Sask. First Nation girls hockey team practises at Madison Square Garden

Gracie Arcand will never forget her March 16 practice with the Big River First Nation U-15 Rangers.

That's because the practice wasn't on their home rink back in northern Saskatchewan.

Instead, the squad practised at what is arguably the most famous venue in sports — New York City's Madison Square Garden — along with coaches from the NHL's New York Rangers.

"It's New York — it's such a big city, it's my dream place and I finally got to go there with my besties," Arcand, 15, said.

"Madison Square Garden is very big. It was very exciting because that's where the New York Rangers play."

Brenda Cromartie, the co-ordinator for Big River First Nation Reserve Hockey, says she got chills when she saw her players step on the ice of an arena that houses more than 20,000 seats.

"It was important for the girls so they could see what else is out there besides an hour and a half off their community," which is located about 120 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert, said Cromartie.

"If you work hard, you could attain it — the possibilities are vast, and I think they have realized that now."

Seventeen players, 12 parents, five chaperones and three coaches made the more than 3,500-kilometre trip to New York City. 

Cromartie says the girls experienced Broadway, shopped, watched the Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins and became the first team other than the New York Rangers to practise on their new training ice.

"Every step they took they were in awe," Cromartie said. "Everything meant so much to them." 

She said the late NHL player Jim Neilson is largely to thank for providing the opportunity for the girls. 

Neilson, who died in 2020, was born in Big River in 1941 and grew up in a Prince Albert orphanage before launching a