Jason Carter hockey stick to be auctioned off at U-9 hockey tournament
By Chadd Cawson, reporter for the Local Journalism Initiative
Those who attend the Columbia Valley Rockies U-9 Hockey Tournament at Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena on February 18-19 have a chance to take home more than memories. A $1,200 hockey stick hand-painted by Cree artist Jason Carter is up for auction at this year’s tournament.
In 2021, Hockey Canada asked Carter, of the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, to design 150 sticks for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. There, 62 of the 150 sticks made by Carter were presented to Player of the Game awards and to dignitaries at the sporting event.
Carter is an Edmonton Oilers fan who called the opportunity to design these sticks an honor and praised Hockey Canada for incorporating Indigenous culture into the game. The contemporary game of hockey comes from a very colorful history and has some indigenous roots. In the late 1600s, Europeans first observed ice hockey being played by the Mi’kmaq First Nation in Nova Scotia, using a frozen street apple as a puck.
Invermere is a hockey town. George and Jessica Pemberton have been with us for five years, having moved here from Vancouver Island 12 years ago. Their youngest son Jules (#5) plays defense for the U-9s; their eldest son, Ronan, (#17) plays defense for the U-11 team. George is the head coach of the U-9 and assistant coach of the U-11. This was Jessica’s first year as manager of the U-11 team. While in Banff for a hockey tournament in Canmore, Jessica went to the Carter Ryan Gallery, where she came across three of Carter’s beautiful hand-painted sticks.
“I just decided to go in to look at some beautiful artwork, not knowing that this artist was the one who had hand-painted hockey sticks for Team Canada’s juniors two years ago,” Pemberton said
Through years of working with the non-profit Groundswell Network Society, Jessica has developed a habit of reaching out and asking without expectation if any of Carter’s beautiful pieces of Indigenous culture and hockey heritage have been donated.
“The seller took me very seriously and I was quickly told that Jason loves to support local community groups and they would see what they could do,” Pemberton said. “We specifically got the stick that is painted orange. It’s the same hue as Rockies orange, which makes it a very pretty thing.”
Because each hockey group has its own tournament, the two-day event for the U-9 (7 and 8 year olds) team will be held at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m . There are no costs and participation is open to everyone.
“We will have 50/50 draws during the game and a raffle basket table, cash only, plus the silent auction hockey stick as our fundraiser,” Jessica Pemberton said. “The winner of the silent promotion will be notified before the end of the tournament.”
All proceeds from the draws and raffle go back to local Rockies hockey.
“I’m quite blown away and blown away by her generosity,” Pemberton said. “It is a great honor to receive such a beautiful piece of art and we are truly grateful.
Chadd Cawson, reporter for the Local Journalism Initiative, The Columbia Valley Pioneer