Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin wins PWHL's Billie Jean King MVP award
OTTAWA — Montreal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin has won the Professional Women's Hockey League's Billie Jean King MVP Award for the 2024-25 season.
Article content
Poulin, who was also named forward of the year, was presented the awards at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon in Ottawa.
Article content
Article content
The 34-year-old Poulin, from Beauceville, Que., led the league with 19 goals and finished fourth with 26 points in 30 games.
Article content
Poulin was also a finalist for the MVP and top forward awards in the inaugural 2024 PWHL season. Both awards were won by Toronto's Natalie Spooner.
Article content
The awards capped another year of major achievements for Poulin, who was also named the IIHF's Female Player of the Year earlier this month after taking MVP honours at the 2025 women's world championship with a tournament-leading 12 points (four goals, eight assists).
Article content
Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and Boston Fleet captain Hilary Knight (now with Seattle) were the other MVP finalists, while Knight and New York Sirens forward Sarah Fillier were up for forward of the year.
Article content
Fast and Fillier did not leave empty-handed. Fast took home defender of the year honours while Fillier was named the league's top rookie.
Article content
The 30-year-old Fast, from Burlington, tied for first in scoring among defenders with 22 points in 30 games, led the league with 63 hits, and led all skaters with an average of 24 minutes 39 seconds of ice time per game.
Article content
Article content
Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson of the PWHL champion Minnesota Frost (both now with Vancouver) were the other finalists.
Article content
Article content
Fillier, 25, from Georgetown, Ont., tied for the league lead with 29 points in 30 games and led the league with five power-play goals.
Article content
Montreal forward Jenn Gardiner (now with Vancouver) and Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips were also finalists.
Article content
Montreal's Ann-Renee Desbiens took goaltender of the year honours. The 31-year-old from Clermont, Que., led all goaltenders with 15 wins and her 1.86 goals-against average and .932 save percentage were top marks among all starters.
Article content
Article content
Philips and Boston's Aerin Frankel were also finalists.
Montreal's Kori Cheverie won coach of the year after leading the Victoire to first place in the PWHL standings with a 12-7-3-8 record. Ottawa's Carla MacLeod and Toronto's Troy Ryan, who won the award last year, were also in the running.
Article content
Victoire forward Laura Stacey won the Hockey For All Award given to the player 'who made the greatest impact in their community.'
Article content
Poulin, Fillier, Knight, Fast, Jaques and Desbiens were named to the league's first all-star team.
Article content
Minnesota's Kendall Coyne Schofield, Ottawa's Tereza Vanisova (now with Vancouver), Toronto's Daryl Watts, New York's Ella Shelton (now with Toronto), Thompson and Frankel were named to the second all-star team.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
30 minutes ago
- CTV News
Matt Anholt the new Lethbridge Hurricanes coach
Calgary Watch The Lethbridge Hurricanes have announced the team's new head coach is Matt Anholt. Quinn Keenan reports.
