We are so proud, the Roses

How did amateur hockey players from the Laurentians, aged 30 to 60, find themselves playing in front of 900 people, Ultras and a mascot… in France?

It’s an inspiring story. That of the Pink Palettes, players in a garage league who dreamed big. Their project? Going on a European tour, like the Boys, in the second film in the series. Reality, they will discover, will be just as entertaining as fiction.

It all started in 2017, when mothers of young hockey players from the Laurentians got together to play hockey, too. They have little or no experience. “But we were enthusiastic and motivated,” one of the group’s founders, Renée-Claude Gélinas, tells me over a cold pizza at the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts arena.

After a game, they meet at the bar. At the turn of a conversation, a player launches an idea. Why not go and play games in Europe? If garage league men do it, why not us?

The players still contact agencies specializing in sports travel, to see what is possible. In 27 years, they are told, only one other women’s amateur team from Quebec has gone to play in Europe. The challenge: find other teams of more or less experienced female hockey players in their forties. Then there is the cost issue. No question of leaving and leaving players behind in Quebec. One for all, all for one.

Despite the obstacles, the Pink Pallets cling to their dream. They decide to launch a self-financing campaign. They sell raffle tickets. They pack groceries. They even organize a demonstration evening of erotic products. “Yeah. That time, we didn’t raise a lot of money,” admits Véronique Dubé, laughing.

“We also did an Ironman! », throws me a player at the back of the room.

An Ironman?

“Wait, moderate Véronique. We didn’t do the Ironman. We were volunteers at the Ironman! It still brought us a few hundred dollars. »

The petty cash is growing. Then grows. Then grows again. After two years, the Pink Palettes are doing the accounts. Prize pool amount: $60,000.

The brain bubble launched over a beer will come to fruition.

Plan A was Scandinavia. But during confinement, the Pink Palettes had a lot of time to revise their project. They finally preferred Switzerland and France. “These are two French-speaking countries, and for us, it was important to be able to exchange with the other players”, explains Renée-Claude.

Twenty-eight women embark on the adventure. At the airport, Renée-Claude gives them a small piece of paper, on which are the words of I’m just a palettean adaptation of I am just a songwhich she rewrote for the occasion.

Tonight, to the rhythm of my skating
I gave everything until the end
It’s not a dream, I can finally play
I’m still pissed off about it

Eight hours later, the Pink Palettes land in Switzerland. For half of the players, it is their first stay in Europe. The day of the first match, in an old arena near Neuchâtel, the shock is great.

“In Sainte-Agathe, we play on a North American ice rink,” explains Jocelyne Cloutier. There, it was an Olympic ice rink. Already there, it was a big difference. We were at altitude, in the Alps. It was hard to breathe. When we came back to the bench, we were exhausted. »

On that day, their opponents are few. Only five. The formations are mixed. But the following days, in Sierre and Lausanne, the Quebec women will encounter much tougher opposition.

“Because we were Canadian, the Swiss thought that we were born with skates in our feet, and that we were therefore very strong,” explains Véronique Gareau. The Swiss have prepared accordingly. They have assembled beautiful little teams – too strong for the Pink Palettes.

“But in Sierre, says Marilyne Meilleur, we were welcomed with class. We had just arrived from a tourist visit. We had already had a hearty dinner, with wine. We had drunk too much alcohol to go play at the arena. We were no longer hungry. We were saturated. Except that the players from Sierre were waiting for us with traditional raclette, to eat BEFORE the game. They had worked hard. We couldn’t refuse. So we ate more. Let’s say I was a bit hot on the ice. »

Final point:… Does it really matter? Despite the loss, the Pink Palettes enjoyed the experience. “We lost something like 8-2, remembers Stéphanie Léveillé. I was in the back of the rink. A Swiss woman of around 26 approached me. Just before arriving, she slowed down. “Go ahead, go ahead”, she told me. She let me go. I felt a solidarity between us on the ice. I found that really cool. »

Another day, in Lausanne, the Pink Palettes attend a game between HC Lausanne and the Ambri-Piotta club. The atmosphere in the Ultras section is electric. With their pink sweaters, Quebecers stand out. After the match, they meet former Canadian head coach Claude Julien, who now works for Ambri-Piotta, then they prepare for their next match, presented here, in the HC Lausanne arena.

