Poulin is the only player, male or female, to be selected as a finalist all three years of the award’s young history.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Matt Zambonin
Only non-American among six finalists
Defying the odds, Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin emerged victorious from the voting for the IIHF Female Player of the Year for 2024-25.
The 34-year-old Poulin garnered 33.1% of all votes, a healthy gap separating her from the runner-up, American goalie Gwyneth Philips, who had 22.3% of the votes. Third was Team USA captain Hilary Knight (20.2%), followed by defender Caroline Harvey (12.9%) and Aerin Frankel (7.3%). Laila Edwards and Ronja Savolainen (FIN) also received votes, the latter as a write-in who was not named among the six finalists as put forward by the IIHF’s Historical Committee.
Poulin is the only player, male or female, to be selected as a finalist all three years of the award’s young history. In 2023, she finished a distant 7th in the voting. Last year she was third, and now she has reached the top.
Previous winners were Knight, in 2023, and Canada’s Natalie Spooner, in 2024.
Poulin will be presented her trophy at a date and location to be determined. Previously, Knight was given her trophy by IIHF president Luc Tardif at the IIHF international zone in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, along with the inaugural male winner, Connor Bedard. Last year, Spooner, a member of the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL, was given her trophy on New Year’s Eve during a Sceptres’ home game.
Poulin, a perennial star with Canada, won a silver medal at the Women’s Worlds in Czechia this past April and was also named tournament MVP. She led the event in scoring with 12 points in seven games. In PWHL play with the Montreal Victoire, Poulin led the league in goals with 19 and took the team to the playoffs for a second straight season.
The incredible trajectory of Philips was acknowledged by the voters, who were more than 100 in number comprised of media from the top 16 women’s nations as well as appropriate IIHF Family. Philips was the winning goalie in the WW gold-medal game for the Americans, and with a 3-0 record she also posted a GAA of 0.49. In the PWHL, Philips led the Ottawa Charge to the Walter Cup finals, where she was named playoff MVP despite the Charge losing the best-of-five in four games to Minnesota.
Knight, 35, had another outstanding season at home and abroad. In addition to winning gold at the Women’s Worlds, she was third in tournament scoring with nine points (2+7). In the PWHL, she was co-leader in regular-season scoring with 29 points in 30 games with the Boston Fleet.
The only defender on the list, Harvey was also part of the USA’s gold-medal team in April and placed 5th in NCAA scoring with Wisconsin. She was a teammate of Edwards at both the Women’s Worlds and in college and had 63 points in 41 games with the Badgers. She was also a Patty Kazmaier Award top-three finalist.
Frankel was the starting goalie in the gold-medal game of the Women’s Worlds and had a 4-0 record in the tournament. Additionally, she had a 12-11 W-L record with the Fleet in the PWHL to go with a 2.28 GAA.
Edwards was part of the Americans’ gold-medal team in Czechia, registering four points in the tournament. As well, she was third in NCAA scoring this past season with the Badgers, recording 71 points in 41 games. She also was a top-three Patty Kazmaier Award finalist.
Savolainen helped Finland win bronze at the Women’s Worlds and was also a teammate of Philips’s with the Charge in Ottawa. She had 11 points in 28 games during the regular season in her first year in the PWHL.
Defying the odds, Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin emerged victorious from the voting for the IIHF Female Player of the Year for 2024-25.
The 34-year-old Poulin garnered 33.1% of all votes, a healthy gap separating her from the runner-up, American goalie Gwyneth Philips, who had 22.3% of the votes. Third was Team USA captain Hilary Knight (20.2%), followed by defender Caroline Harvey (12.9%) and Aerin Frankel (7.3%). Laila Edwards and Ronja Savolainen (FIN) also received votes, the latter as a write-in who was not named among the six finalists as put forward by the IIHF’s Historical Committee.
Poulin is the only player, male or female, to be selected as a finalist all three years of the award’s young history. In 2023, she finished a distant 7th in the voting. Last year she was third, and now she has reached the top.
Previous winners were Knight, in 2023, and Canada’s Natalie Spooner, in 2024.
Poulin will be presented her trophy at a date and location to be determined. Previously, Knight was given her trophy by IIHF president Luc Tardif at the IIHF international zone in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, along with the inaugural male winner, Connor Bedard. Last year, Spooner, a member of the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL, was given her trophy on New Year’s Eve during a Sceptres’ home game.
Poulin, a perennial star with Canada, won a silver medal at the Women’s Worlds in Czechia this past April and was also named tournament MVP. She led the event in scoring with 12 points in seven games. In PWHL play with the Montreal Victoire, Poulin led the league in goals with 19 and took the team to the playoffs for a second straight season.
The incredible trajectory of Philips was acknowledged by the voters, who were more than 100 in number comprised of media from the top 16 women’s nations as well as appropriate IIHF Family. Philips was the winning goalie in the WW gold-medal game for the Americans, and with a 3-0 record she also posted a GAA of 0.49. In the PWHL, Philips led the Ottawa Charge to the Walter Cup finals, where she was named playoff MVP despite the Charge losing the best-of-five in four games to Minnesota.
Knight, 35, had another outstanding season at home and abroad. In addition to winning gold at the Women’s Worlds, she was third in tournament scoring with nine points (2+7). In the PWHL, she was co-leader in regular-season scoring with 29 points in 30 games with the Boston Fleet.
The only defender on the list, Harvey was also part of the USA’s gold-medal team in April and placed 5th in NCAA scoring with Wisconsin. She was a teammate of Edwards at both the Women’s Worlds and in college and had 63 points in 41 games with the Badgers. She was also a Patty Kazmaier Award top-three finalist.
Frankel was the starting goalie in the gold-medal game of the Women’s Worlds and had a 4-0 record in the tournament. Additionally, she had a 12-11 W-L record with the Fleet in the PWHL to go with a 2.28 GAA.
Edwards was part of the Americans’ gold-medal team in Czechia, registering four points in the tournament. As well, she was third in NCAA scoring this past season with the Badgers, recording 71 points in 41 games. She also was a top-three Patty Kazmaier Award finalist.
Savolainen helped Finland win bronze at the Women’s Worlds and was also a teammate of Philips’s with the Charge in Ottawa. She had 11 points in 28 games during the regular season in her first year in the PWHL.
Poulin will be presented her trophy at a date and location to be determined.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Matt Zambonin
About the Award
The IIHF Female Player of the Year Award is given every year to a player who has best demonstrated exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the most recent season.The player must have competed in at least one IIHF tournament at any level this past season (Women’s World Championship, Women’s U18 World Championship) as well as in a domestic league of the highest calibre for that country, the combined performances of which are considered superior to all other players. Career achievements have no merit in the voting. Candidates must be selected based only on this past year’s achievements.