French ice hockey player Chloé Aurard has had the pleasure of competing against her childhood idol Marie-Philip Poulin twice since the start of the Professional Women's Hockey League season. A third duel between Montreal and New York is now scheduled for this Wednesday, February 21st at the UBS Arena.
Aurard, 24, is a pioneer of French hockey, playing for the New York team. Originally from Villard-de-Lans, near Grenoble, she grew up admiring Poulin's skills, even though there was no major French idol who played the same sport as her.
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“When I was younger, I watched a lot of games between Canada and the United States, for example at the Olympics,” she said in an interview with Le Journal de Montréal. I really admired Marie-Philip Poulin. I also watched Hilary Knight, but that's a little less my style of play. In short, I really focused on Poulin.”
However, during the first two confrontations between Montreal and New York, Aurard was unlucky because the Quebecer changed the situation each time. After scoring a hat-trick in New York the previous Wednesday, Poulin scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory on Tuesday, January 16, in front of more than 6,000 spectators at Place Bell.
Aurard and her teammates will have the opportunity to return the favor on Wednesday, but also in two further games between the two teams until the end of the season.
A role model for young people
For now, Aurard is continuing her campaign, not without knowing that she is now the most important role model for young female ice hockey players in France. After playing with the Northeastern University Huskies in the NCAA from 2018 to 2023, she broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first French hockey player drafted into the LPHF.
“I feel very honored to have been drafted into this league and looking back, I was very fortunate to be recruited by an American university,” Aurard said. It showed the youngest [en France] that it was possible. I may have opened doors, but now I see more and more French hockey players going abroad. I can only hope to be a role model for them.”
Giguère's roommate
As Aurard grapples with the fact that Poulin is now among her opponents, she admits that she particularly appreciates the presence of many Quebecers at the New York club.
“I am very close to Élizabeth Giguère as she is my roommate in the hotels when playing abroad, but I also get on very well with Jade [Downie-Landry] and Alex [Labelle]“, she assured.
After her first 10 games of the season, Aurard has yet to reach the goal, but she has collected four assists.
Chloé Aurard is living the “American dream”
After several years in the Boston area, where she attended Northeastern University, French ice hockey player Chloé Aurard feels like she's living the American dream in New York.
“When I was younger, I watched series and films that were almost always set in Hollywood or New York,” she says. For us in France, New York is a particularly symbolic city.”
When imagining eating Asian food in cardboard boxes (a classic!), Aurard is quick to mention the second part of the film series, “Mom, I Missed the Plane,” as she discovered what gave her a taste for as much of the Big Apple as possible to discover. A post on his Instagram account about the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree coincidentally does not contain the song Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee.
It was also thanks to a wonderful coincidence that Aurard was selected by New York in the Professional Women's Hockey League draft last September. Her twin sister Anaïs had been living in the Brooklyn district for several years.
“It's a great coincidence, I was drafted by New York and my family was very happy,” said the 24-year-old striker. I've already been able to visit my sister a little, but the fact that I live there now and can be with my sister every day is extraordinary. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge whenever I want is a piece of the American dream.”
A good vision of the game
Quebecer Pascal Daoust, general manager in New York, did not hesitate to mention the Frenchwoman's name when she was still available for the 21st overall pick. Aurard was the third European to be drafted, after the Swiss Alina Müller, her former teammate at Northeastern and now a carrier for the Boston team, and behind the Czech Dominika Laskova, who plays on the blue line for Montreal.
Quebec's Pascal Daoust, general manager of the New York team of the Professional Women's Hockey League, during his visit to Place Bell in Laval, January 16, 2024. Photo Benoît Rioux
“Chloé had already made a name for herself in the NCAA with Northeastern,” Daoust commented. She had the privilege of playing there with Alina Müller, but I think Müller also had the privilege of playing with Chloé.
“She is a girl with a good feel for hockey, she is not a person who wears blinders, on the contrary,” added the Quebec GM. She skates well, and when you play with Chloé, make yourself available for the puck and she will find a way to give it back to you. […] She is also a good person and a good teammate. It fits the culture and values we want to establish in New York.”