Montreal Victoire take the stage at Walter Cup championship celebration

Victoire fete bruno walter transfuse win with fans in downtown Montreal

Ottawa Charge coach emotional after captain calls her 'inspiring'

Montreal Victoire players' love letter to fans after Walter Cup win

Montreal Victoire win PWHL’s Walter Cup in historic first for Canada

Montreal Victoire celebrate after winning the Walter Cup

Victoire players, their loved ones and fans celebrate Walter Cup win

The team is arriving at the event space in the Quartier des Spectacles in downtown Montreal, where players will head onstage to deliver speeches.

Minutes ago, the players were at the top of a double-decker bus, hoisting the Walter Cup. 

People are chanting and cheering them on. 

Virginia Bruman brought her five-year-old daughter Anna to the festivities. They're dancing and enjoying the vibes. She says this will be a moment the two of them will "remember forever."

Katie is a big fan of the Victoire. She said she woke up today feeling like it was Christmas morning knowing there was a celebration for the team. 

She’s hoping to have one of the players autograph one of the three signs she made to mark the day.

Liza Smith-Vedder met her partner Josée Lamoureux on Facebook. When they discovered they both loved women's hockey, they got together — and the rest is history. The two love birds are excited to be here.

Sofia is nine, and says her goal is to play for the Victoire in the future. She says her favourite player is Poulin, and she wants to be just like her.

This is a historic win for the team, but not the first time a Montreal women's pro team has brought home a championship. In fact, Les Canadiennes de Montreal (also known for a period of time as the Montreal Stars), were the most decorated team in the PWHL's predecessor league, the CHWL.

The Canadiennes won four Clarkson Cup championships with teams that include some big names in the current league: Marie-Philip Poulin, Caroline Ouellette (Victoire assistant coach) and Jayna Hefford (now in the PWHL head office).

Victoire stars Erin Ambrose and Laura Stacey, Team USA and Seattle Torrent captain Hilary Knight, Emerance Mashmeyer (Vancouver Goldeneyes) and Jill Saulnier (Boston Fleet) all did stints in Montreal before the CHWL folded in 2019.

Melodie brought her two-month-old daughter, who might be the youngest Victoire fan at the celebration.

She says she wants her daughter to grow up to know women can do anything and everything.

Regardless of the outcome of the Walter Cup final, we knew the PWHL would be bigger next season. During the playoffs, the league announced four new teams will play next season: Hamilton, Detroit, Las Vegas and San Jose. (Names and branding are still to come.)

But north of the border, in particular, there's no doubt there's been a big boost to the visibility of the league and women's hockey in general — thanks in no small part to an all-Canadian Walter Cup final. I went to the home games for both the Montreal Victoire and Ottawa Charge during the final and saw a ton of excitement in both cities. Lots of fans travelled to cheer on their team.

There is an especially long and proud history of women's hockey in Quebec. You can see some of it displayed inside a glass case at the Verdun Auditorium, where the Victoire train. A Walter Cup championship only adds to that storied history.

Virginia here told me she made this Victoire sweater, which has all the players' names from the championship team on it. She says the Montreal Victoire are the best team in the world.

Ottawa Charge coach emotional after captain calls her 'inspiring'

Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod reflects on a hard year and the support she received from the team at a post-game press conference after the Charge lost in the Walter Cup final to the Montreal Victoire.

Every professional team will say their locker-room is special — it's a cliché. 

But it felt like it was especially true for the Victoire this season. Regardless of their roles on the team, there appeared to be mutual respect and a common, shared goal to win the Walter Cup. 

General manager Danièle Sauvageau, head coach Kori Cheverie and team leaders like Poulin have been talking since the beginning of the PWHL about the culture they're trying to build, and it was finally in their and the league's third year — despite the arrival of new players — that this vision took shape. 

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