Written by Mitchell MacDonald

As of late, women have been ascending to prominent positions within some of the marquee franchises of the National Hockey League (NHL). Émilie Castonguay has been a rising star in recent years and was named Assistant General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks in January of 2022. Days earlier, the Canucks announced that they had selected 25-year-old Rachel Doerrie to play a vital role in their analytics department. Additionally, the Montreal Canadiens chose Chantal Machabée to be their Vice President of Communications in early January of this year. These are welcome developments in a league that has traditionally had the feel of an “old boys club”, with teams continuously hiring from the same small pool of men on their second, third, or fourth stint in NHL front offices.

Émilie Castonguay. Photo by Émilie Castonguay | Submitted to CBC

Undoubtedly, professional hockey has suffered because it has forgone the inclusion of the voices and perspectives of women. Castonguay “…became the first female NHL Players’ Association-certified agent in Canada in 2016”. Aside from a short stint with the New Jersey Devils at the age of 21, the majority of Doerrie’s professional experience occurred outside of the NHL. Fast forward four years, and she has now been given the opportunity to play a significant role in player evaluation for a team in the league. Also, as stated by The Athletic in an interview, other teams were interested in acquiring her services. There is a wealth of untapped experience and talent to be found for teams that look beyond the names of the men on their umpteenth venture in the NHL - men who had worn out their welcome with their team and been relinquished of their duties or had been demoted upward to make room for a new hire. Chantal Machabée, for example, “For over 32 years… [she] was part of Réseau des sports (RDS) as a sports reporter, covering all Quebec sports, including the daily activities of the Canadiens.” Thankfully, there is growing recognition that women are more than capable of doing the heavy lifting in roles traditionally held by men.

Years of experience can – and does – make a difference in decision-making and player evaluation. There is no argument to be made for the exclusion of women that have established sterling reputations for themselves based on their contributions to the sport. Machabée spent upwards of three decades gaining an intimate knowledge of the Montreal Canadiens. Only now has she been given the opportunity to employ her skills for the team and market that she covered in her career. Castonguay was the first female certified agent by the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) in Canada and spent the better part of a decade in the hockey world before the chance arose to work for a team in a high-level position.

These hires are evidence that slowly but surely hockey is, by and large, changing for the better. Hiring processes are becoming more inclusive, varied, and diverse. As a sport, especially pertaining to the NHL, hockey is in dire need of a shakeup. New people are needed to bring the sport forward and broaden its appeal. Staying within the vacuum of the same opinions and voices will only cause the sport to stagnate and become less marketable to a younger generation.

The transition toward building more diverse front offices in the NHL is becoming increasingly evident when one considers who is conducting the hiring processes. Jim Rutherford, President of Hockey Operations for the Vancouver Canucks, is a stalwart of the game – a long-time player and executive that has been with several organizations in the league. Yet, he fits the standard mould of a hockey executive as a senior, white male that several teams have employed. However, Rutherford is the man that hired Émilie Castonguay and Rachel Doerrie. The mentality is shifting in the hockey world. In a notoriously conservative, cautious, and slow-to-adapt league, it is encouraging to see women breaking down the barriers that traditions in the sport have put up.

Teams are fundamentally disadvantaging themselves by excluding women from their ranks – they have been slow to recognize that interviewing and hiring from the same pool of white males has led to a watering down of talent. In accordance with this, underqualified individuals are getting jobs they shouldn’t be, and many teams seemingly prefer to keep the identity of their staff homogenous rather than looking beyond the walled garden. Former players and executives often get the first kick at the can for jobs in the NHL, which has made it even more difficult for women and minorities to get a chance to prove their worth. “Since it’s so easy to unintentionally exclude, it is essential that inclusion be very intentional.”

A new generation of hockey executives could very well stem from the changes happening in the front offices of the NHL. It is easier than ever for a young woman to look at her favourite team and see herself reflected in the staff running it. Not only can girls now aspire to one day serve in such a capacity for a professional hockey club, but that goal is also becoming increasingly realistic and attainable. Trailblazers such as Castonguay, Machabée, and Doerrie are breaking glass ceilings, and subsequently inspiring the generation of girls that will succeed them.

Many other issues have plagued the hockey world – ongoing struggles with racism and sexual assault, primarily, still make headlines far more regularly than they ought to. But one must give credit where it is due – there are signs of progress on the issue of gender diversity in team staffs. While the strides taken in recent weeks and months are positive, one would be remiss to believe that more cannot be done. The hiring of these women merely represents the tip of the iceberg.

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This article was written prior to the hiring of Cammi Granato in an Assistant General Manager position by the Vancouver Canucks - which represented another positive leap toward more gender diversity in hockey.

Women Breaking Glass Ceilings in the Hockey World

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