20 Years Ago - First and Only Woman to play an NHL Game (TSN Feature)

[Franck]

Goal is more likely than not the position where a woman is most likely to succeed in the NHL. I wouldn't be surprised to see others.

Not a lot of athletic women who are 6 ft or taller out there though. The few women who do have the rare combination of extreme height (for a woman) and athletic talent usually play sports like volleyball or basketball where their height is much more of an advantage and they have many more opportunities to play professionally.

I haven't watched women's hockey enough to comment on it, but I know in women's soccer the single biggest difference between the men and the women is the quality of the goalkeepers. There isn't really that much a difference between the outfield players in terms of technical skills and since they are playing against other women size and strength cancels itself out but because they are so much shorter than the men while the goals are the same size the female keepers are absolutely terrible.

 

[saskganesh]

Still not ugly!

She's hot. But that's not important whatsoever.

 

[saskganesh]

Reffing youth hockey (where female players are fairly common) I get lots of complaints of "inappropriate" sexual comments directed at female players, and usually the person making the complaint is a female team manager. I really want to just say one day "what do you expect? she's playing against adolescent 16 year old boys, if she doesn't like it, don't play the game" but I'd probably get in trouble

It's still garbage. Suppose it was your sister or your mum? At you cool with it then?

Grow up. Be a man. Act like one.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Reffing youth hockey (where female players are fairly common) I get lots of complaints of "inappropriate" sexual comments directed at female players, and usually the person making the complaint is a female team manager. I really want to just say one day "what do you expect? she's playing against adolescent 16 year old boys, if she doesn't like it, don't play the game" but I'd probably get in trouble

But people frequently argue that gay people shouldn't have to suffer this kind of harrassment, even though the exact same excuse you give would fit the situation ("playing against adolescent 16 year old boys".

Should black hockey players then not complain about racism (in what is a predominantly "white" league)?

 

[Jumptheshark]

She has(had) a great sense of humour. When she turned down Playboy she said something along the lines of "I didn't want to over expose my five hole"

 

[Beef Invictus]

Not a lot of athletic women who are 6 ft or taller out there though. The few women who do have the rare combination of extreme height (for a woman) and athletic talent usually play sports like volleyball or basketball where their height is much more of an advantage and they have many more opportunities to play professionally.

I haven't watched women's hockey enough to comment on it, but I know in women's soccer the single biggest difference between the men and the women is the quality of the goalkeepers. There isn't really that much a difference between the outfield players in terms of technical skills and since they are playing against other women size and strength cancels itself out but because they are so much shorter than the men while the goals are the same size the female keepers are absolutely terrible.

Haha, I don't disagree. I didn't say I expect female goalies to suddenly pop out of the woodwork, I just think it's the position where we'd be most likely to see a woman break through. As I said, I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen, but that doesn't mean I think it'll be common.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

2 goals on 9 shots...terrible.

She wasn't NHL material, but certainly was nearly Pro-level.

She was beaten by Shanny unchecked in the slot on the PP from a butter feed from Oates, with most of the Diamond cheating towards Hull.

The Brown goal was a bit soft, but I've seen plenty worse. She never made any sensational saves either.


She simply showed there was little gap between her, and other male goalies who were cut, which didn't do a lot for the competition in the sport, but it made a WORLD of difference for women's hockey.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

*she

Mike's talking about Fukufuji, not Rheaume.

 

[tony d]

I watched the feature, I agree it's hard to believe it's been 20 years. Would have been interesting to have seen her play in the regular season.

 

[SealsFan]

Hooo boy was I smitten with her back in the day, nice to see she still looks hot at 40!

 

[DJ Man]

I remember a woman reporter, describing the event on our local newscast, noting how she allowed two goals, but -- she added -- made four saves (or whatever the number was), as if this was somehow impressive!

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I remember a woman reporter, describing the event on our local newscast, noting how she allowed two goals, but -- she added -- made four saves (or whatever the number was), as if this was somehow impressive!

