MONTREAL — Paola Lara has followed the Montreal Victoire since their first game 2 1/2 years ago.
On that nail-biting January day in 2024, they vanquished the Ottawa Charge in an away game — just as they did last week to win the Professional Women’s Hockey League championship.
“We’re so happy that they won,” said Lara, who was attending the squad’s victory parade with her niece this weekend.
“Everybody is accepted. Everybody can come and we’re like a big family,” said the season ticket holder.
That family came together downtown in a mass reunion of sorts Saturday, as Montreal’s hockey community celebrated the first Canadian team to win the Walter Cup with a procession through the streets capped off by speeches and music in the city’s main entertainment district.
At a park packed with thousands of cheering fans sporting the team’s maroon jersey, the team strode off a double-decker bus and on stage, one by one, to thank their coaches and supporters, grooving to Celine Dion and Queen while sipping from beer cans and the silver trophy itself.
Forward Abby Roque made her entrance like a rock star, chugging her pilsner before draining the rest over her face.
“We had a great week of festivities together, but this really topped it,” said team captain Marie-Philip Poulin in a backstage interview.
“It’s the cherry on the sundae, honestly,” she said. “Just so much love, so much excitement ... the whole year long we felt it, but this has surpassed all our expectations.”
In the Quartier des Spectacles, red Victoire flags wove through the crowd and fans touted smiles and a sign that read, “god bless Wife Line,” a reference to the team’s first line furnished by Poulin, assistant captain Laura Stacey — the two are married — and Roque, who scored the two opening goals that led the Victoire to a 4-0 victory in the final game against Ottawa on May 20.
Seated in a vintage Mercury Park Lane convertible, head coach Kori Cheverie and general manager Danièle Sauvageau led the parade, which kicked off at around 11 a.m.
Dancing and DJ beats characterized much of the subsequent park celebration, punctuated by pre-recorded congratulatory videos from Quebec cultural luminaries such as Ariane Moffatt, Patrice Bélanger and Roch Voisine.
On top of “Olé, Olé, Olé,” attendees chanted along to another song newly minted as a hockey anthem: “All the Things She Said,” a 2002 single that went viral this year after it featured on the hit Canadian hockey romance series “Heated Rivalry.” Meanwhile, defender Amanda Boulier honked on a tuba throughout the celebration as part of a bet.
On stage, players expressed their pride and gratitude after a challenging season that saw the team top the regular-season standings but struggle with illnesses during the playoffs and Poulin’s knee injury at the Winter Olympics.
“I couldn’t be more proud to be standing here today next to people who battled all year to bring that Walter Cup home to you guys,” said Stacey, as she was interrupted by a swig of booze foisted on her by teammates.
“Let’s raise our glasses or our hats or our sunglasses and say, santé. Let’s do it again next year, Montréal!”
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said the enthusiasm surrounding the team and women’s hockey more broadly bodes well for a sport that for years was viewed as a primarily male domain.
“It’s going to give a lot of inspiration to the next generation, to women — to young women — to know that they can thrive and win in a sport that for decades has been a man’s sport,” she said in an interview.
In the crowd, Heidi Van Regan and fellow Montrealer Ariana Winn agreed.
“They’re never going to know a time when women’s professional hockey was not a thing,” said Winn, sporting a sequined coat in the team’s colours along with Van Regan.
Van Regan, who lives near the team’s training facility in the Verdun borough, said she’s been following the Victoire “since before they existed.”
“I was sitting on the steps waiting for them,” she said, donning a jersey for forward Jade Downie-Landry.
“She’s not the big star. But to me she represents all those players that have an opportunity now thanks to the P-dub that wouldn’t have been playing right now if it wasn’t for this league.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2026.
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
