She's Still An Icon

It's hard to believe that there hasn't been any other women to have broken through the apparent concrete ceiling that is the NHL, but today marks the 28th anniversary of Manon Rhéaume's lone appearance in an NHL game. She is still the only woman to have participated as a player in any NHL game, a mark that seems like it will never be broken despite some of the amazing talent seen in the women's game. While I'm not here to advocate for women playing the same bruising style of hockey the men play, I am here to shine a light on women who constantly find themselves in shadows despite their accomplishments. Manon Rhéaume's brief opportunity in the NHL when women's hockey was finding itself deserves a mention on the blog today.

It should be noted that Brendan Shanahan and Jeff Brown were the two St. Louis Blues players to score on Rhéaume in that exhibition game. Rheaume would play a second preseason game in 1993 against the Boston Bruins, and she would be scored on by Glen Wesley, Josef Stumpel, and Daniel Marios. In total, Rhéaume's NHL experiences saw her allow five goals on 20 shots in her limited action, but that should hardly be the focal point here.

Rhéaume's appearances in those games put women's hockey on the map across North America. The first IIHF Women's World Championship was held in 1990, but one could really point to the exposure that Rheaume provided by appearing in the Tampa Bay nets in those games as a major trigger for the expansion and growth of women's hockey across North America and the world.

"It didn't matter to me why I was invited," she told Sportsnet's Kristina Rutherford of Tampa Bay's offer. "When I was younger, so many times people said no to me to play at a higher level, like AAA, because I was a girl. So, this time around if they said yes to me because I'm a girl, I'm taking this opportunity. At the end of the day I still had to prove myself and perform on the ice."

She did prove herself, telling Rutherford that Blues defenceman Stephane Quintal skated by with words of encouragement. She also used that experience to push herself, winning IIHF Women's World Championship gold medals in 1992 and 1994 before earning an Olympic silver medal in 1998 as the first starting netminder for Team Canada women's hockey in an Olympiad.

Rhéaume inspired other women to chase their dreams of playing highr levels hockey, regardless of whether it was men's or women's hockey. Erin Whitten, who won four IIHF Women's World Championship silver medals with Team USA, has played in both the ECHL and AHL. Danielle Dubé, formerly of the UBC Thunderbirds, played professionally with the ECHL's Long Beach Ice Dogs and battled Rhéaume for a goaltending spot in Nagano in 1998. Kim St-Pierre, who had a long run with Team Canada, played for the McGill Redmen men's hockey team against Ryerson. Charline Labonté suited in the QMJHL just as Rhéaume did. And Sami Jo Small looked up to Rhéaume as an idol both on and off the ice.

These are just the goaltenders who have upped their games thanks to Rhéaume's historic night 28 years ago. We've since seen Hayley Wickenheiser play professionally in a Finnish men's league. We've seen Kim St-Pierre and Shannon Szabados be called as emergency practice goalies for the Canadiens and Oilers, respectively. Heather McDaniel was a referee in the Central Hockey League from 1995-99 while Katie Guay and Erin Blair have both worked games in the SPHL. We're seeing more and more women at the NHL level in executive roles and, more recently, coaching roles, and this trend doesn't seem to be one-off hirings for publicity as Esposito tried 28 years ago.

The work that Manon Rhéaume did nearly three decades ago wasn't a publicity stunt. It was the ceiling that women needed to break to gain a bigger foothold in the professional hockey world. Prior to that, Marguerite Norris, Sonia Scurfield, and Marie-Denise DeBartolo York were the answers to a trivia question for most people as they were the only women to have their names on the Stanley Cup thanks to ownership of the Blackhawks, Flames, and Penguins, respectively. Since then, we've had five more names added, but the most notable might be Charlotte Grahame who had her name added in 2001 when the Colorado Avalanche won with her as the senior director of hockey for the team.

Rhéaume's historic night 28 years ago is something that should be celebrated for the doors it opened across the hockey world for women. Yes, it helped the women's game immensely, but it also began to erode the walls that prevented women from finding work inside professional men's hockey. It's that kind of inspiration that makes Manon Rhéaume an icon today, and I'm hopeful we'll continue to see women make inroads when it comes to equality in the men's professional game.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!