Manon Rhéaume will be honoured with statue in Quebec City
Manon Rhéaume, the first woman to play in the NHL, will be immortalized outside Quebec City's Videotron Centre.
Next year, a life-size bronze statue of the former goalie will go up at place Jean-Béliveau, right outside the arena.
As a child, Rhéaume was the first female goaltender to play in the International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament in Quebec City. The statue will depict her playing in that tournament as a girl.
There will also be a bay window displaying text and photos to recognize the tournament's volunteers, especially the host families who welcome players into their homes.
Sylvain Côté, who played in the same tournament, as well as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the NHL, will get a statue as well.
Rhéaume, from Lac-Beauport, Que., appeared in preseason exhibition games for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992 and 1993. She won a silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics with Team Canada.
Last year, Rhéaume coached the first all-girls team from the U.S., the Detroit Little Caesars, in the pee-wee tournament.
She was behind the bench when, for the first time in the event's history, two all-girls teams faced off against each other.
Artist Guillaume D. Cyr will create the statues, which will cost about $250,000. They will be paid for by money given to the city by J'ai ma place, a now-defunct group set up to attract interest and demonstrate public support in the building a new arena in Quebec City.
The statues are expected to be installed by the end of next September.
