Neepawa Natives

The Neepawa Natives are a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey team from Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

Neepawa Natives
CityNeepawa, Manitoba
LeagueManitoba Junior Hockey League
Founded1989
Home arenaYellowhead Centre
ColoursBlack, Red, White
General managerKen Pearson
Head coachKen Pearson

History

The Neepawa Natives were founded in 1989 and play home games at the Yellowhead Centre. They were members of the MJHL's Sherwood Division until the league merged its two divisions after the 2013–14 season. The team has never won a league championship.

The creation of the Neepawa Natives team name is rooted in the early 1960s, with the then-named Neepawa Intermediates hockey team. In 1963, Ron Guinn and Cecil Pittman suggested the Neepawa Intermediates should create an actual team name for the Neepawa-based hockey club. A name that would connect to Neepawa (a Cree name meaning abundance or plenty) was explored. The name 'Natives' was selected because Neepawa and Natives both start with the letter 'N', and were seven letters long, which led Pittman and Guinn to believe it was a good fit for the team. They were also influenced by the many sports teams, throughout all of North America, that already had logos and team names that were Native American-themed. For example, the Cleveland Indians took their name in 1915. Scores of North American high schools and colleges also adopted Native American-themed team names and logos in the 1920s and 1930s.[1]

The name would go on to be used by the intermediate team, who would play in the Inter Ridge Hockey League, the Central Plains Hockey League and the South West Hockey League in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1989, Neepawa was accepted into the MJHL and was in need of creating its own team name and identity. Wanting to respect the hockey history created by that Neepawa Intermediates team, it was decided to use the Natives name for the community's new Junior 'A' Hockey club. The Natives name has since been gradually adopted by Neepawa Minor Hockey for its youth teams.

The Neepawa Natives have had many successful seasons reaching the MJHL Finals in 1996 and the meeting in the division finals seven times.

Neepawa keeps close ties with it alumni and celebrate the accomplishments on a regular basis. These accomplishments include many players who have moved onto higher levels of hockey like the NCAA, Major Junior, CIS and professional ranks. Three Natives alumni have played in the National Hockey League. In 11 NHL seasons, Shane Hnidy played for six different teams, appearing in 550 regular season and 40 playoff games, and in his final year won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins. Mark Kolesar played in 28 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Triston Grant appeared in 11 games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators.

Hazing incident

In October 2011, a 15-year-old Natives player came forward with allegations of sexual-based rookie hazing within the team's locker room. The victim's mother said her son was forced to walk around the team locker room with a set of water bottles tied to his scrotum and that assistant coach Brad Biggers was allegedly present in the dressing room at the time.[2][3] As a result, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police opened an investigation of the incident and the MJHL hired an independent investigator to look into the incident.[4][5]

Following its investigation, the MJHL levied a record $5000 fine against the team and a total of 18 suspensions to team players and personnel, as well an indefinite suspension to Biggers, preventing him from coaching for any team affiliated with Hockey Canada.[6][7] Head coach and general manager Bryant Perrier, who initially reported the incident to the league, left his post shortly thereafter and also received an indefinite ban from the MJHL (which has since been rescinded).[8] The team later issued an apology to the hazing victims, its staff, sponsors, fans, and local community.[9] No criminal charges were laid by the RCMP.[10]

Name change

The team announced, in July 2020, the intention to change its name and logo in response to growing pressure for sports teams and organizations to remove names and logos considered offensive to Indigenous peoples. The team's new name and logo will be in place for the 2021–22 season.[11][12]

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = games played, W = wins, L = losses, T = ties, OTL = overtime losses, GF = goals for, GA = goals against, DNQ = did not qualify

SeasonGP W L T OTLGF GA PointsFinishPlayoffs
1989–905210420-240291209th MJHL
1990–914812342-212331268th MJHL
1991–9248153111198252328th MJHL
1992–9349212521222206456th MJHL
1993–9456272522––585th MJHL
1994–9556322022237218682nd MJHL
1995–9656282242248241625th MJHL
1996–9755233011242280487th MJHL
1997–9860282930264272596th MJHL
1998–99621249011873602510th MJHL
1999–00643030-42442706410th MJHL
2000–01644120-3286246853rd MJHL
2001–02644020-4271221844th MJHL
2002–03642830-6286300629th MJHL
2003–04643718-9236193833rd MJHL
2004–05633718-8251194822nd MJHL
2005–06631441-81792693610th MJHLDNQ
2006–07634119-3266220854th MJHLLost Semi-final
2007–08621640-61722883810th MJHLDNQ
2008–09612429-8182237568th MJHLLost Quarter-final
2009–10623424-4205189726th MJHLLost Quarter-final
2010–11622432-6170208549th MJHLDNQ
2011–12611245-41682892811th MJHLDNQ
2012-13601340-71432933311th MJHLDNQ
2013–14601441-51492743311th MJHLDNQ
2014–15601542-31412553311th MJHLDNQ
2015–16601345-21323122811th MJHLDNQ
2016–17602133-6173229488th MJHLLost Quarter-final
2017–18602531-4215250549th MJHLDNQ
2018–1960943-81302642611th MJHLDNQ
2019–20601343-41372463011th MJHLDNQ

Playoffs

See also

References
  1. B., Erik. "The real history of Native American team names". USA TODAY.
  2. Turner, Randy (October 26, 2011). "Hazing victim had water bottles tied to genitals: mother". Winnipeg Free Press.
  3. Turner, Randy (October 27, 2011). "Hazed and Now No Place to Play". Winnipeg Free Press.
  4. "Neepawa hockey incident faces RCMP probe". CBC News. October 18, 2011.
  5. "MJHL names independent investigator for hazing complaint". Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
  6. "Neepawa hockey hazing fallout jeopardizes team". CBC News. October 31, 2011.
  7. "Neepawa team loses more players over hockey hazing". CBC News. November 3, 2011.
  8. Jaster, Chris (November 4, 2011). "Natives coach resigns". Brandon Sun.
  9. "Full apology from Neepawa Natives players and statements from board of directors". CTV News. November 3, 2011.
  10. Welch, Mary Agnes (November 29, 2011). "RCMP decide against charges in Neepawa hazing incident". Winnipeg Free Press.
  11. MacLean, Cameron (July 22, 2020). "Neepawa hockey team changing name in response to calls to scrap offensive monikers". CBC News.
  12. Hirschfield, Kevin (July 22, 2020). "MJHL's Neepawa Natives to change team name". Global News.
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