Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin Named IIHF's Female Player of the Year; US Goalie Gwyn Philips 2nd
Canada's Captain Clutch, Marie-Philip Poulin, has another honor to add to her already celebrated hockey career: being voted the IIHF's Female Player of the Year. Poulin earned 33.1 percent of the votes, finishing ahead of five Americans, with Ottawa Charge rookie goalie Gwyneth Philips second with 22.3 percent of the votes, the IIHF announced Wednesday.
The IIHF did not reveal the specific totals submitted by more than 100 voters made up of media and federation officials. The 34-year-old Poulin is coming off a year in which she earned MVP honors at the world championships in April with a tournament-leading 12 points (four goals, eight assists) for Canada's silver medal–winning team. The Montreal Force captain is also a PWHL MVP finalist after leading the league with 19 goals and finishing fourth with 26 points in 30 games. Poulin is a four-time Olympian and earned her 'Clutch' nickname for scoring key goals, including the game-winners in Canada's past three gold medal championship wins at the Winter Games. She's the second Canadian to earn the honor, following Natalie Spooner's win last year.
Philips, meantime, made a splash both professionally and internationally this season by capably stepping in as a backup. From Athens, Ohio, she went 3–0 at the world championships, including a 17-save performance over the final 32 minutes of the Americans' 4–3 overtime win over Canada in the title game. Philips entered the game after starter Aerin Frankel was hurt in the third period. In the PWHL, Philips won the Ilana Kloss Trophy as playoff MVP despite Ottawa losing the Walter Cup finals to defending champion Minnesota. Philips went 4–4 in the postseason, allowing just 13 goals on 270 shots for a .952 save percentage and 1.23 goals-against average. Drafted by the Charge out of Northeastern, Philips took over the starting duties and helped the Charge clinch their first playoff berth after Emerance Maschmeyer was sidelined by a lower body injury in mid-March. US national team and Wisconsin defenseman Caroline Harvey (12.9 percent) finished fourth in the voting, followed by Frankel (7.3 percent). Also receiving votes were Wisconsin's Laila Edwards and Finland national team and Charge defenseman Ronja Savolainen.
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