Caroline Ouellette, born on May 25, 1979, in Montreal, Quebec, is a celebrated Canadian former ice hockey player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League. Ouellette's career is marked by numerous achievements, including Olympic gold medals, world championships, and dominance in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). Known for her skill, physicality, and leadership, Ouellette has left an indelible mark on the sport.
Early Career and International Success
Caroline Ouellette demonstrated her talent early in her career. She played for Team Quebec at the 1995 Canada Winter Games and won gold for Canada's Under 18 team in 1997. When the Canadian Under 19 women's hockey team was founded on May 15, 1996, Ouellette was one of the players named to the team. One of her teammates was future Olympic speed skater Cindy Klassen.
Ouellette represented Team Quebec at the 1998 Esso women's hockey nationals. She scored a goal and two assists in the bronze medal game, as Team Quebec was awarded the Maureen McTeer Trophy. During the 2011 IIHF Eight Nations Tournament, Ouellette assisted on all three goals as Canada defeated Finland by a 3-2 tally in round robin play. In the gold medal game of the 2011 Four Nations Cup, Ouellette notched a goal in a 4-3 loss.
Ouellette has taken part in 3 Olympic Games, 9 World Championships and 9 Four Nations Cups. In 157 international games with Team Canada, Ouellette has racked up 169 points. Caroline Ouellette is the only Canadian in any sport to enter four Olympic events and win gold in all four of them, the last one of which she captained Canada to the gold medal in 2014. Ouellette would score the game winning goal in overtime versus the United States in the final game at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship, as Canada claimed the gold medal.
Ouellette wasn't selected to play in the 1998 Nagano Olympics, where Canada lost the gold-medal game to the United States. Prior to that, Canada had lost eight consecutive games to the United States.
Read also: Features of Custom Hockey Gloves
Ouellette points to a chat with Canada national team veteran France St.-Louis following the 1999 IIHF World Championship as a pivotal moment in her career. "It was my first world championships, and it was her last and she was my roommate," Ouellette said. "I thank her for having the courage afterward to sit me down and telling me my fitness wasn't good enough."
Collegiate Career at Minnesota Duluth
Ouellette attended the University of Minnesota Duluth and played for the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey program. Ouellette set an NCAA record for most shorthanded goals in one game with 2. This was accomplished on November 14, 2003, versus North Dakota.
In the 2004-05 season, Ouellette was a factor on more than 60 percent of goals scored by the Bulldogs. Among the top nine scorers on the Bulldogs, she had nine penalties, which were the fewest. Throughout her NCAA career, she never had double digits in penalties. In 2005 Caroline Ouellette is named UMD's first ever WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year, while also earning a spot on the All-WCHA First Team. Caroline Ouellette becomes the second Bulldog to be named a Patty Kazmaier Top-3 Finalist. Caroline Ouellette is honored with the USCHO.com Sportsmanship Award and a Second Team selection. Caroline Ouellette is named a CCM All-America First Team selection for the second straight season.
By winning a third gold medal in women's Olympic hockey, she became the Bulldog hockey player with the most gold medals. After helping lead UMD to a national title in the 2003 NCAA championship double-overtime thriller, Ouellete was named the NCAA Frozen Four's Most Valuable Player after recording the first goal in the championship game and then putting up a goal and two assists in the Bulldogs 5-2 semifinal win over Dartmouth.
According to UMD head coach Maura Crowell, "Caroline is one of the best women's hockey players to ever play the game. Her accomplishments on the ice are incredible as are her off ice contributions to the sport. She's an excellent role model to hockey players all over the world."
Read also: The story of Craig Needham
Professional Career and CWHL Dominance
During the 2000-01 NWHL season, Ouellette played with the Montreal Wingstar and finished third in league scoring with 53 points. She would also spend one season competing with the Minnesota Whitecaps in the former Western Women's Hockey League. In 2008-09, Ouellette joined the Montreal Stars. She won CWHL Top Scorer of the Month honors in November (tying the league record with 19 points in just six games) and December. At year's end, she was named CWHL Most Valuable Player.
In 2010-11, Ouellette won the Angela James Bowl as the CWHL's scoring leader with 68 points. She also became the first two-winner of the league's Most Valuable Player award. On December 11, 2016, Ouellette logged a pair of assists, eclipsing the 300-point mark. Her longevity and scoring prowess helped elevate the visibility and competitiveness of women's professional hockey in Canada, contributing to the CWHL's growth as a premier league.
By winning the 2009 Clarkson Cup, Ouellette became an unofficial member of the Triple Gold Club (the accomplishment by women is not yet officially recognized by the IIHF), as she became one of only three women to win the Clarkson Cup, a gold medal in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a gold medal at the IIHF women's world hockey championships.
Ouellette served as captain of Les Canadiennes de Montréal from 2010 to 2018, providing leadership during a period of sustained success for the franchise. She holds Les Canadiennes and CWHL franchise records for career points (307) and assists (182), becoming the first player to reach 300 points in league history during the 2016-17 season.
Ouellette's club career spanned university and professional leagues in North America, showcasing her scoring prowess early on before a sustained presence in Canada's top women's professional circuit.
Read also: Inside Aaron Ness's Career
Prior to the CWHL era, Ouellette's professional play in the NWHL from 1998 to 2002 with teams like Bonaventure Wingstar and Montreal Wingstar included 84 games, 80 goals, 92 assists, and 172 points. She also appeared in 17 games for the Minnesota Whitecaps in the WWHL during 2006-08, contributing 7 goals and 11 assists for 18 points.
