Former Team Canada hockey player Brigette Lacquette and some of the students she met with during a stop at Beaverlodge Elementary School on Tuesday. Photo credit: Peace Wapiti Public School Division.

By Curtis Galbraith

National Aboriginal Hockey Championship

Schools in the Peace hear presentation from Olympic medalist

May 9, 2024 | 3:14 PM

A huge crowd gathered at St. Joe’s High School last night to hear a presentation from a former player for Canada’s women’s hockey team.

Brigette Lacquette was the first ever First Nations player named to Team Canada and went on to win silver medals at the Olympics and World Championships.

Lacquette says she wants to tell her story and be a role model for young people.

“I just hope to share my story and encourage the kids to have fun, because ultimately it’s a sport and we’re here to play the game of hockey and to set goals for themselves and follow their dreams.”

Lacquette says it is important for young female players to have a woman to look up to.

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“Representation matters, so when you see it, it becomes a reality, right?”

“Being that first, I personally (was) just focused on my own (goals), what I wanted to do in my own life.”

Lacquette is now in her third season as a pro scout for the Chicago Blackhawks, the first Indigenous woman to have a scouting job with an NHL team. Lacquette says young, Indigenous girls and women in hockey can now see that something like this is attainable.

She is hoping those she has spoken to while in the Peace

learned about what she calls “the championship mindset.”

“Having that determination, the perseverance, being able to get back up. It’s being able to form those bonds, those friendships, relationships through mentorship.”

Lacquette has also met with students in Hythe, Beaverlodge, and Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation through her work with Classroom Champions while in this area.

She has volunteered with Classroom Champions for four years and has been an ambassador for the last year.

Lacquette’s presentation at St. Joe’s was part of the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships taking place at the Design Works Centre.