What does the fact that the reporter's a woman have to do with it?

If you're implying that she's dumb, I'll point out that "whatever the number was" is right early in this very thread.

 

[Bougieman]

At the rate that the women's game is improving in competition level and growing in popularity amongst girls in North America, I don't think it'll be much longer than 10 years before we see another female goaltender in the NHL.

 

[begbeee]

They made out of this bigger thing than it actually was.
There was a women in a preseason game for few minutes as a live advertisment. That's it. Not a big deal. Call me when woman will play in regular season game not to say playoffs.

 

[Torspo21]

At the rate that the women's game is improving in competition level and growing in popularity amongst girls in North America, I don't think it'll be much longer than 10 years before we see another female goaltender in the NHL.

Emerance Maschmeyer. Already played with guys, and perhaps she will get someday a shot like Manon Rheaume did in NHL.

 

[DJ Man]

What does the fact that the reporter's a woman have to do with it?

If you're implying that she's dumb, I'll point out that "whatever the number was" is right early in this very thread.

Yeah, I was implying that they let a lady reporter do the commentary for reasons of their own, and that this one didn't know that two goals and a few saves wasn't exactly a good performance. I thought it was four saves, but if someone has an official count, that's fine.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

in theory, a woman goalie has a better chance of ever belonging in a men's pro league than a woman defenseman or woman forward. cammie granato once said in the mid-90s that she couldn't imagine a woman ever having the strength to skate with the best men, and pointed to her brother being so far ahead of her in two strides (even though, if we look at those two players relative to their competition, cammie is by far the better player; tony was an above average player in his prime, while cammie is a hall of famer).

in theory, a woman could have just as good reflexes as a man, and a very tall and solidly built woman with great skills could probably be as a good of a shot blocking allaire-type goalie as rinne or giguere.

but in practice goaltending it takes an awful lot of physical strength. even if you had a 6'3 woman with unbelievable muscle mass (for a woman), could she make a goal line stop with her leg pad down against someone like milan lucic trying to jam it in? it's the kind of thing someone like luongo does routinely; he plants his pad along the ice with his skate pushed against the post and bottom support and that puck won't go in because the skater in the crease is in too close to raise it. seems like someone like lucic would take two wacks and that luongo-sized woman's pad would be inside the net, along with the puck. and one would have to think that coaches would immediately exploit that weakness by having two or three forwards charge the net at every opportunity (as well as, say, focus on wraparounds) and that woman would be out of the league in the blink of an eye.

 

[Hardyvan123]

No, only preseason.

Nice marketing move by Esposito, nothing more, nothing less.

"Him [Terry] and my brother [assistant GM Tony Esposito] … they weren't so happy. They said, 'What are you, crazy?' I said, 'Guys, we're an expansion team. We're not going to win [anything] anyways. We need the publicity.' Why do you think I drafted Brent Gretzky in the third round [of the 1992 NHL Draft]? We had to get people in the building. My whole strategy was once we get them in the building to see the game, we've got them. I did what I had to do. No matter what it took, we were going to get it done."

I loved Phil the GM.

For the entertainment factor not nay hockey expertise.

He must hold the record for most trades per time in GM's chair or is it Mike Milbury?

 

[OrrNumber4]

in theory, a woman goalie has a better chance of ever belonging in a men's pro league than a woman defenseman or woman forward. cammie granato once said in the mid-90s that she couldn't imagine a woman ever having the strength to skate with the best men, and pointed to her brother being so far ahead of her in two strides (even though, if we look at those two players relative to their competition, cammie is by far the better player; tony was an above average player in his prime, while cammie is a hall of famer).

in theory, a woman could have just as good reflexes as a man, and a very tall and solidly built woman with great skills could probably be as a good of a shot blocking allaire-type goalie as rinne or giguere.

