A look at the cheering section from Red Pheasant that made the trip to Saskatoon to watch Treycen Wuttunee play with the Oil Kings, Saturday. (Submitted photo/Jenni Wuttunee)

By Martin Martinson

A night to remember

Red Pheasant shows support for Oil Kings’ Wuttunee

Nov 15, 2022 | 6:00 PM

Red Pheasant Cree Nation was out in full force at Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre over the weekend, in support of local, Treycen Wuttunee.

Wuttunee, a prospect of the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, was called up by the team for their Saskatchewan road swing, with a member of the team away for Canada’s national U17 development camp.

Playing in four of the Oil Kings’ five games on the trip, it was the fourth and final stop of his call-up that made for a night Wuttunee will not soon forget.

Coming out of the tunnel, the 16-year-old looked up to see his own cheering section of family, friends and community members in the stands, who had made the hour-and-a-half trip to cheer him on.

“I kind of knew I was going to have a little bit of support there, but when I came out on the ice and saw how many people were there, it was just awesome,” Wuttunee said with an audible smile. “It was really humbling to be able to see how much support I really have, and it gave me a really good feeling that night.”

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Postgame, Wuttunee walked out to the lobby area to find his support section awaiting his arrival, smiling with signs still in hand, waiting to visit with him following the game.

“When I walked upstairs after the game there were about 50-60 people waiting to say hi to me after the game and I almost started tearing up there, it was pretty emotional for me and it was an honour for sure,” he said.

A look in at some of the support on display for Wuttunee at Saturday’s game at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. (Submitted photos/Jenni Wutunee)

Treycen’s mother, Jenni Wuttunee said it was something special to see the support for her son and their family from Red Pheasant, the Battlefords and around the area.

“Treycen had a lot of people come out to support him in Moose Jaw, Regina and Prince Albert, but the Saskatoon game was overwhelming,” she said.

“There were [so many] people in attendance to support and cheer for our son. The Battlefords, Red Pheasant Cree Nation and surrounding communities came out in a big way for him, and Mike and I are grateful for the love and support from our families, friends and communities.”

Upon the completion of the road trip, Wuttunee has returned to the Battlefords AAA Stars, where he sits second in team scoring with five goals and 10 points through his first 11 games this year, in just his second season of U18 AAA.

Wuttunee said while he’ll remain ready for the next WHL call-up when it comes, in the meantime he’s excited to be back in the Battlefords with his AAA teammates, and focused on helping however he can in the Stars’ playoff aspirations.

“It will be awesome to get back in with the boys and back to work as we start to make our playoff push,” Wuttunee said. “We’re trying to start getting some points on the board for our team right now, and hopefully I’ll be able to bring a lot of different things to the team after learning a lot again in the WHL, so I’m excited to be able to help out any way I can.”

Wuttunee and his AAA Stars teammates will return to action Wednesday night at home at the ACC in North Battleford against the Warman Wildcats. Puck drop Wednesday will be at 7:30 p.m.

Note: The game mentioned in this article for tonight (Wednesday) has been postponed because of the closure of the Access Communications Centre.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1