Sagkeeng Old Timers

The Sakgeeng Oldtimers Hockey Club had its origins at the Sakgeeng First Nation, a community 100 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, with players ranging in age from 35 to over 50. The players were of Ojibway and Cree ancestry and came from native communities throughout Manitoba. The team was founded by Walter and Verna Fontaine.


The first language of the team is Saulteaux, and the club wears the red and white colors of the Fort Alexander Indian Band. Sakgeeng is the Saulteaux word for “at the mouth of the river”, and the community of Sakgeeng (named Fort Alexander by fur traders) is at the mouth of the Winnipeg River where it empties into Lake Winnipeg.

The team joined the Canadian Old Timers Hockey Association (COHA) in 1978 and played in international tournaments sponsored by COHA in Copenhagen, Denmark (1978); Toronto, Canada (1982); Munich, West Germany (1983); London, England (1984); Nice, France (1985); Paris, France (1986); Montreal, Canada (1987); and Montreal, Canada (1988).


The teams won the 1983 World Cup in Munich, the 1987 World Cup in Montreal, and the 1988 COHA National Cup in Montreal. The Sakgeeng Old Timers were honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and artifacts for the teams are there on display.
The roster of the teams included:
Bob Boyer, Don Campbell, Paul Chartrand, Rene Desjarlais, Ted Fontaine, Dave Harper, John Hunter, George Kakeway, Gord Woo, Wayne Viznaugh, Phil Fontaine, Walter Fontaine, Norman Gunn, Bernie Wood, Ken Young, Jim Neilson, Mercel Flett, Joe Malcolm, Ron Guimond, Gerald Harry, Jim Prince, George Hickes and Rene Norma


Ted Fontaine and Jim Neilson are also individually inducted in the athlete category in the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.