but in practice goaltending it takes an awful lot of physical strength. even if you had a 6'3 woman with unbelievable muscle mass (for a woman), could she make a goal line stop with her leg pad down against someone like milan lucic trying to jam it in? it's the kind of thing someone like luongo does routinely; he plants his pad along the ice with his skate pushed against the post and bottom support and that puck won't go in because the skater in the crease is in too close to raise it. seems like someone like lucic would take two wacks and that luongo-sized woman's pad would be inside the net, along with the puck. and one would have to think that coaches would immediately exploit that weakness by having two or three forwards charge the net at every opportunity (as well as, say, focus on wraparounds) and that woman would be out of the league in the blink of an eye.

Another thing, which is important for all positions but especially goaltending, is stamina. Women simply cannot recover as quickly as men can. An average NHLer can do a thirty-second shift, take a minute-and-a-half off, and be back at it at 95%. A female hockey player would need several more minutes just to catch her breathe (at the same intensity).

So I can't see a female goaltender being a workhorse like a Luongo or Brodeur....

 

[Merya]

I could see the possibility of an elite female goaltender in NHL. Size could be bit of an issue, but otherwise there's no reason why at that position females could not be as good as males.
Mostly it's just the competition and training from youth. I don't believe women are innately less talented at birth.
So of those who have kids, whose gonna train their daughter to be the next Hasek?

 

[Merya]

Another thing, which is important for all positions but especially goaltending, is stamina. Women simply cannot recover as quickly as men can. An average NHLer can do a thirty-second shift, take a minute-and-a-half off, and be back at it at 95%. A female hockey player would need several more minutes just to catch her breathe (at the same intensity).

So I can't see a female goaltender being a workhorse like a Luongo or Brodeur....

That's bullcrap. Women of similar condition than men tend to have better stamina and longevity compared to their male peers.As for the recovery argument...that doesn't even deserve an answer.

 

[Merya]

I haven't watched women's hockey enough to comment on it, but I know in women's soccer the single biggest difference between the men and the women is the quality of the goalkeepers.

I'm gonna break my rule about not discussing football with North Americans for once.
Your comment shows you really know nothing about the sport. Comparing goaltending in football and hockey is just absolutely dumb. It's so different, that you could as well be listing cricket players who might have a good slapshot. Gods. Just go to youtube to watch some highlight saves by Casillas or Bouffon, or Cech, or Van Den Saar, etc.

There is really no reason why a female couldn't be excellent keeper at either sport. But the requirements are so worlds apart its absurd. Difference between hockey goalie and football goalie is bigger than between hockey goalie and a left wing sniper.

*sigh*

 

[iamjs]

"Why do you think I drafted Brent Gretzky in the third round [of the 1992 NHL Draft]? We had to get people in the building."

Even if it's true, that's gotta make Brent feel good.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Another thing, which is important for all positions but especially goaltending, is stamina. Women simply cannot recover as quickly as men can. An average NHLer can do a thirty-second shift, take a minute-and-a-half off, and be back at it at 95%. A female hockey player would need several more minutes just to catch her breathe (at the same intensity).

So I can't see a female goaltender being a workhorse like a Luongo or Brodeur....

Seriously?

You think the difference between a conditioned male athlete and a conditioned female athlete is this extreme?

That is ridiculous.

 

[Big Phil]

did she even play in a reg season?

No. Phil Esposito speaks in great detail about this in his autobiography. He had a motive for this and it is too bad that she was exploited like this because she wasn't even in the same universe as a normal NHL goalie. But there is a reason the woman looked like Manon Rheaume. No offense to Hayley Wickenheiser (I know she wasn't around at the time) but in a situation like this to get eyeballs on the sets they are going to go after the most attractive woman because they know men watch the games. Espo knew what he was doing.

He is a thrice married admitted serial philanderer in his book with little shame about it. If he got anything extra from Manon it wouldn't have shocked me in the slightest.