Indigenous boy gets opportunity to travel with the Edmonton Oilers

Dean Ward, along with his friend and kokum Violet, at the airport ready to fly to Las Vegas. Photo by Air Canada.

Dean Ward, a 12-year-old Indigenous boy who resides in Edmonton, devotes his life to hockey. He’s a member the Hockey Education Reaching Out Society (HEROS) in the city, while also being a big Edmonton Oilers fan.

On Feb. 6, the Oilers were looking to tie the longest win streak in NHL history at 17, and all they needed was a win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Sin City to do so. Through the Air Canada Fan Flight program, Dean was selected to travel to Las Vegas, along with his friend (who remained unnamed) and his kokum Violet Ward, to watch the Oilers practice and potentially make history.

Despite the Oilers losing that game, Dean said that he has been very popular in his school and hockey team since he came back from Las Vegas.

“When I went back to my hockey team that Wednesday, I walked into the room and they were like ‘not you, you made the Oilers lose.’ I just laughed at them,” Dean said.

Listen to the radio segment featuring Dean & Violet below: