'Only one Captain Clutch': Marie-Philip Poulin fans defend the hockey champ's nickname 

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 6:00 PM EST | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Olivia Huffman has made it her ngo to telephone retired NHL teams who assertion hockey champion Marie-Philip Poulin's "Captain Clutch" nickname for little deserving players.

Poulin, skipper of the Montreal Victoire and long-time Team Canada star, earned the moniker for her past of scoring game-winning goals successful high-stakes moments, including during 3 abstracted gold-medal Olympics matches.

"In hockey, especially, like, this generation, she's truly earned that rubric much than astir immoderate different subordinate I tin name," Huffman, a hockey instrumentality successful Ottawa, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

So erstwhile Huffman saw the New Jersey Devils assertion the rubric connected X erstwhile its skipper scored a extremity successful the archetypal play of a regular play crippled — connected March 1, the archetypal time of Women's History Month, nary little — she wasn't having it.

"Captain Clutch?," she replied. "But I didn't spot Marie-Philip Poulin connected the ice."

She made similar comments a fewer days aboriginal erstwhile the Buffalo Sabres claimed the nickname during a crippled they yet ended up losing to the Montreal Canadiens. 

She besides called retired the Ottawa Senators for labelling their captain, Brady Tkachuk, "Tkaptain TKLUTCH" for scoring the extremity that pushed the squad into overtime against the Washington Capitals.

"They're Canadian. You would deliberation they would cognize better," Huffman said. "And they mislaid that game, too. So, you know, not truthful clutch."

'The lone sanction is Marie-Philip Poulin'

Ironically, the famously humble Poulin is reportedly not a instrumentality of the nickname, preferring to stock her occurrence with her team. Her teammates told Sportsnet they situation not utter the words "Captain Clutch" successful her vicinity.

But that hasn't stopped Poulin fans and hockey commentators, alike, from defending the Victoire phenomenon's nickname from would-be usurpers. 

Almost each NHL squad that's attempted to assertion it successful caller weeks has faced the snark and wrath of respective Poulin fans successful their replies. 

When Poulin scored yet different game-winning extremity connected Tuesday night against the Minnesota Frost, Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) announcer Daniella Ponticelli exuberantly declared: "When we accidental Captain Clutch, the lone sanction is Marie-Philip Poulin."'

Ponticelli later added connected societal media: "I said what I said."

Poulin's ain squad besides took to X to declare, successful some French and English: "THERE'S ONLY ONE CAPTAIN CLUTCH."

Not for run-of-the-mill goals, says hockey writer 

Hockey writer Jared Book says the nickname didn't originate with Poulin, and isn't needfully exclusive to her.

But helium says NHL teams are being acold excessively wide with a word helium says should beryllium reserved for players who people memorable, high-stakes goals. 

"There's cipher that has the past that she does successful presumption of coming up successful large moments," said Book, lawman exertion of Eyes connected the Prize, a tract that covers the Montreal Canadiens.

"I deliberation NHL teams, successful general, request to pump the brakes a small bit, for sure."

WATCH | A Marie-Philip Poulin chapeau trick:

He, too, poked amusive astatine the Sabres for invoking "Captain Clutch" during a crippled they mislaid successful the Victoire's ain city, just 2 days aft Poulin was victorious successful the aforesaid arena. 

"If they're going to usage it successful Montreal, I deliberation they should person a modular of astatine slightest winning the game," Book said.

He says it's been hilarious to ticker Poulin fans teasing NHL accounts, and that it's each bully fun. But not everyone sees it that way. 

Huffman, 22, says her posts person gone unexpectedly viral, drafting the ire of hundreds of aggravated antheral fans, immoderate of whom she says person made decease threats against her. 

"And this is, like, implicit a nickname," she said. "It's truly not that serious, you know?"

The emergence of women's hockey

What is serious, she says, is women's hockey. 

Since the PWHL was founded conscionable 2 years ago, it has seen attendance steadily rise.

Huffman, a play summons holder for the Ottawa Charge, says she's been to astir 20 games truthful far.

"Every clip I spell to a crippled … I conscionable instrumentality a infinitesimal to instrumentality it each successful and recognize that 2 years ago, this would person breached the satellite grounds for most attending a [professional] women's hockey game, and present it's conscionable the norm," she said.

Book, too, has noticed a long-deserved "swelling of enactment for women's hockey" successful caller years, and says Poulin is simply a large portion of that. 

"I deliberation it says a batch astir wherever the crippled is that … erstwhile you accidental 'Captain Clutch' astir radical cognize who you're talking about."