“There were two mirrors in the arena,” says Julie Martel. The big one, on which HC Lausanne had just played. And a small one on the side. We were certain that our game had to take place on the second ice. But no. When we were told that we were going to play on the beautiful ice rink, I was freaking out. For me, it was like playing on the ice of the Laval Rocket. Afterwards, we were planted, but hey, it didn’t matter… ”

“The Swiss women were little young people, explains Véronique Dubé. They were much stronger than us. After a period and a half, the players had to be mixed up, it was so unbalanced. »

After half a dozen difficult games in Switzerland, there was only one game left. In Lyons, France. An extraordinary meeting, which the Pink Palettes will still be talking about in 25 years.

Last year, the Lyonnaises had no league. If they wanted to play hockey, they had to join men’s teams. “It was only when they knew we were coming that they decided to federate and create a league, explains Véronique Dubé. When one of their players told us that, I started crying. It meant that our program had made children to France. »

The meeting was scheduled in a secondary arena in Lyon. But the French finally managed to book the largest arena in the city, the Charlemagne ice rink, an indoor stadium with 4,200 seats. The Lyonnaises have put tickets on sale. Two euros each. They sold… 902!

“The atmosphere was extraordinary,” enthuses Renée-Claude Gélinas.

“There was even a mascot! “, adds Renée-Claude.

A mascot ?

” Yes yes ! We all had big smiles. It was too surreal. In Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, the Palettes roses play in front of about 10 spectators. Sometimes even in front of a single person, the mother of a player, who crossed the Atlantic for the match in Lyon. Other Palettes fans could follow the game live on the Twitch platform.

This time, the opposing team was of the same strength as the Quebec women. “Same caliber, same values ​​too,” says Catherine Lanthier, who received her first career penalty that evening. She therefore headed for the penalty bench, renamed “the prison”, in Lyon.

“Hearing my name and the reason for my punishment, on the loudspeakers, I said to myself: OK, I am really being mobbed. In addition, they gave my full name: Catherine-Virginie Lanthier. Only one person on Earth calls me that. My mother, when she nags at me. But I was happy to be in punishment. The markers even told me that they had never seen someone so smiling in the prison! »

“We felt like a very big team, adds Véronique Gareau.

“Think about it. There were 900 people. We will never experience that again. That evening was perfect. »

Isabelle Forget scored a goal during the game. Even today, she speaks of it with emotion. “Hearing his name over the loudspeakers of a big arena like that is big. And then it was our seventh game together. Ties have tightened. In the last minutes, I didn’t want it to end. It was going too fast. I was like, give me another period, please…”

But all good things come to an end. Final score: victory of the Pink Palettes, 8-3. Or 9-3. It depends on the versions. Nevermind. In the end, score mattered less than experience. Back in the locker room, a nice surprise awaited the Quebec women.

Eight bottles of champagne.

“It was the apotheosis! exclaims Nadine Pelletier.

” Pride. Victory. Tiredness. Champagne. There was a mixture of full of emotions, says Josiane Goyer. I looked at all these girls, and I considered myself very lucky to have been able to share these moments with them. »

The match having ended at 11 p.m., the Pink Palettes did not sleep a wink all night.

Because of adrenaline?

” No. Because you had to be at the airport at 4:30 in the morning! “, answers Véronique Dubé.

Back in the Laurentians, the Pink Palettes resumed their matches, in front of a handful of lovers, children and friends. They take care of the mini-Palettes program, intended for young female hockey players in the region. And yes, they have started planning their next international tour.

The destination ?

Hawai’i!