Northern Champions

ASCWA is very pleased to announce that our teams were very successful at this prestigous event in New Mexico. Congratulations to all NWT participants!

Results:

16 under boys- GOLD MEDAL
19 under girls- SILVER MEDAL
14 under boys- BRONZE MEDAL

News North Article PDF

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.

While growing up in the North, Joe participated in many sports as a youth (basketball, volleyball, badminton, fastball and hockey).   He attended 3 Arctic Winter Games in hockey (Fairbanks, AK – 1982, Whitehorse, YK – 1984 and Yellowknife, NT – 1986) and was a member of NWT Team of the Year honours in 1996.  Joe left Fort Smith and moved to Grande Prairie, Alberta at the age of seventeen to pursue the dream of playing professional hockey. While playing Junior "A" Tier II hockey in Grande Prairie, Joe finished his grade 12 matriculation program at Grande Prairie Composite High School in his first year and in his second year completed the first year of a Bachelors of Science Degree at the Grande Prairie Regional College. While in Grande Prairie, he was awarded an academic scholarship to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

At Cornell, Joe lettered in Varsity Men's Hockey for 3 years and was named one of the top 10 athletes on campus during his sophomore and senior years.  Joe was drafted in the first round of the supplemental National Hockey League draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins after his sophomore year at Cornell (1989).

Upon graduating from Cornell with a Bachelors of Science degree with a dual major in natural resources and business management/marketing, Joe decided to pursue opportunities with the National Hockey League and the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey organization.  After two years of playing in the minor leagues, Joe decided to utilize his educational degree by accepting a position as a wildlife biologist for the Government of the Northwest Territories. 

Realizing the importance of a strong education, in the fall of 2002, Joe completed his Ph.D. degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management from the University of Alberta.  Joe’s thesis topic was “Commercial Use of Caribou in the Canadian Arctic”. 

Dr. Dragon has given many talks and presentations in northern communities to positively influence students and adults in the NWT.  In addition, Joe has been featured on several poster series presenting his educational and athletic pursuits and has become an Aboriginal role model for students in the NWT and Alberta. 

Joe currently resides in Ottawa, with his wife, Leslie and their three children – Max, Olivia and David.

Michelle Daigneault, Hay River has produced some notable hockey talent over the years. Geoff Sanderson. James Hiebert. In a few weeks, you could be adding Michelle Daigneault’s name to the list. Daigneault, one of the top female hockey players in the Northwest Territories, has received an invitation from Hockey Canada to attend the first ever Team Canada Under 19 Strength and Conditioning Camp. Daigneault had represented Team NWT at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse in February. It was there she was scouted for Team Canada. The Team Canada camp will take place May 11-13 in Calgary, Alberta and feature 68 invitees. During the camp, Daigneault will be effectively treated like a member of Team Canada. She will learn about nutrition, take part in off ice workouts and training, be put through her paces on the ice, logging, have her mental fitness tested and deal with other day-to-day activities.

Daigneault was in Saskatchewan when the announcement was made and could not be reached for comment. But local coach Greg Rowe, who has coached Daigneault since she first started skating, said he's excited for her. "Not everybody gets invited to a Team Canada camp," he said. "I haven't heard of any others from the NWT getting this chance," said Rowe. Daigneault spent this past season, her Grade 10 year, playing in Edmonton at St. Francis Xavier school. It was her first season on an all-girls team. Up until then, she played with the local boys teams. Rowe said that Michelle's small size will be less of a hindrance in women's hockey, where there's more emphasis on positional play and a quick stick than on size and strength. "There are small players in the NHL, too," noted Rowe. He said Michelle should fare well at the camp. "She learned to contain and put on attack pressure. It (the women's game) is a different game because there's no contact, although they do rub out. They have to angle and read the play. She has always played mixed. This was her first year on a women's team." "She can skate with them and she has the skills to compete," said Rowe. Though he hasn't had the chance to see her play in the girls game, he said she is agile and had an active stick. "She's not shy of the corners, either," he said.

(Story above is courtesy of the Hay River Hub newspaper.)

Leah Sulyma, an aboriginal female hockey player born and raised in Inuvik, has successfully been recruited and offered a hockey scholarship by the Northeastern University which is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The Northeastern University Huskies plays in the NCAA, the highest level of female hockey in the USA. She was scouted at the Canada Winter Games that was recently held in Whitehorse, Yukon. “I was in Edmonton when I took the phone call and I was very excited and surprised at the same time.”

Leah has been down to Boston already to the University to meet the coaching staff and take in her new surroundings. “They flew me down to check out the University and I have to be there August 26^th to enroll for school, tryouts start shortly after that.”

Leah is only seventeen years old and is currently in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan competing in the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships representing the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the Western Arctic for Team NWT. “We are having lots of fun here in Prince Albert the hockey is good, we lost two very close games, both games could’ve gone either way.” The Inuvik born Goalie is very excited to be going to Boston and very scared at the same time. “I am really excited to go I am going to train very hard this summer and my goal is to be the starting goalie with my new team.” Leah is currently going to the St. Francis Xavier Hockey Academy in Edmonton for the past year. Not bad considering she only starting playing hockey eight short years ago. “I started playing hockey when I was nine years old.”

 The Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Western Arctic congratulates and supports Leah in chasing her dream of one day playing hockey for Team Canada in international competitions and ultimately the Olympic Winter Games.

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.

Jordin was born Feb 2, 1983, in Churchill, Manitoba. He grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut and played his first high level hockey with the OCN Blizzard (Opaskwayak Cree Nation) team in Manitoba junior league in 1998-99. He then played for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League from 1999 to 2002. He was the Nashville Predator's 6th pick in 2001 NHL entry draft, 98th overall. He has played with the Predators ever since, and has become an integral part of their line-up. Nashville is one of the best teams in the league this season, and look to go far into the playoffs. Perhaps the Stanley Cup will make a visit to Rankin Inlet with Jordin this summer!

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.

In 1994, he went to the NHL as assistant coach for the Hartford Whalers, followed in 1995 by a promotion to head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Within a year, the team clinched the Northeast Division crown and he received the prestigious Jack Adams, NHL Coach of the Year Award.

His exhilarating rise to the exalted heights of the NHL ended when contract complications found him unemployed at 39. His faith in himself had never been so seriously challenged. But, he found guidance in his Anishinabek roots.

Since then, 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.

Since 2006, Ted has returned to the National Hockey League as a coach for the New York Islanders. Yet, 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. He believes his reborn role as the Islander coach will be of considerable help in the realization of his dream.

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