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By Phillip Brents
Posted on Nov. 9, 2002

Danielle Dube is not out to be a crusader, nor is she a political activist.

She just loves playing the game of hockey — against men.

“No, I didn’t have an older sister or brother who played (to get me into the sport),” the 26-year-old native of Vancouver, British Columbia politely explained.
Dube became the first female athlete in Long Beach Ice Dogs franchise history when she signed Oct. 10 with the West Coast Hockey League club. The top-ranked women’s goaltender in Canada from 1996-97 while playing for the Central Texas Stampede in the now defunct Western Professional Hockey League, Dube made her Ice Dogs debut in the team’s 2002-03 season opener Oct. 12 in San Diego. She entered the game in relief of starter B.J. Boxma and played the final 8:02 of the contest in front of a sellout crowd of 12,920, making 12 saves on the 13 shots she faced.

The only goal she allowed — a rising shot by the Gulls’ Aaron Plumb at near point-blank range — would have difficult for even a veteran ‘tender to stop, according to both San Diego coach Steve Martinson and Long Beach helmsman Kevin Kaminski.

The compliment from the high-standards Martinson, in particular, goes a long way.

“This kid brings a great work ethic to the rink. She plays big. She controls rebounds,” Kaminksi said. “The great thing is that she is very competitive. She went in there and she did a good job to give the young kid (Boxma) a break to come back the next day.”

In other words, Dube has earned her spot in the sport rather than serving as a novelty item or publicity gimmick to draw fans at the gate.

Dube, who shares the Ice Dog net with Boxma and No. 1 starter Mike Buzak, has been playing alongside males since she was four years old. Her only break came during a two-year span when she was training with the Canadian women’s Olympic team in preparation for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

“Like just about every child growing up in Canada, my dream was to play in the NHL. As I got older and realized that was not going to realistically happen, I wanted to play to the best of my ability,” she said.

Playing to the best of her ability means playing against men.

At 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 145 pounds, Dube might seem undermatched for increasingly bruising forwards towering more than six-feet-tall. But her ability to control rebounds and intense focus has made her a standout player regardless of playing against players of either gender. She also catches left, which can be a bonus.

Prior to joining the Ice Dogs, she was involved in preseason skates with NHL Vancouver Canucks.

Despite her desire to keep her competitive edge playing against men, Dube does not hide her femininity off the ice. When interviewed for this story, she came out of the Ice Dogs locker room in an evening gown and high heels.

(During her time off from hockey, Dube is employed as a postal carrier in her native Canada.)

Because of her unique job status, one might be tempted to ask if she has had to work doubly hard to hold her own in a man’s world?

She would rather say that she works doubly hard simply to be as successful as she can be -- not make a stand. Like every other player, Dube has had to come up the ranks, starting with youth hockey and on through the junior system. She remembers accompanying her father to the rink where he played in a firemen’s league and caught the hockey bug then and there — as a three-year-old.

“I saw the game and liked it. I wanted to play it,” she said.

Dube is not pretending to be a pioneer. That was taken care of in the last decade by Manon Rheaume, who has played both ice and roller hockey at the professional level. In Dube’s case, there was no other option but to play against boys — and then, against men.

“Because women's hockey is getting better, girls can choose to go in that direction now. In my case, there was no option,” Dube said.

She is careful not to allow anyone — including opposing crowds — to get a competitive edge against her. She makes it a rule never to take her mask off while on the ice to show her shoulder-length hair and give her gender away to potential taunting from hostile fans.

" If I did that and let it get to me, I might feel like I’m a novelty. I’m a goaltender,” she said steadfastly.

She was 19 when she signed with the then Bakersfield Fog in 1995-96 as that team’s third goaltender. While she officially became the WCHL's first female athlete, she did not appear in any games for the Fog that inaugural season.

Dube has not limited herself to just ice hockey. She competed at the NARCh Finals in 1997 with the Long Beach Black Widows. She was the third-string goaltender with the Vancouver Voodoo in Roller Hockey International for two years.

“That’s how I got my first pro tryouts,” she said.
Dube keeps looking ahead, not behind, however. Her aspirations are the same as any other player. She got two starts while playing for the Stampede and believes with enough hard work and patience that she has a good chance to duplicate that.

“I have a good feeling that I if I play well that I might get more opportunities,” she said. “As long as I make use of my opportunities, I have the chance to get more playing time.”

Pioneer, no. Goaltender, yes.

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AROUND THE WCHL
November 2002 Edition
October 2002 Edition
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GAME RECAPS
02/07/03: Condors 4, Gulls 3 (SO)
02/05/03: Gulls 2, Falcons 1
02/04/03: Falcons 8, Gulls 3
02/01/03: Steelheads 6, Gulls 5 (SO)
01/31/03: Gulls 3, Steelheads 2 (SO)

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Enga is Gulls’ new ironman
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