2020 Anemki Unity Winter Classic brings together 23 teams from Fort William First Nation and surrounding area

A South End Junior Stars player gets off a shot from the slot during the Midget championship game against the Fort William North Stars at the 2020 Anemki Unity Winter Classic, held Feb. 13-16 at the Fort William First Nation Arena.

By Rick Garrick

FORT WILLIAM — The Lake Helen Braves enjoyed participating as one of 23 teams at the 2020 Anemki Unity Winter Classic, held Feb. 13-16 at the Fort William First Nation Arena.

“I was very happy the way they had it organized,” says RJ Thorsteinson, coach of the Lake Helen Braves. “It was very beneficial to all the kids, the unity of it all. I was very happy with what happened here today.”

Thorsteinson says the majority of the Lake Helen Braves are from the Red Rock Indian Band, also known as Lake Helen.

“We’ve been to the Little NHL, so it’s nice to see this here too,” Thorsteinson says. “Sometimes families can’t make it down there so it’s good to have this right in our backyard.”

The Lake Helen Braves lost 2-1 to the Ugly Pucklings team during the Peewee championship game on Feb. 16.

“It was a very tight game,” says Aaron Gunn, coach of the Ugly Pucklings, noting it was important to participate in the tournament and bring together the group of players from different teams. “We put together a mixed team of First Nations kids; we’ve got girls here, we’ve got kids from single A and AA players all working together. It’s kind of a fun weekend — they put on a great tournament here this weekend.”

Bess Legarde, chair of the Anemki Unity Winter Classic, says this was the largest tournament to date with more hockey teams playing and a variety of other events organized for participants, including a traditional feast on Feb. 13, a crafts show and a skills competition on Feb. 14, Special Olympics basketball and floor hockey and a figure skating performance on Feb. 15, and fireworks after the championship games on Feb. 16.

“The tournament overall was a success — we had a record-breaking 23 teams enter this year,” Legarde says. “Everybody had fun. We incorporated the Thunder Bay Figure Skating Club this year, the Special Olympics [and] we also had a crafts show. It’s good to see that the City of Thunder Bay and Fort William First Nation and surrounding communities are coming together to promote unity within First Nations and non-First Nations kids. It was awesome.”

Legarde says the Thunder Bay Figure Skating Club did a synchro team performance for the people at the tournament.

“It was awesome,” Legarde says. “They loved it — they thought it was really inclusive in how it is so unique and diverse.”

Legarde adds that the skills competition was held by Indigenous Sport and Wellness Ontario.

“Each division had to put in a goaltender and three skaters and they competed for fastest skater, most accurate and hardest shot,” Legarde says. “It was fun — I still hear people talking about it today.”

Legarde says the idea behind the tournament is to promote unity within First Nations and non-First Nations youth.

“We’re trying to build better and safer communities for our kids,” Legarde says.

The South End Junior Stars won the Midget championship with a 5-2 win over the Fort William North Stars.

“The key was just moving the puck and having fun,” says John Coppock, coach of the South End Junior Stars. “[It was important] to support our community. This is awesome, this is a great weekend for everyone involved.”

The Rebels won the Bantam championship with a 3-0 win over the Ice Badgers.

The Westfort Rangers won the Atoms championship with a 3-0 win over the Ice Badgers.

The Warriors won the Novice championship with a 5-0 win over the Fort William North Stars White.