National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Pats forward Shantz celebrates grandfather in game-leading performance

Regina, Sask.- The puck just caught the tip of Zackary Shantz’s stick and fluttered into the Moose Jaw Warriors’ net, setting off a chorus of cheers as the Brandt Centre lights flickered and music boomed.

The Pats forward beamed as he pumped his fist in the air in celebration- his goal and two assists marked his first three-point night in the WHL and helped carry the Pats to a 4-3 overtime win against their East Division Rivals.

But this day carried extra meaning as the players donned special helmet decals and fans in the crowd wore orange in support of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which honours the survivors and those lost to the Canadian Residential School System.

“It means so much to me, just seeing all people come together,” Shantz, from Sucker Creek First Nation, said. “I think that’s what it’s about, coming together. My grandfather was in a residential school, so I’m just playing for him and thinking about him in those games.”

Steve Willier’s time in the residential school system wasn’t something the pair really spoke about when Shantz was growing up.

Instead, hockey has been one of the threads that has connected generations of their family.

Both of Shantz’s grandfathers coached his dad, Tyler, who suited up for the Prince Albert Raiders in the 1996-97 season before playing at the college and minor pro levels.

Shantz was actually born the week his dad was attending a camp with the Edmonton Oilers in 2005.

As Canada’s last federally-operated residential schools finally closed their doors in the mid-1990s, Willier was coaching Sucker Creek’s peewee hockey team to provincial gold and was quoted in a Windspeaker newspaper article about rising numbers of talented Indigenous hockey players.

Now, he’s one of Shantz’s biggest supporters.

He was even in the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert when Shantz picked up an assist and scored the overtime winner in Regina’s season-opening win against Prince Albert.

“Him and my grandma came up to Prince Albert, they try and come up as much as they can,” Shantz said. “He’s always so supportive and always texting me and watching me whenever he can.”

For Shantz, pursuing hockey at the highest level meant moving from Sucker Creek- roughly 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton- to larger centers like High Prairie and, later, to Devon, Alta. to join the Northern Alberta Extreme of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, where he put up 23 goals and 23 assists for 57 points in 28 games at the U18 level.

He looked up to other Indigenous players like Prince George Cougars forward Keaton Dowhaniuk, and the pair briefly became roommates in Prince George before Shantz moved on to the Regina Pats.

Now, Shantz is setting the example for a new wave of aspiring hockey players- and giving his grandfather plenty of other reasons to cheer.

The 19-year-old is on pace for a career-best campaign and currently leads the Pats with three goals and three assists for six points in four games.

Regina is back in action on October 5 when they welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Brandt Centre.

WHL players and officials will wear helmet decals designed by Merritt, B.C.-based Metis artist Kim Vizi-Carmen for all games from September 27- October 6 and hold a moment of silence for those impacted by residential schools in pre-game ceremonies.