Manon Rhéaume’s resume is, in a word, unique.
Throughout her life, she made history on the ice as a player. As a child, she was the first female goaltender to play in the International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. At 19, she became the first woman to play in the QMJHL. She went on to become the first – and only – woman to play in an NHL preseason game. Subsequently, she was the first woman to compete in a men’s pro league when she played for the IHL’s Atlanta Knights.
Rhéaume won a silver medal with Canada at the Olympics in 1998, the first year the tournament included women’s hockey. Over the years, her career took her to places like Knoxville and Reno, and eventually to the WWHL’s Minnesota Whitecaps.
PWHPA & PWHL
Now, she’s heading into new territory as the first general manager in PWHL Detroit history. Although this is her entrée into the league in an official capacity, her relationship with the players started years ago.
“When the player’s association [PWHPA] was doing a tour to try to get this league up and going, that was my first year with the Kings,” Rhéaume told The Ice Garden.
In 2023, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings hosted part of the PWHPA championship weekend. Rhéaume was working as a hockey operations and prospect advisor for the Kings at the time.
“I had different talks with the people that were putting this together,” Rhéaume said. “Obviously, I played with Jayna Hefford with the national team, and we talked about it. We worked together to bring this to LA. Then, they had a couple games in Detroit where I dropped the puck, and they talked to me about my interest.”
Keeping Tabs on the League
So far, Rhéaume has been impressed by what she’s seen from the PWHL and its players, including on an international level.
“It’s been amazing to see the level of competition,” she said. “When they play on the national team, these women right now, the way they train… the speed… the physicality. We didn’t have that at all back in ’98.”
“The talent level now, you see it at every level,” she added. “They’re so much better. I have so many more players to choose from and so much more access to [resources] for those young girls to be better.”
“The talent [in the PWHL] is amazing. To see every game matters, any team can beat any team any day,” Rhéaume added.
Michigan, Through & Through
“When they announced the new team in Detroit… for me, spending most of my life in Detroit – Michigan’s been where I’ve spent the longest, 22 years in youth hockey and college hockey – and knowing the hockey landscape here, it was just a great fit,” she added.
Rhéaume first hopped behind the bench coaching her sons’ youth team in Detroit.
“They got to a certain age where I wanted someone else to coach them,” she said. “My son, we were driving back after a game and I was the coach. He was a younger player on the team and we had a shootout at the end, and I didn’t put him in the shootout. I put someone else in, and he’s in the car crying and telling me I don’t believe in him. I’m telling myself, ‘okay, I cannot coach my kids anymore. This is too hard.’ “
It was then that the Little Caesars youth program approached Rhéaume and asked her to take over the girls’ program, an opportunity she took and ran with. She spent 11 years with Little Caesars in various roles, then joined the Kings. Still, her connections to the state of Michigan remained; her oldest son, Dylan St. Cyr, spent a year at Michigan State before joining the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen, her younger son, is heading into his third season at the University of Michigan.
Rhéaume’s history in Michigan, and connections still to the state and its youth hockey programs, make her a natural fit for PWHL Detroit’s general manager gig.
A Development Mindset
Though her time working in youth hockey has passed, Rhéaume looks back fondly on those days. She’s still seeing the fruits of her labor, with several of her former players making it to the pros, including Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms, Makenna Webster, and Savannah Norcross.
“Sometimes people lose the idea of building a program,” she said. “It’s [about] winning at all costs, and I wanted to change that mindset. It was really cool to be able to build the program from the bottom up and really have the mindset of, let’s develop these young girls… The people that were hired at every level, we had that mindset, and if we do the right things, we’re going to be winning, we’re going to have success. Those players are going to get scholarships to go to college or make the national team.”
“It’s been very rewarding to see the young group of girls that I started with end up winning nationals. A lot of them are playing college hockey right now. We drafted one of the players that played for me, Casey Borgiel. To see a full-circle moment, that was just an amazing experience,” Rhéaume added.
Borgiel was one of PWHL Detroit’s first draft picks to sign with the team, inking a one-year deal last week. Goaltender Andrea Brändli also signed a three-year contract. Rhéaume and her staff continue to fill out their roster ahead of the upcoming season.
Stay tuned for part two, as Rhéaume discusses the construction of PWHL Detroit’s inaugural roster in-depth.
