‘This country should be extremely proud,’ Stacey says of Poulin
Canada’s women’s hockey team silenced ‘doubters,’ players say
Team Canada forwards Sarah Fillier and Laura Stacey say they’re still hurting from their overtime loss to the U.S. in the Olympics women’s hockey final in Milan, but they’re ‘proud of the way we battled’ and silenced the ‘outside noise’ from critics.
After a tragic loss in overtime against the U.S., five of Team Canada’s women’s hockey leaders say they are balancing pride with heartbreak.
Forward Laura Stacey praised captain Marie-Philip Poulin for playing through pain and leading the team back to the final after going down earlier in the tournament.
“She’s our leader, our rock,” Stacey said. “We owe a lot to her. I think this country should be extremely proud. Someone who fought to the very end even when their body or everything wasn’t 100 per cent perfect, that’s true greatness.”
Poulin also praised Stacey, calling her “the heart of this team, this whole tournament.”
“She works so hard. She made some unbelievable plays,” Poulin said. “We came up short, but honestly very proud of you — this whole crew, we can keep our head up. Obviously, it’s a hard one, but really happy for this group.”
“We battled, we fought, we clawed,” said goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens, who made 31 saves. Though the Americans rallied late, Desbiens said there’s “nobody else I’d rather go through this with.”
Sarah Fillier and Emma Maltais highlighted each other’s impact in the tight three-on-three overtime, with Fillier saying Maltais “led the way for me” and calling her a player who makes the gritty plays that spark the bench. Maltais, in turn, described Fillier as a “generational player” who rises in big moments.
