First Woman To Play In The QMJHL in 22+ Years

Eve Gascon Is Set To Make History

Time is an interesting concept, especially as a sports fan. Our ability to grasp this concept varies immensely depending on what’s taking place. If our favourite team is struggling, we’ll lose all sense of reality and say we can’t remember the last time they won, when it was actually only last tuesday. Then there are the other times - years can go by and we’ll be able to remember exact sporting moments to a tee. Examples range from where you were when Crosby scored the ‘Golden Goal’ to how I felt seeing Alfredsson return to Ottawa in a Red Wings sweater, with Drake blasting during warmup.

Times I will never forget.

Well pack your bags and cross the river. A moment in time like this is set to take place on Saturday, in Gatineau.18 year old female goalie, Eve Gascon, is starting for the Gatineau Olympiques - the first time a woman has played a regular season game within the QMJHL in 22+ years.

This has been a moment we’ve all been waiting for. Not only because a woman hasn’t played in the QMJHL in all of Eve’s lifetime but the writing has been on the wall for Eve to get her start for some time now. This past summer Eve was invited to training camp with the Olympiques, an opportunity to make the team. With a hard fought battle till the end, and an impressive showing in an exhibition game, Eve impressed the organization enough to be one of the final cuts. She was named as the team’s 3rd string goalie and when needed she’d get the nod for a potential call up.

That call did come, this past fall. Eve was brought in to backup and the excitement of a woman potentially being featured in a regular season QMJHL game was back. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the opportunity to take the ice but there was hope. Fast forward to last week. The Olympiques starting goalie goes down due to injury and Eve is called up again. Rumblings begin that she may start vs Val D’Or but unfortunately we’d have to wait again. However, we were getting closer… the goalie that night let in 3 goals on the first 7 shorts, yikes. Was Eve going to be brought in on clean-up duty? Again, no. As the hard fighting Olympiques were able to provide some run support and keep themselves in it.

Which brings us to now. Eve has been with the team for a week and they are set for a back to back matchup - she got the nod to start on Saturday and the world erupted. Her social media has been blowing up and the hockey world is ready, for another moment in time we’ll never forget.

If you haven’t heard of Eve yet, you will soon. Trailblazing in 2022 and becoming a fantastic role model for all future generations. We’re not only excited to see Eve perform and grow throughout her career, but we’re looking forward to begin working with her as well. OLP Sports and white whale mktg have teamed up so we can help her flourish off the ice. Stay tuned for more…

Published: March 18, 2022 - Issue 30 of The Sport Marketeer