When we think of top women’s hockey players whose careers never reached their full potential because of a lack of post-collegial options we don’t automatically think of many active players.
We think of players like Manon Rhéaume, who played more men’s pro games than women’s. We think of players like Meghan Agosta, who played two professional seasons when she was the best player in the world, then she pursued another dream to become a police officer while still representing Canada.
Noora Räty announced her retirement at 24 because of the lack of options in pro women’s hockey but eventually stayed active through a pro career in men’s hockey before eventually returning to the CWHL when it expanded to China. She stayed in China after the CWHL folded but was involved with the PWHPA and had planned to play in the PHF before that league folded.
The truth is, the players most affected by the lack of professional opportunities are players people have never heard of because they were forced to stop playing before even reaching their prime.
The point being it wasn’t seen as a problem in the current era with multiple post-collegial leagues in North America. The top players in the world are recognized young, get named to the national team, and find somewhere to play. Sure, Räty stepped away in 2014 when the CWHL was the only league and it didn’t pay players. But come 2018-19, when there were two North American leagues, we wouldn’t think it possible that the best goaltender in women’s hockey right now would have needed to step away.
Think again.
If you look at Ann-Renée Desbiens’ Elite Prospects page, you’ll see that after her incredible career at Wisconsin (seriously, video game level stuff) and a trip to the Olympics in PyeongChang, 2018-19 says “did not play”. You might be inclined to think this is just a blip because of the lack of institutional record keeping and statistic tracking that plagues the record of many women’s hockey players. But no, this is not that.
Desbiens took a year off. In her prime. At least, it appears that way. She wasn’t injured, and she wasn’t taking a gap year. In her mind at the time, she wasn’t simply taking a year off.
“I retired. I didn’t even think I was going to come back because there was no professional league that offered the conditions that we were looking for,” she said, shortly after her first professional contract was announced.
The focus of so much talk about the CBA is about salaries, and of course that’s the biggest factor. It doesn’t matter how well you’re treated if you’re not making money. However, some of the conditions in past leagues made the salary do a lot of the heavy lifting when calling them professional.
Back in 2020, Renata Fast talked about the faux professionalism of the league she was a part of in the CWHL and why they had chosen to not play in the league eventually known as the PHF.
“I think we all wanted in the past our professional leagues to look professional to outsiders,” Fast said back then. “But the truth is, it wasn’t really behind the surface. We dealt with a lot of things that we were just like ‘OK, this is just normal. We have to make it look like this is OK.’ You couldn’t have any structure when you played or any type of routine heading into a game because you never knew what was going to happen. That’s a big part of why we made this statement. We were sick and tired of faking it, that we were a professional league because it truly wasn’t.”
Now fast forward to now. Fast announced her contract signing with Toronto on Wednesday, Desbiens signing hers on Thursday.
“This league is everything I’ve dreamed of to start, obviously you want the conditions to get better, you want the minimum salary to go up, you want those things, but to understand that it’s a really good start and the conditions are above the salary,” Desbiens said.
“Having the CBA is one of the most important thing for us,” said Fast. “To know that we’re looked after as players from everything from the benefits to the resources we have, to the arenas we play in, it really allows you to be a professional. We acted like we were professionals before and we weren’t and now I feel that we truly are.”
“You have meals before and after practice. You have staff! More than one person is going to be working full-time,” Desbiens said. “The housing allowance, the insurance, the pension plans, I don’t think we could have dreamt of a better start. It’s exciting but we still have work to do, lots of it.”
“So many people want to focus on salary and this and that but the little things to us really matter,” said Sarah Nurse, who signed with Toronto and was part of the PWHLPA negotiating committee for the CBA. “Some of my favourite things in the CBA are the fact that when you travel by bus, we have a specific area for our hockey equipment because there have been times where we travel with our sticks and equipment on our laps or in the aisles. That our arenas have proper locker rooms for the visiting team because there have been times when we’re changing in hallways or lobbies so it is the little things that add up and are very meaningful and really make it a true professional experience.”
To highlight how important this was for the players and all of those involved, you didn’t have to wait very long into the press conference.
After a brief introduction where she honoured and thanked those who paved the path and the pioneers, general manager Danièle Sauvageau’s voice was shaking when she introduced the first three members. For someone who has been around women’s hockey as much as she has, it shows just how big this was.
“You can control emotion, but I did not know what to say so the emotion took over,” Sauvageau said. It’s not like she hasn’t been around pro leagues before. She was an associate coach with Les Canadiennes in the CWHL, and was involved in the launch of the PHF’s Montreal Force with her role with Centre 21.02.
After introducing the players, Sauvageau had a surprise for them. Marie-Philip Poulin’s mother, Danye, and Laura Stacey’s parents, John and Karen, joined the conference via Zoom to watch their daughters be introduced and Desbiens’ parents, Raynald and Claire, drove the five hours from La Malbaie to Montreal to be there in person.
They were even asked to say a few words.
“We’re really happy that she’s going to be in Montreal,” Claire said, noting that it will be much closer to watch her play than when she played at Wisconsin in the NCAA. “We’re really happy for women’s hockey. It has been long, but it was worth it for those who worked towards it.”
Marie-Philip Poulin’s mother told a story about how when watching Canada win the Olympic gold medal in 2002, young Marie-Philip asked her why they were crying if they just won.
“I told her that about all the work and the resiliency and the energy that was put out for that moment, and I think she understands that kind of effort now,” Danye said.
She also told a story about when Marie-Philip met Danièle Sauvageau a few months after and brought home an autographed poster. Now, 20 years later, it was Marie-Philip signing a professional contract with Sauvageau.
“It’s a fairy tale,” Danye said.
“I think I got quite a few texts from family members saying this is going to be the first time I ever cheer for a Montreal team,” Stacey said. “It gives me goosebumps. Growing up in Toronto, being a Leafs fan obviously it’s different but at the end of the day this does feel like home.”
Now that the contracts are signed, there’s the draft on September 18 and training camps are expected to start sometime in November. It will give the players a bit more time to settle into their new reality.
“It hasn’t sunk in,” Desbiens said. “I’m starting to realize more when people get excited, ‘we’re so excited for you’, all those things. Obviously the past few years have been extremely difficult for us, I won’t lie. I’ve been lucky to have an amazing training group here in Montreal. We’re excited to play for a team. Play for a city.”
