Poulin aims to lead youthful Canadians to Olympic glory
Canuck captain says recent losses serve to identify ‘where we need to get better’
Canada has won four consecutive Olympic gold medals in women’s hockey, but the team faces an uphill battle as it prepares for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Canada’s perennial rival, the United States, has had the upper hand in recent competition leading up to the Olympics, but Team Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin said a young Canadian team is working hard to close the gap.
“We would have liked better results, but these games show us where we need to get better, where we need to improve, ” said Poulin, who is taking advantage of a week off from the Olympic training program in Calgary to visit friends in Montreal and do some promotional work for Tide’s Raise the Bar program.
“We need to do a better job on the power play and penalty killing.”
Team Canada had to settle for the silver medal at the Four Nations Cup tournament in Tampa, losing to the U.S. in the preliminary round and again in the final on Nov. 12. The tournament showed there is still a wide gap between the two women’s powers and second-tier nations Finland and Sweden.
The U.S. won the inaugural Olympic women’s tournament at Nagano in 1998, but Canada has won the last four in Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver and Sochi. But the U.S. has proved to be a formidable rival and has won seven of the last eight world championships.
Canada and the U.S. are also engaged in a six-game exhibition schedule and that series is tied 1-1 with the next game to be played Dec. 3 in Minnesota.
Poulin, a native of Beauceville, is a two-time Olympic gold medallist who has the distinction of scoring the winning goal in the gold-medal games at Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014. She has been described as the Sidney Crosby of women’s hockey.
“We have a lot of young players on the team and I try to talk to them, give them an idea of what to expect when we get to the Olympics,” said Poulin.
There has been a massive turnover since Sochi. Four-time gold medallists Jayna Hefford, Hayley Wickenheiser and Caroline Ouellette have retired and so has No. 1 goaltender Charline Labonté. There are 15 players who will be competing in the Olympics for the first time.
Poulin, 26, would like to keep her streak going and a run for a fourth Olympic gold isn’t out of the question.
“I love the game and as long as my body holds up, I’ll keep playing,” she said.
We have a lot of young players on the team and I try to talk to them, give them an idea of what to expect when we get to the Olympics.
Players on the Olympic team are paid a stipend while they are training and Poulin said corporate support like the Tide program allows her to devote more time to the sport.
“Raising the bar means constantly digging deeper to keep innovating and improving,” said Poulin, who will be featured in TV commercials and hopes the exposure inspires the next generation of players.
“This is a great time for women’s hockey, with the expansion of the CWHL to China, and more women playing at every level,” said Poulin.