'It Means A Lot To Me': Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Highlights Importance Of Team's Indigenous Heritage Game

Before the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks square off on Saturday night inside Scotiabank Arena, they — and everyone else inside the building — will receive a message from Chief Claire Sault, Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

It's Toronto's annual Indigenous Heritage Night, where the club honors the history and legacy of Indigenous peoples in Canada, with activations and performances from those of Indigenous Heritage.

Growing up in Calahoo, Alberta, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube spent a lot of his youth surrounded by Indigenous people, he said on Saturday. His grandmother is Cree and Berube, too, is also part Cree.

After winning the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, the 59-year-old became the first coach of First Nations descent to win the Stanley Cup. Saturday marks his first game behind Toronto's bench for the organization's annual Indigenous Heritage Night.

"I think they're great and they're very important," Berube said on Saturday morning of what these types of nights mean to him.

"For me, like growing up in my town of Calahoo and being around a lot of Indigenous people in my town and I was very involved with a lot of people outside of town growing up with sports and all that stuff.

"So, it means a lot to me and I think they're great to celebrate."

The Maple Leafs will have a pre-game ceremony featuring an Indigenous youth skater and a welcome message from Sault, Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Theland Kicknosway, an Indigenous hoop dancer, will perform during the first intermission of Toronto's game against Vancouver.

The team has also partnered with Dashmaawaan Bemaaddzinjin, an innovative Indigenous catering company, which supports Indigenous seniors and unhoused individuals.

One hundred percent of their sales — of a feature item located at Gate 4, Section 106 on Saturday night — inside Scotiabank Arena will go to the company's initiative.

The Maple Leafs will also sell hoodies with the Indigenous-inspired logo, created by Jennifer Taback, online and inside the arena at Real Sports Apparel with 20 percent of the net proceeds donated to ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency through the MLSE Foundation.

ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency is "dedicated to empowering youth aged 12-29 by offering programs focused on cultural enrichment, employment, life skills, holistic wellness, and recreational opportunities."

The organization has already begun posting Indigenous Heritage content on social media. One of their first pieces of content included Berube receiving their Indigenous Heritage jersey and describing how his nickname, 'Chief', came about.

"Everybody pretty much calls me Chief. Other than my mother and father and my wife. It came when I was playing in New Westminister Bruins back in '84, and, a guy named Brad Hammett, he found out that I had native heritage in me. My grandmother was Cree. He actually just gave me the nickname Chief. And it just stuck," he said in the video.

"You gotta be a little bit careful because Chief of a native reservation, that's a very prestigious honor. And I understand that."

"The role of Chief is not just a leader in the warrior sense. But a leader in the development of their people," said Chief Ted Williams of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation in the video from the Maple Leafs. "I respect that he has taken the opportunity to educate mainstream society about the reverence of the role."

A limited quantity of Maple Leafs Indigenous practice jerseys will be signed and auctioned off. It's unknown when that will be, but the jerseys will be sold at auctions.realsports.ca.

All proceeds from the auction will benefit ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency through the MLSE foundation.

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