Sept. 23: Rheaume makes NHL history with Lightning

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Sept. 23
1992: Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play in any of the major North American sports leagues when she plays goalie for the first-year Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game against the St. Louis Blues.

She allows goals by
Jeff Brown
and
Brendan Shanahan
on nine shots in the first period, which ends 2-2.
Rheaume's appearance attracts tremendous attention for the Lightning, one of two teams that join the NHL for the 1992-93 season.
She also appears in one period of a preseason game against the Boston Bruins in 1993 and plays 24 games for a number of men's minor-league teams.
Rheaume helps Canada win the silver medal in women's hockey at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and gold at the 1992 and 1994 IIHF Women's World Championship.

MORE MOMENTS
1991: Forward
Mike Bossy
and defenseman
Denis Potvin
, two cornerstones of the New York Islanders' dynasty of the early 1980s, are among five men inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. They are joined by forward
Clint Smith
, a star in the pre-World War II era; longtime Toronto Maple Leafs center
Bob Pulford
; and Scotty Bowman, then a six-time Stanley Cup winner as coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Bowman goes on to set NHL records for most games coached (2,141), most victories (1,244) and most
Stanley Cup championships
(nine).
2011:
Mike Modano
signs a one-day contract with the Dallas Stars before
announcing his retirement
from the NHL. The League's all-time leader in goals (561) and points (1,374) among U.S.-born players retires after spending the first 20 of his 21 NHL seasons with the Stars/Minnesota North Stars franchise before finishing his career by playing with the Detroit Red Wings in 2010-11. He is inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame
in 2014; three years later,
Modano
is named to the
100 Greatest NHL Players
.
2017: The Los Angeles Kings complete a sweep of the 2017 NHL China Games by defeating the Vancouver Canucks
4-3 in a shootout
at Wukesong Arena in Beijing. The 12,759 fans see Jonny Brodzinski of the Kings score the deciding goal in the second of the two-game series, the first time NHL games have been played in China.