Dubbed “one of the greatest clutch artists this country has ever produced,” the Canadian women’s hockey team captain Marie-Philippe Poulin The Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year has been chosen for 2022.
“It definitely tops the year. I think 2022, when I take a little time for myself and rethink, is going to be quite amazing, not only individually but as a group, Palin told CP.
“A big thank you to the people who voted, but it goes to the people around me, my teammates.”
The 31-year-old forward from Beauceville, Que., this year became the only hockey player in the world, man or woman, to score in four consecutive Olympic hockey finals.
Her two goals, including the eventual game-winner, gave Canada a 3–2 victory over arch-rivals the United States for the gold on February 17 at Beijing’s Wukesong Arena.
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With fast passing and shooting hands, unique hockey sense and sense of opportunity, Palin has scored seven goals in his four Olympic finals appearances, including a late equalizer and an overtime winner in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
She captained Canada to consecutive World Championships in 2021 and 2022 after the US won five straight titles
After scoring the OT winner at the 2021 World Finals in Calgary, Poulin had five goals and five assists in seven games in September as Canada defended its crown in Herning, Denmark.
Victoria Times-Colonist sports editor Brian Drewry said, “Poulin played a big part in one of the team’s most successful performances in a long time.” “She went on and off the ice while thriving in the spotlight.”
The Canadian Press began recognizing male and female athletes of the year in 1932.
CP’s Male Athlete of the Year will be announced on Thursday and the Team of the Year will be announced on Friday.
Palin was hailed as the “ultimate big sports player” after she finished first in this year’s poll of sports editors and broadcasters across the country with 22 out of 48 votes.
Swimmer Summer McIntosh finished second among voters with 10.
Poulin is the second hockey player to be voted The Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year after Hayley Wickenheiser in 2007.
Palin is just the third woman in a team sport to earn the distinction, after Wickenheiser and soccer player Christine Sinclair (2012, 2020).
Palin is uncomfortable talking about herself, but she did offer some insight into why she does what she does when hockey’s stakes are high.
“Sometimes you ask yourself ‘Why do you work so hard? No one’s there, no one’s looking’, but at the end of your life, when no one’s looking you do it.”
“It’s that extra rep, that extra mile just might make up for one day when that big moment happens. That’s how I’ve been training my whole life. That extra rep, it doesn’t matter when it shows up.” going, or when it matters, you know when those big moments arrive, you’re ready.
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Troy Ryan, coach of the Canadian women’s hockey team, agrees that Palin prepares for critical situations every day of her hockey life.
“She really treats the simple moments as huge moments,” Ryan said. “If she misses something in a normal rep in practice, you can see she’s not happy with herself. There’s a hidden perfectionism in her.
“I’ll see a player come down the wing in a practice, a little lazy, lean on one foot and have a 75 percent shot on goal. I’ve coached Poulin for five years and I’ve never seen him do that. I’ve never Didn’t see his half ass pretending.
“When you play with that mindset, why wouldn’t you want the puck on your stick at the end of the game?”
What is less visible is Poulin’s captaincy style off the ice. The COVID-19 pandemic derailed the hockey lives of Canadian players headed to Beijing for nearly two years.
Poulin is the driver of a team culture in which players are free to be who they are, and feel their contributions are valued, which translates to on-ice performance, Ryan said.
“She’s very easy to follow. She does a lot of good things on the ice,” he said. “The stuff she does with snow, I don’t think a lot of people will really see.
“You see her as the player and the performer, and the things she does on the ice, but then she has the ability to make you feel like who you are off the ice.”
With 97 goals and 103 assists in 166 career games for Canada, she is fifth behind Pauline Wickenheiser, Jenna Hefford, Caroline Ouellet and Danielle Goyette.
Wickenheiser, Hefford and Goette are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Palin is among the women pushing for a permanent professional women’s hockey league. Her name gives the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) the star power to push it.
Outside of the national team, Palin plays in showcase games and tournaments on the PWHPA’s Dream Gap Tour.
The NHL’s Montreal Canadiens also hired Poulin as a player development consultant that year.
“I can’t wait to see what 2023 holds,” said Pollin.
© 2022 The Canadian Press