With this season being the last we will see of Melodie Daoust in professional women's hockey, it was an entertaining and successful swan song for one of the best Canadian players to step on the ice over the last 15 years.

Melodie Daoust is one of the game's greatest players from the last 15 years. It's an indisputable fact, and Daoust has the record to back it up. It's why no matter how short the stint, fans appreciated a final glimpse via Daoust's swan song appearance in the PWHL during the league's inaugural season.

Daoust officially announced her retirement June 4.

"It's with a heavy heart that I make this decision, as it signifies the closing of a chapter overflowing with cherished memories, lifelong friendships, countless experiences, lessons, and adventures that have shaped me into the person I am today," Daoust wrote in a letter to fans. "Although I'm emotional to say goodbye to the game I love, this has truly been the greatest journey of my life."

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Early in her career, Daoust won gold and silver with Canada's U-18 national team scoring 20 points in 10 games while also playing club hockey for Collège Édouard-Montpetit Lynx. 

Following her minor hockey career, Daoust committed to McGill University in Montreal, turning down multiple scholarship offers from NCAA programs to stay in Montreal. She was named the CIS Rookie of the Year in 2011-2012. The next season she won the Brodrick Trophy as the CIS' Most Valuable Player. In 79 career games for McGill, Daoust finished with 167 points. It was an era when CIS hockey was filled with stars of the game. The previous two winners of the Brodrick Trophy prior to Daoust were Ann-Sophie Bettez and Hayley Wickenheiser.

It was with Canada, however, that Daoust truly made her name. Daoust played for Canada at three Olympic Games winning two gold and a silver. At the 2018 Olympics, Daoust was an All-Star and named tournament MVP. Three years later at the 2021 World Championships, Daoust was again tournament MVP leading the event in scoring with 12 points in seven games. 

After an injury at the 2022 Olympics, Daoust only played a handful of games that season. She reappeared in the PWHPA last year with Team Scotiabank, but had also taken on a coaching position at Bourget College near Montreal limiting the games she could play.

That and her family made staying in Montreal important to Daoust. Not fully entering the inaugural PWHL Draft, Daoust signed as a reserve with Montreal to stay in the city to be closer to her son, and continue her coaching career at Bourget.

The PWHL was only a brief stop in her storied career, playing six regular season games and three in the playoffs with PWHL Montreal, but it was an important swan song for Daoust. For a moment, Montreal fans got to see a player who had starred for McGill, the CWHL's Montreal Canadiennes, and Team Canada, competing in the world's best league. In her six regular season games, Daoust didn't disappoint scoring five points. She scored in her debut in the PWHL in a March 2 win over PWHL Boston.

While Daoust has not officially announced her retirement, she's expected to be back on the bench with Bourget College next season. As well, she did not enter the 2024 PWHL Draft, and will therefore be ineligible to play in the league next season.

Daoust has always been a player who takes things one game at a time, focusing on the moment. Until this season, women's hockey had a precarious future from season to season, so Daoust became accustomed to this existence.

You need to look at life one day at a time. That’s big for me,” she said in a 2021 interview with TSN. “I never try to look too much in advance because you never know what’s going to happen.

“So making sure you make the most out of it every single day and you have no regrets. ‘Be the best you can every day,’ is a motto that I’m trying to accomplish every day, look at myself in the mirror, asking myself, ‘Did I give everything today?’ And if the answer is yes, then I feel accomplished.”

As Melodie Daoust's finale, however brief it was, she certainly gave it her all, and the women's hockey world got to see one of the best to ever pull on a Team Canada jersey competing once and for all in a best-on-best league.

"The future of women's hockey is shining brighter than ever. As I transition off the ice, I am eager to give back to the sport I love and inspire young athletes to chase the dream that is now possible: playing professional women's hockey. I am looking forward to being behind the bench at Collège Bourget this upcoming season and contributing to the devel- opment of the next generation of PWHL players."