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‘Indian Horse’ Canadian hockey movie finally makes it to the U.S. big screen

03 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Anaheim Ducks, Brandon Montour, Devin Buffalo, Edmonton Oilers, Ethan Bear, Fred Sasakamoose, Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Harvard University, Indian Horse, Maryann Macdonald

“Nobody wants to see an Indian movie.”

That was the general response director Stephen Campanelli and the makers of “Indian Horse” initially received from the Canadian and Hollywood movie industry when they pitched the idea of bringing the fictional story of a First Nations boy – a survivor of Canada’s notorious Catholic residential schools – and his difficult path to adulthood and hockey fame to the big screen.

“‘Does the general public really want to see this?’ That was the attitude. ‘Why bring up the bad past,’ which really wasn’t that long ago.” Campanelli told me recently. “But it’s a great story that people connect with. And if you don’t connect with the part about the racism and horrible things that happened to the indigenous people, you connect with the hockey – you see the resilience and the power of a sport like hockey to change people’s lives.”

AJ Kapasheist is one of three actors who portrays Saul Indian Horse, a hockey-playing survivor of Canada’s residential schools, at various stages in his life (Photo/Elevation Pictures).

American audiences now have the chance to see “Indian Horse” as the Canadian-made film executive produced by Academy Award-winning actor/director Clint Eastwood has finally crossed the border.

It took five years before the film was finally made and released in Canada in April. And it took months to get distribution interest in the United States. But for a product that folks allegedly wouldn’t see, “Indian Horse” has done alright, collecting 16 film awards.

“We work in an industry where indigenous stories and characters on the screen do not reach mainstream audiences,” said  Christine Haebler, one of the film’s producers. “An all-Native or indigenous acted movie is not what distributors or theaters are used to seeing and selling on their screens even in 2018.”

But the timing seems right for “Indian Horse” – for positive and negative reasons.

The film comes at a time when a growing number Native American/First Nations players are achieving success at all levels of hockey – from Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price giving a nod to his heritage in accepting the Vezina Trophy in 2015 to the Ditidaht First Nation’s Maryna Macdonald playing defense for Harvard University this season.

It also comes at a time when indigenous hockey players are still experiencing a disturbing number of racist incidents and continue to endure hateful taunts about their heritage.

Last Friday, a pee wee hockey game near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, ended before the third period after players and parents allegedly hurled racially and culturally insensitive remarks toward the opposing team, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

“We heard many parents saying ‘Those boys are just going to get drunk, maybe they’re drunk now. They’re probably hung over…,”  Tanis Brandon, the mother of a Wolverines player and the team’s assistant manager, told CBC. “I felt like crying…As an adult, I didn’t even know how to handle it if someone called me a dirty Indian or a savage.”

In May, members of the First Nation Elite Bantam AAA team endured racist slurs and taunts at the Coupe Challenge Quebec in Quebec City, Canada.

“Indian Horse,” based on the late author Richard Wagamese’s best-selling novel of the same name, will be screened in Tempe, Arizona, on Friday and will be shown in other theaters nationwide later this month.

Actor Forrest Goodluck plays a young Saul Indian Horse, who hones his hockey skill at a Canadian residential school (Photo/Elevation Pictures).

It was shown at the Yakama Nation Heritage Theater in Toppenish, Washington, and at the 23rd annual Red Nation International Film Festival in Los Angeles last month.

The movie doesn’t pull punches. Through the eyes of protagonist Saul Indian Horse, the film gives an unvarnished portrayal of life for Indigenous youth who were plucked from their families and shipped to residential schools, which were established under the premise of helping the children assimilate to white Canadian culture.

Between the 1880s and 1996, more than 150,000 indigenous children attended  residential schools. Many of them reported being sexually, physically and psychologically abused by priests, nuns, and other teachers.

The Canadian government formally apologized for the schools in 2008 and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established out of a negotiated settlement that included monetary compensation for survivors.

Fred Sasakamoose, a residential school survivor, became the NHL’s first indigenous player with treaty status when he skated for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1953-54(Photo/Courtesy Hockey Hall of Fame) and Getty Embed.

Fred Sasakamoose cried as he watched “Indian Horse” at a screening in April. Sasakamoose, who is Ahtahkakoop Cree, became the first indigenous player with treaty status to play in the National Hockey League, accomplishing the feat when he skated for the Chicago Black Hawks against the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 27, 1954.

