Jocelyne Larocque

Jocelyne Dawn Marie Larocque (born May 19, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She previously played in the PWHPA, with the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL, Calgary Inferno and Markham Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), the Calgary Oval X-Treme and Manitoba Maple Leafs of the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL), and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). With the Bulldogs, she was a two-time NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament champion (2008, 2010). Larocque is of Métis heritage and was the first Indigenous athlete to participate in the women's ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics.

Early life Larocque played hockey and basketball from 2002 to 2004 at College Lorette Collegiate in Manitoba. During the 2003–04 season, she became the first female player to appear in the Winnipeg High School Boys League. Larocque attended the Hockey Manitoba Program of Excellence Camp from June 25 to 27, 2004. Larocque competed for Manitoba at the 2003 Esso Women's Nationals in Saskatoon as the Manitoba team finished eighth. In January 2005, she was a member of the Manitoba team that participated in the Canadian National Women's Under-18 Championship in Salmon Arm, BC. Manitoba finished fifth, but Larocque was honoured as Top Defenceman. She won the WWHL championship with the Calgary Oval X-Treme in 2005.

College career In March 2008, Larocque had one assist as UMD won their fourth NCAA national championship in a 4–0 win over the University of Wisconsin. She competed along with two other players from her hometown of Ste. Anne, Manitoba (population 1,500), Minnesota Golden Gophers senior captain Melanie Gagnon and Mercyhurst forward Bailey Bram. The three were known colloquially as the “Ste. Anne Three.” Also in 2009, Larocque was the first Bulldog defenceman to be named to the All-American first team.

After being cut from Team Canada's Olympic roster in December 2009, Larocque elected to return to UMD for the second half of the 2009–10 season, forfeiting half a season of NCAA eligibility. On March 22, 2010, Larocque and the Bulldogs earned their fifth NCAA national championship with a 3–2 triple overtime victory over Cornell University.

In a February 12, 2011 game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Larocque had a goal and three assists as the Bulldogs defeated Ohio State by a 5–1 mark. Already the all-time top-scoring defenceman in UMD history, she became UMD's 14th player and first defenceman to score 100 career points. Larocque's assist on a power play goal with 40 seconds remaining was her second career four-point game. Larocque was the top-scoring defenceman in the WCHA for the 2010–11 season, with six goals and 18 assists for 24 points in 26 league contests.

In post-season league honours, Larocque was named to the All-WCHA first team; was voted the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the league's head coaches; was the top-scoring defenceman in the league with six goals, 18 assists and 24 points in 26 league contests; was named the WCHA Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year; and was named to the 2010–11 All-WCHA Academic Team.

She graduated with honours from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2011 with a Bachelor of Accountancy. She ended her college hockey career as the Bulldogs' all-time leader in scoring for defencemen with 105 points on 19 goals and 86 assists in 127 games.

Professional career Larocque first played for the Team Alberta franchise and remained with them after a rebranding that saw them renamed the Calgary Inferno. In August 2013, she was traded to the Brampton Thunder for fellow Manitoban Bailey Bram. Of note, she served as the final team captain in the history of the Brampton Thunder. When the franchise relocated to Markham, Ontario, she continued as team captain. Of note, she served in the capacity when the Thunder captured the 2018 Clarkson Cup, a franchise first.

On September 18, 2023, Larocque was drafted second overall by PWHL Toronto in the 2023 PWHL Draft. Of note, Larocque participated in the first ever PWHL game, taking place on January 1, 2024 at Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre.

On December 30, 2024, Toronto traded Larocque to the Ottawa Charge, alongside Victoria Bach (also a former teammate from the Markham Thunder), in exchange for Savannah Harmon and Hayley Scamurra. Of note, it marked the first trade of the 2024–25 PWHL season.

International play She participated in the Canadian National Team Fall Festival from August 31 to September 9, 2007. She was an Air Canada Cup women's champion in 2005–06 and 2006–07. On November 27, 2009, Larocque and Brianne Jenner were released from Hockey Canada's centralized roster to determine the roster for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

Despite not qualifying for the roster competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she was named to the final roster for the 2010 MLP Nations Cup. Larocque had an assist in the semi-final of the 2010 MLP Cup. In addition, she attended the Hockey Canada Strength and Conditioning Camp in Calgary from May 25 to 30, 2010. In addition, Larocque competed with Canada at the 2010 Four Nations Cup and won a gold medal.

Her Olympic debut with the national team came at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where Team Canada won the gold medal. She played in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, winning a silver medal with Team Canada. She received attention following the gold medal game for removing her silver medal immediately after it was presented to her, prompting a later reproach from an IIHF official. She issued an apology the following day, saying in part, "In the moment, I was disappointed with the outcome of the game, and my emotions got the better of me. I meant no disrespect. It has been an honour to represent my country and win a medal for Canada. I'm proud of our team and proud to be counted among the Canadian athletes who have won medals at these games."

