Canada’s women’s hockey team just keep resetting the bar for greatness, and captain Marie-Philip Poulin is leading the way. Poulin made history in Canada’s gold-medal game win over the United States on Feb. 17, becoming the only hockey player of any gender to score in four Olympic gold-medal games. Poulin had two goals in Canada’s victory, bringing her goal count up to an astounding seven in four gold-medal games. Three of those were the eventual game-winners. Let’s just say that hers is the type of sustained dominance and performance under pressure we only see from the very best in sport.
Poulin, known (for good reason) as both Captain Canada and Captain Clutch, scored Canada’s second and third goals of the game. In a match that ended 3-2 in Canada’s favor, her historic contributions ended up solidifying the gold for her team. The first goal of the game came from Canada’s Sarah Nurse, who scored off an assist by — you guessed it — Poulin. The victory handed Canada its fifth gold in women’s hockey and Poulin her third out of four Olympics. It’s hard to overstate her effect on this gold-medal game, and on women’s hockey in general.
After the game, though, the 30-year-old forward highlighted the contributions of the team over her own. “This whole process was a team effort,” Poulin told reporters. “Everybody bought in since 2018.” She cited the difficulties of the pandemic, but said that “everybody was so dialed in to be able to bring back that gold medal.” That, Poulin explained, is “what makes it so special . . . when everyone is in it for the right reasons, good things happen, and tonight we’re able to bring back that gold medal to Canada.”
For Poulin’s teammates, the love is mutual. “She’s the best leader in the world on the ice,” said teammate Jill Saulnier in an interview with the Toronto Star. “There’s a reason she’s the golden girl, and there’s a reason that we love to follow her. She’s a born leader, a born idol and a born friend.”
Keep reading to see Poulin’s history-making goals in the 2022 gold-medal game! (PS: she wasn’t the only player to make history last night. With the match, Team USA’s Hilary Knight – who also scored — has officially played the most Olympic games in US women’s hockey history. Claps all around.)