Because I feel like dunking on a man before work, letās break down why none of this makes sense & my two cents:
1.) Rigging for Ottawa: While I do think the league wants a Canadian v American team matchup to push narratives from the Olympics; of the four teams Ottawa is the least interesting. Boston has two of the most notable Olympians in the PWHL (not named Knight), Minnesota just has a lot of US Olympians, Montreal has MPP & Stacey. The Charge have the least notable names to the average fan, they are the worst team to market of the four.
2.) Philips glove situation: Of all the plays to pick to point to the series being rigged, this was by far the worst to choose. Her glove gets knocked off during play by a Boston player and maybe one of her own, poking at the puck and someone ultimately falling on her. Boston takes a shot while sheās on the ground, and she spins trying to deflect and when she gets up the glove is off. Play probably continues for another 20 seconds before a whistle, the Fleet got off two shots maybe on that play and missed them both, that sequence played out as long as it couldāve. Not to mention that Boston commits a penalty when one of their players pokes Gwynās glove away from her, something they discuss on the Jocks and Jillās podcast. On top of that itās a dangerous situation for Philips, and no goalie is throwing their glove to get the whistle; especially when theyāve been beating you the way Philips had all series
3. Rescheduling Montreal: I agree, odd to postpone a playoff game due to illness; outside of COVID, itās something Iāve never seen happen in my 27 years of watching sports. The league is just incompetent, and I think probably tried to make a decision out of player safety and just look stupid doing so.
4. Officiating: Heās right, the Fleet probably shouldāve beaten the Charge, they were better then them in almost every metric: SOG, power play opportunities, the PK, etc, on paper that shouldāve been enough to get them the win; it just wasnāt. Moaning about missed penalties, especially when the Charge were called for more, makes your argument weak. While I agree the officiating across the league leaves a lot to be desired, there were no egregious missed penalties that the Charge committed that wouldāve made significant difference and vice versa, the Fleet didnāt get called for any overly soft penalties that lead to Charge goals.
5. Goaltending Battle: Everyone knew this game was going to come down to which goalie could take the most fire and come out on top. Everyone knows the story behind Philips and Frankel, and everyone knows that for the most part, they are pretty equal in terms of caliber of goal tending. Despite the Charge having Swiss cheese for defense, Philips ultimately was the better goalie this series. Whether Frankel was worn down from the Olympics, or just had a bad series, she just couldnāt match Gwyn. Meanwhile, Philips performs in high stakes situations we know this from the Olympics, last Worlds and the 2025 PWHL playoffs. There is a reason she won playoff MVP is a losing effort, the Fleet just simply got goalied; and to pretend like Philips couldnāt beat them on her own without the help of refs is a little insulting.
6. The American Connection: Back to the Philips play, but for different reasons, choosing a play that involves one of Winnās national teammates, is about the stupidest thing to do. Winn is likely friends with Philips and other members of the national team on the Charge (Guilday and Hughes) why would you want to make things awkward for her potentially, they next time she has to train with them. While Philips is probably the best player to chose in terms of not making a big deal out of it, other American team members know might think that youāll call them out if you donāt like the outcome of a game and may not take so lightly.
I get being upset your sister got bounced, but nothing in that series happened that would be worth throwing away the goodwill you earned during the Olympics over. Take on the chin and move on, the Charge played better and Philips was the better goalie this time around and the Fleet got gassed and probably overworked Keller and Winn to the point where they were just exhausted; it was a long season for everyone and it happens. Tip your cap and get on with life
