With her knee taped up for the gold medal final, Poulin hid the pain from her Canadian teammates
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Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin played through a knee injury in Thursday’s gold-medal game loss to the U.S.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Marie-Philip Poulin never told her teammates on Team Canada how bad her injured knee actually was.
When it came time for the gold medal game against the United States in Milan, she showed up at the rink, got it wrapped in tape, and refused to let anyone suspect it might hurt as bad as it did.
“She wouldn’t let any of her teammates know the type of pain that she’s in,” defender Renata Fast said after Canada’s 2-1 loss to the U.S. in overtime.
“We were not aware of anything because she puts her head down and she goes to work. That’s just the type of player that she is. She’s always been that way, but she would never let her teammates know.”
The only point Poulin showed any sign she was in pain was after American Megan Keller put the puck past Canadian goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens to win the game.
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Sitting on the bench, Canada’s captain slammed her stick on the boards in front of her. Once, then a second time, then a third.
It was an uncharacteristic outburst for Poulin, a typically stoic player who seems perpetually in control. But she wanted this game. And her teammates wanted it for her.
Poulin wouldn’t say afterward, but this could be her last game at the Olympics for Canada.
Widely considered one of the best women to ever play the game, she has been a key part of Canada’s program since her first gold medal in Vancouver in 2010.
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Playing reduced minutes, Poulin was held off of the scoresheet in Thursday’s loss. She provided her standard heroics in the semi-final, scoring both of Canada’s goals in a 2-1 win over Switzerland.JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
Now 34, and with five Olympic medals to her credit, three gold and two silver, it’s hard for some Team Canada players to imagine the Winter Games without her.
“It hurts. She’s our leader. She’s a warrior,” said an emotional Laura Stacey after the loss. Stacey, who set up Canada’s only goal in the game, is also Poulin’s partner after the two were married in 2024.
She’s probably the only one who might have known how badly damaged the knee was.
“It sucks to see her in pain, but man, you would never know,” Stacey said.
Poulin was injured in Canada’s second game of the tournament after being taken hard into the boards in a preliminary round win against Czechia. The twisted knee forced her to sit out multiple games, including a 5-0 loss to the U.S. When she later returned, clearly labouring, she went on to score both goals in a 2-1 semi-final win over Switzerland that put Canada into the gold medal game.
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“You knew that [Poulin] wasn’t going to miss any more time than she had to,” defender Erin Ambrose said. “And I think that she did a phenomenal job.”
Nicknamed Captain Clutch for her habit of scoring big goals, including game winners in three gold-medal finals, if Poulin doesn’t play in another Olympics, she will leave a significant void for Canadian hockey.
She’s not letting on though.
U.S. captain Hillary Knight said the gold medal game in Milan was her last on Olympic ice. The two players symbolize the U.S.-Canada rivalry during their era. But Poulin wasn’t following suit.
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Poulin and Hilary Knight are the faces of this era of the Canada-U.S. women’s hockey rivalry. Knight has said this will be her final Olympics. Poulin said she is unsure about her future.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
“I am not sure yet,” Poulin said.
As for the injury, Poulin said she didn’t want her situation to affect the team, even though she played noticeably less ice time in the final than she would have if she wasn’t skating on a single healthy leg.
“I didn’t want to be a distraction,” Poulin said.
“Obviously it doesn’t feel amazing, but that’s part of it, and that’s why you have teammates in a team sport.”
Asked how she dealt with the injury, she said, “I was taped pretty good.”
Once the game got underway Thursday, Poulin said she was able to put the pain out of her mind.
It should be expected that a final between the two teams would be a close game. Several previous gold-medal showdowns have come down to a single goal, sometimes in overtime, sometimes in a shootout.
With an older, veteran squad, Canada was seen as an underdog at these Olympics compared to the younger, faster Americans.
When Canada took a 1-0 lead deep into the third period, it looked as though they were about to shock the U.S., until the Americans tied it with just over two minutes remaining, to send the game to overtime.
“People did not believe in us, and we truly believe in ourselves in that dressing room,” Poulin said.
Slowed by the injury, she could not provide one of her signature clutch performances.
Sitting at a microphone at a post-game press conference, Poulin was asked about the support her teammates gave her to come back. At that point she began to tear up.
“I’m going to get emotional,” Poulin said.
“They’re the best part of it, that’s why you get to the rink. They’re the reason why you keep going for so long. they’re the reason why you wear that jersey with so much pride.”
If it is her last Olympics, it’s not the way she wanted to go out.
“This one hurts. We wanted to bring it back to Canada, we came out short,” Poulin said. “But again, I’m truly proud of how we showed up today.”
