By Amy Tennery
BEIJING (Reuters) – Twelve years after earning a place in Canadian hearts with a gold medal effort on home ice at the Vancouver Olympics, Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin has quietly blazed a trail to her fourth Olympic final.
Aged 18, Poulin scored both goals in her team’s shutout win over the U.S. in the 2010 Olympic final to secure a third successive gold, setting off a glittering international career which shows no sign of slowing down.
Poulin, 30, is now the calm hand on the steering wheel of the most dominant team in Beijing who demolished Switzerland 10-3 in the semi-finals.
“She scores these highlight reel goals but she just leads with this quiet confidence on the ice,” said Sarah Nurse, Poulin’s team mate in Pyeongchang and in their successful 2021 world championship run.
“She has the best vision I’ve ever seen in the world and just an incredible leader.
“She’s always somebody you can look down to on the bench, and she’s always going to give you a little tap on the pads and say good job or tell you to pick it up if she needs to.”
Few athletes in Beijing better embody the Taoist concept that those who know the most frequently speak the least, with a humble presence on the ice and with the media that belies her well-earned nickname “Captain Clutch”.
Contributing four goals and 10 assists en route to the final, Poulin is among the scoring leaders at the Games in addition to possessing qualities her team mates and coach say cannot be tallied on a stat sheet.
“The way she seems to see the game is like no one else I’ve ever coached,” head coach Troy Ryan told reporters.
“You can learn a ton about offensive hockey just by watching and trying to dissect what she does… and then the humble leadership side of who she is off the ice, making people feel comfortable but also being prepared to hold accountable when need be.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Beijing, editing by Ed Osmond)
