Canada hockey captain Marie-Philip Poulin made Olympic history Monday, breaking the all-time women's goal-scoring record in Canada's 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland.
The 34-year-old scored twice in the second period to push her career total to 20 goals, passing fellow Canadian and Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser, who previously held the record with 18 goals.
Poulin netted the record-breaking goal 1:49 minutes into the second period. Sophie Jaques set her up with a pass from the blue line, with Poulin nearly whiffing on her one-timer before sending the puck skipping past Swiss goaltender Andrea Braendli to open the scoring.
A little over six minutes later, Poulin struck again. She drove to the front of the net and roofed the puck over Braendli after the goalie stopped Daryl Watts's initial shot, with Watts assisting on both goals.
The victory sent Canada hockey to its seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal game. The defending champions face arch-rival United States on Thursday, February 19 at 3:10 PM ET.
Poulin recently returned from a lower-body injury that forced her to miss two preliminary round games. She came back to tie Wickenheiser's record on Saturday with a goal in Canada's 5-1 quarterfinal win over Germany.
Playing in her fifth Winter Olympics, Poulin is known as "Captain Clutch" for her ability to deliver in crucial moments.
What's Next for Canada hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The defending champions next face arch-rival Team USA, as Canada hockey seeks its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
The puck drops on the gold medal match this Thursday at 3:10 PM ET, live on Peacock.
The PWHL hit a new single-season salary record, with the Associated Press reporting that the contract extension inked by Ottawa Charge forward Emily Clark last week pushes her 2025/26 season payday north of the $100,000 mark.
The two-year extension will keep Clark in Ottawa through the PWHL's fifth season in 2027/28.
While the specific amount is not public, the restructuring of Clark's third-season pay — the last on her initial PWHL contract — will reportedly net her the highest single-season salary in league history.
"We know what she brings. She's really the heart and soul of our organization," Charge GM Mike Hirshfeld told the AP.
A two-time Olympian who earned 2018 silver and 2022 gold with Team Canada, Clark is the only player to have taken the ice in every Charge game to date. The 29-year-old was second on Ottawa's 2024/25 scoresheet with nine goals and 10 assists in last season's 30 games.
"I am proud to have been part of this organization from the inaugural season, and I am really grateful to get to extend my contract," Clark said in a statement. "Playing for such a passionate fan base made it easy for me to want more time here.... After coming up just short of the Walter Cup last season, I am as motivated as ever to work to bring a championship in Ottawa."
While the PWHL requires a minimum salary of $35,000, the league does not set any individual maximum pay.
The only other figures that PWHL front offices must abide by are the $1.3 million-per-team 2025/26 salary cap, and a CBA mandate that at least six players on each squad must earn a minimum of $80,000.
Next season, Clark will be one of nine PWHL players making a six-figure salary, as the league expands from six to eight teams.
The USA skated to victory on Sunday, taking down archrival Canada in a 4-3 overtime thriller to earn the team's 11th IIHF Women’s World Championship title.
The US is now closing in on Canada's record 13 World Championship wins, setting the tone in the run-up to next year’s Winter Olympics as North America’s PWHL showcased its growing influence on the international stage.
After Canada equalized the second-period goals from US defender Caroline Harvey and forward Abbey Murphy — the potential No. 1 pick in June's 2025 PWHL Draft — the game's third period saw Team USA lose starting goaltender Aerin Frankel to injury.
Backup goalie and IIHF World Championship debutant Gwyneth Philips stepped in, seeing the USA to a back-and-forth 3-3 tie at the end of regulation.
Philips's 17 saves — including 10 in overtime — allowed US forward and current Penn State junior Tessa Janecke to play hero, with the 20-year-old capitalizing on a turnover by tapping in a golden goal with three minutes left in the first overtime period.
"Just shows how strong we are as a group and how much we can persevere through anything," Janecke said afterwards. "I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group."
The tournament itself also proved to be a success, setting a new IIHF Women’s World Championship attendance record as 122,331 total fans took in the games in Czechia.
"I think this is a watershed moment for women's hockey, and it's really exciting to be a part of," said US captain Hilary Knight after earning her 10th Worlds gold medal.
In a shifting hockey landscape, the USA-Canada rivalry is only becoming more intense — and the looming 2026 Olympics will provide yet another chance to steal the sport's global spotlight.
Members of the U.S. women’s hockey team make less money than their Canadian rivals.
Canadian players not only have access to a larger pool of funds, but Hockey Canada is providing funding for five developmental players in addition to funding its 23-player roster, the Associated Press reported Thursday. In comparison, USA Hockey limits its funding to 23 players.
The report comes after a long battle between American players and USA Hockey over the benefits and provisions in their new contract.
A source familiar with the negotiation process told Just Women’s Sports that U.S. players tried to get similar developmental funding, but USA Hockey refused to cover the expense. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a confidentiality clause in the U.S. contract.
In addition, Canadian players receive a percentage of ticket revenue from the annual Rivalry Series games played in Canada. There’s no comparable revenue sharing agreement in the U.S. contract.
The NHL is providing some funding to U.S. players as part of the new deal, something the league initially began doing following the 2017 boycott, per the AP report. For reference, the NHL has given USA Hockey money for the boys-only national team developmental program (NTDP) for decades.
Canada’s contract, which lasts just one year, went into effect on Oct. 1, 2022, and was announced in December. The U.S. contract, which lasts for three years, was never announced but was signed in January. The old U.S. contract was initially set to expire in August 2022 — right in the middle of the 2022 World Championship — but the two sides agreed to an extension ahead of the competition.
U.S. players have long been critical of USA Hockey’s treatment and promotion of the women’s team, in addition to the resources and funding provided to the country’s female athletes. In 2017, U.S. players threatened to boycott that year’s World Championship unless USA Hockey came to the table and provided the women’s team with more equitable funding and support. According to the AP, while the pool of money allocated to U.S. players has increased since 2017, it has not kept up with the pace of inflation.
Both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey consider players independent contractors, not employees. As a result, players are unable to collectively bargain or unionize. That’s a major difference from the soccer world, where both the U.S. and Canadian teams are unionized. Canada’s national soccer team is currently embroiled in a dispute with Canada Soccer over its own collective bargaining agreement.