On January 11, 2022, Larocque was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team, where she won the gold medal.

On January 9, 2026, she was named to Canada's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where she won a silver medal. Her four Olympic medals (2 gold and 2 silver) make her the most-decorated Indigenous athlete from North America. A team was named after her at the 2007 Female Atom Hockey Festival presented by the Manitoba Moose on December 29, at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

Larocque's sister, Chantal, has competed for Canada at the ISBHF World Championships. Both were also teammates on the now-defunct Calgary Oval X-Treme.

Career statistics Career statistics are from USCHO.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database, or NCAA or the Team Canada Media Guide for 2022.

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2004–05 Calgary Oval X-Treme WWHL 17 2 6 8 18 3 0 0 0 2 2005–06 Calgary Oval X-Treme WWHL 21 2 8 10 66 3 0 4 4 8 2006–07 Calgary Oval X-Treme WWHL 21 3 15 18 43 3 0 0 0 6 2007–08 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 39 4 22 26 60 3 0 1 1 6 2008–09 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 37 4 33 37 108 2 0 1 1 4 2009–10 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 19 3 10 13 50 3 1 1 2 4 2010–11 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 32 8 21 29 60 1 0 0 0 0 2011–12 Manitoba Maple Leafs WWHL 32 14 35 49 22 — — — — — 2012–13 Alberta Honeybadgers CWHL 23 1 2 3 44 — — — — — 2013–14 Canada AMHL 17 0 0 0 16 — — — — — 2014–15 Brampton Thunder CWHL 24 3 2 5 38 — — — — — 2015–16 Brampton Thunder CWHL 24 2 5 7 32 2 0 1 1 4 2016–17 Brampton Thunder CWHL 20 0 4 4 38 — — — — — 2017–18 Canada AMHL 11 0 3 3 6 — — — — — 2017–18 Markham Thunder CWHL 4 1 1 2 2 3 0 0 0 2 2018–19 Markham Thunder CWHL 23 2 8 10 28 3 0 2 2 4 2019–20 GTA East PWHPA — — — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Toronto PWHPA 4 0 3 3 2 — — — — — 2022–23 Team Adidas PWHPA 20 0 2 2 20 — — — — — 2023–24 PWHL Toronto PWHL 23 1 9 10 6 5 0 1 1 6 2024–25 Toronto Sceptres PWHL 6 0 2 2 — — — — — — 2024–25 Ottawa Charge PWHL 24 0 5 5 12 8 1 3 4 2 2025–26 Ottawa Charge PWHL 30 1 7 8 18 8 1 3 4 4 CWHL totals 118 9 22 31 182 8 0 3 3 10 PWHL totals 83 2 23 35 36 21 2 7 9 12

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2006 Canada U22 ACC 4 1 0 1 6 2007 Canada U22 ACC 5 0 0 0 2 2008 Canada U22 ACC 4 0 3 3 8 2008 Canada 4 Nations Cup 3 1 0 1 6 2009 Canada U22 MLP 5 1 0 1 2 2009 Canada 4 Nations Cup 2 0 0 0 0 2010 Canada U22 MLP 5 0 2 2 8 2010 Canada 4 Nations Cup 4 0 3 3 2 2011 Canada WC 5 0 2 2 6 2011 Canada 4 Nations Cup 4 0 1 1 4 2012 Canada WC 5 0 1 1 6 2013 Canada WC 5 0 2 2 8 2013 Canada 4 Nations Cup 4 0 0 0 4 2014 Canada OG 5 1 1 2 2 2014 Canada 4 Nations Cup 4 0 0 0 6 2015 Canada WC 5 0 0 0 4 2016 Canada WC 4 0 0 0 4 2016 Canada 4 Nations Cup 3 0 0 0 0 2017 Canada WC 5 0 2 2 4 2017 Canada 4 Nations Cup 3 0 0 0 8 2018 Canada OG 5 0 1 1 2 2018 Canada 4 Nations Cup 4 0 0 0 6 2019 Canada WC 7 0 3 3 2 2021 Canada WC 7 0 4 4 8 2022 Canada OG 7 0 2 2 10 2022 Canada WC 7 1 5 6 2 2024 Canada WC 7 1 4 5 12 2025 Canada WC 7 0 3 3 0 2026 Canada OG 7 0 0 0 2 U22 totals 23 2 5 7 26 Senior totals 119 4 34 38 108

Awards and honours NCAA 2009 First Team All-America selection WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of February 16, 2011) 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award Nominee 2011 WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year 2011 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year 2011 All-WCHA First Team 2011 First Team All-America selection

International 2014 Sochi Olympic Women's Hockey Gold Medal 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics Women's Silver Medal 2022 Beijing Olympics Women's Gold Medal

CWHL 2018 Clarkson Cup champion

Other 2018 winner of the Tom Longboat Award Manitoba Indigenous Female Athlete of the Decade (awarded January 2021) In 2026, she was appointed to the Order of Manitoba, the province’s highest honour.