National Post
38 minutes ago
- National Post
TFC recovers from sluggish start to salvage draw with New York Red Bulls
Theo Corbeanu's second-half goal lifted Toronto FC into a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls in MLS play Wednesday. Article content Mohammed Sofo scored for the Red Bulls (8-7-4) who had taken advantage of a sluggish start by Toronto in front of an announced crowd of 19,826 at BMO Field. Corbeanu's goal came on one of TFC's two efforts on target. Article content It was Toronto's first action since a May 31 home loss to Charlotte FC, with the scheduled pause for the Gold Cup and FIFA Club World Cup extended when its June 13 game at Los Angeles FC was postponed to Oct. 8 after LAFC qualified for the Club World Cup. Article content Toronto (3-10-5) looked rusty to start, giving the ball away, and fell behind in the 20th minute. Article content Sofo dispossessed Maxime Dominguez, passed the ball to Lewis Morgan and then headed towards goal. Morgan's shot was stopped by goalkeeper Sean Johnson, but Sofo knocked the rebound home into the empty goal. Article content Morgan has eight goal contributions (five goals, three assists) in eight career MLS appearances against Toronto. Article content The celebration didn't last long with Morgan forced to leave the game four minutes later. The Scottish international, in his second game back from a knee surgery, was on the ball looking to pick up speed when he suddenly put on the brakes. Article content It was just his second start of the season — and his first since the opening game of the season. Article content Corbeanu pulled Toronto even in the 51st minute, heading the ball past goalkeeper Carlos Coronel after Alonso Coello, following a corner, found Sigurd Rosted at the far post and the Norwegian defender headed the ball back across goal. Corbeanu rose high for his fourth goal of the season — in TFC's first effort on target. Article content Article content Article content The Red Bulls' last game was June 14, a 2-1 loss at Austin FC. The New Yorkers had won four straight across all competitions before that. Article content The Red Bulls arrived in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, six places and 14 points ahead of Toronto. But most of New York's success has come at Sports Illustrated Stadium where it had gone 7-1-1 compared to 1-6-2 on the road. Article content Toronto's home record, at 1-7-2 before Wednesday, was last in the league — a record exacerbated by five defeats at BMO Field in May when TFC went 2-5-0. Toronto went a disappointing 2-5-0 in May despite playing six of the seven games at home.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
CF Montreal remains winless at home with 3-1 loss to FC Cincinnati
CF Montreal remains winless at home after losing 3-1 to FC Cincinnati in Major League Soccer action Wednesday night. Brazilian midfielder Evander scored twice to reach nine goals on the season while Luca Orellano also found the back of the net for Cincinnati (11-5-3), which ranks second in the Eastern Conference. Cincinnati had one victory in its previous five games. Prince Owusu converted his third goal in two games for Montreal (2-12-5). The club failed to carry momentum into the match after earning its second win this season, 3-1 over the Houston Dynamo on June 14. Montreal, which sits last in the East, fell to 0-5-3 at Stade Saputo. Assistant coach David Sauvry filled in for interim head coach Marco Donadel along the touchline Wednesday. Donadel served a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards. Evander opened the scoring just before first-half injury time when he controlled a hard cross from DeAndre Yedlin and slotted a left-footed finish past Montreal 'keeper Jonathan Sirois on a balmy, 25 C evening. Yedlin broke down the right side, overlapping a confused Montreal defence, before finding Evander, who was named to the MLS all-star roster earlier Wednesday. Montreal substitute Dante Sealy, moments after coming on the field in the 55th minute, nearly equalized by cutting inside to his left foot, but sent his shot from the top of the box just over the bar. After Cincinnati top scorer Kévin Denkey failed to convert a quality chance, Orellano dribbled through Montreal's defence for a flashy goal to double the lead in the 65th minute. Evander made it a brace in the 83rd, finishing Lukas Engel's low pass from the centre of the box to make it 3-0. Owusu got Montreal on the board with a beautiful header off Jules-Anthony Vilsaint's cross in the 89th minute. Vilsaint had a chance of his own with a break in second-half stoppage time, but couldn't beat Cincinnati's Roman Celentano to cut the lead to one. Cincinnati looked like the stronger side in the first half, edging Montreal 7-5 on the shot count, including 5-1 on target. Montreal created chances early in the first 45 minutes. Caden Clark, who later exited with an injury, sent a superb through ball with Tom Pearce streaking down the left side in the seventh minute, but Pearce shot wide on a golden opportunity. Pearce was at it again in the 13th minute. This time he blasted down the left wing and fired a sharp-angle attempt at the near post, but Celentano turned it aside with his right arm. Low payroll Montreal has the lowest payroll in the league once again, according to figures released Wednesday by the MLS Players Association. The roster's total salary adds up to US$11.99 million, roughly 1.3 million less than the next-closest Philadelphia Union. Cincinnati, meanwhile, has the league's fourth-highest payroll of $23.18 million. Up next Montreal: Hosts New York City FC on Saturday. Cincinnati: Visits Orlando SC on Saturday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025. Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
