Marie-Philip Poulin named PWHL's MVP as Montreal Victoire clean up at league awards

Six years person passed since Marie-Philip Poulin was named the astir invaluable subordinate of a women's hockey league.

Poulin won the apical grant successful the Canadian Women's Hockey League successful 2018-19, erstwhile she guided a stacked Les Canadiennes de Montreal squad to the Clarkson Cup final.

That play would beryllium her past with Les Canadiennes, arsenic the CWHL folded and players similar Poulin abruptly had obscurity to play.

Much has changed since then. Poulin captained Team Canada to 3 satellite championships and an Olympic golden medal. A planetary pandemic took pistillate players disconnected the ice, earlier the players created what would go the PWHL.

But 1 happening hasn't changed 1 bit: Poulin remains the champion and astir ascendant pistillate hockey subordinate successful the world.

The Montreal Victoire skipper received the Billie Jean King MVP Award astatine the Hard Rock Hotel in Ottawa connected Wednesday, edging retired Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and erstwhile Boston Fleet guardant Hilary Knight.

She was besides named the league's apical guardant implicit New York Sirens rookie, Sarah Fillier, and Knight, who had a breakout play with the Boston Fleet.

Poulin credited her teammates and the civilization they've built successful Montreal, erstwhile she accepted the award.

"This conscionable makes maine privation to spell backmost to work," Poulin said aft the awards ceremony. "I privation to get better. I privation to support improving due to the fact that I cognize it's a large twelvemonth [next] year."

Poulin led the league successful extremity scoring past season, putting up 19 goals successful 30 games. She helped usher the Victoire to archetypal place, anchoring a apical enactment alongside Laura Stacey and Jennifer Gardiner, who signed with PWHL Vancouver during the enlargement process.

She besides led the league successful some shootout goals (five) and crippled winners (six), proving that she remains the benignant of subordinate who comes up biggest erstwhile it matters the most. Poulin was besides nominated for MVP past season.

But Poulin's interaction goes beyond her numbers. She is simply a person who leads by illustration by being the hardest moving subordinate connected and disconnected the ice, and idiosyncratic who's consenting to play immoderate role.

The 1 trophy missing from Poulin's trophy lawsuit is the Walter Cup. For the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row, the Victoire mislaid successful the archetypal round, this clip to the Ottawa Charge successful 4 games.

Always a instrumentality of quotes, Poulin told the assemblage that radical volition hide what you said. She hoped they would besides hide her team's overtime playoff losses.

But they'll ne'er hide however you made them feel, and Poulin said she'll ever retrieve however this squad and league person impacted her.

"They person made me, a small miss from each the mode from Beauce, connected apical of the satellite and portion of their family," Poulin said.

Poulin also has the accidental adjacent play to go the 4th Canadian women's hockey subordinate to triumph 4 Olympic golden medals, joining Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Poulin's relation model, Caroline Ouellette.

A Montreal celebration

Poulin was 1 of 4 grant winners from the Victoire. Head manager Kori Cheverie was named Coach of the Year and Ann-Renée Desbiens took location Goaltender of the Year.

Stacey was besides recognized with the PWHL's Hockey For All Award for her assemblage enactment done her charitable foundation, LS7.

"I genuinely judge that this athletics and this league has opened my eyes to however magical this genuinely tin be," Stacey said.

Cheverie guided the Victoire to archetypal spot successful the standings successful precocious January, and the squad stayed determination until the extremity of the regular season. Along the way, she got the astir retired of respective rookie players, including Gardiner and defender Anna Wilgren.

The manager from New Glasgow, N.S. thanked Montreal wide manager Danièle Sauvageau, who got the telephone to spell to the Hockey Hall of Fame arsenic a builder connected Tuesday, for lasting beside her and giving the assurance to "lead this squad boldly."

She's go an important idiosyncratic successful Cheverie's life, and the benignant of mentor that Sauvageau didn't person erstwhile she archetypal started coaching women's hockey.

