Nipissing First Nation member honoured by Ottawa Charge for her trailblazing hockey ventures

By Sam Laskaris

GARDEN VILLAGE – More than five decades after she made a bit of history, Ellie Penasse was honoured by a professional women’s hockey club.

Penasse, a member of Nipissing First Nation, was invited to partake in the ceremonial opening face-off prior to the Ottawa Charge’s Indigenous Peoples Celebration Unity Game on Mar. 4.

The Charge competes in the eight-team Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). Club representatives asked Penasse to be involved with the puck drop after they heard of her childhood story.

In order to be allowed to participate in the inaugural Little Native Hockey League tournament back in 1971, Penasse, who was just six years old, had her family tell a fib about her gender.

Since she was keen to suit up for the Nipissing Warriors in the historic tourney, which was staged in Little Current, Penasse’s mother registered her under her brother’s name, Raymond, who was one year older.

“I had to use my brother’s name to ensure that I wouldn’t get denied,” said Penasse, who is now 60 and lives in Garden Village. “So, I sort of lied about it.”

Penasse said she played in the tournament, often simply called the Little NHL, for a couple of years under her brother’s name.

Girls were not officially barred from the tournament, which has become the largest First Nations youth hockey event in the province.

“It wasn’t a written rule,” Penasse said. “But we didn’t want to take the chance and find out that girls weren’t allowed. For a while, I was the only girl that was playing at the outdoor rink and on the lake.”

Penasse was able to utilize her brother’s name in the early days of the tournament since he was not competing in the event himself.

“He actually never played hockey,” she said. “He played hockey with his boots on. He didn’t want to skate.”

Since there was no local hockey association to play for while she was growing up, Penasse simply participated for Nipissing clubs in the annual Little NHL.

By the time she was eight, she started playing under her own name, but she doesn’t recall her Nipissing squads having much success at the tourney.

“We were just starting out, so I don’t believe we won awards or any of the championships,” she said. “But every player was gifted a participant badge. They were little badges that were sewn on the jackets.”

Penasse, who works as her First Nation’s housing/apartment coordinator, was understandably thrilled when she discovered the Charge was looking to honour her.

“At first, I was overwhelmed with it getting bigger and bigger and the support that we were receiving,” she said. “And they were sharing the welcoming and the planning of it with me. So, it was really exciting to start preparing myself for the big day.”

Several dozen Nipissing First Nation members joined Penasse for her trip to the Nation’s capital.

“My community stepped up, too, and joined us with a bus of fans or community members coming (to Ottawa) to celebrate with me,” she said.

During her on-ice presentation, Penasse had the opportunity to briefly speak to Charge assistant captain, Jocelyne Larocque.

Larocque, who is Métis, was a member of the Canadian women’s hockey squad that captured the silver medal at the recent Milano Cortina Olympics in Italy.

Penasse was also presented with a Charge jersey by team officials off the ice.

“I’ve proudly displayed it in my house already,” she said.

After her opening ceremony duties, Penasse watched the game from the stands with the Nipissing contingent.

“I celebrated with them and hung out,” she said. “And I talked to a few kids that were curious as to what happened after they found out I was a girl. A young girl came up to me and it was cute. I explained it to her and just encouraged her to work hard and play hard, and maybe she can eventually get to the top.”

Penasse also said she loves the fact that a pro women’s league now exists in North America.

“I didn’t think it would be as big as it is today,” she said. “Now there are no limits. And it’s so exciting to watch it on TV.”

Penasse added that she is planning to return to Ottawa next season and watch a couple of Charge games.