“We did it” as Poulin powers Victoire to Walter Cup

Victoire win – Marie-Philip Poulin and the Montreal Victoire ended the PWHL Final in four games with a 4-0 win over the Ottawa Charge, becoming the first Canadian team to capture the Walter Cup. Roque powered the scoring with two goals and Poulin helped deliver the decisive

OTTAWA — Marie-Philip Poulin tipped a Molson Canadian tallboy into the Walter Cup at centre ice inside the Canadian Tire Centre, then took a couple of big chugs with a grin that looked like relief finally turning into pure joy.

Laura Stacey sipped from the same cup. Ann-Renée Desbiens did too. Abby Roque, as well. Then the celebration spilled beyond the group: Victoire players drenched head coach Kori Cheverie with a celebratory beer shower as confetti burst behind them.

History was made on Wednesday night. Montreal became the first-ever Canadian winner of the PWHL title, ending the best-of-five series with an emphatic 4-0 victory over the Ottawa Charge in four games.

“Oh, it’s very special,” Poulin said, wearing a black Coupe Walter Championnes ballcap and lifting her face toward the moment. “Honestly, lots of emotion, but being able to do that with this group, it’s surreal and we’ll take it in, for sure.”

When Poulin was presented with the Walter Cup, she held it high over her head and pumped it in the air while her teammates roared. The veteran defender Erin Ambrose, tears in her eyes, said Poulin deserved it “more than anybody in the world” just before cracking open her own beer.

The win was built on offense, but it was Roque’s timing that set the tone. Abby Roque scored twice for Victoire, including a highlight-reel short-handed goal with 10:02 remaining. She out-skated an Ottawa defender. roofed a backhand. dropped down to one knee. and pumped her fist as if she’d been waiting for exactly that moment all series.

“It felt good — and we didn’t want to wait. ” Roque said of her third goal of this post-season. which gave Montreal a 2-0 lead. “Sometimes if we get up a goal, we’re kind of playing passive. But we got up one, we want to get up two. Then we got up three. That was the goal today, keep on trying to score.”.

Montreal kept pushing. Maggie Flaherty made it 3-0 with about six minutes to go, then Lina Ljungblom struck less than two minutes later to put the game out of reach.

Roque’s short-handed marker carried added weight because this series was low on goals. Roque also pointed to Stacey’s work in that sequence, crediting the way Stacey “put her body on the line” to allow Roque to pick up the loose puck and go while they were short-handed.

“She calls herself a playoff player, and she proved that, holy hell,” Stacey said of Roque. “I would take a hit, put a body, anything, if she’s gonna put that puck in the net, time and time again.”

Poulin’s captaincy was on full display even while the game asked her to play through pain. She was in the penalty box at the time of Roque’s short-handed goal, and under the PWHL’s jailbreak rule, she left early with 13 seconds remaining. Her delight was immediate.

“I think I peed a little in the penalty box, I was so excited,” Poulin said, laughing at how it was her first time celebrating that hard in a penalty box. “I thought they were gonna go straight to the bench, but I’m so happy they came to see me.”

On the ice, the bench moments matched the scoreboard. After Ljungblom’s goal made it 4-0. Victoire players jumped and hugged on the bench with as many minutes remaining as the clock allowed. When the seconds ticked down, they threw gloves and sticks in the air and skated toward Desbiens to celebrate.

Desbiens made 23 saves to record the shutout, and Poulin made it clear she believes the honor belonged to her goaltender. Poulin was named playoffs MVP after putting up eight points in nine games, tied with Roque for the post-season lead.

No. 29 shook her head after her name was announced and looked directly at Desbiens, as if the numbers on paper still didn’t fully capture what happened in the crease.

“I mean, she was unbelievable all year long, all playoffs long,” Poulin said, speaking with her usual humility.

“She’s the best player in the world, and she still won’t accept it,” Ambrose said.

“She deserves every single award that she gets,” Desbiens added. “She brings the best out of me on a daily basis, and we could not have done it without her.”

The game-winner came 3:49 into the second period. Poulin assisted it, and the finish belonged to Roque after a lucky deflection. Roque scored the game-winner in the series opener with her face; this time. Poulin dropped the puck for Roque. who fired it on net. The puck deflected off Charge defender Rory Guilday’s stick and went in under the pads of Gwyneth Philips.

