Ahead of her third straight gold medal final, Marie-Philip Poulin is right in her comfort zone.
The Beauceville, Quebec, product was instrumental in leading Team Canada's National Women’s Team to back-to-back gold medals at the last two Winter Olympics – in Vancouver 2010, she tallied both goals in a 2-0 victory over Team U.S.A. before spearheading a heroic comeback at the 2014 Sochi Games by notching the game-tying goal with less than a minute left in regulation and subsequently notching the "golden goal" in the extra frame.
On Thursday in Pyeongchang, Poulin and Team Canada will embark on their third gold medal in eight years against their unequivocal rivals from the South who they edged 2-1 in a spirited round robin game.
Nicknamed “Pou” for the majority of her hockey career, her teammates have grown to know her as “Captain Clutch” for her ability to shine brightly on the biggest International stages.
“When I was 18 years old, I was quite young and had no idea what to expect from the Olympic experience Poulin told BarDown. "I was just there (in Vancouver) enjoying so much, and never thought I would’ve scored the two goals and only goals in the final.
“In Sochi, it’s quite amazing what happened there. It was a fairytale moment that pushes me and reminds me now to keep raising the bar every day.”
The captain of the Canadian club is now a seasoned veteran of the National Team, and knows that she can’t get complacent after finding a magnitude of success early in her career.
That’s why Poulin partnered with Tide to #RaiseTheBar and be the best leader she can be for Canada.
“Raising the Bar with Tide ties in with my own goal of raising my bar and being the best I can be for my country and teammates.”
Poulin knows that, despite winning back-to-back golds, the Americans have their number in recent World Championships, something Poulin believes illustrates the intense rivalry between the two North American powerhouses.
“Whoever wakes up on the morning of the gold medal game and is ready to go is who’s going to win this time. The rivalry is very close.
“We always want to win against them because it’s such a big rivalry; it’s so intense. I’m not sure why they seem to have our number recently. It’s in the back of our minds but we use it as motivation.”
At just 26 years of age, Poulin has cemented herself already as one of the greatest hockey players Canada has produced, regardless if she and her country mates fail to come out on top against the Americans.
If Canada can beat the Americans in the final, it will mark their fifth straight gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games. Only at the 1998 Games in Nagano – the first year where the IOC allowed women’s hockey to be admitted – Canada fell short and won a silver after losing to, you guessed it, the United States.
Poulin looks to role models before her like Hayley Wickenheiser, Gillian Apps, Caroline Oullette, and recognizes trailblazers like Danielle Goyette, who became the fifth woman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame back in November 2017.
“Danielle did so much for women’s hockey in Canada. She’s a pioneer of the game and it’s amazing to see her get recognized in the game.
“I’ve had the chance to know her as a coach and a friend. She’s done so much for me.”
Poulin is a former Boston Terrier who graduated with a degree in Psychology and plays in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiennes. She takes pride in knowing she’s a role model for young girls across the country playing the game that's granted her so much.
“I mean it's quite awesome to see what women's hockey has become and obviously we want to keep raising the bar we want to keep pushing to get more teams playing and more girls wanting to play.”
Poulin is passionate about growing the CWHL and sees opportunities down the road for current players to get involved in the business and coaching side of the game. The league currently has seven teams in Canada, the U.S. and China.
“Knowing that coaching opportunities are arising for us is something special and I think it can all come together and become a big thing, and that's what we strive for.
“We want the next generation of young girls playing hockey right now to see that they can do this for a living and one day we can all be paid more like the men.”
While her hockey career is nowhere near finished, she wants to remain in the game once her playing days are over. She sees value in passing down her torch of knowledge and experience to the next generation of players, much akin to the women that did for her.
“I would love to coach for sure. I’ve enjoyed coaching kids at hockey camps so much by getting to know them off the ice, too. I love the game so much, and knowing that you can one day make an impact on someone’s life not only as a hockey player but as a person is something I would love to do.”
But for now, Poulin is setting her eyes on the task at hand and is focused on adding another gold to her collection.
“When you wear the Maple Leaf you know you have a job to do over there, and there's always pressure, we know. I think we've learned to embrace it.”
“We know what to do next.”
