Celebrate The Daniels Family

Scott Daniels may not be a household name for many kids nowadays, but that name held some meaning in the 1990s when Scott Daniels was a left winger in the NHL. His career wasn't one of high-scoring stats or highlight-reel goals, but Daniels was a hard-working competitor who never shied away from defending teammates or going into the corners. While his stats didn't make him a media darling, fans loved his fearless efforts on the ice. Since retiring at the end of the 1998-99 season, though, the "Daniels" name is starting to become a household name in one community!

While Scott is still known through his work in the NHL and AHL where he played 149 games in the Big Show, his nephew Colby and his daughter Sydney are keeping the Daniels name on the map in Warman, Sasaktchewan by offering an annual hockey school for Indigenous kids to help them get into the game! Together, Sydney and Scott have started the Daniels Hockey School where the former collegiate women's standout and the former NHL player bring Indigenous instructors to Warman, Saskatchewan where they can teach the kids in Warman how to excel at hockey!

The main driver for this camp is Sydney Daniels, a former standout with Harvard's women's hockey program. Like her dad, Sydney is a proud Indigenous woman from the Mistawasis First Nation, and she had a knack for scoring goals on the ice. During her time with Harvard as a player, she scored 59 goals and 89 points, but she also returned to the team as an assistant coach on Katey Stone's staff in 2018-19 where she continues working today. Among the many career highlights for Sydney, she suited up for the NWHL's Boston Pride for a season, she helped Team USA's U18 Women's National Team win a gold medal at the 2011 IIHF World Championships, added a silver medal at the 2012 IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in Zlin, Czech Republic, and she was captain of the Harvard Crimson in her final season.

Yeah, that Daniels kid can play!

Needless to say, the hockey camp they run in Warman has two pretty impressive instructors, and they usually invite Sydney's cousin, Colby, to join them as Colby Daniels played university hockey for UNLV at the ACHA level. If you had any concerns about experience or skill at the Daniels Hockey Camp, they should be put to rest with the resumés of the three people in charge.

While the camp runs successfully every year for the Daniels, the Daniels noticed that kids were coming to camps with hand-me-down equipment and somewhat used equipment. While there's nothing wrong with wearing used equipment, it's not quite the same as wearing new equipment, but the costs of equipment are astronomical for most people with growing kids.

"It"s not easy and a lot of people... they wouldn't believe it," Colby Daniels told Kyle Benning of Global News. "We're not trying to make these kids feel like they're better. We're just trying to give them a level playing field — let them come in and be children."

Knowing the financial situations of some of the kids who attend thanks to Colby's work as a councillor on Mistawasis First Nation, the Daniels decided to use some of the available resources they had thanks to their hockey careers. And through that effort, one well-known hockey team along with a dedicated charitable organization stepped up to help the Daniels Hockey School make the hockey experience for the kids who are attending!

The Calgary Flames Sports Bank and the National Native Sport Program were who the Daniels contacted, and these two organizations got together to help provide all the kids at this week's camp with new hockey equipment so they can chase their dreams with better fitting gear! Families received forms to order the new equipment through the Calgary Flames Sports Bank and the National Native Sport Program this week so their new gear can delivered in the fall in time for hockey season! How great is that?

For those that don't know about the Calgary Flames Sports Bank, their info reads,

"The Calgary Flames Sports Bank was created through the generous contributions of Bill Comrie and the Comrie Family. Through Bill Comrie's passion and commitment the Southern Alberta Sports Bank became a reality in August of 2014. In July of 2020, Bill was able to pass the torch to the Calgary Flames and the Calgary Flames Foundation as the title partner to continue to build on the great work of the last 6 years of getting kids in gear. We are a program within the KidSport Calgary family and work with them to breakdown the two main barrier facing low income families when it comes to sports for their kids. Those are cost of fees and cost of equipment."

The other half of the equation is the National Native Sport Program, and it would appear that the funding for the new equipment will come from both parties with delivery to the Warman players expected for some time in September. This is the kind of assistance that lower-income communities desperately need to keep kids in a rather expensive sport like hockey, and I'm happy to see these two great charitable organizations lending a hand to the Daniels who are doing their best to keep Indigenous kids in the game.

"And where do we go from here? Well, I think the simplest answer is to keep pushing for these initiatives plus address life off the ice for these youth," Warren Crowchild, President and founder of the National Native Sports Porgram, told Global News. With the Calgary Flames Sports Bank making its first venture into Saskatchewan to help kids get equipment, it would appear that the door has been wedged open for this support to continue, and that's a good first step in helping kids avoid bad decisions when it comes to their future. If they're on the ice, they can't be getting in trouble.

Perhaps what's most encouraging is that we might see one of these kids who receives the equipment on a WHL team or an NHL team one day if they continue to chase their dreams. This is vitally important for these Indigenous kids who, for far too long, have been forgotten about because of social status or financial status. This levels the playing field somewhat, and having the Daniels running their camp annually in Warren where kids can build on skills year after year will do wonders.

Let's heap praise on Sydney, Scott, and Colby Daniels because running a hockey school, calling on charitable organizations for some help, and keeping kids wanting to come back year after is how young hockey players find the passion for the game when it seems like the game no longer cares about them. Well done, Daniels family, for being great coaches and even better people!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!