Canadian hockey star Marie-Philip Poulin led the Montreal Victoire to the Walter Cup playing with a torn ACL and meniscus, will undergo surgery in late July and will be out indefinitely.
Poulin was injured in a Victoire game on March 15, then returned April 25 before the playoffs that ran from May 2-20.
Poulin also missed two games at the Milan Cortina Olympics with a right knee injury. She said “what happened in February probably kind of started it” regarding the ACL and meniscus tears, but felt good when she returned to the PWHL from the Olympics in early March.
The next World Championship tournament is in early November in Denmark. Poulin has played in all 18 Olympics or world tournaments since debuting at the 2009 Worlds at age 18.
“I played as best I could with a torn ACL and meniscus because I wanted to be part of this journey that led us to hoist the Walter Cup,” Poulin said in a press release. “It was with this goal in mind that I worked tirelessly to return to the game this season. It has become clear that if I want to continue playing at a high level, surgery is necessary. In the short term, it’s a difficult choice, but if I take a step back and think about the years ahead, the decision is obvious. I’m going to focus all my energy on my recovery once the surgery is done so that I can return to the game in the best physical form possible.”
Poulin, 35, led Canada to Olympic gold in 2010 (both goals in the final), 2014 (game-tying and golden goal in the final) and 2022 (two goals in the final) and earned silver medals in 2018 (one goal in the final) and this past February.
At the Milan Cortina Games, Poulin returned from her right knee injury to play in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. She upped her career total to 20 Olympic goals, a female record.
