The La Ronge Ice Wolves knew they wanted to be a part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation for their northern community to come together at the end of this historic day. So their head coach and general manager, former Saskatoon Blade Kevin Kaminski pushed for them to be scheduled to play at home, on that day.
“He wanted to do something for the community because the community has already done so much for him,” says Marlee Proulx, La Ronge Ice Wolves secretary. “We know we have a platform here to move forward with truth and reconciliation and we wanted to be a part of that.”
“The community to me means a lot,” reiterated Kaminski.
“Wherever I’ve played or coached, I want to be part of the community. This opportunity came up and this only makes sense in an Indigenous community.”
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The team is tied in very close with their northern community, so the players felt it was important for them to come together as a community to gather at the end of the day at the arena.
“For me personally, I have had a couple of family members that are survivors,” says Aaron Greyeyes, Ice Wolves forward. “Personally, that really hit home and I’m glad we came together to celebrate the Reconciliation Day. You know, I saw a lot of fans here wearing orange, nice to see that.”
“It was great to have the drummers come out before the game and the community always supports us 100 per cent,” added Ice Wolves forward Holden Knights. “It’s just great when everyone from the community comes out here. They do a real great job of coming out every night and showing their love for us.”
“You know, there are three community players on the Ice Wolves, which makes it even more special,” says Chief Tammy Cook-Searson of the Lac La Ronge Indian band. “So hopefully more fans come out because sport is so important. It teaches kids discipline. To get up and work hard, and the harder you work, the better you play.”
On this special day, the Ice Wolves played well enough and hard enough to earn the 8-to-3 victory over the Battlefords North Stars to send them home happy in La Ronge.
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