Like Saul Indian Horse, Sasakamoose found an escape from the horrors of the residential schools in hockey.

Harvard University defenseman Maryna Macdonald.

“It hit back the pain,” Sasakamoose said of the film. “The impact of that movie – it was my life. It is a good movie, but it is also painful.”

While there are some similarities between Sasakamoose and the movie’s lead character, Haebler notes that “Saul Indian Horse took a divergent path of Fred Sasakamoose’s life.”

“Without spoiling the movie, Saul Indian Horses experience differs greatly,” said said.

Harvard’s Macdonald, whose grandmother attended a residential school, said “Indian Horse” is “a great movie that, obviously touches on a heavy topic.”

“The depiction they have in the movie is pretty powerful,” she told me. “It kind of gives light for a lot of people who might not understand a lot about residential schools.”

And it gives light to how hard it was for players like Sasakamoose to make their way in a mostly-white hockey world. Sasakamoose’s NHL career spanned only 11 games in the 1953-54 season in which the talented center failed to score.

Harvard University defenseman Maryna Macdonald in action (Photo/Gil Talbot).

But his brief presence blazed the trail for other indigenous players like Reggie Leach, the high-scoring Philadelphia Flyers right wing who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the best Stanley Cup Playoffs performer in 1976, and center Bryan Trottier, a seven-time Stanley Cup champion on three different teams and the NHL’s Most Valuable Player in 1979.

Now, a new generation of Native American/First Nations players, like Macdonald, are at the dawn of their careers, helping to further break down barriers and debunk myths.

Brandon Montour, patrols the blue line for the Anaheim Ducks; Edmonton Oilers defensive prospect Ethan Bear skates for the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League; and Devin Buffalo has gone from being a standout netminder at Ivy League Dartmouth College to a rookie for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL.

Greenville Swamp Rabbits goaltender Devin Buffalo hopes his play will help shatter stereotypes against Native American/First Nations hockey players (Photo/Greenville Swamp Rabbits).

Buffalo told CBC in October that his dream “to show people where a Native hockey player could go and overcome these obstacles and stereotypes.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

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More black coaches begin their climb up pro hockey’s ladder in the 2018-19 season

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Akil Thomas, Cincinnati Cyclones, ECHL, Fayetteville Marksmen, Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Jason Payne, Kahlil Thomas, Leo Thomas, Los Angeles Kings, Macon Mayhem, Mike Grier, Peter Worrell, SPHL

The minority coaching tree in professional hockey is growing more branches.

Nearly half a dozen teams, from the minor leagues to the National Hockey League, have hired coaches of color ahead of the 2018-19 season.

“There’s always been a growth of people of color in hockey,”  former minor league player Jason Payne told me recently. “It was just a matter of time that guys who were playing elevated into coaching.”

Former minor league pro hockey player Jason Payne is a new assistant coach for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

The Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL named Payne its newest assistant coach earlier this week. The job is a homecoming of sorts for Payne, who was a forward for the American Hockey League’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and the ECHL’s Dayton Bombers in the 1999-2000 season.

“I had the privilege of playing in Cincinnati, and I know how much this city and these fans don’t just love – but live sports,” said Payne, 43. “Along with (Head Coach) Matt Thomas, we look forward to being a hard-working, skilled team, and helping shape these young prospects into the best players and people they can be in pursuit of their NHL dreams.”

And Payne hopes to join those prospects in the NHL someday as a coach.

“I’d love to coach in the NHL, it would be a great achievement,” he said. “To get there, you’ve got to pay your dues, earn your way there, show that you can work and grind it out. And that’s my goal: Work as hard as I can, the same thing I did as a player.”

Payne brings a hefty resume to the Cyclones, the farm team for the Buffalo Sabres and AHL Rochester Americans.

Cincinnati Cyclones Assistant Coach Jason Payne during his playing days with the ECHL Reading Royals (Photo/Courtesy Jason Payne).

He played professionally for 14 years in six different leagues, including 71 games in the AHL with the Mighty Ducks, Carolina Monarchs, Worcester IceCats, and St. John Flames. He also appeared in 132 ECHL games and 140 contests in the old United Hockey League.

A Toronto native, Payne served as player development coach for the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League and general manager of the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

He coached the Toronto Patriots of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Mississauga Sens AAA program. Payne also owns the Precision Skating School in Toronto.

