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<\/p>\n\t<\/p>\n
Neil recalled some of his father\u2019s stories, including his first experience in the NHL. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to feed him some soup because he wouldn\u2019t eat. He was so nervous and excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neil said his dad also talked about finding comfort by looking up at the lights, advice he had received from his former coach in Moose Jaw, who had also played professionally. <\/p>\n
While Fred only played 12 games in the NHL, Neil said he is happy his father\u2019s legacy is appreciated both on and off the ice. In particularl, he noted how his Dad helped people recovering from drugs and how he placed importance on mentoring and being a good volunteer. <\/p>\n
Gabriel Michael, Fred\u2019s grandson, will be dropping the puck along with Chief Larry Ahenakew and Chief Tanya Stone from Mosquito Grizzly Bear\u2019s Head Lean Man First Nation. <\/p>\n
The date of the puck drop holds significance for Michael; Nov. 20, 1953 was the day of his grandfather\u2019s first NHL game against the Boston Bruins. Nov, 20, 2020 was also the last time he had seen his grandfather in hospital. He passed away due to COVID a few days later. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of an emotional day for us because it\u2019s where the story began for Fred and kind of where the story ends too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael also noted his grandfather was a strong advocate for youth sports and held clinics for local area schools. Fred was also responsible for the development of hockey rinks on First Nations and a non-profit he created continues to support youth in sports today. In the past year alone, over $100,000 has come in through donations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a legend and he inspires me,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n
Chief Larry Ahenakew plans to leave on Tuesday and is excited to participate in the puck drop<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a really big honour coming from myself, leadership, and all our elders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Commenting on Fred\u2019s accomplishments and role model for generations of youth, Chief Ahenakew said Fred was a trailblazer for Indigenous people all across North America.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a really good day for the family and the community and the City of Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
In total, over 70 people from Ahtahkakoop and Sandy Lake are headed for the windy city by way of a charter bus. <\/p>\n
Lachlan Vandall, 14, plays for the U15 AA Prince Albert Venice House Pirates and is on the bus with his dad. He told paNOW he wants to follow in Fred\u2019s footsteps and play in the NHL some day too. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s Indigenous and I am too, so I really like that about him and how he just had the drive to go to the professional hockey league.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to Thursday\u2019s game, the youth on the trip, many of whom play hockey and attend First Nation hosted tournaments, will have the opportunity on Wednesday to practice with the Blackhawks. Vandall noted how much he is looking forward to meeting his heroes, including Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is like a lifetime experience just to go there and do this with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inspired by Sasakamoose, Vandall has seen his own success on the ice. He was recently named to the First Team All Star at a tournament in Red Deer, AB and was selected as the MVP of the Graham Tuer U15 Challenge in Regina. <\/p>\n
His dad Jason Vandall said both Sandy Lake and Ahtahkakoop have done an incredible job supporting young athletes on a path that Sasakamoose helped pave. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows how much appreciation they have for our kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com<\/p>\n
On X: @nigelmaxwell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neil recalled some of his father\u2019s stories, including his first experience in the NHL. \u201cThey had to feed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-290909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}