Past and present Warriors take to ‘The Home of the Nipissing Warriors’ for Grand Opening
By Kelly Anne Smith
Nipissing First Nation – “The Home of the Nipissing Warriors” had its grand opening with hockey players and skaters of all ages taking to the ice on Saturday, March 3.
“The Home of the Nipissing Warriors” is the official name of the new state-of-the-art multi-use outdoor rink located in Garden Village. The $750,000 project was supported by The Nipissing First Nation Trust Income Fund and Chief and Council after a survey showed desire for an outdoor rink.
Patrick Stevens, the Facilities Manager for Nipissing First Nation, says since it’s been finished, the impressive rink has been in constant use.
“We can use it all year-round. We have two-sets of basketball nets in here. In the Summer there is a tennis court that goes in the middle,” explains Stevens. “The floor underneath is a special plastic flooring and has the basketball courts painted right on it. You can roller-blade on it also. We have the Warriors symbol on center ice and the NFN logo in front of each crease. Under the ice is a sky-blue colour so it’s nice and bright in the summer time.”
“People have been here enjoying it regardless of how cold it got, the kids were out here,” adds Stevens. “We opened up just before the holidays December 22. Since then with the mild weather we have only lost two days.”
As part of the celebrations, a fun game of scrimmage took place in the afternoon with past and present Warriors. The hockey was fast, serious, and competitive. Smiles were abundant on and off the ice. Fans side-by-side watched over the boards. Babies wore NFN Warriors toques.
Close by the celebratory cake with the Nipissing First Nation Warrior logo, a language poster was handed-out for hockey words in Anishinaabemowin. Zhoozhkwaadejik is a hockey player while a puck is Mowebigan and ice is Mkwam. The event filled day was hosted by Nipissing First Nation’s Administration, Facilities and Recreation departments.
Nipissing First Nation Youth Chief Summer Fisher was at the Warriors Hockey Game along with her Youth Council Secretary Andrea Goulais. Chief Scott McLeod dropped the very first puck earlier in the grand opening ceremony. Youth Chief Fisher is pleased with the activity surrounding “The Home of the Nipissing Warriors” outdoor rink.
“The rink made a really big difference in our community this year,” says Fisher. “You see a lot more kids going outside and going to play at the rink. That’s what we need in our community – to get the youth more connected to the land by interacting with each other physically and not over social media. I really like seeing all the youth getting together. And all the men in our community, they are on the good path and being role models to their kids.”
Summer has a hard time picking sides. “Most of them are my cousins. This is going to be exciting.”
Tom Lambert was a Warrior since he was 15-years-old. He nodded towards the game and said he’d be out on the ice if it wasn’t for an injury.
“It was an honour to play with – I guess you’d say – the original warriors,” says Lambert. “I played with some good hockey players: Tom Sawyer, Randy Sawyer, John Sawyer, Ralph Beaucage, Bernie Commanda, Bruce Commanda, Bruce McLeod, Jeff McLeod.”
“I’d love to be out there with some of my friends I did play hockey with,” continues Lambert. “I was a defenseman. We have excellent hockey players. Individuals have had the opportunities to play junior hockey. We have Mike Penasse that played semi-pro. And then the late Ralph Beaucage and Bernie Commanda played in Junior A divisions. I made it as far as juveniles which is like a tier-2 division Junior A that a lot of us did have a chance to play for and we were called the Sturgeon Falls Little Butcher. We, as the newer generation, won the All Ontario in 1986 which was played in North Bay.”
Hugh Martel still plays as a Warrior in a men’s hockey league. Martel stopped to praise the new rink before skating onto the ice. “It’s good for the community. I played most of my life in Sturgeon. I’ve always played Little NHL for Nipissing Warriors. I’ve been a Warrior since I was a kid.”
Martel explained that there is always hockey on Nipissing First Nation. “We are all Warriors from the past. We all play in family tournaments throughout the year. Nipissing is a hockey community. They keep passing it down, generation to generation. It’s good for the kids and builds confidence.”
Martel named Ross McLeod, Bob Couchie, Melvin McLeod, Terry Lariviere in a Salming jersey, Ryan Beaucage, Blair Beaucage, Luke Martel, Tory Fisher, Matthew and Mike Penasse as they were heading onto the ice with him. Many more players continued to join in the game. Blair Beaucage said he was excited to get started in the first 18+ Warrior game after the grand opening.
Competitive figure skater Matthew Penasse was gliding across the rink with finesse. Matthew thought the game was fun and it was good to see everyone again.
“I’ve been travelling everywhere. Our main base for training was Cambridge, Ontario,” noted Penasse. “The last competition I did was in Croatia. Sadly, my partner got injured and we couldn’t continue. But I had a good year with another partner and I’m happy with that.”
Meanwhile, former Warrior Les Couchie visited the Hockey Hall of Fame to hand over special memorabilia for a Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit on the 1972 Nipissing Warriors Club. In a Nipissing First Nation Voices post, Couchie wrote that he was at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto to turn over 1972 Nipissing Warrior Mike Penasse’s Philadelphia Firebirds jersey. Couchie also gave his own Warriors jacket and the game puck from the championship game that he managed to scoop up at the end of the game.