Team Canada PyeongChang Olympic medalist inspires LNHL youth

By Sam Laskaris

MISSISSAUGA – Brigette Lacquette was making history last month becoming the first First Nations player to suit up for the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey squad.

Lacquette, who helped her club win the silver medal at the PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea, was at the Little Native Hockey League tournament on Wednesday inspiring others to try to fulfill their dreams.

Throughout the day, Lacquette visited various teams in their dressing rooms at the tournament, best known as the Little NHL.

In the evening, Lacquette, 25, was at Iceland in Mississauga, one of the facilities utilized during the tournament. She began the evening with an inspirational talk, providing details of her life and career.

Lacquette then hung around to sign autographs, take selfies and have a quick chat with a long, winding line of fans.

Lacquette, who is from the small Manitoba community of Mallard, will also be making appearances on Thursday at the Little NHL.

The 47th Annual Little NHL, which began on Monday and ends Thursday, features a record 209 teams from across Ontario. Lacquette is expected to help hand out some of the medals that will be awarded in Thursday’s championship games.

Former National Hockey League star Jonathan Cheechoo, a member of the Moose Cree First Nation, will also assist with some of the medal presentations.

Cheechoo is the honorary chair of this year’s tournament—that’s because Moose Cree is serving as the host of the event.

“My message is the road is not easy,” Lacquette told the crowd during her talk on Wednesday. “I’m just like you guys. You guys are going to face some obstacles. But it’s worth it.”

During her talk, Lacquette became rather emotional at times as she mentioned how she had been bullied in her youth. She explained that bullying was not only because she was Indigenous, but also because she had a severe case of eczema.

Lacquette then discussed how she fell in love with hockey and how that boosted her self-confidence.
But her hockey career also had its share of ups and downs. Though she’s an Olympian now, Lacquette was cut from her share of teams while growing up.

She recalled how she once tried out for a provincial team in Manitoba along with her sister Tara, a former goaltender. But Lacquette, who plays defence, showed up to the training camp out of shape.
“She put the work in and I didn’t,” Lacquette said of her sister. “She made the team and I didn’t. It hurt.”

Lacquette also experienced the heartbreak of not making the 2014 Canadian Olympic squad. She was one of the last cuts for the club that went on to capture the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in Sochi.

Lacquette was not denied this year, but she said there were plenty of tense moments leading up to the day she found out whether she would be included on the 2018 team.

“Leading up to the Olympics and being at the Olympics was a dream come true,” she said.

Among those at Lacquette’s talk on Wednesday were 13-year-old Summer Bissaillion and her mother Marnie Yourchuk from northern Ontario’s Serpent River First Nation.

Bissaillion, who plays defence for the Serpent River Little Serpents team that will be competing in Peewee Girls final on Thursday, said it was inspiring that Lacquette would come speak to this year’s Little NHL participants.

Bissaillion first met Lacquette last summer at a hockey camp in Garden River. The teen said she found it exciting to follow Lacquette’s progress and watch her on TV at the recent Olympics.

“It was kinda cool,” she said.