Simone Cauchon was the top player in Quebec and one of the best in Canada for more than a decade, yet the defender has been forgotten, and excluded from Halls of Fame.
Simone Cauchon left a lasting impression on Montreal women's hockey, not only with her stellar play, but also on the nets, bodies, and boards with her thundering shot. Considered one of the best players on the planet in the last 1920s and 1930s, Cauchon patrolled the blueline for Northern Electric and the Montreal Maroons. She was known as one of the top shooters in the game, and is a player that had she been a man in hockey, would have certainly found herself in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In 1928, Cauchon was beginning her ascent, emerging as the best defender in Quebec, and possibly Canada at the time. She was known for her thunderous shot that reporters claimed rivalled pros on the men's side as well. It was one of those blasts that secured her team, Northern Electric, the 1928 provincial title. As The Montreal Star wrote, "The Northern Electric sharp-shooter has developed a wicked drive and time after time drilled the rubber with unerring aim at the Viauville Greys' goal." Her goal helped Northern Electric defeat the Greys 2-1.
The Montreal Gazette echoed the praise for Cauchon, whose shot not only clinched the title, but needed to beat goaltender Irene Wall, one of the top women's netminders on the planet in the era. "Miss Simone Cauchon, who stamped herself as the best player on the ice, practically clinched the victory for Northern when she drilled on at Miss Wall in the Viauville goal that the netminder had no chance to save," The Gazette wrote. Playing to a 0-0 draw in their second game, Cauchon's goal decided the series and handed Northern Electric the Lady Meredith Cup as Quebec champions.
Two years later in 1930, Cauchon again stole headlines, this time leading Northern Electric to, what at the time was, a shocking victory over the powerhouse Toronto Pats to capture the Challenge Cup. The morning after the game, which Northern Electric won 1-0 in front of 6000 fans, the headline in The Montreal Star read "Simone Cauchon Best Player On Ice." Playing against Toronto, who owned the Challenge Cup at the time, it was the Montreal blueliner who broke the deadlock, when, as Myrtle Cook wrote, "Simone Cauchon, Northern defence star, robbed the visitors of the honor when she sent a sizzling shot behind Annie Miller five minutes before the final whistle." Miller had been up to Cauchon's challenge until then as "She stopped shots from the stick of Simone Cauchon that men goalies would have had trouble clearing."
A powerful shot however, wasn't Cauchon's only weapon on the blueline. As Cook described of the game, that the "last period was the high light when the stickhandling of Miss Cauchon opened the eyes of fans and spelled disaster for the Toronto hopes."
The win made Northern Electric the Canadian senior champions, and Cauchon the hero. Toronto at the time was led by star Bobbie Rosenfeld, whose star power extended off the ice as a world record and Olympic gold medal winning sprinter.
The following season in 1931, Cauchon continued to be referred to as "the outstanding player on the ice," by the Montreal Gazette and saw Northern Electric again capture the Montreal and District title.
After a season where women's hockey seemingly disappeared in Montreal, due to men keeping women from accessing indoor arenas for their own games in Montreal, the Montreal and District League relaunched late in 1933 with Cauchon this time returning as a member of Les Canadiennes.
"Heading their team is Simone Cauchon, formerly of Northern Electric, and without a doubt one of the best lady hockey players in Canada," The Montreal Star wrote of Cauchon, who was set to captain Les Canadiennes. Shortly thereafter however, Les Canadiennes found themselves barred from the Montreal and District League for their decision to feature sponsorship on their jerseys, which defied the rules of remaining "amateur" at the time. Instead of staying with Les Canadiennes and risking her amateur status not only in hockey, but other sports like softball, basketball, and track and field in which Cauchon excelled, she chose to switch teams yet again, this time landing with the Montreal Maroons.
Cauchon led the Maroons to another Quebec title, and the opportunity to play for an Eastern Canadian title, which could lead to a spot in the new national championships as governed by the Dominion Women's Amateur Hockey Association. It set up a contest between Summerside Crystal Sisters, and Cauchon's Montreal Maroons. In 1934, Cauchon was still being described as "the outstanding woman player in the Dominion." It was the first season that the Dominion championships, which were not coordinated to include champions from the West, Ontario, and the Maritimes, would be an all-Canadian title by including Quebec's champion.
Playing at the Montreal Forum, the Maroons and Crystal Sisters played to a 2-2 tie after regulation, with the winner earning the right to play the powerhouse Preston Rivulettes for a spot in the Dominion final against the Edmonton Rustlers. Montreal was paced by Cauchon, who as Myrtle Cook wrote, "played brilliantly, bringing down the house with her shots from the blue line." The teams played 30 minutes of overtime, but no winner was crowned. Instead the teams debated long into the night about what to do, with the Maroons offering to replay the game two days later. The Crystal Sisters however, could not finance their trip any longer, and withdrew. The Rivulettes would beat Montreal 4-1 for the Eastern Canadian title, a result which may had differed had Cauchon not been ill the week leading up to the game, and only left her bed to play in the contest.
The following season in -1934-1935, Preston and the Montreal Maroons would meet again, this time with a healthy Cauchon in the lineup. As the local Waterloo Region Record wrote of the visiting Maroons star, "Simone Cauchon was their standout, her defensive work offsetting many local rushes, while her individual offensive thrusts proved the only real threat to the Rivulettes. She packed a bullet shot which was dangerous at all times and she accounted for her team's lone counter." Preston won the first game of the series 3-1 with Cauchon scoring for Montreal. Cauchon was again fabulous in game two, which the teams fought to a 0-0 tie.
Cauchon continued to star for the Maroons in 1935-1936, leading her team in scoring for much of the season, alongside young rookie Helen Nicholson, and with Irene Wall in net. Nicholson ended up winning the league scoring title with Cauchon second. Nicholson finished the season with 11 goals and 12 points in nine games, narrowly edging Cauchon who ended her season with six goals and 10 points in nine games. The Maroons won another Montreal and District League title advancing yet again to face the Preston Rivulettes with both teams entering the playoff undefeated during their season, with the Maroons finishing 9-0-0 while allowing only a single goal against Wall in net. Preston's depth again prevailed sending Montreal to another loss. Montreal would win another league title in 1937, but this time defaulted, giving Preston another Eastern title.
By 1938, Cauchon's 10th season at the senior level, the defender was beginning to step back from the game. She did not appear with the Maroons until the second half of the season, and that performance was short lived after she took a stick to the chin forcing her out.
After little mention of Cauchon's on-ice exploits for the 1939 season, she returned in new colours in 1940, playing for the Kickees. It was the final mention of Cauchon on the ice. Myrtle Cook questioned where Cauchon could be found in her 1945 column writing, "Anybody seen or heard of Simone Cauchon lately? She used to go through the defence lines bowling them over like tenpins. And, what a shot!"
What a shot indeed, and quite the legacy for one of the world's best players for more than a decade, who has all but been forgotten in hockey history. Cauchon belongs along her peers from Montreal's hockey history in the Hall of Fame.