Ouellette's most extensive professional run came in the CWHL with the Montréal Stars (later Canadiennes) from 2008 to 2018, where she played 179 regular-season games, scoring 131 goals and 183 assists for 314 points. Her production peaked in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, with 68 and 66 points respectively, earning her the Angela James Bowl as the league's top scorer in 2010-11. Season highs included 30 goals in 2011-12. A noticeable decline occurred in her final seasons due to age and injuries, as evidenced by just 5 points in 6 games during 2017-18.
In CWHL playoffs, including Clarkson Cup competitions, Ouellette appeared in 23 games, tallying 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points, contributing to multiple championships.
Caroline Ouellette's CWHL Stats:
| Season | Team | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-2018 | Montréal Stars/Canadiennes | 179 | 131 | 183 | 314 |
Caroline also helps student-athletes with their college applications through athletichub.com.
The only Bulldog ever to have won four Olympic gold medals over her international playing career, Caroline Ouellette is the final starting forward named to UMD Women's Hockey 25th Anniversary Team.
A native of Montreal, Ouellette was already an Olympic gold medalist for Canada when she joined the UMD program in the fall of 2002. A top-3 Patty Kazmaier finalist in 2005 after being named a top-10 finalist in 2004, Ouellette was a two-time First Team All-American in both 2004 and 2005.
The program's third all-time leading scorer despite playing in just 97 games, Ouellete scored 92 goals and dished out 137 assists for 229 points in her three-year career -- an impressive 2.36 points per game average over the course of her time in Duluth. Ouellette remains UMD's second all-time assist leader, while still ranked fifth in goals.
A three-time All-WCHA selection, Ouellette was a two-time First Team selection (2002-03, 2004-05 and a Second Team selection in 2003-04. While Ouellette's individual accomplishments at UMD had her named to the WCHA's 1999-2009 All-Decade Team, the 20th Anniversary Team and this fall to the WCHA's 25th Anniversary Team, her team accomplishments are no less staggering.
Coaching Career
After her playing career, Caroline Ouellette became a coach. For the 2007-2008 season, she was an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team. She also worked with Hockey Canada as an assistant coach for the Women's National Under-18 Team. For the 2023-2024 PWHL season she became the assistant coach for Montreal's PWHL team.
Personal Life and Legacy
Caroline Ouellette is not just a hockey star. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2005 with a degree in criminology and women's studies. She played softball for Quebec at the 1997 Summer Canada Games. In 2010, one of the rinks at the Centre Etienne Desmarteau in Montreal was named in her honor.
Ouellette was raised in a supportive family in Montreal, Quebec, as the youngest of two daughters to parents Nicole and André Ouellette. Ouellette has maintained a low profile regarding personal matters throughout her career. She entered a long-term relationship with American former hockey player and Olympic silver medalist Julie Chu around 2005, and the two married in 2018. The couple welcomed their first daughter, Liv, in November 2017, and their second daughter, Tessa, in May 2020.
Caroline Ouellette has been actively involved in initiatives to promote the growth of girls' hockey in Canada, particularly following the 2010 Winter Olympics, through her role on the Hockey Canada Women’s High Performance Advisory Committee, on which she has served since 2009 to support the development of elite female players.
In 2014, she founded the Caroline Ouellette Girls Hockey Celebration, a non-profit organization that annually hosts tournaments and events for over 1,000 girls aged 4 to 15, partnering with Hockey Québec and RBC for programs like the Esso Fun Day to introduce beginners to the sport and foster long-term participation.
Ouellette is a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in sports, having publicly acknowledged her same-sex relationship with fellow Olympian Julie Chu since the early 2010s, which has positioned her as a role model for inclusivity and supportive policies within athletic communities.
Her charitable work includes serving as an athlete ambassador for Right to Play since 2004, where she has supported global programs using sport to empower children in disadvantaged areas, including a 2011 visit to a project in Benin, Africa. Ouellette is also involved with Canadian Women & Sport to advance opportunities for female athletes and has fundraised extensively for youth programs, such as the First Shift Female Hockey Program, which provides free introductory sessions to encourage girls' entry into the game.
Post-retirement in 2018, Ouellette has focused on speaking engagements addressing gender equity in hockey, including panels and keynotes in the 2020s that highlight barriers for women and advocate for professional leagues and equal investment. Her family, including partner Julie Chu, has joined her in these community efforts to support inclusive causes.
Caroline is married to American hockey player and Olympic silver-medalist Julie Chu. In 2019, she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
In November of 2023 Caroline Ouellette was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. "It's crazy to think about how late I started to play and the journey I was able to have and to be able to get this honor is hard to put words to," Ouellette said. "I feel very lucky and blessed.
According to teammate Danielle Goyette, "She was dominant. She was a good skater for her size. She was dominating with her size. She was physical. You could use her anywhere, first line to fourth line, and it would not affect her at all."
According to Julie Chu, "The one thing I noticed whether I played against her or with her is what a competitor she is. She's one of those people that in all aspects of being elite in whatever she might be doing, she's trying to do the best that she can."
According to 2002 Olympic team coach Daniele Sauvageau, "I think Caroline understood that if she wanted to stay, she needed to work a little harder, and this is when she became an athlete and that's why she played so many years on the national level,"
Caroline Ouellette is a true icon in women's ice hockey, celebrated for her skill, leadership, and dedication to growing the sport. Her accomplishments on the ice and her commitment to promoting inclusivity and equity make her an inspiration to athletes and fans around the world.