Has a Woman Ever Played in the NHL? Manon Rhéaume Pioneer and Champion
On this first “Hockey Night in Canada” of the 2024 season, I thought I would talk about a legend of the sport, who also happens to be a champion of women’s rights. This net-minder and Trailblazertop was the first woman to play in an NHL game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but she’s so much more than that. Her story is one of determination and grit, and the toughness that one might expect from a hockey player. She has inspired and helped so many young women, while commanding the respect of men in the sport.
Manon Rhéaume was born near Québec city, in Lac-Beauport, Québec, on February 24, 1972. Surprisingly, the town she grew up in, did not have a hockey arena. Her parents, Nicole and Pascal Rhéaume, operated a construction business and her father, actually built the first outdoor rink in the municipality. Pierre was a huge fan of hockey and often spent time teaching the kids in town to skate and play. He eventually became the obvious choice, being made the town’s hockey organizer, and coach.
Manon had two brothers, an older and younger, both of which played hockey. She would often be recruited as a child to mind the net, while her two brothers took shots on goal, which is how she became such a great goaltender. Pierre coached his son Martin’s team, and actually allowed the much younger four-year-old son Pascal to play with the older boys as well. Their sister, Manon, was not allowed to play in the league with the boys, however.
Interestingly, her younger brother, Pascal, went on to play for a number of teams in the NHL including, the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, and the New Jersey Devils. As a member of the devils, he was a part of the 2003 Stanley Cup championship team. Though undrafted, Pascal Rhéaume played 318 games over nine seasons, in the big league,
With Mr. Rhéaume concentrating so much on skating and other hockey skills, the team never really had developed a goaltender without a goalie for an upcoming tournament, Manon Rhéaume convinced her father to let her “patrol the blue paint”, and she would finally get her chance at age 5. Since that first opportunity, she had often been, and had to be very determined to continue playing.
Though some of the parents and leagues protested, ultimately they could not deny her talent, grit and toughness, and she was allowed to play in leagues against boys. Manon Rhéaume is not just the first woman to play in the sport at the highest level, she’s a pillar of strength and determination, fighting for the right of women to participate. I almost want to follow that with a “fuck yeah!”, but there might be ladies present, and I don’t think hockey players use that kind of language.
She would often experience discrimination, and was almost prevented from going to a hockey camp. Directors of the camp thought she was there to sign up for “ringette”. She was eventually allowed to receive the training, and her natural skills improved even more. It seemed to matter what got in her way, she scaled the wall.
When she was older, at the peewee level, she was often cut from teams, despite being a better goalie. Her father believed it was because she was a girl, and I’m sure that fragile male egos played a role. She still found l boys leagues to play in, where she continued to shine and gain the respect that her performance deserved. Eventually, after her team placed first in the region, she became the first female, and realized one of her dreams. Manon Rhéaume found herself playing in the world-famous “Québec International Peewee Tournament”.
At the higher “Bantam” level of hockey, her coach was a former NHL player with the Québec Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche). Under Coach Pierre Brind’Amour, Manon played the majority of games, but in the following seasons, the coach was pressured to allow the boys to play, despite the fact Rhéaume was a better goalie. Parents and officials complained that allowing her to play, was taking away a chance for one of the boys to advance to higher levels of hockey, including the professional leagues.
After playing in lower leagues, where she felt her teammate’s priority was to party, rather than play, she quit hockey, saying she had lost her spirit. It’s a good thing for the sport and the impact she would have on women in sports, that she would soon get her mojo back. After a year off, she helped to win the provincial championships in the 1990-91 season, and a silver metal at the nationals. The next season she helped to win a second provincial, and bronze at the nationals. Her stellar performance won her a spot on the Canadian National Women’s Team for the 1992 world championships.
At the world championships in Finland, she eventually took over the goal-tending duties full-time, leading Team Canada to a victory with an 8-0 shut out over the US women’s team, bringing home the gold. She was selected to the 1992 All-Star team as the tournament stop goaltender, but Manon Rhéaume was not done forging the way, yet.
She returned to training and playing with the men, becoming the first woman to play in the Québec Major Junior hockey league (QMJHL). Players from that league, are often drafted into the NHL. Though she was named third string emergency goaltender for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs, and also played on another lower league team, she eventually got her chance to play in a game, in the men’s league. She let in three goals after coming in to the game in the second period, but quickly garnered the attention of the media, being the first woman to play at that level with men.
The following summer of 1992, after winning a gold medal at the IIHF Women’s World Championships, she was invited by the new NHL expansion team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, to participate in training camp. Competing with eight other goaltenders, she made it past the first round of cuts, and became the first woman to play in an NHL game., On September 23, 1992 Rhéaume made her NHL debut in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues. Though a lot of people viewed it as nothing but a publicity stunt to draw attention to the new team, it doesn’t lessen the hard work and determined efforts of this pioneer. Manon Rhéaume deserved every bit of attention she got, and still does.
After winning gold at the world, and appearing in an NHL game, attention is just what she got. She became somewhat of a celebrity, appearing on David Letterman, being mentioned in an episode Of the TV Show “Bones”, and turning down playboy regarding a photo shoot. Though she did not make the final cuts in the NHL with the Lightning, she was signed to a three-year deal with the Atlanta Knights of the IHL, a farm team of Tampa Bay. She played over the course of five years with several other teams, all in leagues against men.
In 1994 Manon Rhéaume was again part of team Canada at the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships. The team won gold yet again, handing defeat to the US 6-3, in the same Lake Placid, New York rink where the 1980 miracle on ice to place. Rhéaume was again named to the All-Star team because of her stellar performance. At the 1998 Winter Olympics, women’s hockey made its debut, and she helped team Canada to win silver, bringing home Canada’s first ever Olympic medal in women’s hockey.
After the Olympics, she gave birth to a son, but would later return to hockey as a coach at the University of Minnesota. She also played for a couple of teams, including some men’s teams. She remained working in hockey as director of global marketing for women’s hockey at “Mission Hockey” in California, and also established the “Manon Rhéaume Foundation”, affording scholarships to girls under 19 to pursue their athletic dreams.
In 1993, she published her autobiography called “Manon: Alone in Front of the Net”, which inspired a movie project about her life called “Between the Pipes”. She’s also worked as an analyst for the Detroit Red Wings broadcast and, was named “Hockey Operations and Prospect Advisor” for the NHL’s LA Kings, in 2022. She is still, deservingly, working at the highest level of hockey, and thankfully got her spirit back long ago.
Manon Rhéaume has proven time and again, she is a champion. I never really liked the fact that her NHL appearance was a publicity stunt, or that she did not appear in more games in the league, but I’ve always had mad respect for Manon Rhéaume. She was an extremely talented net-minder, and showed the boys that, over and over again. She is certainly a legend, and a pioneer for women’s rights in sports, and widely respected as such.
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