At 34 years old, Marie-Philip Poulin is about to embark on her fifth Olympic tournament. So far, she has three gold medals and one silver medal. At the last Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022, Captain Canada put up 17 points in seven games, second only to teammate Sarah Nurse, who scored 18 points in the tournament as Canada reclaimed the Olympic title. Both were named to the tournament’s All-Star team, with teammate Brianne Jenner completing the forwards lineup and being named tournament MVP with 14 goals.

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Suppose Team Canada can pull it off and win gold for a second time in a row. In that case, Poulin will claim her fourth gold medal, joining Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hayford, and Caroline Ouellette as the only women in the game to have four Olympic titles. When asked about that, Poulin explained:

They are idols for me. I’ve been really lucky in my career so far, but I’m not thinking about that for now. I’m focused on the present. I want to make this team; obviously, it remains my goal to get there and to win it. It would be an honour to join those big names.

- Poulin on joining the select 4-gold medals group

Poulin is probably the only person in the world who’s not taking for granted the fact that she’ll make Team Canada, but it’s par for the course for such a humble athlete who insists on saying she’s been lucky throughout her career.

The captain is really appreciative of the opportunity the PWHL has given the athletes since its inception:

It allows us to create another connection —the opportunity to practice every day and to play together in our respective teams in the PWHL —and it’s advantageous. Still, it’s the same for every team when you’ve got girls from Toronto, Ottawa, whichever team you play for, you have the opportunity to practice every day, you’ve got a connection that develops. It allows the coaching staff to see those connections; it will enable the players to push even harder when playing for Team Canada, but it doesn’t change the other connections you have with the other players on the national side. Overall, it just makes us all better.

- Poulin about how the PWHL has influenced Olympic selection process

Asked about her thoughts on Ouellette joining the Montreal Victoire full-time this season, Poulin said she was pleased. Having had the opportunity to play with her and to have been coached by her internationally, as Ouellette is also an assistant coach on the national side. The plan for Ouellette is to focus on the Olympics and Victoire full-time this season, but after that, she’s to return to Concordia, where she’s been coaching alongside her wife, Julie Chu, for years.

When I asked Poulin if they were going to try to make her change her mind on that part of the plan, she smiled and said:

We certainly hope so; that’s the goal for us all.

- Poulin on getting Ouellette to stay permanently

I couldn’t speak to Poulin without asking her about the takeover tour last year in Seattle, when she took the ceremonial faceoff against long-time rival Hilary Knight. The picture that was taken of that moment shows a lot of respect and admiration between both athletes, and I wondered what was said in that moment:

I think for us it was just such a significant moment. To see where women’s hockey is at, to be able to both live that, I had the opportunity to play against her for many years, and with her in Montreal with the Canadiennes, I’ve got a lot of admiration for her. She’s done so much for women’s hockey. It was just a really special moment for us to say: Wow, we’ve done it, at last, we’re professionals.

- Poulin on that picture in Seattle. 

Personally, if I had had a say in the matter, the first PWHL match would have been between Montreal and Boston to give these two women, who have been the face of women’s hockey in their respective countries, the opportunity to have that moment, that realization that they had finally made it. It worked out in the end since last year’s takeover tour in Seattle finally allowed them to have that moment, and I’m forever grateful to Caroline Anne for taking a picture that’s full of meaning and represents the start of a new era of women’s hockey.

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