| Jill Saulnier | |
| Birth Date: | 7 March 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 5 |
| Weight Lb: | 146 |
| Position: | Forward |
| Shoots: | Left |
| League: | PWHL |
| Team: | PWHL New York |
| Former Teams: | Les Canadiennes de Montréal Calgary Inferno |
| Sex: | f |
| Ntl Team: | Canada |
| Career Start: | 2011 |
Jillian Pauline Saulnier[1] [2] (born March 7, 1992) is a Canadian ice hockey forward currently with PWHL New York of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She is a two-time Olympian for Canada, winning a gold medal in 2022 and a silver medal in 2018.[3]
Saulnier has competed in five Atlantic Challenge Cups. Saulnier has claimed three gold (2003, 2005, 2007) and two silver medals (2006, 2008). She won a gold medal at Nova Scotia provincials with the Halifax Hawks in 2006.[4] Saulnier captained the Halifax Hawks the following season and was named team MVP. She played for Nova Scotia at the 2007 Esso Women's Nationals and was part of the fourth-place team.
At the 2007 National Women's Under-18 Championships, she played for Team Atlantic and finished in fourth. In 2008, Saulnier captained Team Atlantic at the 2008 National Women's Under-18 Championships. The team finished in eighth place, but Saulnier was honoured with the Most Sportsmanlike Player award.
She played for Team Atlantic again at the 2009 National Women's Under-18 Championships and finished in sixth place. That year, Saulnier also played with the Stoney Creek Junior Sabres in Ontario and claimed a silver medal at the OWHA provincials. Two of her teammates on the Stoney Creek Junior Sabres, Laura Fortino and Jessica Wong, would play with her at the 2009 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championships in Germany and win a silver medal.[5]
She finished fourth in scoring with the Toronto Jr. Aeros of the PWHL in 2009–10. At the PWHL championships, she won a silver medal with Toronto. In 2010, Saulnier won a gold medal with Toronto at the OWHA provincials.
In February 2011, she committed to join the Cornell Big Red of the ECAC.[6] In her first three career NCAA games, she registered ten points (seven goals, three assists), along with a +6 rating. In her college debut versus the Colgate Raiders women's ice hockey program on October 25, Saulnier netted four goals.[7] Her four-goal night was the first for Cornell since Jessica Campbell scored four against Robert Morris in the second game of the 2010–11 season. She scored her first career goal when she was out on the Big Red's first power play of the game. In her next game versus the Yale Bulldogs, she registered one goal and two assists while scoring two goals in her third game versus the Brown Bears women's ice hockey squad. For the month of October 2011, she was tied for first in the ECAC in goals scored (while the other player appeared in eight games).[8] In a game on November 1, 2011, the Cornell Big Red scored at least nine goals in one game for the third consecutive contest. It was senior captain Chelsea Karpenko's 100th career game, as Saulnier led all Big Red players with two goals and three assists in a 9–2 triumph over the Syracuse Orange women's ice hockey program.[9]
In August 2008, Saulnier was a member of Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team, competing in a three-game series against the United States in Lake Placid. The following year, Saulnier was a member of Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team that competed in a three-game series against the United States in Calgary. Also, in 2009, she won a silver medal with Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team at the 2009 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championships. In a March 24, 2010, contest versus the OWHA All-Stars, Saulnier played for the Canadian National Under 18 Women's Team. Saulnier would register an assist in the contest as the OWHA All-Stars defeated the Under 18 team by a 3–2 tally.[10] In April 2010 she won a gold medal with Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team at the 2010 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championships in Chicago,[11] beating Team USA in OT.
She played for Canada's National Women's Under-22 Team in a three-game series vs. the United States in Toronto in August 2010. Saulnier was an assistant captain at the 2010 IIHF Under 18 Women's World Championships.[12] She finished fourth in tournament scoring with four goals and six assists in five games.
On January 11, 2022, Saulnier was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[13] [14] [15] The team won the gold medal, defeating the United States in the final 3–2.[16] [17]
Saulnier scored a goal as a member of Team Black in the 2nd Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game.[18]
Appearing with the Calgary Inferno in the 2016 Clarkson Cup finals, Saulnier registered an assist as the Inferno emerged victorious in a convincing 8–3 final.[19]
At the 3rd CWHL All-Star Game, Saulnier and Jess Jones both scored a hat trick,[20] becoming the first competitors in CWHL All-Star Game history to achieve the feat.[21]
On July 12, 2018, Saulnier and teammate Genevieve Lacasse were traded by the Inferno to the Canadiennes de Montreal in exchange for future considerations in the form of player(s) and/or draft pick(s).[22]
Saulnier was drafted in the seventh round of the 2023 PWHL Draft by New York.[23] She scored her first PWHL goal in the first official PWHL game, a 4–0 victory over Toronto on January 1, 2024.[24]
Saulnier is a member of the LGBTQ community.[25]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2008–09 | Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres | Prov. WHL | 28 | 14 | 25 | 39 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 12 | ||
| 2009–10 | Toronto Jr. Aeros | Prov. WHL | 26 | 19 | 16 | 35 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Toronto Jr. Aeros | Prov. WHL | 14 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | ||
| 2011–12 | Cornell University | ECAC | 33 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Cornell University | ECAC | 30 | 10 | 33 | 43 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Cornell University | ECAC | 34 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Cornell University | ECAC | 28 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Calgary Inferno | CWHL | 22 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Calgary Inferno | CWHL | 20 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Canada | AMHL (Men's) | 15 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Les Canadiennes de Montréal | CWHL | 20 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 2020–21 | Montreal | PWHPA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Team Adidas | PWHPA | 20 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | New York | PWHL | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| PWHL totals | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Canada | U18 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2010 | Canada | U18 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 2015 | Canada | WC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | Canada | WC | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2018 | Canada | OG | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | Canada | WC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2021 | Canada | WC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2022 | Canada | OG | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Junior totals | 10 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 6 | ||||
| Senior totals | 36 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 14 | ||||