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Marie-Philip Poulin is Canada’s all-time leading scorer at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.
She started this tournament nine points back of the record held by Hayley Wickenheiser, tied it with an assist in Canada’s quarterfinal win over Japan, then broke it with a goal in the first period of the semifinal against Finland on Saturday.
Poulin broke the record on a goal, which also broke a 1-1 tie. Poulin started the play by firing the puck into the Finnish zone around the boards, where linemates Laura Stacey and Jennifer Gardiner – both Montreal Victoires teammates – retrieved the puck and centered back to Poulin in the slot for a one-timer that beat goaltender Emilia Kyrkko.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in, but honestly, it never would have happened without my teammates along the way,” Poulin said after the game. “I started on this team at 18 with all my idols – Wickenheiser, (Caroline) Ouellette, (Jayna) Hefford … there’s a lot. This is why I’m here, and it’s made me love the game even more.”
“It’s amazing and so well-deserved,” said Stacey. “I think you can see her work ethic day in and day out. To see her break that record is pretty special. I think it’s countless hours, countless years of hard work, and obviously she’s the best to ever do it, so we’re pretty lucky to have her on our team.”
Poulin added an assist in the second period of Canada’s 8-1 victory and now has a tournament-leading 11 points. Only once previously, back in 2013, has Poulin led a World Championship in scoring.
A tournament of falling records
Always more comfortable talking about the accolades of teammates, Poulin couldn’t say enough about goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens, who broke both the Canadian and World Championship records (previously held by Kim St-Pierre and Florence Schelling, respectively) for most career wins by a goaltender.
“She had a little break a couple years back and to see the fire in her eyes now that she’s back, there’s no better person it could happen to, and I’m not surprised,” Poulin said of Desbiens. “She’s a warrior, she fights. She’s coming back from injury, she wanted to be here, and she put that work in to be here.”
Poulin is not the first player at this World Championship to break her country’s all-time scoring record, either. During the group stage, Michelle Karvinen became Finland’s top point-getter at the Women’s Worlds.
“Seeing her evolve, year after year, she’s always been a threat to play against and, honestly, I’m not surprised she broke the record,” Poulin said of Karvinen. “She plays with a lot of poise, she sees the game very well and she’s very dangerous.”
“It means a lot, those words coming from her,” Karvinen said of Poulin. “It’s fun, we came in at the same time and we’ve been around for many years so our paths have crossed many times. She’s a player I have a lot of respect for who has done a lot for women’s hockey.”
After passing Wickenheiser’s Canadian points record, the only player ahead of Poulin in all-time World Championship scoring is the USA’s Hilary Knight. Poulin has closed the gap slightly on Knight this tournament, but heading into Sunday’s final, still trails by 31 points, 119-88.
“I’ve played against her, I’ve played with her, she’s a great player,” Knight said of Poulin, who was her teammate with the Montreal Canadiennes of the CWHL. “What we do on this level is extremely special, what we’ve done on the professional level is special as well. It’s a great conversation for both of us to be a part of.”
Knight has already broken Wickenheiser’s all-time assists record this tournament and now has 52, while Poulin and Wickenheiser both sit three back with 49. In what’s fast becoming a bad tournament for Wickenheiser's totals, she could also be passed by Kendall Coyne-Schofield, who has 48.
Poulin is also closing in on the Canadian goal record – with 39, she trails Hefford’s 40 by one. But of course, the Canadian captain has her sights set on another prize right now. On Sunday, she will play in her 12th World Championship final against the USA in pursuit of her fifth gold medal.
“It’s gonna be about being resilient,” said Poulin. “The start of the game is very important. Right away from the puck drop, we’ve gotta play hard, be gritty, it’s a battle. We all know that. These are the games that we want to be part of.”
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