ASCWA • Box 1537, Yellowknife, NWT X1A 2A2 • Tel (867) 669-8338 or 669-8346 • Fax (867) 669-8327
Northern Champions
Leah Suylma Update
Inuvik native Leah Sulyma recently completed a successful sophomore season as a member of the Northeastern women’s hockey team.
Sulyma played 17 games for Northeastern in net, and posted a career-best 2.24 goals against average and a career-best .921 save percentage. She also posted three shutouts on the season, including a 31-save blanking of ninth-ranked Boston University on Jan. 8. She was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week twice, on Oct. 20 and Jan. 12. Sulyma also made a mark on the Northeastern record book this season. Sulyma finished the season sixth on the all-time saves list with 1402 career saves, 213 away from fifth place.
Full Leah Sulyma Article (PDF)
Northern Olympians, from the 1970 Canadian Olympic Cross Country Ski Team photo above, included Sharon Firth (NWT), Shirley Firth-Larsson (NWT), Roseann Allen (NWT), Bert Bullock (NWT), Fred Kelly (NWT), Ernie Lennie (NWT), Martha Benjamin (Yukon), Roger Allen (NWT). With the upcoming Olympics it is good to remember our own strong Northern Olympic heritage. The attached PDF files have the complete profiles of these Northern Champions.
Shirley Firth-Larsson profile (PDF)
Grant Beck has been running dogs since he was a young boy. He ran and won his first race at 9 years of age. Today, Grant has a kennel of 160 racing dogs and he has raced hundreds of races in Canada, the US and Europe. Grant has won events around the world and is a 4 time Canadian Champion.
Dr. Joe Dragon, Ph.D., (Pinto) was born and raised in the community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. The youngest of six siblings, Joe is of Métis descent whose parents, Jane (Chipewyan) and Dave (French), moved to Fort Smith in 1956. Joe has had a prestigious hockey career, including being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1989. He went on to pursue a career in the Wildlife Management program in the North, and continues to give talks to youth throughout the North about his experiences. Read his full profile ...
Jordin Tootoo is the first Inuk athlete to make it to world-class professional hockey. On October 9, 2003, he played his first shift for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League. Nashville is one of the top teams in the league this season, and Jordin is a key player.
Tootoo is Rankin Inlet's biggest sports star ever and a role model for Inuit young people; a mural of him hangs in the local youth centre. The Nunavut territorial government features Tootoo and four local teenagers on an inspirational poster encouraging young people to stay in school and set goals.
Ted Nolan was born at Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario in 1958. The 3rd youngest of twelve children, in a house lacking electricity and plumbing, Ted learned resilience and pride in his Anishinabek heritage. He was taught to follow his vision. He believes that pride, strength and a willingness to dream are both central to that vision and essential for success.
Ted played hockey at a professional level with teams in the American Hockey League and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. Unfortunately, at the age of 28, he was forced to retire in 1986 due to a back injury. His playing days were over.
He then became an award winning coach in the NHL leading one of his teams the Buffalo Sabres, to the Division crown and then receiving the prestigious Jack Adams, NHL Coach of the Year Award. He also coached the New York Islanders.
He has dedicated his time to aboriginal youth in Canada and has been constantly on the road visiting First Nation communities across the land to speak directly to young people. With the Assembly of First Nations, he developed the Indigenous Hockey Program and took a junior level team to compete in Finland.
He remains a role model, grassroots leader and volunteer rolled into one. He has vowed to continue working with Aboriginal youth and believes he his work is important in the lives of young people.