Montreal victory | Catherine Dubois, the worker

Catherine Dubois quickly became one of the fan favorites of the Montreal Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF) team last season. This isn’t entirely a surprise, mind you; with her jokes and her endearing personality, the Quebecer stands out from the crowd. And on the ice, she works. Strong.

Catherine Dubois’ journey over the last year has been incredible. The large striker started the season in the reserve team of the Montreal team, which became the Victoire. She then signed two ten-day contracts, before finally convincing the organization to offer her a formal agreement.

It doesn’t take Papineau any thought to understand that Dubois had to work hard to land this precious contract. Except that working isn’t exactly a new thing for her. You have to know its history to understand it…

She comes from a “family of workers” in the construction field. In masonry more precisely, one of the most demanding physical jobs, according to the professional player.

“It’s super hard on the body,” she said. My father is the boss of our company. Normally, the bosses are more in the offices, they come to visit the construction site. But my father, he works on the construction site, he’s still working hard at 56 years old. He gets up every morning at 5 a.m. »

Dubois comes from a family of five children, two boys and three girls. While his father worked on construction sites, his mother took care of the household. “My parents worked really hard and they are really a role model for us,” she says.

Already at the age of 8, little Catherine got up at dawn with her brothers and sisters to go to the family warehouse. “We were really disciplined. We worked early in the morning. I have always learned to do more than others. »

It was therefore not reluctantly that the Quebecer worked and worked again, last season, to prove that she deserved her contract. Working for the Dubois is second nature.

“Doing more is not a problem for me. I’m used to it like that,” she says.

“They feed me as much as I can feed them”

Last summer, the general director of the Victoire, Danièle Sauvageau, affirmed that Dubois had quickly become “one of the fans’ favorites.” It is undoubtedly this hard work, combined with her warm personality, that fans appreciated so much about the winger last season.

“I realize that and I find it so flattering. Sometimes I ask myself: why me? », says the athlete, laughing.

“I’m really grateful for the support they give me because self-confidence hasn’t always been easy for me. The energy that the fans give me gives me extra confidence. »

“It’s really important to me that they also know that it’s not one-sided. They feed me as much as I can feed them, in a way. »

Dubois has long been shy – she still is, by her own admission. Over the years, particularly in the university ranks, she learned to “get out of [sa] shell “. Today, she advocates positivism and good humor. This is also what her teammates seem to appreciate about her, again according to Sauvageau.

“I realized that we are all human and that we all need a little encouragement,” she notes. Even if things aren’t going well for me, but I’m able to lift someone else up on our team, that’s my job. This is what I want to do. »

Rare Quebecois

Quebecers will be rare this year within the LPHF. There could only be three at Victoire: Marie-Philip Poulin, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Catherine Dubois.

“There may be three of us, but there could be many more than that,” Dubois said on the subject. I’m really lucky; I think I was in the right place at the right time, that I was surrounded by good people who motivated me to continue. I really don’t think you can do this alone. »

Even though she signed a one-year agreement during the summer, the number 28 striker does not intend to take her foot off the accelerator pedal. It would go against his nature.

During the summer, she worked on construction sites until July, before returning to Montreal to train full time at Center 21.02.

“I try to give myself a chance to be able to offer the best of myself to my team. For myself too; I always felt like if I could have more time on the ice in the summer, maybe there are things I would have more confidence being able to do on the ice when the season comes around . I’m just trying to give myself as many chances as possible to give back to the team the trust that the coaches and the organization gave me. »

She will take the role given to her and as usual… she will work.

Give meaning to the name Victoire

We couldn’t talk to Catherine Dubois without asking her about the new identity of the Montreal team. From the outset, she says she “loves the logo a lot”. “He’s really handsome!” », she exclaims, happy to know that the team will display the same colors as last season.

Concerning the team name, Victoire, Dubois recalls that “it is we who choose the meaning” which will be given to it. “As a society, if we make it positive, that we give it meaning, I think it can just grow over time,” she maintains. Eventually, negative comments will become positive comments. I just think we need to be open-minded and not stop at the dictionary definition. »

And above all, don’t talk to him about additional pressure. “The pressure is on us all the time, whether we have a name like Victory or not,” she insists. Regardless, I think if we lose, it won’t be positive in the headlines. It’s not because of our name that it’s going to change anything. »