This meeting will be presented on Sunday on RDS2 from 1 p.m.
MONTREAL — Team sports are often the scene of individual confrontations that make you salivate. Examples include Patrick Roy against Martin Brodeur in the NHL in the 90s, Tom Brady against Peyton Manning in the NFL at the turn of the 21st century or a clash on the mound between Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the top of their game, around ten years ago. A duel of this type can be expected on Sunday afternoon in Laval.
In what is certainly the most anticipated match of the Professional Women’s Hockey League season, the Victoire de Montréal will welcome the Boston Fleet to Place Bell.
It will first be a meeting between the two leading clubs in the LPHF, the Fleet (9-4-2-3 – 37 points) holding a two-point lead over the Victoire (9-4-0-5 – 35 points) with 12 matches to play on each side before the end of the season.
It will also be a first clash between these two teams since November 23, when they launched their third season of existence in a match which ended with a 2-0 victory for the Fleet at the Tsongas Center. Two more clashes are on the schedule in April, including the first in Fleet history at TD Garden, the Bruins’ NHL home, which will be sold out on April 11.
Above all, it should be an opportunity for spectators – if bad luck does not touch one or the other by then – to witness a confrontation in front of the net between Quebecer Ann-Renée Desbiens and American Aerin Frankel, who represent the cream of the LPHF at this vital position and who are quite possibly the two best goalkeepers in the world in women’s hockey at the moment.
In a circuit where goalkeepers very often play a leading role in the success of their team, Desbiens and Frankel have climbed into another stratosphere. So much so, in fact, that it is no exaggeration to say that they represent, at present, the two most serious candidates for the title of most valuable player to her team in the LPHF. If one of them were to finish first in the voting, she would become the first goalie to earn such an honor in the league.
If we look at individual LPHF statistics, Desbiens has a slim advantage over the Fleet goalkeeper. Frankel has one more victory (12 against 11), but she also played one more match than Desbiens (16 against 15). Additionally, both goalkeepers recorded four shutouts each, more than half of the league-wide total of 14 shutouts in 2025-26.
Desbiens has a goals against average of 1.06, compared to 1.28 for Frankel, and an efficiency rate of .958 while Frankel’s is .949.
What stands out from Desbiens’ stats is the fact that she has yet to have a single game where she has allowed more than two goals in the LPHF this season. In Frankel’s case, it happened three times, including a game where she gave up four goals.
Asked to explain the recent successes of the Victoire, which has scored six consecutive wins and nine in its last 10 games (7-2-0-1), head coach Kori Cheverie paid tribute to the special teams, but could not ignore the work of Desbiens.
“Ann is better than she’s ever been, and I can’t praise her enough. I didn’t think she could reach a new level (of play), and she did it,” said Cheverie after her players’ training on Friday at the Verdun Auditorium.
“She has always been a very competitive goalkeeper, but I think she has even raised her level of competitiveness in training and in matches, as well as in the way she approaches the professional environment. She is very diligent in her work. (…) The fact that she is close to first place in most categories, that says it all,” Cheverie also mentioned.
For his part, Desbiens explains the club’s recent successes as a collective effort.
“We obviously had important contributions from Marie-Philip (Poulin) when we needed them. And when Marie-Philip produced a little less, which is not very often, other players stood up and had success too,” she first mentioned.
“Currently, our four lines of attack can help us. Our defenders were extraordinary at moving the puck and limiting scoring chances. I think we really pay attention to the details,” added Desbiens.
If, as expected, Desbiens and Frankel are sent into the fray on Sunday afternoon, it will be their first confrontation since the final of the women’s Olympic tournament, which the United States won 2-1 against Canada thanks to the overtime goal of Megan Keller, another Fleet player, on February 19 in Milan.
Desbiens, who also lost to Frankel on November 23, is never the type to dwell on the past or project too much into the future.
“We understand what happened at the Olympics. Yes, I want to have the upper hand, but the regular season is about continuing to build towards the playoffs and improving as a team. »
