
When she laced up her skates for the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning in a 1992 exhibition game, Rheaume became the first woman to play in any of the four major U.S. men’s sports leagues. Rheaume, a goaltender, faced nine shots, of which she turned away seven. Though her ground-breaking debut didn’t jump-start an NHL career, she helped lead Team Canada to gold medals in the 1992 and 1994 World Hockey Championships and a silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Games.