Growing the Game: Canadian Women's Para Team, Sabres' Native American Night

Ian Kennedy looks at the Canadian women's para hockey team looking for funding, the Buffalo Sabres’ Native American Heritage Night and much more.

Growing The Game is Ian Kennedy’s weekly feature examining the global game, how social issues impact the sport and how hockey’s important cultural shift continues to evolve.

The Canadian women's national para hockey team issued an open letter to corporate Canada this week and launched their “Sticks In” campaign. The team hopes “to raise $1 million from corporate sponsors to invest in systems change within hockey so that for the first time in history, we fully fund the women's national para hockey team.”

Unlike the national men’s para hockey team, the women’s program is not funded by Hockey Canada, and the team hopes “women can have the same opportunities as men with disabilities.”

The letter, signed by Janice Coulter, president of Women's Para Hockey of Canada, Tara Chisholm, coach of the Canadian women's para team and Tracey Arnold, an athlete representative of the team, discussed the recent and ongoing changes in the sport of hockey.

“Women's Para Hockey of Canada is a symbol of what hockey can be,” the letter said.

“Women with disabilities, especially those who have intersecting identities across other marginalized groups, need to be highlighted in our communities,” said the letter.

“We believe that hockey should represent the diversity of Canada. Our national team is proud to say that: We are Disabled. We are Women. We are Bigender. We are Non-Binary. We are Queer. We are Black, White, Indigenous, and Asian. We are Immigrants. We are Single Mothers. We are Caregivers. We are Teachers and Students. We are Mental Health Advocates. We are Front Line Workers. We are Changemakers. We are Hockey Players. We are the Best in our Sport.”

“Sponsors have said they want different and better outcomes. You cannot achieve that without different and better investments.”

Canadian Tire was the first to sponsor the “Sticks In” campaign, partnering with Women's Para Hockey in Canada the same day as the open letter was released.

The Buffalo Sabres hosted a Sabres Native American Heritage Night this week.

Players arrived to the rink wearing T-shirts featuring a custom logo designed by Indigenous artist Carson Waterman.

The team also wore Waterman’s logo during warmups and used themed pucks, which were all auctioned.

Captain Kyle Okposo and assistants Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Dahlin also wore beaded Sabres medallions designed by Seneca Nation member Jacky Snyder.

Throughout the game, Indigenous music was played and Indigenous Spirit Dancers performed. “Symbols and terminology synonymous with Native American culture” were also featured on the arena video board and displays.

This summer, I created a list of “25 Women Who Could Break The NHL’s Head Coaching Gender Barrier” for The Hockey News. Although she did not appear on this list because she was not coaching at the time, Marion Allemoz is a new name to watch in the coaching world.

A University of Montreal graduate, where she won a CIS title, and a Montreal Canadiennes alumni, winning a CWHL title, Allemoz has served as the longtime captain for Team France internationally.

Since joining the French national team in 2006, Allemoz has helped them climb from the Division 1-B bracket to Division 1-A. This year, before her retirement as a player, Allemoz captained France to a Division 1-A World Championship gold, advancing her nation to the top level of the World Championships.

Allemoz is now taking her hockey knowledge to the coaching side.

After joining Linkoping HC in the SDHL as an assistant coach this summer, Allemoz was recently promoted to head coach of the team when the former coach, Simon Hedefalk, was forced to step down for family reasons.

“I’m grateful that Linkoping gave me their trust and this opportunity,” Allemoz said. “For me, it’s about where I can bring the team – how I can develop the players, what I can bring as a coach.”

As a player, Allemoz opened doors for women from France in the sport. As a coach, it’s hard to believe she won’t soon play a major role in France’s national program and do the same for the burgeoning hockey nation.

The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association are hosting their All-Star Weekend at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Dec. 10 and 11 in partnership with the Ottawa Senators.

Saturday will feature a pair of regularly scheduled Secret Dream Gap Tour games seeing Team Sonnet face Team Adidas at 3 p.m., followed by Team Harvey’s squaring off against Team Scotiabank at 7 p.m.

Sunday, beginning at noon, the PWHPA will host a 3-on-3 tournament as well as an all-star skills competition including accuracy shooting, fastest skater, and a save streak competition.

As voted on by fans, the all-star captains will be newly-crowned Northern Star Award winner Marie-Philip Poulin (Team Harvey’s), Sarah Nurse (Team Adidas), Hilary Knight (Team Sonnet), and Megan Keller (Team Scotiabank).

Team USA won gold in decisive fashion at the 2022 Para Hockey Cup in Bridgewater, N.S. USA easily defeated Team Canada 5-1 in the gold medal game after requiring overtime in the final preliminary round contest to beat the Canadians.

Brody Roybol scored a hat trick for Team USA in the win while Declan Farmer, who led the tournament in scoring with 14 points in five games, added a goal and an assist to his totals.

Czechia took the bronze medal game defeating Italy 9-0.