mind and figured that whatever would happen would happen and I’d try to control what I could. I just really wanted to go with the flow and learn from this year because it was my first year playing professional. I just tried to do my best and offer what I could for the team.”
Downie-Landry and all returning members of the Force will come back stronger with their inaugural season experiences behind them and the goal of contending for the Isobel Cup.
“It’s a great league to have players join, and for myself in particular, I think I developed a lot as a player and it’s definitely an opportunity for others to develop as well. We know that we can compete with these teams. It’s wonderful to be able to go into a game knowing that it’s anybody’s game and that goes to show just how competitive the league is.
Unfortunately,somebody has to win and somebody has to lose, and we’ll just work on coming back as the winning team next year.”
Cover photo by Arianne Bergeron
