Jocelyne Larocque reaches 200-game milestone as Team Canada nabs silver

Jocelyne Larocque made some history this week, becoming the first Canadian defender to appear in 200 games for the country’s senior women’s hockey team.

Just four other players (Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette and Marie-Philip Poulin) have played that many games for Team Canada.

Larocque made the 200-game mark in bittersweet fashion, as Team Canada lost 4-3 in overtime of the women’s world championships, with Larocque on the ice during the goal against. An attempted breakout pass late in the first overtime was deflected right to the stick of an American player. With the extra space during the three-on-three overtime, it took a simple pass across the crease to record the winning goal.

The 2025 tournament, hosted in Czechia, set a new all-time attendance record (122,331) as women’s hockey picks up in popularity around the globe. Last year’s tournament was also decided in overtime, with Canada coming out on top at the U.S.-hosted event.

Canada out-shot the Americans 47-30 this year, but needed a late third period goal just to force overtime, after erasing a 2-0 second period deficit.

“I think in general we carried the play, enough to potentially be successful,” Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said in a Hockey Canada game recap.

“It’s just the margins for error are so small; multiple times in the overtime and even in the third we could have won it, it’s just a matter of finishing the opportunities you get and trying to keep them out of our end. I don’t think there were any lopsided parts to the game, it could have gone either way throughout the whole thing.”

Larocque debuted for Canada at the 2008 4 Nations Cup. Across the years, she’s racked up an impressive trophy case, including four world championships and two Olympic gold medals. She’s become a veteran presence on Team Canada’s blue-line, playing alongside players who were born after she made her Team Canada debut with the U22 team.

After the end of the world championships, Larocque is set to close out her season with the Ottawa Charge in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which pauses their regular season to allow their players to play at the world championships. The Charge sit in fourth place, just a single point behind the Boston Fleet and one point ahead of the Minnesota Frost.