“Jason will make an immediate impact with the Cyclones,” Thomas said. “He comes recommended by the Buffalo Sabres organization, and his energy, knowledge, and passion for the game will benefit our organization as a whole.”

Kahlil Thomas, a boyhood friend of Payne’s, was hired as an assistant coach for the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits earlier this month.

Kahlil Thomas is an assistant coach of the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbitts and father of Niagara IceDogs forward Akil Thomas, a 2018 Los Angeles King second-round draft pick.

Thomas was a right wing who played nearly 700 games in nine pro leagues in three  countries. His U.S. stops included the old Central Hockey League’s Memphis RiverKings and Oklahoma City Blazers, the United Hockey League’s Flint Generals, and the Southern Professional Hockey League’s  Jacksonville Barracudas.

The 42-year-old Toronto native got into player development after retiring in 2008. He transitioned into a coach and general manager when he and his wife, Akilah, became part owners of the Oshawa RiverKings of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

The couple’s son, Akil Thomas, is a forward who was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round with the 51st overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.

“Kahlil is a proven guy who has played pro, he has a winning pedigree, he has played on organizations that have won championships, and we decided from day one when we were building our organization that we wanted character people within our organization,” Swamp Rabbits Head Coach Kevin Kerr said. “Kahlil bleeds character. He loves to win. He’s all about development. He can help balance me out and make me a better coach, and I wanted to surround myself with good people who could push me.”

Kerr begins his first season in Greenville, South Carolina, after he coached the SPHL’s Macon Mayhem in Georgia in 2017-18.

The Mayhem replaced Kerr in May by promoting Assistant Coach Leo Thomas – Kahlil’s younger brother and Akil’s uncle – to head coach.

Leo Thomas is new head coach of the Macon Mayhem of the SPHL.

Leo Thomas is currently the only black head coach in professional hockey in North America. He played 13 seasons of professional hockey – including four seasons in the SPHL between the Pensacola Ice Flyers and Mississippi RiverKings.

He played 777 games between in seven pro leagues, tallying 260 goals, 299 assists.

Leo Thomas, 36, had hoped that his brother would join him on the Mayhem coaching staff, but Kerr grabbed him for Greenville instead.

Kerr also convinced Shawn Thorns, a Charleston, South Carolina, native who is one of the few black head equipment managers in professional hockey,  to leave the Mayhem for the Swamp Rabbits.

New Macon Mayhem Head Coach Leo Thomas enjoyed a long and high-scoring minor league hockey career.

“Kahlil and Kevin also played together back in the day and it just happened to work out,” Leo Thomas told me in an email. “I told Kahlil he should take the job for sure.  Haha actually equipment guy also left for Greenville, too.”

July saw two former NHL players join the pro coaching fraternity. The New Jersey Devils tapped retired right wing Mike Grier to be an assistant head coach.

A Detroit native, Grier played 1,060 NHL games as a right wing from 1996-97 to 2008-09 for the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, and San Jose Sharks.

Former NHL forward Mike Grier returns to the league as an assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils for the 2018-19 season (Photo/Courtesy Washington Capitals).

A 1993 St. Louis Blues ninth-round draft pick out of Boston University, Grier went on to score 162 goals, 221 assists and accumulate 510 penalty minutes in 1,060 NHL regular season games.

“He was a highly-respected teammate and had the ability to relate to all players with his personality, demeanor and experience,” Devils Head Coach John Hynes said in July. “These attributes will be valuable in communicating and developing our players, as we continue to build a strong culture.”

Grier joins a small group of coaches of color in the NHL that includes Scott Gomez of the New York Islanders, goalie coaches Sudarshan Maharaj of the Anaheim Ducks, and  Frantz Jean, of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Lightning video coach Nigel Kirwan.

Embed from Getty Images

Former NHL tough guy forward Peter Worrell  hopes to make his way back to the NHL some day as a coach. He begins his trek this season as an assistant coach for the SPHL’s Fayetteville Marksmen.

Worrell accumulated more than 1,500 penalty minutes with the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche from 1997-98 to 2003-04.

“I contacted a lot of teams, in many leagues,” Worrell said. “When I first contacted the Marksmen and I talked to (Head Coach Jesse) Kallechy, it just felt right.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

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