'The birthplace of hockey:' Hockey Night in Canada to feature Dln, N.W.T.

It's been 199 years sinceDln, N.W.T., was at the top of the hockey world.

On Saturday night it will return to that gloryas a three-minute segmentfeaturing the "birthplace of hockey" willairon the openingHockey Night in Canada.

Quaker and Sportsnet partnered to produce thesegment, documenting a renovation project to Dln's arena kitchen,which will feature former NHL player Colby Armstrong.

The community has long claimed to be the origin of the sport, and Yellowknife's Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre does back this up as itnotes how Sir John Franklin first recorded the sport being played in the community in 1825.

But the sport's history in the North may go back even further.

"Local Dene oral history also speaks of people 'flying around' and playing on the ice," the museum website reads.

Logan Chambers, the senior director of marketing for Quaker at PepsiCo Foods Canada,says he has heard of other communities making that claim.

"We are certainly super proud to celebrate Dln and the history and we know they've been doing a ton of work with the government to more formalize that claim, if you will, based on the history that they have," he said.

"It's strong proof but we are aware that there's other communities that have other points of view as well."

Windsor, N.S.;Kingston, Ont.; and Montreal are among the places to claim the originof the sport.

Commercial features the community already

Some may have already seen the communityfeatured as "the birthplace of hockey" on television within the last week.

A commercial by Quaker Oats opens with a shot of Great Bear Lake and includeslocal youth playing road hockey,drumming and the Jerry Vital Memorial Arena.

"It was really interesting that a big company like that would be doing a commercial in our small community," said Leonard Kenny, who is on the Dln K'aowd Ke, or main council.

He says the choice to film there is appropriate,not just because of its love of the game but alsothe local appreciation for oatmeal.It's so deepthat Kenny says it even surprised Quaker Oats representatives who were visiting.

"To them it's only breakfast," Kenny said.

"But for the Indigenous people, most of the people in the North we've been using it to cook all kinds of our delicacies, like moose meat, caribou."

Chamberssays learning that oatmeal is used in caribou stew surprised him.

"It was certainly eye-opening to us," he said, adding a member of the scout team who tried the stew said it was "outstanding."

Along with the documentary and commercial, Quaker Oats updated the arena kitchen,added some industrial grade appliances and also stocked it with various Quaker Oats products.

'The arena is the hub of the community'

The renovation, commercial and documentary are part the Quaker Breakfast Bar initiative.

"What we've been doing is seeking out communities where the arena is the hub of the community," Chambers said.

The community is the home of both the Delne Braves and the Delne Chiefs, known as the Oldtimers.

At the Sahtu Secretariat annual general meeting in Fort Good Hope in late September, representatives from Dln talked about how important the rink is to the community, offering the youth an outlet.

In 2022 Dln's rink, formerly gravel, was upgraded to concrete.

That means that in addition to a smoother surface that will require just a fraction of the water needed to make the ice, the community can make use of the facility year round for soccer, roller skating and other non-ice sports.