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Marie-Philip Poulin has won 19 medals representing Canada internationally, including three gold medals and one silver at the Olympics, along with four IIHF World Championships.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
There’s a phrase Marie-Philip Poulin dropped into conversation recently when asked about all the hockey she has played over the years. “La vie va vite.” Life goes by quickly.
They are fitting words for the way her storied career has gone as captain of Canada’s Olympic team. At 34, and widely considered to be one of the greatest women’s hockey players of all time, Ms. Poulin is set to play in her fifth Olympics.
Five times is a remarkable feat in any sport. But as Canada prepares to defend its 2022 gold-medal win over the U.S. women’s squad, any suggestion that Ms. Poulin’s competitive drive has moderated over her nearly two decades playing internationally was quickly dismissed this fall.
Canada’s women’s hockey team has something to prove in Milan
Speaking at Team Canada’s orientation camp in Calgary, Ms. Poulin was asked whether Canada’s intense hockey rivalry with the Americans remains as bitter as always, given that the two sides now comingle as teammates in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
It took Ms. Poulin all of a second, maybe less, to formulate an answer.
“Yes,” she said. “One hundred per cent.”
Since debuting on New Year’s Day 2024, the PWHL has been revolutionary for the sport, bringing a new level of status and recognition to the women’s game. Ms. Poulin, who leads the Montreal Victoire in points, said the fact that she has American teammates doesn’t negate the reality that, well, the Olympics are just different.
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Ms. Poulin, seen here during a Rivalry Series game in Edmonton on Dec. 10, is the only player in hockey, male or female, to score in four Olympic gold-medal games.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
“As much as we are teammates and friends off the ice, every time you wear that jersey and you play against the Americans, there is that rivalry. You want to win day in and day out. And there’s fire there, and there’s always going to be,” Ms. Poulin said.
“And that’s the best part about this rivalry. That’s why it’s one of the best in the sport. No matter if we play on the same team or not in the PWHL, it is always going to be there.”
It’s that attitude, and her seemingly otherworldly ability to always come up in big moments, that have earned Ms. Poulin the nickname Captain Clutch.
In 2010, she scored the deciding goal to win gold on home ice in Vancouver. She did it again in Sochi in 2014. And when Canada took gold in Beijing four years ago, it seemed almost predestined that Ms. Poulin would be the one to net the winner.
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Ms. Poulin, left, and Tessa Bonhomme celebrate winning the gold medal over the U.S. at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Even in 2018 in Pyeongchang, where the United States edged out Canada for the gold, it appeared as if Ms. Poulin had come through yet again. Early in the second period, she put Canada up 2-1, but the Americans tied it midway through the third and eventually won in a shootout.
When it comes to the rivalry with the U.S., familiarity has bred contempt. Though the tournament in Milan is technically a 10-team event, and countries such as Sweden, Switzerland, Czechia and Finland have gotten consistently better, women’s hockey at the Olympics is still very much a Canada-U.S. grudge match.
And the emergence of the PWHL doesn’t change anything, Ms. Poulin said.
“Honestly, when you play in the league against each other, you want to win that face off, you want to go hard against each other,” she said.
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Widely considered to be one of the greatest women’s hockey players of all time, Ms. Poulin will lead Team Canada in her fifth Olympics.Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Ms. Poulin, who is from Beauceville, Que., isn’t yet talking about retirement. But it’s fathomable that Milan could be her last Olympics.
When that time comes, her leadership, impact and extensive trophy collection will be hard to duplicate. Ms. Poulin is a player with gravitational pull; she can single-handedly shift the focus of a game when she’s on the ice, simply by being unpredictable with the puck.
At Team Canada’s camp in September, where both the women’s and men’s teams were in attendance, the players took a break together to play a few rounds of golf.
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who is coaching the men, marvelled at seeing Ms. Poulin and Sidney Crosby riding in the same golf cart.
It might be the one time Mr. Crosby had fewer medals than the person next to him.
“I mean, who’s done more winning? I don’t even know. It’s hard to even answer that question,” Mr. Cooper said.
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Her seemingly otherworldly ability to always come up in big moments has earned Ms. Poulin the nickname Captain Clutch.Mike Segar/Reuters
Ms. Poulin wins the Canadian medal count at least.
His three Stanley Cups aside, Mr. Crosby has won six international medals for Canada, including five golds, two of which were at the Olympics.
Ms. Poulin has won 19 medals representing Canada internationally, including three gold medals and one silver at the Olympics, along with four IIHF World Championships.
She has been a marquee player in women’s hockey for so long that emerging stars, such as 19-year-old Chloe Primerano of Vancouver, have pictures of themselves standing beside her when they were children. Life goes by quickly.
Troy Ryan, head coach of the women’s squad, calls Ms. Poulin a special player. She is the only player in hockey, male or female, to score in four Olympic gold-medal games. But can she reprise her role as Captain Clutch one more time?
Big moments have seldom proven insurmountable for Ms. Poulin. As Canada hurtles toward another likely showdown against the Americans, she may be leaned on once again for more of her trademark heroics.
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Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
“In those moments, you hope Poulin comes up big again and scores another big goal,” Mr. Ryan said.
