Vladdy dons game-worn hockey hero's jersey ahead of Game 7

TORONTO -- Another Game 7, another hockey jersey for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. This time, he’s repping Captain Clutch.

Guerrero walked into Rogers Centre Saturday afternoon wearing the red Team Canada jersey of the great Marie-Philip Poulin, the Canadian hockey icon.

While Guerrero’s decision to wear an Auston Matthews Maple Leafs jersey into Game 7 of the ALCS against the Mariners worked out in the end, it was a risky move, given the Leafs’ Stanley Cup drought stretching back to 1967 and their reputation for being Toronto’s biggest annual flop. Poulin, on the other hand, is one of Canada’s greatest and most decorated hockey players, known for her incredible ability to come up big in gold medal games.

Poulin was in attendance for Game 7 and reciprocated by donning a Guerrero jersey.

Poulin has won three Olympic golds with Canada (2010, ‘14, ‘22) and scored the game-winning goal in all three of those games, a remarkable accomplishment for the captain and one of the faces of hockey in Canada. In 2010, Poulin was the youngest member of Team Canada at just 18 years old and has grown into the face of their program. The parallels to Guerrero and his rise with the Blue Jays are clear, but Guerrero is still looking for his big moment in the World Series, still looking to bring a championship back to Canada.

The Blue Jays’ postseason run is the closest Canada has come to an Olympic hockey gold medal game in years. The men’s national team famously drew an average audience of 16.6 million Canadians for their gold medal win at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics -- the largest in Canadian history -- to watch Sidney Crosby score The Golden Goal. Beyond those 2010 Games and some peak-year Super Bowls, though, what the Blue Jays are doing right now is unprecedented in the Canadian market.

Game 5 of the World Series in L.A. averaged 7.2 million viewers on Sportsnet, a new record for the most-watched Blue Jays game, and Games 6 and 7 will surely blow that number out of the water.

All eyes are on Guerrero now -- and if he channels some of the magic that Marie-Philip Poulin has given this country over her international career, Guerrero could end the night standing alongside her: A Canadian hero.