Jocelyne Larocque

Early Days

Jocelyne Larocque was born in Ste Anne, Manitoba, 42 km southeast of Winnipeg. Larocque grew up watching her older sister, Chantal, play hockey. Nine-year-old Larocque and her sister cheered the televised 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games at which Canada’s women’s hockey team won the silver medal. She later said, “That is when I decided one day I wanted to represent Canada.”

Larocque played for several minor hockey teams in Ste Anne and nearby St. Adolphe. She played hockey, soccer and basketball while attending secondary school at Collège Lorette Collegiate near Winnipeg. When she was 15, Larocque became the first female to play in the Winnipeg High School Hockey League.

Professional Hockey

Jocelyne Larocque played professional hockey in Canada and the United States. In the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL), she played one season with the Manitoba Maple Leafs, putting up 49 points in 32 games. She also won the WWHL championships in all three of her seasons with the Calgary Oval X-Treme. Larocque played three seasons for the Brampton Thunder of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. In her fourth season, the team moved to Markham, where she helped the Thunder win the league championship. She has excelled in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, playing for teams in Toronto and Minnesota, and the Professional Women’s Hockey League, playing for teams in Toronto and Ottawa.

To promote professional women’s hockey, Larocque was chosen as one of 24 players to compete in a 20-minute three-on-three game prior to the 2024 National Hockey League All-Star game in Toronto.

International Hockey

Jocelyne Larocque enrolled in the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2007. She played for the university’s women’s hockey team that in 2007–08 won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. In 2008–09, she was named a NCAA First Team All-American. In 2009–10, she celebrated another national championship. The following season, she was chosen the league’s best defensive player, again named a First Team All-American and was made team captain. Upon graduating with her accounting degree in 2011, Larocque was celebrated as the highest scoring defencewoman in the school’s history.

Larocque was chosen to represent Canada as a member of the women’s hockey team in four Olympic Winter Games. Larocque got a goal and an assist in contributing to the winning of the gold medal at the 2014 Sochi games (see also Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games). Her participation in the 2014 Sochi games marked the first time an Indigenous woman played hockey at the Olympics and the first time an Indigenous woman won a gold medal for hockey.

Larocque was chosen Team Canada’s assistant captain at the 2018 PyeongChang games, where the team won the silver medal after losing 3–2 in a shootout with the American team (see also Canada at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games). At the post-game medal ceremony, Larocque removed the medal from her neck and held it during the playing of the American national anthem. She later apologized, saying, “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."

In the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games, Larocque was a member of Canada’s women’s hockey team, which defeated the United States to win the gold medal. Larocque was chosen to play for Team Canada again at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. The team won the silver medal at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. As of 2026, Larocque is the most decorated Indigenous athlete in the Olympics in Canadian history.

Larocque was a member of Team Canada for 12 World Championship tournaments between 2011 to 2025. Teams on which she played won four gold, seven silver and one bronze medal. Larocque is only the fifth Canadian woman hockey player to appear in over 200 games in a Team Canada uniform.

The Four Nations Cup is an international round-robin tournament involving Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland. Larocque helped Canada’s team win four Four Nations Cup gold medals.

Entrepreneurship and Awards

Jocelyne Larocque is a co-owner of Stoke Strength and Conditioning, which specializes in elite athlete development. She is Stoke’s hockey program coordinator. Larocque and her staff at two Ontario locations train athletes to develop consistent habits that allow them to pursue long-term athletic and personal goals.

In 2014, Larocque was named Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. She is proud of her Métis heritage and, in 2018, was honoured to receive the Tom Longboat Award, which commemorates outstanding contributions to sport by Indigenous athletes in Canada (see also Tom Longboat). In 2020, TSN chose the best players to have ever represented Canada and included Larocque as a member of the All-Time Women’s Team Canada. A year later, the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council named Larocque the Manitoba Indigenous Female Athlete of the Decade.

When asked of her career, Larocque replied, “If I can inspire anybody to just chase their dreams, it's not even about hockey, it's about finding what you love. That's what life is all about.”