St-Pierre rode grit, skill to Hockey Hall of Fame, Sauvageau says

Daniele Sauvageau coached goalie Kim St-Pierre and the Canadian national women's team to the gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, one of her many achievements in and beyond hockey.
She has been a part of seven Olympics as coach, a mentor in multiple sports and a radio and television analyst, the first female analyst on La soiree du hockey, the French-language broadcast of "Hockey Night in Canada." An officer for 33 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the city of Montreal, Sauvageau is founder, president and current general manager of the 21.02 High Performance Hockey Centre for women's hockey, based in Montreal, and a hockey analyst for RDS television.
Here, in a special testimonial for NHL.com, Sauvageau shares her thoughts on St-Pierre, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 15:

It is my great honor and privilege to introduce Kim, the first female goalie to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
I first saw Kim play with a junior men's team in Chateauguay, Quebec in 1997. You would never have known that she was "a girl," more than holding her own and playing exceptionally well.
Her performances led to invitations to participate in selection camps for the high-performance program Team Quebec, of which I was the coach, an all-star team that represented the province at the annual Canadian championship. On three separate occasions, Kim failed to make the cut, unable to demonstrate her physical and technical skills during those three-day camps.
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As the coach, it was up to me to deliver the bad news that she would not be part of the team. Understandably, Kim was hugely disappointed and felt misunderstood. Despite the rejection, she joined the McGill University women's hockey team for the 1998-99 season and was named the rookie of the year.
To say she changed the course of this McGill women's hockey would be an understatement. She is notably responsible for the start of an unprecedented 106-game unbeaten streak for this program, fellow goalie Charline Labonte continuing the streak that Kim had started.
I became head coach of Canada's national team after the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Despite Kim not being ranked among the top six goalies in the country, I invited her to the national team summer camp. On the fifth day, she became a top player.
A few days before the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, I named Kim our starting goaltender. Despite eight consecutive penalties against Team USA in the gold-medal game, Kim's skill, grit and leadership led Canada to its first Olympic women's gold medal with a 3-2 victory. Ben Smith, coach of Team USA, joked to me after the game that it would nice if I'd ask Kim to retire. She remained with the national program until 2013, winning Olympic gold in 2006 and 2010.

Daniele Sauvageau coached Canada to the gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Kim St-Pierre playing brilliantly in goal.
On October 23, 2008, Kim made history when she replaced Carey Price, out with the flu, for a practice with the Montreal Canadiens. She became the second woman in NHL history, after Manon Rheaume with the Tampa Bay Lightning, to play alongside NHL players.
In her usual No. 33 jersey, worn in tribute to her idol Patrick Roy, Kim's skills were put to the test. From Alex Kovalev's powerful wrist shot to Francis Bouillon's blistering slap shot that just missed her mask and deflected off the crossbar, she referred to the experience as "priceless."
Kim learned of her Hall of Fame induction in June 2020 while golfing with her husband, Lenny, and their two boys, Liam and Ayden. She admits not remembering the words over the phone of Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald, only the flood of emotions that she felt. Jokingly, I reminded her that nothing's changed - she still doesn't listen!
And now in our roles as hockey analysts for RDS television, I continue to have the privilege of collaborating with Kim. It is with pride and awe that I continue to observe her talent. She continues to show her strength of character and display the qualities of professionalism, dedication and leadership that made her a great player.

Coach Daniele Sauvageau was impressed with future Team Canada star Kim St-Pierre from the first time she saw her playing with a junior men's team.
I remember meeting her parents, Andre and Louise, years ago and remarking on their grace and humility. In fact, her mother is a decorated triathlete, so I guess it's all in the genes.
How best to describe Kim St-Pierre? "Kim est Kim" (Kim is Kim). And yes, she finally made the cut for Team Quebec in 2002 -- and was named MVP.
She is an incredible role model, on and off the ice, and she'll never know how many lives she has touched. Kim's Hall of Fame induction as a member of the Class of 2020 is a recognition so richly deserved for her performance as an athlete and for the person and the pioneer that she is.