Organizers of a popular Indigenous hockey tournament are planning on staging the event this summer.
The Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Championship is scheduled for Aug. 13-15 in Saskatoon, SK at the Rod Hamm Memorial Arena.
“There will be some conditions on the event, we don’t know if we’re going to be allowed fans, we’re just kind of playing it week-by-week – month-by-month,” said Neil Sasakamoose, who is the organizer of the tournament.
Sasakamoose says they are looking at having around 20 teams take part. Several teams have already confirmed their attendance.
Sasakamoose is optimistic that pandemic is trending in the right direction, which would allow the tournament to go ahead this summer.
“The good thing about it is in August, there should be a number of vaccines in Saskatchewan and in Canada. There should be some place where people can compete. However, it’s just the amount of gatherings that will be restricted. We’re going into the event expecting very limited fan access to the building.”
The 2020 edition of the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the cancellation, the event was moved online.
The tournament is named after Fred Sasakamoose, who is considered one of the first Indigenous players to play in the NHL.
Sasakamoose passed away in November at the age of 86.
(PHOTO: The Waswanipi Chiefs celebrate after winning the championship in 2019. File photo.)