Ottawa struggled to manufacture much offense. Sarah Wozniewicz hit the inside of the post in the second period. Emily Clark used her speed to generate a chance in close alone. Brianne Jenner, the Charge captain, had an opportunity on the power play, but Desbiens made the pad save.

That was as close as Ottawa got to changing the direction of the night.

Poulin’s legacy now carries another line: at age 35. she became the first Canadian captain to lift the Walter Cup over her head. The achievement adds to a resume that includes game-winning goals in three Olympic gold medals. In the semifinals series, she scored two game-winners. In the Final, she authored the game-winning assists in Games 2 and 4.

She did it while playing through a lower-body injury that had her wincing at times on the bench. She missed 10 games at the end of the season after injuring the same knee she had hurt at the Olympics. then returned for the regular season finale just in time for the playoffs. though far from 100 per cent.

“Lots,” Poulin said, when asked about the pain. “But it’s all worth it.”

Stacey, Poulin’s wife and teammate, said she saw her captain get carried by the group.

“This team picked her up and helped her and honestly, I’m really, really proud of what she did because not many people would be able to do that,” Stacey said.

When the final buzzer finally arrived, Stacey and a teary-eyed Poulin found each other for a hug. They both said: “We did it.”

Stacey explained that those were their first words to each other, recalling “moments of doubt” and “moments of frustration” that followed tough playoff exits over the past two years, alongside injuries this season.

“And honestly. to put all that down. to put all those question marks in the back of your head. out the window and lift that cup. to do it with this group of girls is pretty…” Stacey said. before Poulin interrupted her. skated over with an arm around No. 7, and replied: “Proud of her. Let’s go!” then “Yes, we did it!”.

Stacey said lifting the cup hurt. “It’s heavy as hell, especially when you have nothing left in your body…”

Her right shoulder was wrapped. In Game 1, she went down in extreme pain with a leg injury, but she returned for overtime and the rest of the series. She also praised the team’s medical staff.

“Honestly, I’m not sure I came back in (Game) 1, 2, or 3,” Stacey said. “They found a way, they got me back in here. I owe a lot to that whole team for me standing here to be holding that cup.”

Poulin added what she saw: “She was in pain — big time, and to see her step up like she did today was special.”

Long after Charge players had left the ice, the celebration kept going. When the game ended, many Ottawa players looked down at the ice with tears in their eyes. This was the second straight year Ottawa has lost in the final.

Before heading to their dressing room, Charge players raised their sticks to thank their fanbase and received a loud ovation from a crowd of 12,362.

Poulin then skated the Walter Cup toward her teammates. She crouched low, and they crouched down and rose together as she raised the trophy in the air again in the middle of the group.

For Poulin, the win arrived in the same year she became the all-time leading scorer in women’s Olympic hockey history, and one year after she was named the IIHF Player of the Year and the PWHL MVP after leading the league in goals and points.

Now, in the third year of the PWHL, Poulin is a league champion.

She also has history from two pro seasons before the league’s current era: she was twice a winner at the pro level in the now-defunct CWHL. which also featured best-on-best. The difference this time. according to the moment on the ice and the scale of the stage. is that she’s starring in the most visible and successful women’s pro hockey league in existence. The PWHL is expanding from eight to twelve teams for its fourth season. as women’s sports continue to gain investment and attention.

Cheverie, soaked in beer after watching her captain lift the Walter Cup, thought about the road that brought them here. She said she still remembers Poulin’s face after a loss in Boston.

“Oh, it’s everything,” Cheverie said. “I remember her face when we lost in Boston. I have the picture of it saved on my phone, and I can’t get that face out of my head, of how disappointed she was when we lost in Boston in Year One.

“And from that moment on, I was like, ‘This means the world to every single person, I’m gonna do whatever it possibly takes to get her that trophy.’ And I mean, the whole team did.”

PWHL Walter Cup Montreal Victoire Ottawa Charge Marie-Philip Poulin Abby Roque Ann-Renée Desbiens Kori Cheverie Erin Ambrose Laura Stacey Lina Ljungblom Maggie Flaherty Gwyneth Philips Brianne Jenner