By Trevor Stynes
MILAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Canada were left fretting over their captain Marie-Philip Poulin after she took a heavy hit in the first period of her side’s 5-1 win over the Czech Republic in the women’s Olympic ice hockey tournament on Monday.
Poulin, appearing in her fifth Games, was smashed into the boards by Kristyna Kaltounkova in the ninth minute and struggled to get back on her feet as she grimaced in pain. Canada were 1-0 up at the time.
Poulin could be a doubt for Tuesday’s meeting with rivals the United States.
“If she’s fine, then I would play her, we want her in that game if she’s able to play,” Canada coach Troy Ryan told reporters.
“If it’s something that, you know, 24, 48 hours rest is going to benefit her, then we’ll obviously take that rest.”
Ryan said he was not yet aware of the extent of the injury or where Poulin was hurt, saying it looked like a lower body injury.
After returning to the action shortly afterwards with Kaltounkova in the penalty box for the illegal hit, Poulin left the ice with her side still on the power play and was led down the tunnel by one of the medical staff.
There were loud cheers from the large Canadian support in the crowd when Poulin returned to the bench in time to see her teammates score the fourth goal before the end of the period, with Kaltounkova one of two Czech players in the penalty box when Julia Gosling scored.
When the buzzer went at the end of the first period and the players headed down the tunnel, Poulin appeared to be testing herself briefly on the ice but she did not return to the bench after the interval.
Poulin was not on the bench for the second period, and with her side 5-0 up going into the final period, a spokesperson for Team Canada told Reuters that the 34-year-old would not be returning, but gave no update on her condition.
Canada will be more concerned with having Poulin back for the knockout stages, when the North American powerhouses will be expected to meet in their seventh final of eight Games.
Poulin is the only player, male or female, to score in four consecutive Olympic gold medal matches, and has netted the game-winning goal in three finals, leading to her ‘Captain Clutch’ nickname.
“I think it kind of hit us, we all felt it,” Poulin’s teammate Laura Stacey said.
“But she’s picked us up so many times, she’s led the way, and it was our turn to pick her up. It was our turn to support her and try and do whatever we could to get a way to get that win tonight for her, but also for ourselves as a group.”
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, additional reporting by Giulio PiovaccariEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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