Nicole Bouchard just got a big promotion, but for her, it’s just another day at the office.
Because in her eyes, this title, that of deputy general manager of the Quebec Remparts, she already carried it at arm’s length for a very long time. It’s just that before, she did all this with another title, that of director of team services and media relations.
Now it will be Madam Deputy CEO.
“That’s pretty much what I was already doing! she says laughing at the end of the handset. patrick [Roy] liked to say that it was me, the real CEO of the team… so there, for me, it’s only the title that changes. »
Only the title? Maybe, but there is definitely something historic about this promotion.
Because by becoming assistant general manager with the Remparts, she finds herself at the same time to be the first woman to wear the title of assistant general manager of a formation of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, with the exception of a certain Claire Saint -Martin-Méthot, who inherited this title very briefly with the defunct Plattsburgh Pioneers, in 1984.
At 61, Nicole Bouchard could have thought of something else, but no, she chose instead to keep thinking about hockey, a world in which she has been advancing without looking back since 1981, the year the Quebec Nordiques hired her in an administrative assistant role. This place with the late club of the National League, she was able to keep it until the move that we know in Colorado, in 1995, before briefly moving to the Canadian and returning to Quebec, with the Rafales and then the Citadels. , in 1999.
Files to settle, urgent and less urgent, she has seen in droves.
“In January, I will be working in the hockey world for 43 years,” she adds. I went from the Nordiques to the Citadelles of Quebec, and then to the Remparts with Patrick [Roy], which involved everyone in their work and which always left a lot of room for me. He gave me prominence with the organization. He said that I was the CEO because often, after a transaction for example, I was the one who had to take care of the rest!
“It was the same thing during our contract negotiations with the players who were a little more recalcitrant… I got on board and I went to meet the families of the players, so that they felt that I was going to be there to supervise the guys. It was I who went to see the mothers to talk to them! So, that’s kind of what I’m saying: I have the title now, but I was already doing all that before! »
Since Patrick Roy has left on his way to other challenges, Nicole Bouchard will be working with another group of leaders, which includes the club’s new general manager, Simon Gagné. There will be many important issues to settle in the Remparts’ offices over the next few days, including that of the club’s next head coach, a position that remains vacant for the moment.
It’s also partly why Nicole Bouchard doesn’t have much time to think about the historic nature of her nomination: because she has so many things to do.
As per usual.
“I must say that it’s still very flattering to become assistant general manager in an official way… a woman who has this title in the world of hockey, does not run the streets. After all these years, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else, because I still enjoy being here. So much the better if it can open doors for other women…”