Two Jr. B Canadiens players receive the Athletic Legacy Scholarship 

Noah Balmer and Jacob Leroux were both awarded the Athletic Legacy Scholarship by the Metis Nation of Alberta and St. Paul Canadiens Alumni Foundation on Saturday night after the NHL Indigenous Alumni game. 

The $2500 scholarship is given to an individual for their excellence in school, athletics, and community. 

“We are excited, this is the beginning of carving out not only this program but other programs we have in place around education and scholarships,” said Patrick Lamoureux, Board President for the Canadiens. 

“We are trying to give back and provide a clear path for young men who play for the St. Paul Canadiens and use education as that platform so they can have something meaningful to work towards building their working career.”

The Metis Nation of Alberta and Rupertsland Institute, Metis Centre of Excellence was a part of the night presenting the scholarships after the NHL Indigenous alumni game where Metis youth could have an on-ice experience with former NHL players. 

“It’s an honour to receive a scholarship of that size and to know that the community is behind the youth within it. It will ease some of the prices of going to school, and help me get the basic tools I’ll need. It’s good to see the Metis association acknowledging the work put into school,” said Jacob Leroux.

This spirit of the Canadiens board continues to recognize Indigenous and Metis players that have played for the Canadiens for the past 68 years.  

“I wanna say thank you to the Metis Nation and the Alumni, it was really nice of them, generous, and I’m thankful for that,” said Noah Balmer. 

The Canadiens Alumni Foundation has awarded scholarships in the past to St. Paul Jr. B players and continues to build its scholarship program. Just last year, two Canadiens players were recipients sponsored by Saik Insurance and MCSNet.

“We have preset very detailed criteria that a nominee has to have strong academic results, responsibilities away from hockey and school and they have to be in good standings, and in this particular scholarship they had to validate that they are a registered Metis of Alberta member or citizen,” said Lamoureux.

The Canadiens faced the Onion Lake Border Chiefs later that night and won 6-0 a shutout for Ethan Campbell, who is now back in the net. 

Canadiens will take on the Wainwright Bisons on Jan. 20 at the Clancy Richard Arena at 8:00 p.m., a pivotal game at the top of the NEAJBHL standings, and their last regular season meeting. 

The Canadiens are ahead of the Bisons for first place by two points, but the Bisons have two games in hand.