Page 30 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 81

30 Issue #81 August 2019 www.sportsenergynews.com

FILION AWARDS & SPECIALITY GIFTS

“Helping people honour people”
606 Montreal Road
Cornwall, ON
K6H 1C2
Tel: 613-938-0545
Fax: 613-938-0067
filiontrophies@sympatico.ca

It Is What It Is actually drafted Aho in 2015, but up his 10 year plan. Price and the Richards, Lafleur, Beliveau,
instead took the yet to excel Noah Weber are in their prime and the and Cournoyer to name but a few.
Juulsen instead. Of course many Habs urgently need an Aho who They thought they drafted the next
By Peter Collins NHL teams didn’t know what kind can play forward. His forwards great Habs’ Aho in 2012 when
of Aho Sebastien was, because are good, with the likes of Tatar, they drafted Alex Galchenyuk in
Carolina drafted him 35th overall, Gallagher, and Domi, but they’re the first round. Alas he’s turned
so there were plenty of teams that missing that special quality that to be an Aho of a different sort.
overlooked this rising star. So on Aho has. Kotkaniemi may be an Maybe Bergevin should turn his
arc Bergevin, the general this past July 1st Bergevin tried Aho someday, but he’s still a few gaze down the 401 to the Leafs’
Mmanager of the Montreal to make up for his oversight by years away. What the Habs need budding star Mitch Marner. He is
Canadiens, looked over his line- signing Aho to an offer sheet. Of now is a guy who can put the puck probably more Aho than Sebastien
up this summer and it was clear course Carolina didn’t want to lose in the net consistently, show some Aho, with unlimited talent and
to him what the Habs needed was its prized Aho, and immediately flair in the offensive zone, and potential. If the Habs could offer
more Aho! The specific Aho they matched Bergevin’s offer. be responsible defensively. The sheet and sign Marner, then Toronto
needed is employed by the Carolina Canadiens have a long history of fans would regard Bergevin as the
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Hurricanes, and goes by the name So why did Marc go Aho players with these characteristics: biggest Aho of all.
of Sebastian. Montreal could have hunting? He is desperate to speed
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Sports Panel
Sports Energy presents

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First nation athletes have contributed tremendously to sports in Canada; in athletics, the Olympics, in many different game sports, in amateur competition,
and professionally. In your opinion, who are some of the athletes that have provided lasting memories and why?
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Gilles Gaudet - Sports Enthusiast - I’d like to focus on one particular Canadian first nation athlete who in the early 1900s dominated the long distance running
scene. Tom Longboat, like many great athletes of that time, has been long forgotten and unfortunately he is just a footnote in our sports’ history. Tom’s story is
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special because he succeeded, despite facing the repressive laws of the day, to become a world class runner. Longboat was born to a family of farmers in the Six
Nations Iroquois Confederacy, near Brampton Ontario in 1887. At the age of 12, he was enrolled at the infamous Mohawk Institute, and like other first nation
children in Canada (150,000 children were registered over 100 years), he was exposed to the suppressive and cruel assimilation laws of the day. Tom reached the
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pinnacle of the sporting world when in 1907 he won the prestigious Boston Marathon, breaking the marathon record by a then astounding 5 minutes. While he was
still in his running prime Longboat volunteered to serve in the Canadian military, working as a message runner. Ironically he risked his life running messages in
France through dangerous bullet laden fields and trenches for a country where he wasn’t even allowed to vote. Today Longboat would be celebrated and idolized
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by Canadians from coast to coast. One hundred years ago he struggled to survive and make a living due to the oppressive racist views of the day. When we speak
of great Canadian athletes, his name should be at the top of the list.
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Jake Lapierre - Conditioning Coach - I have to admit, after researching this month’s question, it was very interesting discovering just how much First Nation
athletes have been instrumental in the development of sport in Canada and their significant achievements as athletes, coaches, and organizers. Lacrosse was
originally played by First Nations people on the east coast of North America and is considered the first sport of Canada. I consider lacrosse athletes as some of
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the most conditioned athletes in the world. Another native sport, considered one of the world’s most exciting extreme sports currently exploding in popularity
is the “Indian Relay”. Give it a look!
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One name that is synonymous in athletics is Tom Longboat, an Onondaga long distance runner who represented Canada in the 1908 Olympics in Paris. The
prestigious Tom Longboat Award was founded in 1951; it is awarded annually and recognizes the achievements of Indigenous athletes in Canada. It’s impossible
to name all athletes contributing and representing their communities and Canada in so many sports in one short article and I apologize for that, however names
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that come to my mind relate to hockey; names include Carey Price, Theoren Fleury, Jordin Tootoo, Rene Bourque, Reggie Leach, Ted Nolan to name a few. Take
a moment and research “The Tom Longboat Awards”; you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Play hard, have fun!
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Jim Riddell - Seaway Karate Club - First Nation Athletes have excelled in a wide variety of sports locally, nationally, internationally, at the Olympics and
professionally. There are many that have had excellent careers at the top of their chosen sport, but here are three that I believe stand out.
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1) Waneek Horn-Miller was a member of the Canadian Women’s water polo team that won a gold medal at the Pan Am games in 1999. She was also the captain
of the first ever Canadian Women’s Olympic water polo team. She is now a well-known activist for indigenous rights and a role model and mentor for youth
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involvement in sports. In 2015 she was named one of Canada’s most influential women in sport.
2) Reggie Leach spent 13 seasons in the NHL winning a Stanley Cup with the Flyers. His 61 goal season is still a Philadelphia franchise record. He set a playoff
record by scoring in ten consecutive games and his 19 goals in 16 games of post season play leaves him tied for first in that department.
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3) Tom Longboat was one of the greatest distance runners of all time. He had the ability to either lead a race from the beginning or come from behind to win with
an impressive finishing sprint. His greatest race may have been the 1907 Boston Marathon where he ran the final mile uphill into a snow squall in 4 minutes and
45 seconds, winning the race and taking more than five minutes off the previous record. Distance running was very popular at the time, partly because betting
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was allowed. The media coverage was questionable and racist towards Longboat with much credit for his success given to those around him. He was branded
as “difficult” because he insisted on being in control of his career and “lazy” because of his innovative training program where he varied his intensity levels on
different days. Tom Longboat was in control of his career, stood up for himself, and was ahead of his time.
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