This year’s Olympic Winter Games saw the return of a beloved trope – a true best-on-best hockey tournament.
While many PWHL’s current stars are familiar with the Olympic stage, NHL players have been absent from the Games for more than a decade.
With some of the biggest names in hockey representing Canada, expectations were high for the women to defend their Beijing 2022 championship and for the men to win their first gold medal since Sochi 2014.
But those dreams were shattered by the United States.
As most hockey fans expected, the North American powerhouses did well and were unfazed as they dominated their group stages and met in both gold medal games.
To lose in the finals is devastating enough, but watching both squads fall to the U.S. in 2-1 overtime losses just days apart was the salt in a gaping wound.
Ending with 3-on-3 gameplay isn’t ideal in any situation, let alone the most important match of an Olympic hockey contest.
Still, there’s a lot to be proud of.
After sustaining a lower-body injury in only the second game of the tournament, longtime women’s national team captain Marie-Philip Poulin came back ready to live up to her nickname, “Captain Clutch.”
Poulin – who also captains the PWHL’s Montréal Victoire – scored both Canada’s goals against Switzerland in the semifinals to become the all-time leading goalscorer in Olympic women’s hockey with 20 tallies.
By the end of the Games, she broke another record – most Olympic hockey games played by a Canadian (27) – surpassing Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford, who finished their Olympic careers with 26 each.
Poulin was among 16 returning players who led Canada to gold in 2022. While the veterans held their own, newer faces fit right in.
Toronto Sceptres forward Daryl Watts put up a solid debut performance, finishing third in assists (6) and leading Canada in points (8).
The team’s biggest goal of the tournament came from New York Sirens forward and first-time Olympian Kristin O’Neill, who scored shorthanded to snap the U.S. team’s five-game shutout streak.
Unlike the veteran presence on the women’s side of the program, the Canadian men’s roster featured 23 Olympic rookies.
Only Sidney Crosby – who captains both the national team and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins – and Los Angeles Kings assistant captain Drew Doughty had previously competed in the Winter Games.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid – who wore an “A” for Team Canada – racked up 13 points (two goals, 11 assists), earning the titles of best overall forward and tournament MVP.
San Jose Sharks assistant captain Macklin Celebrini was another standout. Despite only being in his second NHL season, the 19-year-old kept up with an all-star Olympic roster, claiming the records for most goals and assists by a teenager with five each.
He also became the first NHL player in Olympic history to score a penalty shot in Canada’s 10-2 blowout against France.
Celebrini is one of three Canadian young guns to go first overall to the show in consecutive years, sitting between Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks) and Matthew Schaefer (New York Islanders).
On the women’s side of the game, the PWHL has some new Canadian stars of its own: New York Sirens forward Sarah Fillier, Seattle Torrent forward Danielle Serdachny and Minnesota Frost defender Claire Thompson were the top three picks in the 2024 PWHL draft.
With the PWHL well into its third season, they continue to hone their skills on the world stage as part of the 77 Canadian players in the league – a number that will surely grow though future draft classes.
So really, the silver medal is a silver lining for Canada.
On both teams, the skill was there, but they just came up short. With four years until their next shot at Olympic gold, the program has time to regroup and come back stronger than ever.
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