Sky is the limit for Poulin, Desbiens-led PWHL Montreal in inaugural season

PWHL Montreal's first home game on Jan. 13 at Verdun Auditorium will be a homecoming Marie-Philip Poulin has waited a long time to have.

The Canadian captain has played in front of a home crowd with the national team and on the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association (PWHPA) tour.

But it's been nearly five years since Poulin has gotten to play at home in professional league play, in an environment where she gets to go to battle with the same players every day for a whole season, all in pursuit of the same goal.

The player fans call Captain Clutch, though she'd never call herself that, has always had a knack for living up to the moment.

She'll finally have another chance to bring a championship to Quebec. With undoubtedly the best player in the world in the lineup, anything is possible this season in Montreal.

Coverage of the first PWHL regular-season game on Jan. 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET (New York at Toronto) will be available on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and CBC TV, beginning with a pre-game show at 12 p.m. 

The team also boasts one of the best goaltenders in the world in Ann-Renée Desbiens, a power-play quarterback in defender Erin Ambrose, and world-class speed and compete from Kristin O'Neill and Laura Stacey.

The biggest challenge for Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie might be finding the right mixture of skill and chemistry throughout her lineup, with the team built from scratch over the last few months and a lot of players who are new to each other.

WATCH | Stacey talks about building culture, identity on PWHL Montreal:

But it's a challenge a lot of teams will face in the PWHL's first season, and one Cheverie feels her squad has already made progress with.

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