Chu participated in the second annual CWHL All-Star Game at Air Canada Centre on Saturday. Team Black won 5-1 against Team White.
Chu, 33, is a veteran international star for the United States who plays for Les Canadiennes de Montreal in the CWHL. She has helped the United States win three silver medals and one bronze medal at the Winter Olympics, and five gold medals and four silvers at the IIHF Women's World Championship.
The CWHL is a five-team league, consisting of Les Canadiennes, the Boston Blades, Brampton Thunder, Calgary Inferno and Toronto Furies. Players are not paid to play in the CWHL, but Sasky Stewart, the league's director of communications and marketing, hopes that will change soon.
"Our commitment to the players is to hopefully pay them by the 2016-17 season," Stewart said. "These girls are the best female hockey players in the world and they deserve to be paid. If everybody who watched Canada win a gold medal at the Olympic Games came out to see one of our games, we would not be having this discussion about paying the players."
The All-Star Game at Air Canada Centre last year did not charge for admission and drew 5,000 spectators. This year, the CWHL charged $10 per seat and Stewart said slightly more than 5,000 tickets were sold.
Chu said having an All-Star Game that garners extra attention for the CWHL is very important to the growth of the league.
"It's absolutely huge," Chu said. "Last year we had our inaugural CWHL All-Star Game and that was a great kickoff for the league. … It is starting to generate excitement for the CWHL and I know for us as players, getting a chance to have such an event, we feel like All-Stars and we feel like the league is stepping into a new era where we are showcasing our stars."
A draft was held Friday with All-Star captains Chu and Natalie Spooner choosing the teams.
Poulin, who scored the game-winning goal in the gold-medal games of the past two Winter Olympics and leads the CWHL in scoring with 13 goals and 26 points in 14 games, scored two goals to lead Team Black.
Hayley Wickenheiser, Jill Saulnier and Kim Deschenes scored the other Team Black goals with Jessica Campbell scoring for Team White.
Poulin was delighted with the turnout and the enthusiasm of the crowd.
"It was quite amazing," Poulin said. "You can see all the kids in the stands enjoying the game, and for us to see fans come out to watch us is great. People actually paid this year, and that means a lot to our development as a league."
Like Chu, Poulin dreams of the day she'll be paid to play hockey.
"That is what we are pushing for," Poulin said. "We love the game so much. We are playing because we love it. I hope one day it will be our work and we will get paid for doing it."
Wickenheiser, 37, was named to Canada's national team in 1994 at the age of 15. Although her career is winding down, Wickenheiser believes the day will come when the best women hockey players can earn a living playing the sport they love.
"I'm not sure it will happen in my playing days," Wickenheiser said. "I think it's still a ways away to be making considerable salary. Right now we are just paid expenses, but I think it will happen."
Regardless, Chu said people who have not seen a CWHL game do not know what they are missing.
"It is really good hockey," Chu said. "If people come to watch us they'll understand the speed and the skill of the players as well as the competitiveness of the players in this league. People say there's no checking, so they assume it's not a physical sport, but anyone who has actually watched us play realizes how physical we actually do play and how quick we are on the ice."
The CWHL will hold its semifinals in late February. The league's championship trophy, the Clarkson Cup, will be contested in a one-game final between the two remaining teams during a three-day celebration in Ottawa from March 11-13.
