The Ottawa Charge had a successful evening at the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) awards ceremony held Tuesday in Detroit, with forward Rebecca Leslie taking home a prestigious honor.
Leslie Earns 'Hockey for All' Award
Ottawa's own Rebecca Leslie received the league's 'Hockey for All' Award, which recognizes the player who has made the greatest impact in their community during the 2025-26 regular season. The award is selected by PWHL executives based on nominations from all eight teams.
In addition to the community award, Leslie was named to the league's second all-star team. Former Charge captain Brianne Jenner, along with Taylor Heise and Kelly Pannek of the Minnesota Frost, were selected as forwards on the first all-star team.
Leslie's On-Ice Performance
Leslie, known as a strong two-way player, battled for the goal-scoring lead throughout the season. She finished with 14 goals, tying for second with Boston Fleet's Jessie Eldridge, behind Pannek who won the scoring title with 16 goals. Heise scored 13, and Jenner had 12 goals.
Leslie's 23 points placed her behind only Pannek (33), Heise (30), Minnesota's Britta Curl-Salemme (29), and Jenner (26). She also tied for the scoring title in the playoffs with four goals and ranked fourth in points with six, though voting was based on regular-season performances.
"It's a huge honour to be recognized in this league, with these tremendous players, for the season that I had on the ice," Leslie said. "It's a testament to the hard work that I put into the team that we had. A lot of these awards are individual awards, but we had such a good locker room and such a good team that supported me and allowed me to be successful both on and off the ice."
Other Award Winners
Boston's Kris Sparre was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Fleet to a second-place finish with significant year-over-year improvement, including six more wins and 18 more points than the 2024-25 season. However, many noted that Carla MacLeod, who battled cancer while leading the Charge to the Walter Cup final for the second consecutive season, had incredible and unmatched accomplishments. MacLeod and Kori Chevrie, who led Montreal Victoire to a first-place finish and a Walter Cup victory, were the finalists. Chevrie was the league's Coach of the Year in 2025.
Goaltender of the Year was Boston's Aerin Frankel, who recorded 19 wins in 26 starts, allowed one goal or fewer in 18 games, and had a league-high eight shutouts. However, Gwyneth Philips of the Charge had 16 wins, and Ottawa won the regular-season head-to-head series against Boston, seven points to five. Philips also outdueled Frankel in the playoffs during a first-round best-of-five series that Ottawa won in four games.
No other members of the Charge received individual awards at the ceremony.
