Tootoo is more than grit

[Shoeless]

I received this pm from Burnsy00 a Dobberite out of Inuvik and I asked permission to post his pm intact because it's a good story about a guy who isn't always valued as a hockey player - how about as a person.

"Hi,

I noticed you mentioned Jordin Tootoo in the ramblings the other day and thought I would share something with you. Feel free to post to the public. I live above the Arctic Circle in Inuvik, NWT. My 9 year old son was in grade 3 last year and was one of 3 kids who had perfect attendance for the entire school year and the only boy at that and Jordin Tootoo came to his school and made a presentation in front of the whole school of 350 kids. He gave him an autographed stick and talked to the kids about things like bullying and the importance of health and eating a good breakfast to start the day. He stayed after the assembly to sign autographs for all the kids class by class. Before the school day started he was at the breakfast program that the school gets funding for to ensure kids who don't always have a way to get breakfast at home can get something at the school in the mornings. The kids up here see him as a role model and I was happy to shake his hand and thank him for talking to the kids. Tomorrow night we are getting a charity NHL game at our local arena of 12 NHLers for John Chabot's charity "First Assist" and Tootoo will be back for that. Our town is small of 3500 and the arena only has 325 capacity but the whole town is a buzz because of it. Check out the links I have below. I couldn't figure out why you mentioned Tootoo's heritage of being Inuit but glad you did because I thought I would share this stuff with you since you seem to have quite alot of followers on here.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/...knife-nhl.html"

Thanks Burnsy00

[Axeman33]

Great story. It's well known of Tootoo's legendary status among the Aboriginals. It hasnt been an easy life for Tootoo, so good for him for giving back.

[Bass56]

I would love to see Tootoo in a Habs uniform. Every game he played in Mtl, he made sure to reserve many seats (almost a section at times) for friends, family and fans of his town. You can see that despite his rough stuff on the ice, he is a caring and sensitive person deep down inside.

I know he was appreciated in Nashville (and most likely will in Detroit), but if Steve Begin and Tom Kostopoulos were worshipped for their heart and soul / gritty play a few years ago, I can only imagine what he could become in Mtl on an everyday 4th line!

Thanks for sharing this Shoeless!

[smoothfun]

Great story , I'm not surprised.
Life for the Inuit is far from easy , especially the youth , Jordin knows how important it is for him to give back to his community.
I've always liked him as a player and would love to see him in a Sens uniform!

[2Evils]

Good on him.

It's nice to hear something that makes you feel even somewhat positive about hockey/players these days.



.

[Bawston]

That's a feel good story, nice to see!

[A Watch]

Thanks for the post.

[Nehithaw]

Thank you for sharing this Rick and thanks to Burnsy00 for shedding more light on how cool Jordin Tootoo can be. I had already heard similar stories to this, so it's nice to know that others also know of his generosity and kindness.

[burnsy00]

It was a really fun game. I was able to watch from the time clock box for all 3 periods and the place was really into the game. Guillaume Latendresse had 5 goals and teammate Chris Neill had 2 goals and 2 assists for team white while Tootoo had 3 goals and 2 assists for team black. Also for team black Zack Smith had 3 points and Peter Regin won for team black in a sudden death shootout for an 8-7 finish. After the game ended they allowed the bantam aged kids to come on the ice and do a shootout against Craig Anderson at one end and Jody O'Neil (Dartmouth College Grad travelling with them) at the other end. My 9 year old got to play with all the other Atoms for 10 minutes during the 1st intermission while Marc Methot, Guillaume Latendresse and Tootoo came out and played with them. Chris Phillips boy Benjamin also played in that game. The kids loved it. It was great to watch NHL caliber hockey. About half an hour after the game Tootoo was the first one out in the waiting area signing autographs and was the last player to leave. He is truly a crowd pleaser. I have never heard him say no to anyone. He looked really tired but stuck it out, especially with people who brought kids as young as 2 to the game and asked him to pose for pictures. I met all the players with the exception of Latendresse after the game to shake a hand and get autographs for my own 2 boys and they were all approachable and easy to talk to. John Chabot deserves alot of credit for taking these players to the northern communities like ours where he was only going to get half of the $13,000 from ticket sales for his charity but still came this far north. A plane ticket for us to get to Edmonton and back to watch the Oilers play is about $1850 round trip if you don't have aeroplan points. So this game was extra special to alot of folks in our area that can't afford to travel for a regular season game. Thanks for posting Shoeless and thanks to those who read the article(s) on cbc and checked out the link in yesterdays ramblings from Jeff Angus.
Here are a few articles:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/...knife-nhl.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/...ne-inuvik.html

http://www.senatorsextra.com/main/nh...rn-communities

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ca...ref_map=%5B%5D

[dmvincent]

Great story, I remember watching Tootoo in the World Juniors and I admired how hard he played each and every game.

Very happy he's a Red Wing now.