PWHL Ottawa Charge captain Brianne Jenner: "We're in love with Ottawa!"

When Brianne Jenner moved her family in 2024 to captain the newly formed PWHL Ottawa Charge, the former Olympic gold (2014, 2022) and silver medalist (2018) wasn't sure what to expect.  

She'd only played in the capital once before and, as a mother of then one-month-old twins plus a toddler, she and wife Hayleigh Cudmore needed to find their feet – and fast.  

But from the first game the Ottawa team played in the inaugural season, Jenner says she's felt right at home. Since then, Jenner has become a permanent fixture in Ottawa, running off-season training camps, getting to know her neighbours and discovering that, although she grew up in Oakville, O-Town has captured her heart. (Jenner also joined CAA last year and has since become a fan of CAA Pit Crew services.)  

As Jenner heads into her second year as captain of the groundbreaking Professional Women's Hockey League's (PWHL) Ottawa Charge, hockey superfan Jeff Walker (and CAA North & East Ontario's CEO and President) checked in with her to talk about what a second season in professional women's hockey looks like as part of the CAA Magazine Coaches Clips series.  

What struck you about the fan base and the environment here in the building last season? 

I was blown away. I had the chance to play in this building once with the national team. It was an amazing crowd, but to see how loud it got in here for the first season of the PWHL, the support for our team every single time we played at home and talking to players that played in other teams in the league, they always like, 'Wow. There's a special environment when you play Ottawa. We certainly feel pretty lucky to be here'.  

So, what did you think of the Ottawa community? How did you feel fitting in around here? 

Honestly, we've kind of fallen in love with the city. We moved here like the night before training camp last year. The boys…our twins were just a month old at that point, and we were just kind of like, 'Here we go. What a great adventure.' I think really living here this offseason and actually getting to spend time in the community, get to know our neighbours; obviously, we felt so embraced by the Ottawa community with the hockey, but now, just to see how great of a city it is and how many great experiences we had this off-season, it feels like home.  

Where do you see the strength of the team this year? Is it going to be offensive, special teams, and defence? 

Part of the identity that we started to build last year was just being a team that's difficult to play against, just in your face, aggressive. I think that's something that we can definitely build into our game this year. But I think with some of the acquisitions that we had in the draft and in the off-season, we're bringing in a lot of smart hockey players and a lot of experience, and I think good character people, too. I think we're going to be a resilient group, which I think is a pretty big asset in a league like this, where the games are so tight. 

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