Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price. Jordin Tootoo. Rene Bourque. T.J. Oshie. Dwight King. Cody McCormick. This is a list that includes arguably the best hockey player in hockey – Carey Price, who backstopped the Montreal Canadiens, won two Olympic golds, and also won a Vezina Trophy for best NHL goaltender. There are several other elite players on this list, and although they are not as significant as Price, they are fundamental to their teams.
The question of how hockey began often eludes historians and researchers. All we know thus far is that Aboriginals have been playing hockey for as long as there has been an ice surface to play it on. The first recorded time Europeans saw ice hockey being played was by the Micmac in Nova Scotia in the late 1600’s, who called it “ricket.” Another fact known for sure is that actual hockey sticks, much like the ones used today, were first made by the same tribe, the Micmac, in New Brunswick, around 1900. Soon, pucks were made of Cherrywood, until rubber was imported by Euro-Americans.
Unfortunately, once the First Nations were put into reservations by European settlers, they relocated children to residential schools, where they played hockey year-round, and had competitions between schools. However, these residential schools were terrible, and used hockey to cover up their terrible deeds. Children were often abused, and then to keep them happy, allowed to go outside and play hockey. Boys and girls were indefinitely separated, and even sister and brother could not see each other during school. Residential schools, though a dark and terrible part of Canada’s history, helped cement the role of hockey in Native communities.
Today, First Nations communities have their own hockey teams at the Midget or Junior A level. Many First Nations also have their own hockey tournaments. Hockey has become a big part of their culture and tradition, and National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, which is a tournament of Midget and Bantam players, every year. On top of that, there are several all-Native hockey tournaments held across Canada every year.
As well as at the local and youth level, there are also many Aboriginal hockey players playing in the NHL. Of the players mentioned at the beginning of the article, many hockey greats such as Reggie Leach of the Boston Bruins and George Armstrong of the Toronto Maple Leafs were Aboriginal. The first Native to play hockey was Fred Sasakamoose of the Sandy Lake Cree tribe, situated in Ahtakakoop First Nation, Saskatchewan, which is a reservation. Many other current hockey players are Aboriginal.
Carey Price is the goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens and the Canadian national team. He was born in Vancouver; however, soon moved to Anahim Lake, British Columbia, where he grew up. His mother was the chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation, which was situated in Anahim Lake. Carey Price grew up loving nature and playing hockey and often spent hours alone in the woods, watching deer and sometimes hunting with a crossbow, and he would also ride horses almost every day. Because there was no hockey rink near Anahim Lake, which was a First Nations reservation, Price’s father got a pilot’s license and rented an airplane to fly his son 650 kilometres to the nearest rink three times a week for hockey practice. Sometimes, the plane wasn’t available, so he would take Carey for a five-and-a-half-hour drive, though Carey has sworn they could get there in four hours.
As he grew up, he became recognized for his incredible skill as a goaltender, and soon, in 2002, he was the first goaltender chosen off the draft board by the Tri-City Americans. It was his first time away from home, and Price stayed with billet parents, the Williams’, who became his mentors and close friends. When Price was not busy with hockey, he would hunt and fish with his billet father, Dennis Williams, and when he wasn’t hunting with a crossbow, he would lasso animals. It was so easy for him in the crease that he made it look as if he were lazy because of how effortless it was. Five years later, Price jumped on a plane to Hamilton to join the Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate. From 2007 to 2010, Price would be the backup for Jaroslav Halak and Cristobal Huet. Although he was terrible at the time, in 2010, the Canadiens made the surprising decision to let Halak and Huet go and to stick with him. Soon, he became otherworldly. As a result, Team Canada selected him to be the starter in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where he won gold, and repeated the feat again at 2014 Sochi. In 2014, he was already recognized as the game’s best player, and won both the Hart and Vezina Trophies, for league MVP and best goaltender, becoming the first goaltender to do so. Carey Price will forever be associated with the Montreal Canadiens as one of their greatest players, and considering his humble roots, gives children the opportunity to always hope they can make it to The Show, the NHL.
T.J. Oshie, another great Native player, was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, but grew up in Everett, right outside of Seattle. He is of Ojibwe origin, which is a First Nation located in Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Although he never lived with his tribe, Oshie grew up knowing about his roots. After his parents’ friendly divorce, he lived with his mother in Stanwood, Washington, and then later moved to Warroad, Minnesota to live with his father.
In 2004, he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues. Then, in 2014, a miracle happened. Team USA, finding an empty space on its roster, picked the then little-known T.J. Oshie to play on the team. In a game against Russia, which had gone into shootout, Oshie felt a tap on his shoulder. The coach decided to let him play in seven shootout rounds, where he scored several times to eliminate the Russians. “Oshie can you see!” the announcer yelled once the win was final. T.J. Oshie had defeated the Russians, one of the world’s most skilled hockey teams, all alone.
After the win, he was called an “American hero,” but his response was “The American heroes are wearing camo. That’s not me.” Although this meaning has been disputed because it seems to encourage more war, it shows the extent of T.J.’s modesty and his ability to move the spotlight away from himself. In the summer of 2015, two days before the 4th of July, the Washington Capitals traded for T.J. Oshie, and Americans all across the country were rejoicing over having the country’s hero play for the nation’s capital team. “Somewhere a bald eagle cried tears of joy,” the Washington Post made their headline the next day.
In conclusion, people should never underestimate the impact First Nations have made on the game of hockey. Although there is not a sheer number of them playing in the NHL, they were arguably the first hockey players, and made it against all odds to become some of the NHL’s greatest players. Never forget: the greatest player in the game of hockey and the backbone of hockey’s greatest franchise, Carey Price, is an Aboriginal.
Sources:
Adelson, Eric. "T.J. Oshie Should Be Saluted for Pointing out True Meaning of "hero"" Yahoo Sports. Yahoo News, 16 Feb. 2016. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Clinton, Yates. "Capitals Trade for T.J. Oshie, America’s Hockey Hero." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2 July 2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
"History of Hockey." Library and Archives Canada. Library and Archives Canada, 28 Jan. 2003. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.
Morosi, John Paul. "Oshie, Family Realize Their Dream on Ice." Seattlepi.com. Seattle PI, 21 Dec. 2005. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Stzo, Courtney. "Things We Don't Talk About: Residential Schools and Hockey." Hockey in Society. Wordpress, 07 Feb. 2016. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Zwelling, Arden. "BIG GAME HUNTER: Carey Price Has His Sights Set. First Gold. Then the Cup. - Sportsnet.ca." Sportsnet.ca. Sportsnet Canada, 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
