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It didn’t take long for Pascal Daoust to have his “Welcome to New York” moment.
Only two months after being hired as general manager of the Professional Women's Hockey League New York franchise, and a few days into their inaugural training camp in November, the Quebec native learned an expensive lesson during a team event in Manhattan.
“I parked my car in the street like the other days but that specific Sunday they were doing a Christmas parade and my car got towed,” Daoust told Clutch Points. “It cost me $363 U.S. dollars. So, it’s like 550 bucks (Canadian) to get my car back. Then I called my wife and said, ‘Well, here’s the thing, you won’t get any Christmas gift because I had to pay for the towing.’
“But at least the players were happy and had a good day!”
PWHL NY players enjoy team-bonding trip to Manhattan
That last part was more important to Daoust than the hard lesson he learned about street parking in the tri-state New York area. A leader who’s stressed “culture” and “values” above all else in building New York’s roster, Daoust was in the Big Apple for a surprise team-bonding event that he hatched with the help of coach Howie Draper when his car was towed.
Daoust and Draper told the players to report outdoors for fitness testing on the first Sunday of training camp. But the GM then informed the team it was too cold outside “so let’s go indoors to another building.” Instead, the GM and coach led the team to the Stamford (Connecticut) train station and handed each player a round-trip train ticket to New York City.
“We’re learning that Pascal and Howie are jokesters,” New York defenseman Jaime Bourbonnais said with a laugh. “They tricked us, gave us train tickets and said, ‘We’re going to Times Square!’ It was a really fun day.”
We ❤️ NY pic.twitter.com/9idBFF6A6I
— PWHL New York (@PWHL_NewYork) November 20, 2023
So, 30 or so players, dressed in matching PWHL NY sweatsuits, visited the famed 42nd Street area and walked uptown to Central Park, as well. All in the name of bringing the team together and helping build the foundation of a positive culture before the PWHL inaugural season.
Alex Carpenter called the NYC visit “an awesome experience.”
GM stresses ‘culture,' ‘values' building inaugural roster
More importantly, it was a sign that Daoust was sincere about what he told Carpenter in their initial conversation when New York was courting the star forward.
“One of the things that came up was that in their team building, it was more important who you are as a person,” Carpenter told Clutch Points. “Obviously, it’s important to be a good hockey player, as well. But what he said was a big selling point to me, building this team with awesome people and great hockey players. And it starts with Pascal and Howie.”
Veteran Jill Saulnier, a two-time Olympic medalist with Canada, is also impressed with the GM’s vision.
“Successful teams that I’ve been a part of, they’ve always been teams that have something special going on behind closed doors,” Saulnier told Clutch Points. “I felt that aura here when we got here on the first day and that welcoming feeling.”
All smiles on day ☝️ of training camp! pic.twitter.com/wEG2j8tn8U
— PWHL New York (@PWHL_NewYork) November 16, 2023
That’s music to Daoust’s ears.
“We thought long and hard about what kind of people and players we wanted here in New York,” he explained. “Those words we put on the (dressing room) wall, ‘culture’ and ‘values,’ those are not just words. Those are a part of you. The most important thing is to build a solid base with the right people who are working together.”
It seems to be working so far for New York, which won each of its three scrimmages at the PWHL Evaluation Camp last week; the league is just 20 days away from its inaugural game between PWHL Toronto and PWHL NY.
And perhaps Daoust will look back at the end of the season at the car-towing experience as a small price to pay for building a special group in New York.
