Color of Hockey: Thompson strong Indigenous role model as Northeastern women's captain

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of NHL.com's celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month, he profiles Taze Thompson, captain of Northeastern University’s NCAA Division I women’s hockey team and the daughter of Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson.

For Taze Thompson, hockey and Indigenous culture are intertwined.

The 22-year-old senior forward for Northeastern University’s NCAA Division I women’s team said some of her fondest hockey memories are skating on the Maskwacis reservation just outside of Edmonton and helping her father, Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson, run summer hockey programs for Indigenous youth.

“It was a big part of childhood growing up,” Thompson said. “We ran the camps for 16 years all over the place where my dad was playing or coaching, like Edmonton, Oklahoma and Windsor. My siblings and I always participated in them as kids and once we were old enough, we became group leaders and instructors.”

Thompson has taken those leadership lessons and is applying them on and off the ice at Northeastern, where she was voted captain by her teammates in her third season after transferring from Harvard University.

She is third on Northeastern (9-5-1) with nine points (three goals, six assists) in 15 games and was third on the team with a collegiate career-high 12 goals and fifth in points (20) in 39 games last season. Thompson has 67 points (29 goals, 38 assists) in 122 NCAA games and played on three consecutive Women’s Beanpot Tournament championship teams, with Harvard in 2020 and with Northeastern in 2023 and 2024.

“She’s just one of those players that just has a knack around the net,” Northeastern coach Dave Flint said. “On top of that, she’s genuine -- she shows up every day, leads by example and works hard on and off the ice in everything she does. I’ve had some good leaders here at Northeastern. Early on, what she’s done with this group, I’d say she ranks up there with the top leaders I’ve had.”

Thompson said she was honored and thrilled to be selected team captain. She’s equally excited as she waits to receive her status card for the Okanagan Indian Band in British Columbia, the band of her father and grandfather. She is currently a registered member of the Metis Nation of Alberta.

“Having status in Canada is more than a card,” she said. “It’s a piece of your identity. What comes along with it for me is being able to fully have that identity piece that you’re proud to show off, you’re proud to talk about.

“It’s a piece of paper that comes along with a lot of great things, but also it really keeps you tied down to your roots. Having that status card keeps me connected to other members of my family who are of status.”

Thompson has shared her Indigenous pride with her Northeastern teammates and others. The Huskies women’s team donned orange T-shirts for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, 2023, after Thompson had conversations with then-Northeastern captain Megan Carter.

The day, a federal statutory holiday in Canada, honors the children who were lost to and the survivors of the country’s residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

“The coaches were all behind it, and everyone was all-in,” Thompson said. “There was no hesitation about if we could do it or not. We wore the orange tape and orange accessories … it was so special.”

The residential school system was a government-sponsored, church-run network of boarding schools established to assimilate the country's Indigenous children, who were separated from their families. The schools, which opened in the 1880s and closed in 1996, were rife with abuse.

Thompson’s great-grandfather, Ralph "Cecil" Thompson, was a residential school survivor who died last year at 92. So was the late Fred Sasakamoose, who became the first Indigenous player with treaty status to play in the NHL when he debuted with the Chicago Blackhawks against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 20, 1953. He died on Nov. 24, 2020, at 86, five days after being hospitalized with COVID-19.

Thompson competed in her first Fred Sasakamoose “Chief Thunderstick” National Hockey Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, an Indigenous tournament established in his honor, in May on a team recruited by Sydney Daniels (Mistawasis Nehiyawak First Nation), who coached her at Harvard.

Her tournament teammates included twin forwards Kyla and Jordyn Bear (Ochapowace First Nation) of Rochester Institute of Technology and University of New Hampshire defenseman Sadie Makokis (Saddle Lake Cree Nation).

“These are all girls I met this summer who I look at and I’m, like, ‘This is incredible how much the game has grown in Indigenous culture and for women, especially,’” she said. “It was incredible to be a part of that, to see it and form those relationships.”

Thompson said she’s looking forward to seeing another Indigenous player next season when her younger sister, defenseman True Thompson, joins the University of Connecticut, which defeated Northeastern 1-0 in overtime to win the Hockey East women’s championship last season.

“It was a tragic fall in overtime," Taze said, "but at the same time, from a family perspective, if we were going to go down to any team, I'm happy it was the team that my sister will eventually go (to).”

Thompson said she’s looking forward to working with Rocky Hockey this summer in the Okanagan/Vernon, British Columbia, area, where a lot of family lives on the reservation, and other locations across Canada.

“The focus really is to bring positive Indigenous role models, healthy living and, of course, skilled hockey programs to places that normally wouldn’t get them,” she said.

As for life after college hockey, Thompson said she’s keeping her professional playing options open. She is a psychology major with a nutrition minor at Northeastern and is focused on becoming a registered dietitian.

“I would love to get my credentials as a dietitian to ultimately go back and work in professional sports like hockey,” she said. “A lot of NHL teams have registered dietitians on staff now that oversee all the nutrition behind the scenes like the postgame meals, the pregame nutrition supplements.

“I think just jumping into that right away after school is something I’m really attracted to so I can kind of establish myself in that field and maybe make a career out of it for myself to give back.”