"She's the crushed wherefore I'm here," Cheverie said.

Toronto Sceptres caput manager Troy Ryan and the Ottawa Charge's Carla MacLeod were besides nominated.

Desbiens, meanwhile, was a ceramic partition successful nett for Montreal this season, signaling a 1.86 goals against mean implicit 21 games. She bushed Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel and rookie Gwyneth Philips with the Ottawa Charge for the award.

"The enactment we've had arsenic players is genuinely amazing," Desbiens said astir the league's fans successful her acceptance speech.

Fast takes location apical defender award

Fast took location the prize for apical defender aft helping Toronto ascent from the bottommost of the standings each the mode up to the 2nd playoff seed.

Fast was a cardinal portion of Toronto's top-ranked powerfulness play, which converted connected an astounding one-third of its chances during the regular season. She led the league successful assists (16 successful 30 games) and powerfulness play assists (11), and tied erstwhile Toronto teammate Hannah Miller for powerfulness play points (13).

She besides finished apical 3 successful the league successful shots blocked, showing wherefore she's Toronto's go-to defender successful each situations.

"We genuinely had a radical that made it amusive to travel to the rink each azygous day, and this grant is simply a reflection of that radical we had," Fast told the crowd.

Also nominated were erstwhile Minnesota Frost teammates, Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson. Both signed with PWHL Vancouver earlier this month.

Fillier took location the Rookie of the Year Award aft tying Knight for 29 points successful 30 games. She formed a concern with erstwhile Sirens guardant Alex Carpenter that became 1 of the astir unsafe successful the league, stacked with 2 shooting threats. She thanked some Carpenter and different linemate, Paetyn Levis, connected the signifier connected Wednesday.

"It's an honour to play amongst the champion successful the world, and adjacent much peculiar to stock this with a subordinate similar Hilary," Fillier said arsenic she accepted the grant for the astir points.

With Carpenter present successful Seattle, Fillier is looking for caller linemates with the Sirens. Two imaginable candidates were drafted successful the archetypal circular connected Tuesday night: first-overall prime Kristýna Kaltounková, a powerfulness guardant with a large shot, and third-overall prime Casey O'Brien, who brings elite imaginativeness and playmaking.

WATCH | Sirens prime Kaltounková with apical prime successful 2025 PWHL Draft:

Fillier is simply a restricted escaped cause who volition request a caller declaration with the Sirens earlier the play begins.

Philips besides picked up the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award, which she was presented connected the crystal successful Game 4 of the PWHL Finals. The rookie goaltender won adjacent arsenic her Charge squad mislaid the Walter Cup to Minnesota.

"It represents acold much than conscionable an individual effort," Philips told the crowd. "It reflects the bosom and determination and sacrifice of an full team, and an full assemblage that makes the PWHL possible."

Full awards list:

• Billie Jean King MVP Award: Marie-Philip Poulin, F (Montreal Victoire).
• Forward of the Year: Marie-Philip Poulin, F (Montreal Victoire).
• Defender of the Year: Renata Fast, D (Toronto Sceptres).
• Rookie of the Year: Sarah Fillier, F (New York Sirens).
• Goaltender of the Year: Ann-Renée Desbiens, G (Montreal Victoire).
• Coach of the Year: Kori Cheverie (Montreal Victoire).
• Hockey For All Award for assemblage impact: Laura Stacey, F (Montreal Victoire).
• Impact Award for leadership: Amanda Boulier (Montreal Victoire), Allie Munroe (Toronto Sceptres). Rebecca Leslie (Ottawa Charge), Jamie Lee Rattray (Boston Fleet), Nicole Hensley (Minnesota Frost), Emmy Fecteau (New York Sirens).
• Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP: Gwyneth Philips, G (Ottawa Charge).
• Goals leader: Marie-Philip Poulin, F (Montreal Victoire).
• Points leader: Hilary Knight, F (formerly Boston Fleet) and Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens).