Woman hockey player stays involved

      A certain hockey puck has been sitting on a shelf in Northwest resident Tori Cattanach's bedroom for three years now.
      Just a token of memorabilia from one of the many Las Vegas Thunder games she's attended.
      But when the 8-year-old hockey fanatic recently showed up for stick handling class at the Santa Fe Ice Arena, that puck held more significance than she ever imagined.
      Because, after years of idolizing the first woman to play in a professional hockey game, Cattanach would finally get to meet the person whose image was pictured on her puck -- Manon Rheaume.
      "It's exciting for the girls to meet a woman hockey player, there's not many," said Cattanach's mother, Kelly. "Tori was thrilled when she saw her ... this is a neat opportunity for all of them."
      And while Kelly Cattanach hurried home to grab the puck so it could be autographed, Rheaume was announced as the newest addition to the Santa Fe Ice Arena.
      Rheaume will be responsible for booking hockey tournaments, establishing traveling hockey teams, conducting hockey clinics and teaching hockey schools.
      Since winning a silver medal with the Canadian women's hockey team in the Nagano Olympics in February, Rheaume and her husband, Jerry St. Cyr, have been serving in the same capacity in Sacramento, Calif.
      But with business slow, and moving from one place to another wearing thin, they decided to relocate by narrowing their choices to Southern California and Southern Nevada.
      "I'm not too crazy about L.A.," said Rheaume, who was under contract with the Thunder during the 1994-95 season. "If you plan on going anywhere in L.A., you have to plan it around your whole day. Here, I knew my way around."
      Rheaume, who is due to have a baby in the spring, wanted to establish herself before delivering and decided to go somewhere she felt comfortable settling down.
      "Plus, everybody was so nice when I was with the Thunder," she said. "That's what made (the decision) easier."
      Rheaume said she would work on getting major sponsors for upcoming tournaments, with hopes of awarding players of winning teams with individual prizes, aside from the usual medal.
      "A lot of people around here don't have as much opportunity as other places, as far as clinics and schools," said Rheaume, 26. "That's what we want. The biggest focus is to do tournaments. People spend so much (money) to go to tournaments and we found that if we can put something big on, parents and players will get something out of it."
      Fred Anthony, vice-president of hotel operations at the Santa Fe, said Rheaume will augment the arena's established hockey programs and will be involved with a weekly clinic already in existence.
      "The main focus is to set our program apart from other programs in town," Anthony said. "We've got the best skating school and hockey program in the city and we're elevating it to another level by bringing professional people -- like Manon -- to take it to another dimension.
      "Not only with schools, but with our hockey tournament program, it sets us apart from everyone in town."
      Prior to playing with Las Vegas, Rheaume won gold medals in consecutive World Championships, and also tended goal for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.
      After her one-year stint with the Thunder, Rheaume played for the Sacramento River Rats of the Roller Hockey International league and became the first female goalie to defeat a male goalie in a RHI game.
      Rheaume said she doesn't see herself returning to the professional ranks, but knows she will have to keep competing if she plans on returning to the Olympics in 2002.
      Which is the main reason she decided to plan for a family immediately following Nagano.
      "I was really excited and wanted to do it right away so I would get back into shape and play again in the Olympics," she said. "I want to go back ... I want that gold."
      Rheaume declined to estimate how long it would take, but did say Southern Nevada has an opportunity to produce ice hockey players with the potential of moving to the next level.
      Programs, however, must start from scratch and work up through competitive avenues, while creating and establishing traveling teams.
      "If you build a good program where the kids start young, they can go on to college," she said. "You need to have the competition. Until it gets there, though, there is no telling."