from Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province,

Jim Rutherford promised to cast a wide and diversified hiring net. On Monday, the Vancouver Canucks ‘ president of hockey operations and interim general manager delivered by hiring Émilie Castonguay as the club’s assistant general manager.

Castonguay, who had a vision board to plot her preferred career destination and job description, becomes the first female AGM in team history and continues the hockey operations department re-shape after John Weisbrod and Chris Gear were fired last month.

“It’s a big day, a historic day, and it goes to show that women have a place in sports and in hockey,” Castonguay said during a Zoom conference call from Montreal. “Obviously, I’m starting as assistant general manager and we’ll see where that takes me. I’ve always had high aspirations in my career, and in life in general. I’ll start with this for now.

“I’ve had (a personal vision) board for over five or six years, and on it I had written a certain age and Vancouver beside it. I wanted to be in Vancouver at that point in my life and I didn’t know how I was going to get there — whether working as an agent or with the NHL — but I turn that age in about a month and a half. It’s pretty awesome that it worked out that way.

“Vancouver was a no-brainer — a good, young team that is hungry to win. I’m just really happy to be part of the journey.”

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