Five missed calls from a Toronto number? There is definitely eel under rock. However, it will be later, the ceremony begins.
Missing the announcement of your induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame because you are about to be named a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, that says enough about the career of an athlete.
Caroline Ouellette found herself in this extraordinary situation on Wednesday. The missed calls were from Lanny McDonald, the Temple’s chief administrator. The mustachioed character traditionally has the enviable mission of calling the new inductees.
Ouellette therefore learned the news late, once the formal ceremony was over in Quebec. An unfortunate chain of events… or not!
Caroline Ouellette does not mention her parents by chance. For her, this recognition is a way of “honoring” those who “have done so much” for her. “I think of all their sacrifices, in time or financially… To see all their pride, their emotions, it touched me a lot! »
This place at the Temple, the Montrealer did not steal it. Her 70 points in 59 World Championship games still rank her seventh in tournament history – the four retired players ahead of her are already at the Hall. She won four Olympic gold medals in as many Games appearances, scoring 26 points in 20 games.
Last month, days after turning 44, she was inducted into the International Federation Hall of Fame. The logical sequel awaited him in Toronto, alongside the greatest and greatest of his sport.
The honor particularly resonates with the one who, while not “the most talented player” of her generation – her words, not ours – feels that she was first driven by her “work ethic” and “sense of the competition “.
Asked to cite a major or determining element of her career, the one who is now a coach at Concordia University as well as within the national team first lets silence pass.
Thinking aloud, she admits that the gold medal won at the Vancouver Olympics, “in our country and with this crowd, it’s hard to beat.” She also remembers the goal she scored in overtime in 2012 to give Canada the victory in the final of the World Championship. “It was the first time that I found myself under the pile of players and not on top! she laughs.
Before even quoting these two scenes of exaltation, she goes back to a conversation she had at the very beginning of her career with France St-Louis.
Ouellette was not yet 20 years old. St. Louis had 40. The two had been roommates at the World Championship, which “helped the young forward’s confidence so much” in a predominantly English-speaking team.
After the tournament, the veteran struck up a “courageous” conversation with her younger sister about her fitness.
“I wasn’t in good shape at all,” Ouellette said. I was just a hockey player, not an athlete yet. But France, at 40, she was running longer than anyone on the Léger [the “shuttle”] test. She told me that I could never stay long on the Canadian team if I didn’t do a 180 degree in my conditioning. »
The remark hit its mark. “There’s nothing I wanted more than to play with that team. I became like France, among the fittest. And I had the same courage, over the following years, with younger people. Because I know how important it was in my life. »
In fact, the reactions following the announcement of her induction gave her an idea of the extent of the impact she had on players of her generation and beyond. Text messages poured in from former teammates, like Jayna Hefford, Kim St-Pierre and Danielle Goyette, but also from American opponents, like Hilary Knight or Brianna Decker. And of course those she leads today in the national program: Marie-Philip Poulin, Blayre Turnbull, Sarah Nurse, Emily Clark…
The tone, at the end of the line, betrays how grateful this rather discreet woman – at least in her public appearances – is.
“You don’t realize all the love you get when that happens,” she said. Naturally, I think of all that hockey has given me, of how lucky I have been. I still started at 9, later than most women I’ve played with. It had taken me two years to convince my parents!
“Being the only girl on all my teams until I was 17, I think it gave me the drive, the motivation to do more to make sure other girls get to know hockey and can love it. sports like me. »
The reminders of the path that remains to be traveled are, however, constant. During the conversation, she mentions the “exceptional, super inspiring” women who received the Ordre national du Québec at the same time as her – Janette Bertrand, Guylaine Tremblay…
However, it is a different type of immortal that she will rub shoulders with next November, during the official Hall of Fame induction weekend. She will then tread the steps alongside Pierre Turgeon, Ken Hitchcock, Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon. Pierre Lacroix will also be honored posthumously.
Ouellette will therefore be the only woman in this cohort. Since the first two women were inducted in 2010, there has never been more than one per year. Three times, there has been none, even though two places are systematically available for women. The Quebecer will therefore become the 10th woman only admitted to the Temple.
Without going on a crusade, she recalls that candidates who have had “extraordinary careers in North America or Europe” are waiting their turn. And that with “all the great players that are in women’s hockey right now, eventually that number is going to go up.”
One cannot predict when the doors of the Temple will open further for women. But we know that upon their arrival at the Temple, where the St-Pierre, Goyette, Hefford, Wickenheiser and now Ouellette will be waiting for them, the future inductees will be in very good company.
