For the incomparable Marie-Philip Poulin, loss to the U.S. an agonizing end to an unforgettable effort

Chris Jones reports from Milan.

Marie-Philip Poulin was on the ice when the Americans scored in overtime, chasing back. She saw the puck go in, and she continued skating, behind the Canadian net, around the boards, to the bench. She slammed the door behind her.

For the greatest player in the history of women’s hockey, and one of the all-time Olympians, it was an agonizing end to an unforgettable effort. For the first time in her five gold-medal games, she didn’t score, and her lifetime rivals got one back, 2-1.

She threw her stick, and it clattered in the space between her aching knees and the boards. Laura Stacey, her teammate, and her wife, sat beside her on the bench. They both folded into themselves, their heads disappearing into their hands, in twin poses of despair.

It was a devastating loss for the Canadians, who led 1-0 with just over two minutes to play. Hilary Knight did what Poulin normally does and tied the game. Megan Keller did what Poulin normally does, too, and won it in overtime.

Poulin, who had missed two games after injuring her knee in the preliminary round — including Canada’s 5-0 loss to the U.S. — had put in 29 shifts, the same number she wears on her jersey.

“It hurts,” Stacey said after, in tears, when she was asked about what she saw in Poulin. “It sucks to see her in pain, but man, you would never know. She did everything possible she could.”

Stacey couldn’t talk any more after that.

Poulin was not the best player on the ice. That might have been Stacey. But her presence alone seemed to change the way the Canadians played. A final that felt doomed at the start was instead charged with better emotions for nearly 58 minutes. There was hope where there had been dread. There was possibility where there had been none.

“I’m truly proud of how we showed up today,” Poulin said. “People did not believe in us. We truly believed in ourselves.”

That’s what she did for Canada, to the end.

She has not, and will not, say that these were her last Olympics. She has constantly surprised, and she might surprise again.

But she’s 34, nearly 35, and it’s hard to imagine that she has four more years of hockey in her. 

It’s likely that these are her final scenes.