On September 23, 1992, history was made in the National Hockey League. It was not the kind of history that one typically cares to remember, but it makes a great question in Trivial Pursuit. The Tampa Bay Lightning – then an expansion team trying to make a name for itself – dressed and played the first female player in the NHL. Manon Rheaume played one period as goaltender of the Lightning against the St. Louis Blues. She faced nine shots, letting two of them past her. While it was only an exhibition game, the publicity around the event expectedly rocked the sports world – which is exactly what the Lightning hoped for.

Born in Lac Beauport, Quebec on Feb. 24, 1972, Rheaume was raised in a hockey family. Her younger brother Pascal currently plays in the New Jersey Devils organization, having won a Stanley Cup with them in 2003. Having to deal with being a woman in a man’s game, Rheaume has had to deal with tremendous pressure and media attention, when all she wanted to do was play hockey. Her chance came when then-GM of the Lightning, Phil Esposito needed a way to raise awareness for the expansion team, and what better way to do so than to sign Manon Rheaume?

Although it was later admitted to be a publicity stunt, the impact that Rheaume made was immediately felt everywhere. Her face was splashed across every newspaper, every magazine, and she was even approached by both Penthouse magazine and Playboy magazine to do shoots. She refused both. She became a part of the 1998 Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team in Nagano and won a silver medal. She allowed just five goals in the four games she played as Canada’s primary goaltender. Earlier this year, she became the third woman to ever play as a member of the Flint Generals in the International Hockey League.

Women playing in men’s sports is not a new idea, and it is certainly not unique. However, women and men competing with and against each other on an even field is not likely to happen anytime soon. Sports are geared towards men. A woman can be far more talented than a man at any sport, but there are too many fundamental differences between the two genders, as well as the idea that “it’s not right to hit a girl.” Rheaume’s NHL career was a publicity stunt in its finest form, and is not likely to ever be repeated again.