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There is no shortage of talent in women’s hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics. But there’s also no one quite like Marie Philip Poulin.
The Montreal Victorie forward scored twice in Team Canada’s 2-1 win over Switzerland on February 16th. Not only did her effort help her team advance to the Gold Medal game against the United States on February 19th, it also cemented her as the all-time goal leader in Canadian Women’s hockey history.
Setting records
Hayley Wickenhiser is a common household name in Canada. The four time gold medalist is one of only five athletes across all sports to win a gold medal in four consecutive Olympic Games, and when she retired in 2017, she had 51 points and 18 goals across her Olympic career.
That record of 18 goals stood for nearly ten years—until 2026 when Poulin hit the back of the net to open the scoring on February 16th.
The captain had something to prove after a lower body injury prevented her from helping her team in their 5-0 defeat against the USA on February 10th, and one goal clearly wasn’t good enough for her. She scored twice in that game, single-handedly helping Canada book a ticket to the Gold Medal game in a narrow 2-1 victory.
Poulin now has 20 goals when representing her country internationally, and her 2026 Games aren’t over yet. If she continues to play the way she always has, that number is only bound to keep increasing.
““I’m surrounded by a great team. That’s what wakes me up in the morning. It’s a friendship that lasts forever.”
Team Success
At 34, Poulin has had her fair share of time on the Olympic stage. She’s played 26 career games for Team Canada, going all the way back to her first international tournament in 2008 where she won silver and set an all time goals record at the U18 Women’s World’s with 8.
And yet, the 2026 Winter Games are just as special as her first game from all those years ago. These Games are made even more special for Poulin by the women around her.
“I’m surrounded by a great team,” she said, refusing to acknowledge her individual effort but rather encompassing her team. “That’s what wakes me up in the morning … it’s a friendship that lasts forever.”
Many of the players on Team Canada have played together for years. The last gold medal that Poulin won in 2022 came with these teammates sharing the ice with her.
At the end of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Poulin was nearing Canadian great Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time goal record at the Olympics. Even now that she has claimed the record, Canada’s captain still won’t mention her success on the ice without talking about the team behind her. “There’s been ups and downs,” she said, “[but] it’s gonna be the group in the dressing room that believes.”
A Score To Settle
It took Poulin four less games than Wickenheiser to break the record, but “Captain Clutch,” as she is called, isn’t done yet. Canada plays the United States for the Gold Medal on February 19th, in a matchup that has been highly anticipated.
Team Canada won their last gold medal in 2022 versus the USA, and the games before that, Canada once again beat the USA to claim gold. Since the integration of women’s hockey in 1992, there has only been one gold medal game which did not feature Canada or the USA: 2006, which saw Sweden overcome the odds.
“Every gold medal game is a fight,” defenceman Renata Fast said of the highly anticipated game. “It’s a bloodbath.” She isn’t wrong: the USA team has not allowed a goal in four consecutive games, and goaltender Aerin Frankel of the Boston Fleet has been unbeatable.
And Poulin? Despite being the face of Canadian women’s hockey, all she wanted to do was talk about her team. “It’s going to be a battle, and we all know that,” she acknowledged. “But we all have faith in this group.”
We’ve all seen Miracle. Sometimes that’s all you need.
