Ethan Bear visits Halfway River First Nation
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Halfway River First Nation welcomed NHL defenceman Ethan Bear to the community last Saturday, giving local youth and families a chance to hear from him, meet him and take home an autograph.
Bear was at the Halfway River Arbour on July 11 for a community event that included a presentation and autograph signing.
Among those who made the trip out was Alaska Highway News junior reporter Riley Rivey, who went with a friend and his family, and came home with something signed by Bear and a pretty good story to tell.
When asked if he had a chance to talk with Bear one on one, 11-year-old Riley stated, “Oh ya, shook his hand three times. Never washing these bad boys again.”
He had the chance to speak with Bear for a bit, something that will likely stick with him longer than whatever ended up getting signed.
For young hockey players and Indigenous youth across northern B.C., opportunities to meet someone who has played at hockey’s highest level do not come around every day.
“The event was pretty cool. He talked about his journey to the NHL, challenges he faced, and also gave us all advice. He told us you don’t have to be strong to score goals and reminded us to exercise and to eat healthy.”
Bear, a member of Ochapowace Nation in Saskatchewan, has spent parts of seven seasons in the NHL after being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2015.
It was a fairly simple community event, but sometimes those are the visits that mean the most.
A few minutes, an autograph and a conversation with someone who made it all the way to the NHL can give a young person something to remember for a long time.