Former NHL coach Ted Nolan was in Regina on Tuesday to make a $75,000 donation to the First Nations University of Canada.
The money will be used to fund a scholarship at the university for Indigenous female students.
One student per year will be awarded $5,000 for the next 15 years.
The donation is being made through the Ted Nolan Foundation and is part of the Rose Nolan Scholarship, named after Nolan’s late mother.
“Many women, including my mother, sisters and my wife have helped me,” Nolan says in a released statement. “I wanted to do something to give back and help support them too, because women are the backbone of our communities.”
Ted Nolan grew up on the Garden River Reserve outside Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
He played Junior hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was drafted by the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
Nolan would also play for the Pittsburgh Penguins before retiring in 1986.
He would later have head coaching stints with the Greyhounds in Junior and the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders in the NHL.
The Ted Nolan Foundation was established in 2002 and Rose Nolan Scholarship in 2004.
The scholarship is targeted toward helping First Nations women achieve their educational and training goals while maintaining strong involvement in the community.
(PHOTO: Ted Nolan. Photo courtesy of First Nations University of Canada)