Growing up, Kendall Coyne Schofield was coached and mentored by Manon Rheaume. It's a connection the two have discussed over the years. Could it now lead to Coyne Schofield, one of the top free agents on the market, to move to PWHL Detroit?
Kendall Coyne Schofield has dreamed of being a hockey star her entire life. One of the women she looked at, as a coach and mentor, was the trailblazing Manon Rhéaume. Now, the duo have a chance to potentially be united in the Professional Women's Hockey Legaue.
Coyne Schofield is headed to free agency as a two-time Walter Cup winning captain of the Minnesota Frost; Manon Rhéaume is looking to build a roster as the new general manager of PWHL Detroit.
The connection could be paramount in bringing the duo back together, and bringing one of the driving players behind the PWHL to the Motor City.
Rhéaume Coached Coyne Schofield In Youth Hockey
"Manon Rheaume was my coach throughout my youth career," Coyne Schofield wrote in a 2020 post on social media. "She inspired me, challenged me and reminded me that anything is possible including being on the first all girls team at the Quebec PeeWee Tournament. She continues to inspire players to follow in her footsteps."
It started in U-12, and Rhéaume saw the talent Coyne Schofield possessed immediately.
"When I caoched her first at the U-12 I remember her coming to play on one of my teams that was not very strong, and she was by far the best player, but not only she was the best player but she was the hardest worker on the ice every shift every game and I told myself this girl's going to go really far. To this day when I coach young girls now, I always talk about Kendall," Rhéaume told Tara Slone on an episode of TopOfHERGame.
"I knew back then that she's going to go far in hockey and lift, and look at her now," Rhéaume said of coaching Coyne Schofield on Sportsnet when discussing the launch of the PWHLPA, one of the forerunners to the PWHL.
Rhéaume would tell future teams she coached, including Detroit's Little Caesars, about Coyne Schofield, and ask her team's to be "little Kendalls."
Since she was a youth, Coyne Schofield has looked up to Rhéaume. She picked up Rhéaume's autobiography as a youth.
"I was always looking for books that had women in hockey in it. I found Manon Rheaume’s “Alone in Front of the Net,” and Angela Ruggiero’s “Breaking the Ice,” and I did every school project I could on those two books," Coyne Schofield told the NHLPA in 2021.
Decades later, the duo will enter the fourth season of PWHL action, Coyne Schofield as a player coming off two Walter Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal, and Rhéaume entering as a first year general manager with PWHL Detroit.
But will they be opponents, or could the both be members of PWHL Detroit?
Could Coyne Schofield And Rhéaume Reunite In Detroit?
Coyne Schofield was born in Palos Heights in the suburbs of Chicago. For decades, Rhéaume, who was born in Quebec and represented Canada internationally, has lived in nearby Michigan. She raised her sons in Michigan, who both played in the state, including at the NCAA level, and spent the last decade running the girls program for Little Caesars.
Coyne Schofield's family has ties to Michigan, as her husband Michael Schofield played college footbll in Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan, and finished his NFL career with the Detroit Lions.
Rhéaume has now spent more of her life in the United States, and has dual citizenship.
In the coming days, she'll need to sign 10 players to lay the foundation for PWHL Detroit. Coyne Schofield conversely, is one of several Minnesota Frost players entering free agency, and the team is only able to protect three of their stars. In Minnesota the team must decide to protect or expose Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, Britta Curl Salemme, Grace Zumwinkle, and Coyne Schofield, who all finished in the top 10 in PWHL scoring. They'll also consider stalwart defender Lee Stecklein, who along with Coyne Schofield and Heise, the team protected last season in expansion. Minnesota may also consider rookie defender Kendall Cooper, or starting goalie Maddie Rooney.
It's a long list, and the precedent is there. Last year, Boston left captain and Team USA captain Hilary Knight exposed after she tied for the league lead in scoring. Knight was ultimately signed by the Seattle Torrent. It was the same for New York Sirens forward and USA alternate captain Alex Carpenter.
Of course, it's all speculation until the Minnesota Frost unveil their protected players next week. If she's exposed, it seems like a foregone conclusion Rhéaume would offer Coyne Schofield her lone Expansion Franchise Offer.
What is expected, is for Coyne Schofield to have a conversation with Detroit this week before deciding about her potential return to Minnesota.
Rheaume may not be the only connection to Coyne Schofield in Detroit, either. Another wild card could be the rumoured official or unofficial involvement of Ellen Hughes, who worked with Team USA, as an aide to PWHL Detroit.
Coyne Schofield could be the next star on the move to help launch a new market, and with close to 5,000 season ticket deposits already placed, PWHL Detroit will have a strong following.
The duo have been attached for the past 22-years not only through their trailblazing efforts, but directly as coach, mentor, and player. Now, they could bring that connection to the professional level with PWHL Detroit.