MILAN — The Canadian women’s hockey team is gearing up for its toughest matchup of the 2026 Winter Olympics and the reigning champions will be without their trusted leader.
Captain Marie-Philip Poulin has been ruled out of Canada’s preliminary matchup against the United States on Tuesday due to a lower body injury suffered in the team’s 5-1 win over Czechia on Monday, Team Canada confirmed to USA TODAY Sports hours ahead of puck drop at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan at 2:10 p.m. ET.
Poulin, 34, is listed as day-to-day.
Poulin took a shoulder from Czechia’s Kristyna Kaltounkova in the first period and hit the boards hard. The five-time Olympian appeared to be visibly shaken by the hit and remained down on her hands and knees for several moments. Poulin skated to the bench, but avoided putting any pressure on her right leg while leaving the ice and grimaced in pain on the bench.
Kaltounkova received a two-minute penalty for an illegal hit.
Poulin tried to return to the ice during the Canadian power play, but she appeared to be unstable on her feet and returned to the bench less than a minute later in visible pain. The broadcast showed her heading back to the dressing room and she didn’t return with the team following the intermission. She exited the victory with one assist.
Tuesday’s matchup against the USA was supposed to be Canada’s final preliminary matchup in Group A play, but the Canadians will now play Finland on Feb. 12 after the matchup got rescheduled due to a norovirus outbreak among the Finnish team. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.