The Fort Coulonge arena was buzzing with hockey players on Saturday, as it is most weekends through the winter season, but this time, something was different. For the first time, the tournament featured four teams made up entirely of women, from across the Pontiac and beyond.
This tournament is the result of a successful first season for Lisa Soucie, who started a women’s hockey group in Fort Coulonge in December. For four months, Pontiac women of all skill levels joined her at the Centre de Loisirs des Draveurs to practice their skating and stick handling.
A team was quickly formed of committed players – the Fort Coulonge Meteors – and on Saturday, that team played its first tournament.
Soucie said that it was surreal to see it all come together at the tournament.
“It’s really cool to bring this to the Pontiac for the first time,” Soucie said. “It’s only been four weeks since we decided to go ahead with the tournament, which is pretty exciting.”
Soucie said she initially planned to use a draft to create four equally skilled teams for the tournament, but that once she shared the event into some of the women’s hockey Facebook groups in the Outaouais region, an entire team from Gatineau expressed interest in participating.
In the end the tournament featured two teams drafted from individual registrations, and two already-formed teams, including the Meteors.
Maude Paré, a resident of Gatineau, has been playing hockey for 20 years and said she saw the Facebook post and decided to join with her team from Gatineau.
She said they usually have to travel to Ottawa for tournaments and that it’s fun to have tournaments on the Quebec side to attract more women to the sport.
Despite only two teams being formed from the draft, Paré said that the skill level was even and challenging.
“The skill level is good because even for the teams with higher skilled players, there are some new players,” Paré said. “It’s fun to be able to introduce new people to the group.”
Paré’s team, the Onetimers, ended up winning the tournament, with the Meteors coming in second and the Rink Rebels finishing third.
Soucie said that, as an introvert, starting the team in Fort Coulonge was a step out of her comfort zone.
“I thought, if I make the first step, can I have my own team come together? And it just kind of blew up.”
Some of the women who participated in the tournament also play in a pick-up league for women in Chapeau that’s wrapping up its second season. Maryse Allard organizes their practices and has collaborated with Soucie to have exhibition games against the Meteors.
“I think it’s a great thing because especially in our area, we have lots of young women and teenage girls that are playing competitive hockey,” Allard said, noting they’ve had some women join who are brand-new to the sport and hopes to see the teams continue to grow.
“It’s nice to be able to offer something local for them rather than having to travel to play.”
Allard said that she hopes that next season, they’ll have more games against the Metors.
Soucie, who wanted to play hockey growing up, said the recent exposure women’s hockey is getting because of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, founded in 2023, has brought more women to the sport.
“I think it drove a lot of people to come out and just watch hockey,” Soucie said. “When I was a kid, there was nothing to aspire to for women’s hockey. It definitely brings more girls into the sport.”
Paré said the tournament was very encouraging to all players and hopes to see even more teams participate in the future.
“When you start playing, you can feel excluded because you don’t have the skills,” Paré said. “These teams are made to be inclusive to everybody.”
