In the mid-1990s, an American hockey player wearing a Concordia University Stingers uniform was turning heads.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
The mid-20s forward had outrageously dominated the NCAA for the previous four winters. However, despite three participations in the World Championships, she skated in relative anonymity.
A young man of the same age as her, however, showed up at the arena to talk to her. Freshly graduated in law, he said he represented athletes and offered his services. He had no idea that he had before him the one who, in 2010, would become the first woman to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame. And she had no idea that she was talking with the future general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.
At the end of the line, Cammi Granato has only good words for Kent Hughes, her first agent. She speaks without being asked about a “great guy, very intelligent”, who opened doors for her which, by her own admission, “women hockey did not have access to at the time”.
Granato, who is now a professional scout for the Seattle Kraken, was one of the great stars of American hockey in the early 2000s.
His performances on the ice are the obvious explanation. Captain of the national team at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, she contributed to the surprise victory of the United States over the great Canadian favorites. She was also there in 2002 when the eternal rivals took their revenge. Her 6 goals and 10 points in Salt Lake City are still among the best performances in the history of the American women’s program for a single tournament.
boost
The boost from Kent Hughes also greatly contributed to his notoriety, and the main interested party says it without embarrassment. After the triumph in Nagano, his agent went hunting for potential sponsors. And he never hesitated to knock on the door of the giants.
AT&T, Nike, Chevrolet and Visa, among others, answered the call. “He smashed the opaque ceiling” which deprived women of sizeable financial partners, says Granato. “He went far beyond anything I could have imagined. »
Hughes also helped ensure that the entire American team benefited from this exposure.
Reluctant to say that he “convinced” big companies to get on the women’s hockey bandwagon, Granato prefers to point out that he changed the way these sponsors see women’s hockey.
At the time, our sport had no support. No one was interested in us. Kent believed in me, believed in women’s hockey. It was unheard of.
Cammi Granato
Although he was not an active player in the case, he also sided with the national team players when, inspired by their soccer counterparts, they hired lawyers and stood up to Hockey USA in 2000 to improve their working conditions.
A posture that was far from being the norm at that time.
Still grateful 20 years later, Cammi Granato says she is “very happy” that Hughes has landed the job of general manager of the Habs. Even if the longtime ally suddenly becomes a rival.