Nipissing youth following in father’s footsteps by playing in milestone Little NHL event

By Sam Laskaris

MARKHAM – Kory Goulais is once again participating in a milestone anniversary for the Little Native Hockey League tournament.

Goulais is serving as the head coach for one of the Nipissing Warriors teams competing in the boys’ Under-11 recreational division at the tourney, often simply called the Little NHL.

This marks the 50th year of the event, which has become the largest Indigenous youth hockey tournament in Ontario. A record number of 245 clubs are participating in this year’s tournament, which began on Monday and continues until Thursday.

The majority of the Little NHL games are being staged in Markham, a city located just north of Toronto.

Goulais’ charges boosted their tournament record to 2-0 on Tuesday afternoon after their 5-0 win against the Wasauksing Islanders in a match held at Markham’s Angus Glen Community Centre.

“I actually played in the 25th [edition of the tournament],” Goulais said. “It’s interesting to bring my boys down and to be able to play in the 50th. It’s sort of a tradition in our family. And I enjoy doing it.”

Though he’s a member of Nipissing First Nation, Goulais and his family now live in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata.

That’s one of the reasons why the Little NHL is a special time of the year for the family.

“For my boys who live out of the community, it’s nice to be able to connect with people from inside the community and be able to experience the tournament and reconnect with their cousins and people from back home,” Goulais said. “They don’t get a lot of that in Ottawa. So, I’m always happy to bring them here to do that.”

Nipissing First Nation was able to enter two squads this year in the boys’ Under-11 recreation division.

“We were able to take a couple of imports but the interest in our community was enough to form two teams,” Goulais said. “We tried to divide them as equally as possible.”

A total of 30 squads are entered in the Warriors’ age grouping.

“We had no expectations,” Goulais said. “We just wanted the boys to have fun. We’re trying to preach good hockey but enjoy yourself too while you’re here.”

Though their record dropped to 0-2 with the loss to Nipissing on Tuesday, Wasauking head coach Naomi Taylor said her charges are enjoying themselves at the Little NHL.

Like Goulais, Taylor also played in the tournament during her youth. And now, the Islanders’ 12-player roster includes her sons Griffin, who is 9, and Gavin, who is 9.

“We lucked out this year,” Taylor said. “Our whole team goes to school together. We didn’t have to pick up any players. We were able to send a whole team from Wasauksing. It’s nice to see them with their teammates, their classmates building that bond and having fun. The whole tournament is about getting to play hockey if you can’t play hockey [elsewhere]. So, it’s just fun.”