Marie-Philip Poulin is a legendary female hockey player from Canada who is widely regarded as one of the best hockey players of all time. Marie-Philip Poulin is one of the most successful and decorated hockey players of all time with numerous Olympic and World Championship medals in her kitty. In this post, we will find out more about Marie-Philip Poulin. Let’s get started.
Marie-Philip Poulin: All You Need To Know
When was Marie-Philip Poulin born?
Marie-Philip Poulin was born on March 28, 1991, in Beauceville, Quebec, Canada.
How did Marie-Philip Poulin start playing hockey?
She was a natural on the rink and started figure skating at four. However, she soon switched to playing hockey because of her brother Pierre-Alexandre’s influence. The parents, Robert and Dany, were supportive of their children’s activities. They worked two jobs to have extra money for hockey. Mom always took her daughter to training, and father always took his son.
Marie-Philip and her brother often played hockey one-on-one in the basement of the house. In one of these games, Pierre-Alexandre knocked out his sister’s tooth.
Marie-Philip Poulin: Hockey Career
As a teenager, Poulin attended the Saint-Francois comprehensive school in Beauceville, where she played many sports. Her first participation in ringette allowed her to choose hockey. She began playing in the amateur hockey leagues of Bosville while managing to become a gold medalist in inter-school badminton competitions as well.
Playing With The Boys
At the age of 11, Marie-Philip had a dream of winning the Olympic Games after she saw the joy of the Canadian hockey players who won the final of the 2002 Olympic tournament of the year. Until the age of 15, Marie-Philip, due to the underdevelopment of women’s hockey in Quebec, played exclusively with boys. According to the hockey player, the guys accepted her without restrictions, providing protection; in the team, she learned a lot about sports discipline and game techniques. In the summer, she trained with the youth team but realized that playing with the guys was physically difficult for her. Marie-Philip spent her final year of high school at Cooper Academy located in Kirkland. At the Academy, she learned English, which allowed her to join the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) the following year, at the age of 16.
CWHL Career
In the 2007/8 season, Poulin played in only 16 matches but managed to become the best rookie in the league, earning 43 (22+21) points. Poulin finished second in the CWHL Most Valuable Player voting between club captains.
In January 2008, Poulin became a recipient of the Montreal Canadiens scholarship program. The following season, Poulin played for the Dawson College team, which is part of the general and vocational education program. In addition to playing for college, Marie-Philip Poulin also played for the Stars. In March 2009, she helped Montreal win the Clarkson Cup in the CWHL final against Minnesota Whitecaps, dishing out an assist to Caroline Ouellette. With the college team, Marie-Philip won the Women’s College Hockey League’s AA Rookie and Player of the Year awards and was named to the league’s first All-Star Team at the end of the season. After Poulin’s Olympic success, in 2010, Dawson College retired her number 10 jersey. She is only the second player in Dawson College’s women’s hockey program to achieve this honour.
Why did Marie-Philip Poulin boycott the CWHL?
On May 1, 2019, the CWHL ceased operations due to its “economically unsustainable” business model. The league needed large financial injections in order to survive. CWHL Interim Commissioner Jayna Hefford said the 2019-20 CWHL season will not take place in any case.
Negotiations were underway to merge the two leagues – the CWHL and the NWHL, which was the first professional women’s hockey league in North America, where players began to be paid salaries. In 2017, scholarships began to be awarded in the CWHL, but they were insufficient, and many players earned money from other jobs in addition to playing hockey. League leaders negotiated with the NHL to create a unified women’s championship under its leadership. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman avoided this initiative, while his league provided financial assistance to the CWHL and NWHL for several years.
As a result, without coming to a compromise on the creation of a new league, in May 2019, Poulin and more than 200 other hockey players announced a boycott, consisting of the fact that they would not play in any professional North American championship until a league is created that has necessary resources and able to attract the best players in the world.
Marie-Philip Poulin explained her participation in the action with the desire to ensure that young hockey players could focus on hockey, and not work until the evening so that they could train at night. Later, the boycotting players created the Professional Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), which included many players from the national teams of the USA, Canada, and European countries. To showcase the spectacle of women’s hockey, as well as to connect more closely with fans and sponsors, the PWHPA has announced the Dream Gap Tour tournament series. Poulin became one of the main stars of the ongoing series.
Poulin took an active part in the competition day leading up to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis. She played in a 3-on-3 game between top Canadian and US players in two ten-minute periods. Marie-Philip Poulin was also invited to participate in the Throwing Stars competition, which aimed to shoot the puck at targets from a platform located approximately 9 meters above the ice level and earn points. Marie-Philip scored 15 points and took 5th place; Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane won the competition, who earned 22 points and beat his opponents in the 2nd tiebreak.
Marie-Philip Poulin: Playstyle and Legacy
Marie-Philip Poulin is widely considered to be the best modern female hockey player and one of the best female hockey players of all time. Her play has been described as dominant, evasive, smart, passionate and confident. Marie-Philip Poulin is considered to have an elusive hockey sixth sense, which helps her to be a formidable scorer. It is noted that it is difficult to take away the puck from Poulin as she is very deft while handling it.
At the same time, Marie-Philip Poulin has excellent skating skills and a good vision of the game. They celebrate the leadership skills of the Canadian, and her ability to take care of herself and her teammates. They highlight Poulin’s ability to perform her best in decisive matches against the strongest opponents, as well as her desire to fight in all areas of the rink, including places where there is a tough physical game.
For her incredible achievements from a very young age, Marie-Philip Poulin received comparisons with her famous compatriot and hockey legend Sidney Crosby.
From 2007 to 2009, she played for the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) Montreal Stars. At the end of the 2007/8 season, she was recognized as the best rookie in the league and was included in the All-Star Team. In 2009, she became the CWHL champion by winning the Clarkson Cup. Poulin then attended Boston University for five years, playing for the Terriers varsity team. In 2012, 2013, and 2015, she became the champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Hockey East division.
After graduating from university, in 2015, she played for the Montreal Canadiens CWHL club. In 2017 she won her second Clarkson Cup. At the end of 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2018/19 seasons, she became the league’s top scorer and was recognized as its most valuable player. Poulin played for the Canadiens until the league and club shut down in 2019.
Marie-Philip Poulin currently competes on the Dream Gap Tour, which aims to promote women’s hockey and create a new professional women’s league that is financially viable and stable.
Who is Marie-Philip Poulin married to?
Marie-Philip Poulin is not married. She doesn’t want her husband to be a hockey player, no matter how successful he is. According to Poulin, male hockey players love themselves too much and because of this, their psyche is disturbed.
