Growing up with his hair braids coming out of his helmet and speaking his Nsyilxcen language, Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) member Jeremy Holy Rider Tompson couldn't fathom attending a hockey school.

Anywhere.

Oh, how times have changed.

Tompson, from Vernon, parlayed his talent into three seasons in the Western Hockey League, and five years in the minor pro leagues. Younger brother Rocky Tompson also went the WHL route, was drafted by the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames, played 25 games in the NHL for the Flames and Florida Panthers, and is now the head coach of the New York Islanders' American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders.

"Forty years ago, going to hockey school, having long braids and speaking our own language is something that never would have happened,"

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