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Chantal Machabée, the Canadiens’ vice-president of hockey communications, was honoured by the National Assembly in Quebec City Tuesday evening.

During a ceremony, Machabée received the National Assembly’s Medal of Honour, which recognizes Quebecers for their career, achievements or commitments. The ceremony takes place once a year.

It’s a well-deserved honour for Machabée.

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The Canadiens hired Machabée in January 2022 after she had spent 32 years as a TV sports reporter for RDS, where she was a pioneer for other women in the field. In 1989, Machabée became the first woman to anchor a daily sports newscast in Quebec, hosting the inaugural episode of Sports 30 on RDS. She was on TV just about every day in Quebec, had a book written about her — Désavantage numérique — and won numerous TV media awards before joining the Canadiens.

Machabée developed her passion for hockey — and sports in general — as a young girl growing up in Laval watching Guy Lafleur play for the Canadiens.

“Oh, my God. Guy paved the way for me,” Machabée said about Lafleur after being hired by the Canadiens. “Just watching him, I was 10 or 12 years old, watching him scoring goals and being so nice. When I was a little bit older I went to the Forum alone with standing-room tickets right after the Red section. I saw him score his 50th goal one time at the Forum against Denis Herron and the (Pittsburgh) Penguins. I used to wait outside the Forum where the players went in and I think I have 52 autographs of Guy Lafleur. He never refused one.

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“Just watching him play hockey gave me a passion for sports … not only hockey, but all others sports as well,” Machabée added. “I started watching football, baseball, basketball, boxing, and then you had the Olympics in 1976 (in Montreal) when I was 11 years old. I was watching the Olympics from morning to night … I became a maniac. I was like, OK, I’m going to be a sports writer, not a sportscaster, because I was too shy. It was because of Guy Lafleur. If I had never seen Guy Lafleur play hockey I don’t think I would have ever become a sportscaster.

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“When (France Margaret Bélanger, the president of sports and entertainment for Groupe CH) made me the (Canadiens job) offer when she called me on Nov. 30, my first reaction was: ‘Wow, are you asking me to work for Guy Lafleur’s team?’”

When asked about becoming a role model and an inspiration for young women hoping to break into sports journalism, Machabée said: “It’s amazing, it’s wonderful. They all reach out to me and text me and that’s incredible. When I got into this business I never thought I’m going to be a role model. I got into the business because I loved sports and I loved hockey. But I wanted to do it the right way and by doing this it’s wonderful if I inspired only one woman.

“If I inspired only one woman that’s amazing for me because Guy Lafleur inspired me,” she added. “I know what it means. If one woman says: ‘Chantal inspired me and I became a sports journalist because of her work,’ wow! It’s big … that’s incredible for me. So if I did the same thing that Guy Lafleur did for me for even one woman, wow! Incredible.”

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