Breaking the Ice: The True Story of the First Woman to Play in the National Hockey League

Angie Bullaro’s debut title honours the queen of hockey firsts, Manon Rhéaume. The author also wrote the screenplay for, and starred in, the feature film, Between the Pipes, which is also about Rhéaume.

Bullaro chronicles Manon Rhéaume’s journey from a five-year-old playing goalie in her first hockey game to a twenty-year-old making it to the National Hockey League. Rhéaume was the first female to play in Quebec’s International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament in 1984 and in its Major Junior Hockey League in 1991. Rhéaume made history yet again on September 23, 1992. She was the first woman to play in an NHL game when she played one period in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s preseason game against the St. Louis Blues. The following year, she played another preseason game with the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Boston Bruins. This picture-book biography is an inspirational and heartfelt account which reminds readers that the path to success of trailblazers, like Rhéaume, is often paved with naysayers.

Payne’s artwork, rendered in acrylic and coloured pencil, rounds out this picture-book biography. Roughly half of the book’s illustrations are presented as double-page spreads. Payne makes the action come alive in many of these with action-oriented images, including a puck pinging off a helmet, players gliding on the ice, or Rhéaume executing the butterfly slide.

An “Afterword” by Rhéaume, timeline, and fun facts about her are presented as back matter.
Breaking the Ice: The True Story of the First Woman to Play in the National Hockey League is a welcome addition to the sports biography bookshelf as it extends coverage of Canadian hockey players by bringing great and groundbreaking female ones into the fold.