Ask any coach or player who has been on a team with Marie-Philip Poulin and they’ll tell you a variation of the same thing: When your best player is also your hardest working player, you will be a better team. Throughout her career, it was Poulin’s on-ice performance that got accolades but it was her off-ice habits that earned her teammates’ respect.
“It was maybe obvious for a lot of people, but Marie has been a captain for as long as we’ve known her,” said PWHL Montreal general manager Danièle Sauvageau. “Off the ice, she’s an amazing human being, she’s an amazing hockey player,” she said. Poulin was unveiled as PWHL Montreal’s captain when the featured performer in the Cirque de Soleil show “Crystal” entered the stage for the show’s hockey-themed scene wearing the maroon Montreal PWHL jersey with the number 29, the name Poulin on the back, and the ‘C’ on the front.
“It is a very important moment and we needed to do it as creatively, as extraordinary, as Marie-Philip is,” Sauvageau said.
“This is just the beginning for our group,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie. “I think [Friday] was a perfect example of where we’re starting and the journey that we’re on together.”
“She is one of the best ambassadors for women’s hockey that we could ask for,” said Montreal goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens, who is also part of the leadership group. “She’ll stand up to defend anyone in the locker room. There’s not a better person to be the captain of the first PWHL team in Montreal.”
It was peak irony that the character wearing the #29 jersey embraced the spotlight, taking the crowd’s cheers in, and urging them to get louder because she might be the only person wearing that jersey that would do that.
Several times throughout the press conference, Poulin, whose claim to fame remember is rising up at the toughest moments, shrunk almost beyond recognition. She even said how uncomfortable she was a few times. Poulin is used to talking to the media, being the best player in the game grants you a lot of interview requests after all. This was different.
First of all, she did not know it was coming. The coaching staff just told the players they were going for a team bonding activity at the show. It wasn’t until Poulin’s jersey came out that they realized what they were really there for. (Poulin joked to me afterwards that had she known the day was going to be all about her, she would have said she was busy). Second, this wasn’t just a press conference. Behind the media was her entire team listening to every word. If you want to make a women’s hockey player uncomfortable, ask them to talk about themselves. If you want to really make them uncomfortable, make them do it in front of their teammates and friends.
Hours before the announcement, at practice at the Verdun Auditorium, Poulin received a pass at the side of the net and she didn’t convert the chance. The puck came back the other way, and the opposing team scored. Coming back to the bench, she slammed her stick. It’s a side of Poulin’s competitiveness we don’t often see, and it’s one we don’t normally get to hear about, either.
“There’s nobody who wants to win more than Pou,” Cheverie said. “That’s what we need from her. We need somebody who cares as much about a practice goal that they score as they do a regular season, championship goal. That’s what defines her as our captain, she cares about absolutely everything.”
“She’s someone who will block a shot in practice like it’s the gold medal game,” said Desbiens.
The last time Poulin was captain of a Montreal pro team was the 2019 Clarkson Cup, months before the CWHL was to fold. Poulin came out for warmups for that game, surprising everyone as she was very doubtful for the game. She didn’t take line rushes though. She came out for the game too, in full uniform and equipment and went to the bench. It was where she stayed for all 60 minutes of the Canadiennes’ loss to the Calgary Inferno.
“She loves hockey so much and just the fact that she was there supporting us, as close as she could be shows that she’s an amazing leader,” said Ann-Sophie Bettez, also part of the leadership group, who was on that Canadiennes team. “She wanted to play, obviously she couldn’t but she wanted to be as close as she could to the ice.”
The leadership group was chosen by Cheverie, Sauvageau, and the coaching staff based on who stepped up since the team started camp on November 15. It includes Poulin as captain, with Erin Ambrose, Laura Stacey, and Kristin O’Neill as alternates, and Desbiens, Bettez, and Kati Tabin as leaders. Poulin shakes off the spotlight like it was an opposing defender, though.
“A bunch of us are up here but this team is all of us,” Poulin said. “It doesn’t matter if you have a letter on your jersey or not, being able to build a team from the ground up is very special and having this group around, having this announcement with all of us together says it all. It was very overwhelming, seeing the lady pump up the crowd with my jersey on, it was very unique and very special. I’ll do my best to be a good leader, but these girls are the reason I come to the rink with a big smile.”
The feeling is mutual. After the press conference, every player congratulated Poulin before returning to the show.
