The players of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF) are not the only ones to make history this winter. Indeed, Claudine Douville, Andrée-Anne Barbeau, Isabelle Leclaire, Stéphanie Poirier, Karell Émard, Émilie Duquette and field journalist Catherine Savoie mark the annals of the Sports Network (RDS) by forming the first all-female team with the description of a sports league.
For years, RDS has brought together communicators to describe the World Women’s Hockey Championships. On March 7, 2008, during Great Hockey Week, the network also celebrated International Women’s Rights Day by bringing together Claudine Douville, Danièle Sauvageau, Hélène Pelletier and France St-Louis during a match between New Jersey and Tampa Bay .
However, never before had a complete season been covered by women. “It’s a great coup,” said Claudine Douville. There was a desire at RDS to only include women. For what ? I would say perhaps three centuries of delay to catch up on. »
Andrée-Anne Barbeau specifies that skills took precedence, emphasizing that Claudine is an authority who has covered women’s hockey for 20 years, that Isabelle Leclaire is head coach of the Carabins and that her assistant Stéphanie Poirier plays internationally.
She adds that Karell Émard is a former player who took part in the drafting of the collective agreement for the new league, that Émilie Duquette is an excellent TV host and that she herself has been covering hockey for 17 years.
It’s great to be six women [dans l’équipe de diffusion]but in terms of baggage, I think you’d have to be really dishonest to say that someone is on this team just because she’s a woman.
Andrée-Anne Barbeau
The world changes
A long way has come since Barbeau was prevented from practicing his favorite sport during his early years. “I wanted to play hockey, but when my mother asked, she was told that girls play ringette,” she remembers.
The host, however, understood that she could carve out a place for herself in the world of hockey by seeing the Canadian women excel at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. “I made my career in the media in men’s hockey, but when I saw the beginnings of the LPHF, I told my bosses that I wanted to be part of this adventure. »
After the failures of several women’s leagues, Claudine Douville was surprised by the rapid creation of the LPHF. “I was a little in shock. The moment you know it’s coming, you believe in it and you start preparing, but when it started, the excitement grabbed me. I understood that it was a historic moment. »
During Montreal’s first match, on January 2, her colleague was also overcome with emotion. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been so feverish before a hockey game,” says Andrée-Anne Barbeau. I felt like I was experiencing something important. »
PHOTO MARC DESROSIERS, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Goalkeeper Emerance Maschmeyer (38), of the Ottawa team, slows down Marie-Phillip Poulin during the Montreal team’s first match, January 2.
But how do they prepare to cover a league that didn’t exist a few months ago? The answer: hours and hours of preparation. “I take the players one after the other to find as much information on them as possible, because it remains a challenge to find data on women’s hockey, which is less documented than the NHL, the Major Junior League or the American League », explains Barbeau.
With several decades of experience, Douville is not intimidated by six teams to tame, she who has to talk about 32 teams at each Soccer World Cup. For her, the challenge is to find an identity in each training. “We will discover their strengths, identify issues between the teams and follow the rankings over an entire season. It’s very exciting ! »
Time will necessarily do its work. “It’s just the beginning, and the level is already good,” says Barbeau. Gradually, the girls will learn to play together, the teams will position themselves and it will be even better. »
Feminine vision?
When asked if they have a better understanding of certain issues specific to female players, because they are women themselves, Claudine Douville replies that her work does not differ with female or male athletes.
Andrée-Anne Barbeau evokes sensitivity in certain respects, such as noting that players would be entitled to maternity leave. “I was happy about it, but I was like, ‘Oh my God, in 2023, to be happy about that, I don’t know if it’s sad or happy.’ » Perhaps my male colleagues would say the same thing, but we have a sensitivity as women, because work-life balance comes to us. »
His colleague catches the ball. “I had three children and continued to work all the time. So maybe I understand them more. » She then thinks that they too are used to evolving in an essentially male environment. “We can understand the struggle of girls to carve out a place for themselves in a world of men and be proud of their accomplishments. »