It’s been a whirlwind week for Canadian superstar Marie-Philip Poulin.
Not only did she win The Northern Star Award, but her Team Harvey’s squad also picked up their 8th consecutive win on the PWHPA’s Dream Gap Tour this weekend as well.
The Northern Star Awarded, formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy, recognizes Canada’s top athlete each year across all the major sports leagues. Poulin, who captained team Canada to Olympic and World Championship gold in 2022, became the first female hockey player to win the award in its 86 year history.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was the first one,” Poulin said via video conference.
“It’s a real honour because the ladies have been there before us, before me, I’ve watched them on TV. They’re my idols and my role models… Obviously I’m not going to be the only one.”
The 31 year old is also a finalist for the CP female athlete of the year award which will be handed out on December 28th this year.
Following the announcement on Wednesday, Poulin and her PWHPA teammates travelled to the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON where they attended the Dream Gap Tour All-Star Weekend.
There she and her Team Harvey’s linemates kept their winning streak intact after they downed Team Scotiabank 3-1 on Saturday.
The PWHPA all-star weekend is the tour’s 4th event of the season, following stops in Montreal, Truro, N.S., and Pittsburgh. Unlike in previous years, results will carry over towards the Tour’s season long standings.
The Beauceville, QC native is currently leading the Dream Gap Tour in both goals and points, and appears to be hitting another gear as the season progresses. Poulin picked up another assist on the season after she delivered a highlight reel pass to Rougeau in the second period Saturday.
But the talented forward wasn’t done there, as she would cap the weekend off by winning the individual Skills Challenge with a blistering time of 37.881 seconds Sunday morning.
While her 3v3 squad fell short of capturing the All-Star title, it’s nevertheless been an extremely impressive week of work for the Canadian captain.
After a break for the holidays, the tour continues with January stops in Owen Sound and Collingwood, ON.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: HockeyMedia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.