While recent examples like Manon Rheaume and Dawn Braid highlight the growing presence of women in the NHL, their contributions stretch back to the league's very beginnings in 1917. This article explores the remarkable women who have defied stereotypes, shattered barriers, and left an indelible mark on professional hockey.
Manon Rheaume makes a save during her NHL debut in 1992. Image courtesy of Associated Press.
Early Influences: Women Behind the Scenes
Evelyn Byng, Viscountess Byng of Vimy, born in London in 1870, moved to Canada in 1921 when her husband was appointed Governor General. In addition to her aristocratic pedigree, Lady Byng was also an ardent hockey fan, regularly attending Ottawa Senators games along with her husband.
Irene Castle, born in 1887 in New Rochelle, New York, was a wildly popular dancer in the early 1900s, performing and popularizing modern dance, jazz and ragtime on Broadway with her husband, Vernon Castle. Later, she married Frederic McLaughlin, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks. In 1926, when the Blackhawks were founded as an NHL expansion team, Castle designed the team’s logo and uniform.
Marguerite Norris, born in 1927 in Chicago, is well remembered as the NHL’s first female executive. When her father, James Norris, passed away in 1952, she became president of the Detroit Red Wings at the tender age of 25. In the three years she was in charge, the Red Wings won two Stanley Cups (1954 and 1955).
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Marguerite Norris, the first female executive in the NHL.
Manon Rheaume: Breaking the Ultimate Barrier
Playing goal was as natural to Manon Rheaume as breathing. She didn’t intend to be the only girl on her youth teams, the first girl to play in the famed Quebec International Pee Wee tournament and the first girl to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. There weren’t many options for girls to play hockey in the 1980s and 1990s.
She had to compete against boys if she wanted to play at all, and she was determined to play. She also didn’t intend to make history, but she couldn’t say no when the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning invited her to their training camp after she had helped Canada win gold at the 1992 women’s world championships.
On Sept. 23, 1992, Rheaume made hockey history when she played the first period of the Tampa Bay Lightning's preseason game against the St. Louis Blues; she also played one period the following year in a preseason game against the Boston Bruins.
To this day, no other woman has played in any of the four major sports-the NHL, NFL, NBA, or MLB. Rheaume, the first female NHL player, continued to play hockey until 2009, as goalie for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). Manon was also the first female to sign a contract as a professional hockey player, leading to a successful six-year career in the minor leagues.
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Rhéaume shares with audiences her amazing journey of chasing down a dream and refusing to be confined to stereotypes and prejudices. She draws from her book, Manon: Alone in Front of the Net on the kind of perseverance needed to go the distance and the importance of believing in yourself to achieve what everyone around you says is impossible. Goaltending for Team Canada, she won Gold Medals at the 1992 and 1994 World Hockey Championships and was named “Best Goaltender” in both events.
Rhéaume went on to help lead Team Canada to Olympic Silver at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, the first Olympic games to feature women’s hockey as an official event. Her ground-breaking achievement continues to inspire audiences and an entire generation of hockey players, from up-and-coming NHL pros to young girls just learning to string up their skates.
“I never even thought I would even play in the NHL. It wasn’t even a dream of mine,” said Rheaume, who played one period of an exhibition against Boston a year later and spent several seasons playing in men’s minor leagues. “I just happened to stumble into it.”
The 48-year-old remains the only woman to play a game in any of the four North American major sports leagues -- NHL, Major League Baseball, the NBA and NFL. Manon Rheaume grew up in an athletic family in Lac Beauport, 15 miles north of Quebec City, the middle child of Pierre and Nicole Rheaume, breaking barriers at almost every turn.
Thirty years later, she has made it to the NHL. Not in uniform but as a member of the Kings’ player development department, one of many accomplished women who have been hired for meaningful roles on NHL teams the past few years. In 2022, Rhéaume was hired by the Los Angeles Kings as a hockey operations and prospect adviser.
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Rheaume’s sons had participated in summer camps in Los Angeles and she knew Kings President Luc Robitaille through charity work and mutual friends. Their conversations took a serious turn when she indicated she wanted to work for a team after spending years organizing successful girls’ hockey programs in Michigan and doing analysis for RDS, a French-language TV network in Canada. Robitaille recognized a fit.
Manon Rheaume, the first woman to play goalie in an NHL game, smiles after saving a shot on goal from Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Pietrangelo during the NHL All-Star skills competition on Feb. 4, 2022, in Las Vegas.
Working with the Kings’ young players is ideal for Rheaume, who was familiar with many of them from tournaments her sons played in. “It’s really meeting our draft picks and getting to know them and see if I can see or feel something about those players. More like as a mom,” she said. “Having two kids that play, I know when things go wrong, they call me. I don’t know if it’s easier to talk with me than their dad. I feel like I’m bringing that side of it.”
She never imagined having this job because there were no women in positions of great responsibility in hockey. But as she inspired little girls - and little boys - to follow their dreams, she can now inspire them to look beyond the rink toward careers in the game.
Here's a summary of Rheaume's NHL career milestones:
| Year | Achievement |
|---|---|
| 1992 | First woman to try out for an NHL team (Tampa Bay Lightning) |
| 1992 | First woman to play in an NHL preseason game (Tampa Bay Lightning vs. St. Louis Blues) |
| 2022 | Hired as hockey operations and prospect advisor by the Los Angeles Kings |
The Rise of Women in NHL Leadership
It’s not that teams and leagues are becoming “woke.” They’ve belatedly realized admitting women into their stale, restricted old boys’ club adds knowledge, perspective and experiences that can invigorate the sport.
She’s in good company. The Vancouver Canucks employ two female assistant general managers, Hockey Hall of Famer Cammi Granato and former college player Emilie Castonguay. Olympian Meghan Duggan is director of player development for the New Jersey Devils, where Kate Madigan is the assistant GM. Meghan Hunter is an assistant GM for the Chicago Blackhawks, who hired Kendall Coyne Schofield as a player development coach. Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser, who has a place in the Hall of Fame and a medical degree, is an assistant GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Alexandra Mandrycky, a data specialist, is an assistant GM of the Seattle Kraken.
Meghan Duggan, Director of Player Development for the New Jersey Devils.
Kendall Coyne Schofield and the Future of Women in Hockey
Making recent news was Kendall Coyne Schofield, the first woman to compete in the NHL’s skills competition (in the 2019 fastest skater event). Schofield, a forward, was a gold medalist in the 2018 Winter Olympics, playing for the United States. Born in 1992 in Palos Park, Illinois, Coyne was asked to fill in for Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, who was said to be injured.
Could a woman play in the NHL? Coyne Schofield and others have excelled in skills contests at NHL All-Star weekend but they didn’t have defenders lining them up when they competed. “They’re very skilled. Let’s say we put that in a body-checking situation - it’s a little different,” Rheaume said.
“You can ask me, could I have played in the NHL way back then? Doing a training camp is one thing. Doing a full year, facing those shots, I was bruised all over after a week. Physically, I didn’t have the same strength as a man possessed. But I cannot say that a woman could never play there, because you never know. You could have a woman that’s super strong, super fast, or a female goaltender that is big and very agile and can play at that level. Nobody thought I would be able to do it in camp, so that’s why I would never say no.”
“All those women that played at a high level, even if they don’t make it to the NHL, they’re able to contribute to an NHL team in a different way with their ideas and their knowledge of the game,” Rheaume said.
Because she said no to those who doubted her so many years ago, other women have had the opportunity to say yes to significant roles in a game that can’t be for everyone if it doesn’t let everyone have a say in its present and its future.