Northern Ont. Leafs fan part of Indigenous Celebration Game

A young hockey fan from Manitoulin Island was recently asked to be the flag bearer at the Toronto Maple Leafs Indigenous Celebration Game.

Bryce Debassige from M’Chigeeng First Nation carried the flag at the Leafs game against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 11.

“The opportunity was just so exciting and it’s once in a lifetime,” Bryce said.

The nine-year-old said he was nervous as he headed out onto the ice to skate in front of thousands of fans at the Scotiabank Arena.

“I was scared at first,” he said.

Bryce’s mother, Taylor Sayers, said watching that moment was special.

“That’s something that, you know, some kids only dream about,” Sayers said.

“To see him skate and wave the flag and get the crowd going, I mean, I couldn’t even imagine myself as a child, but as a parent, it was just great to see him out there.”

Bryce plays for the Sudbury Wolves U10A team and is passionate about hockey -- and is a huge Leafs fan.

“He loves to play hockey,” his mom said.

“He’s always … doing something around hockey and participating in different games, and then also to going down to our local arena and participating in the free skates and things like that … He just has a love for it that you can really see when he’s out there.”

Bryce was a part of the Leafs development training camp last summer and was also invited to be a part of Toronto’s Next Gen game in December.

Held annually, young hockey players are introduced at the game as the future generation of hockey. This year’s edition took place Dec. 23 when the Leafs played the Winnipeg Jets.

“He was watching the Winnipeg Jets come out when they were announcing within the Scotiabank Arena,” Sayers said.

“The players, you know, some of them stopped and they were able to shake their hands and just kind of skate by them or tap their stick, tap them with their stick and just kind of give a little bit of a head nod.”

‘This is incredible’

Shortly after that experience, Sayers received an email asking if Bryce would be interested in being the flag bearer for the Indigenous Celebration game.

“When I got the email … I took a snapshot of it and sent it to my husband. And I just said, look at this. This is incredible. This is amazing," she said.

“Obviously we responded right away that, yes, he was more than willing to participate.”

After his big moment, Bryce was asked if he’d like to come back to be the flag bearer for the Leafs’ game last week against the New Jersey Devils.

He was given practice pucks from both the Vancouver and New Jersey games to take home as souvenirs.

Hockey is a family favourite sport. Bryce’s father played hockey and his two sisters currently play.

His great-grandfather, James (Jim) Debassige, was one of the co-founders of the Little Native Hockey League.

Bryce said he hopes to one day take his passion for the sport to the next level and become a professional like one of his favourites, Leafs captain Auston Matthews.

“I want to move up in the game and hopefully become an all-star,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to that one day and getting better and better.”