Montreal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin will undergo knee surgery in late July and will be out for an undetermined amount of time.
Poulin fought back tears as she and Victoire general manager Danièle Sauvageau announced the update during a virtual press conference Thursday.
The 35-year-old from Beauceville, Que., will undergo surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in her right knee, she said.
“It is emotional. Hockey, it is my life,” Poulin said. “It's the journey of an athlete where you give your 100 per cent every day, things can happen, and that's part of it.
“Not that I'm looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to (stepping) up in that recovery room, in that training room, to go one day at a time and come back.”
Sauvageau said the Victoire will provide updates as they become available, adding the team is very confident Poulin will return to play "in due time."
Poulin first injured the knee in preliminary-round play against Czechia at February’s Milan Cortina Olympics before suffering a more serious re-aggravation on March 15 against the Boston Fleet.
She missed the next 10 games but returned to lead the Victoire to their first Walter Cup title, earning playoff MVP honours with two goals and six assists in nine games.
"I won't lie, yes, it was painful. Mentally and physically, it was difficult,” Poulin said. “It was hard, but to be honest, I knew the team we had was very special. I knew we were in a position to put ourselves in a very good spot to win the Walter Cup. It was one of our goals, and it was one of my goals. It was worth it.
"I knew all the risks, what was for it and what was against it, and what I had to do. At the end of the day, I was 100 per cent committed. And I was very happy to lift that Cup at the end of the day."
Poulin is widely regarded as one of the greatest women’s hockey players of all time. She has won three Olympic gold medals, scoring the winning goal in all three of those gold-medal games to earn the nickname "Captain Clutch."
A five-time Olympian, Poulin is also the Canadian women’s team’s all-time leading goal scorer at the Winter Games with 20.
Poulin is the PWHL’s all-time leading scorer with 38 goals and 67 points in 70 games since the league began play in 2024. She was named league MVP in 2025.
This past season, Poulin recorded nine goals and nine assists in 19 games.
"I don't think there's any words to describe Marie, to start with, and what she had decided following this injury. It was not a ‘for sure’ to be back during the playoffs,” Sauvageau said. “To go through this process, not knowing if it's gonna work, it was unbelievable to watch … This is what Marie-Philip is all about, a person of (few) words, but so much more action. And this is how she leads.
“(The goal) is to be back as long as possible. We love watching her, we love having her around, she's bigger than the sport itself and the sport needs her.”
