Fred Sasakamoose 1933-2020
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| Fred Sasakamoose, right, at the 2018 Memorial Cup. |
When I first met Fred Sasakamoose way back on February 25,
2004, he was underestimating the epilogue of his life.
We had a long visit in the old conference room on the second
floor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald office building. I was interviewing him
for a story for the next day’s paper.
Sasakamoose had recently been in Shaunavon, Sask., as a
guest at the Hockey Day in Canada festivities. He attended on an invite from
CBC.
During a banquet at that event, longtime Hockey Night in
Canada broadcaster Dick Irvin Jr. introduced Sasakamoose to the crowd. Irvin
summarized Sasakamoose’s place in hockey history.
He was one of the first Indigenous players to play in the
NHL. He made his NHL debut on November 20, 1953 with the Chicago Blackhawks
playing against the Boston Bruins.
Sasakamoose played one more game with the Blackhawks before
being sent back to the junior Moose Jaw Canucks.
With the Canucks in 1953-54, Sasakamoose appeared in 34
regular season games collecting 31 goals and 26 assists. In February of 1954
after the Canucks season finished, Sasakamoose was called back up to the
Blackhawks.
The centre played in 11 games in total with Chicago
collecting no points and six penalty minutes.
Irvin’s father, Dick Irvin Sr., coached Sasakamoose in
Chicago.
At the time I interviewed Sasakamoose in February of 2004,
he was 70-years-old. He thought at that time what took place in Shaunavon was a
high point in his life.
“That put the icing in my life,” said Sasakamoose. “The
finishing touch of the cake.
“The finishing touch on my life, when they put on the icing
by Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, by CBC Hockey Night in Canada, (and) by the people
of Shaunavon for the invitation. I hope they read this in Shaunavon, and what I
finished saying.
“It was the greatest moment of my life.”
Little did Sasakamoose know, his story took on a bigger life
from that point.
He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in
2007. The Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation member became a member of the Order of Canada
in 2018.
On top of those honours, Sasakamoose has been inducted into
the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame, the Prince Albert Sports
Hall of Fame, the Meadow Lake Wall of Fame, the FSIN Circle of Honour and the
Canadian Native Hockey Hall of Fame.
He continued to be an incredible positive influence on young
Indigenous athletes and that developed into lifelong friendships into
adulthood.
Sasakamoose spoke on the real hard subjects too. Much of his
childhood was spent at the St. Michael’s Indian Residential School in Duck
Lake, Sask. During a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in Prince
Albert in 2012, he publicly acknowledged that he was sexually abused by other
children at the school when he was nine years old.
At age seven, he and his brother, Frank, were whisked away
by the government to the school.
Sasakamoose overcame all of that adversity to make it to the
NHL. Following his time in the NHL, Sasakamoose’s playing career concluded with
time spent in various minor leagues.
When he was done playing, he became a band councilor with
the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation and served one six-year term as Chief.
He spent a large amount of time developing sports programs
for Indigenous children.
On Tuesday, Sasakamoose passed away at age 86 after recently
being hospitalized for COVID-19.
Tributes poured in from all over the hockey world, especially
from the Indigenous community.
Because of Sasakamoose’s exploits, it allowed the sport of
hockey to be blessed with the likes of Bryan Trottier, Theo Fleury, Jordin
Tootoo, Brigette Lacquette, Ethan Bear, Brady Keeper, Justin Nachbaur and
Jaydon Dureau to follow in the strides Sasakamoose made.
Sasakamoose watched those youngsters grow with great pride
and was someone they could always turn to.
A lot of Sasakamoose’s biggest impacts on a number of those
individuals came after I did my interview with him back in February of 2004.
During that visit, I could tell I was only scratching the surface of the wisdom
Sasakamoose, who was born on December 25, 1933, had to share.
It is safe to say some great wisdom was shared with various
Indigenous athletes after my visit with him in Prince Albert.
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| Fred Sasakamoose (#21) in Saskatoon in Jan. 2018. |
During the initial aftermath of the news of his passing, it
feels like Sasakamoose should have had more opportunities to continue to have a
profound impact on people. He was truly a gem of a person.
If each of us could emulate a fraction of who Sasakamoose
was, this world really would be a better and more understanding place.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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