Jnasogaluak ason

nortHern Hockey's darkHorse

When I first meet Jason Nasogaluak I could not have guessed that behind his modest personality there was an extraordinary hockey story. Nasogaluak played street hockey all his life. In 1986 at the age of 15 he entered ice hockey. Nasogaluak is a pioneer of sorts because he was one of the first aboriginal goalies up here in the north. But what makes his story extraordinary is that Nasogaluak is a self-taught goalie.

Being the son of hardworking hunter-trapper, hockey wasn’t a priority growing up -- doing his chores was. In fact, Nasogaluak’s parents did not want him to play ice hockey because they were worried for their sons’ safety.

Nasogaluak recalled the night of his first game. While he was packing his gym bag, Nasogaluak’s dad came up to him and said, “Jay you shouldn’t play tonight. There’s a guy named Roy Ipana. He can break your ribs. He shoots hard, he’s going to break your ribs if he shoots you in the chest.” At the age of 15 and at 160lbs Jason was nervous. When someone pointed Roy Ipana out to him on the ice Jason recalled, “my legs started trembling, I started sweating in the net.” But that night he learnt to always know who was dangerous on the ice.

What’s more is that Nasogaluak could not afford the best goalie gear. But these things we might consider set backs, Nasogaluak turned to his advantage. Not having good gear meant that he played harder. Put simply, he had to play hard because if he didn’t he would get badly injured. “I had to teach myself there was no other way,” said Jason. “To be successful you can’t be afraid. You can’t be afraid to play. You gotta be able to stand there and stop pucks. That was selftaught I guess”

I was so impressed that behind this humble and gentle personality was a determined and courageous man, and I asked him if he was aware that he is a role model? He modestly avoided my question and instead listed his own role models.

He told me that he learnt a lot from the goalies he’s faced but his parents equally shaped him. When I asked him what is the best advice his mother gave him he immediately responded: “Work hard.” As a wife of a hunter trapper Florence Nasogaluak worked very hard herself. Nasogaluak admired his hardworking parents and he tried to follow in their footsteps. In fact, despite his humbleness he revealed he is proud of something: that he never hurt his parents.

Later I asked Nasogaluak why he is proud to be Inuvialuit. For Nasogaluak being Inuvialuit is not a matter of pride but a matter of heart. He said that he loves to hunt and travel in this land; it is where he feels most free. Nasogaluak did not learn the language of his grandparents and parents but he loves listening to the elders speak Inuvialuktun. Even though he can’t speak it himself, his heart still understands.