Stanley Cup makes surprise visit to Enoch Cree Nation school

EDMONTON -- The Stanley Cup paid a surprise visit to Enoch Cree Nation on Monday, and Tara Crouter, the interim principal at maskêkosak kiskinomâtowikamik school, managed to keep the secret from the students and staff.

The secret was not revealed until the Stanley Cup was paraded into the gymnasium at the school of 550 students ranging from play school to Grade 12 a day after the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2 in the 2023 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium. The Stanley Cup visit was made possible by Imperial Oil and their partnership with the NHL.

“It was hard keeping it from the students and from staff,” Crouter said. “We couldn’t let staff know, but we had to get waiver forms signed so we just said there was a great event that was going to happen, and we just plugged that as much as we could.”

Imperial Oil reached out to school administrators wanting to give students at the First Nations school located west of Edmonton the opportunity of seeing the Stanley Cup up close and personal. Crouter said planning for the event started at the beginning of the school year in September.

“I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I think our school allowing us to do these things brings the whole community together,” Crouter said. “It’s just another way we can bond together. Lots of people in Enoch love hockey and so it was so exciting.”

In conjunction with the visit of the Stanley Cup, former player Brent Dodginghorse was invited to speak to students and sign autographs. Dodginghorse, 45, played two seasons with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League before embarking on a brief professional career with Johnstown Chiefs and Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL.

“Today was an awesome day because it was all about the Cup and today was an awesome day to support the community of Enoch and the youth,” Dodginghorse said. “Today was a day to give them a little glimpse of what I went through, but also use it as a tool to power non-indigenous people and to educate them. But really it was to support our youth and really empower them.”

Dodginghorse, who is from the Tsuut’ina Nation north of Calgary, partners with Imperial Oil promoting indigenous sports. He was also in on the secret.

“It was so hard not to tell people we had this event going on,” Dodginghorse said. “Once you see the kids when they found out the Cup was coming and the smiles on their faces and see how it impacted the community. I think the impact really hit when you see some of the elders and they’re crying because they’re actually seeing the Cup.

“I knew about it three weeks to a month ago. It’s one of those things where they asked me to keep it quiet. It was so exciting, but you can’t tell anybody. You knew the day was coming and you felt like a little kid, you just woke up early and were so excited today. But it’s all about the youth and all about the kids and the community of Enoch today.”

Crouter said it was important to have Dodginghorse and former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference in attendance for the event as positive role models for the students. Ference, 44, played 17 seasons in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011.

“It allows students to see all the possibilities for themselves and what’s to come,” Crouter said. “I think as educators and teachers we always tell them they can be anything they want and they’re actually seeing someone who’s done that.”

For Sherri Evers, a Senior Vice President with Imperial Oil, helping bring the Stanley Cup to the small indigenous community was gratifying.

“For me it fills my heart with joy,” she said. “It’s probably the best day I’m going to have in a long time. To see the Stanley Cup is here and see their eyes are super wide, and to be able to share in their excitement is something that I’ll keep with me for a long time.”