The First Lady of Hockey

There are many great women athletes that have pioneered there respective sport over the past century. Many of those women from Babe Didrikson to Billy Jean King helped to change the perception that women could not participate in sports. One of those women with equal importance to her respective sport is Manon Rheaume. She certainly has not enjoyed the same long lasting notoriety as maybe a Jackie Joyner-Kersee or Mia Hamm, but her contribution to women's sport and sport in general should not be overlooked. Rheaume was the first female athlete to ever play in an NHL preseason hockey game.

She was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Lighting and competed in an NHL exhibition game during both the '92 and '93 preseasons. After her time with the Lighting, she went on to win two gold medals for the Women's Canadian Hockey Team at the Hockey World Championships in '92 and '94. She also won a silver medal in the '98 Winter Olympics for team Canada.

Although brief, her stint with the Lightning set off a collecting frenzy in the trading card hobby. Her '92 Auto'ed RC's from the Classic company were so hot that their retail prices rivaled fellow hobby star Shaquille O'neal. Both were rookies at the time and had some great cards produced by Classic. The '92 Classic Four-Sport Rheaume card you see in this post is generally regarded as her true rookie card, even though there are a number of Rheaume cards that were produced during that time.

I'm still looking for a few of her certified auto'd cards produced by Classic. I remember when her cards came out and the frenzy they created in the hobby. I'd love to add a couple of those auto'd cards to my collection.