A local hockey player has been recognized by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the "humanitarian of the year."

Dalyn Wakely is back home in Port Hope for the summer where he’s also a member of nearby Curve Lake First Nation, but he makes North Bay his home-away-from-home during the Ontario Hockey League season.

His focus was on more than just hockey during his second season with the North Bay Battalion though, as he embedded himself in the community through his Wake’s Sakes program which raised over $2,000 and 3,450 products in donations for The Gathering Place.

Every Tuesday from November until the end of the regular season, Wakely with a rotating cast of teammates, also prepared and served meals at The Gathering Place, a community kitchen serving North Bay's homeless and low-income populations.

Wakely’s efforts were recognized by the OHL as he was named the recipient of the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy as the league’s humanitarian of the year. In May, during the Memorial Cup tournament — the national major junior championship — he received the same humanitarian recognition from the Canada Hockey League, up against the other league winners Logan Stankovan from the Kamloops Blazers (Western Hockey League) and Cam Squires from the Cape Breton Eagles (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League).

Wakely said his desire to give back was fostered in the way he grew up.

“My mom and my dad, and my entire family really as a whole, have just always been people that have told me we’re pretty fortunate to do what we do and for myself just to be able to play hockey — I’m in a pretty lucky position to be able to do that — so anytime you’ve got that opportunity to give back and whether that’s through mentoring little kids playing hockey or kind of in the forum that I did helping the community and people that need help there, I think it’s just always been the message to do so when the opportunity arises,” Wakely remarked. 

Now 19, Wakely thought it was appropriate as an older player in the league to take on more of a leadership role this past season on his team, but also praised teammates, coaches and the Battalion organization for helping make the Wake’s Sake program a success.

It helped Wakely connect to the North Bay community.

“Anytime you’re in a different community I think it’s a learning experience and now just being able to meet so many new people, build those relationships, it’s pretty cool and I think that stuff lasts a lifetime.”

Back home, Wakely is also proud of his younger brother Sidney’s success, including a great rookie season with the Port Hope Panthers junior C club. He was the Panthers’ rookie of the year as they won their division in the Provincial Junior Hockey League before getting eliminated in the playoff quarterfinals. 

He also earned a silver medal with Ontario at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Winnipeg.

“We’re so far apart when I’m in North Bay and I wish I could be there around to see more of his stuff because he’s an unreal talent I think,” Dalyn Wakely said. “I think he’s starting to see a lot of his hard work pay off. For him to be able to experience the Team Ontario out in Winnipeg was unreal and I’m kind of jealous of the fact that he got to do that because that’s a pretty special thing to be able to do and the way he performed out there was pretty sick. I’m super proud of him, I’m his biggest fan and I just look forward to being able to watch him moving down the line here.”

For Dalyn, what his First Nation heritage means to him all comes back to family.

“When I think about Curve Lake and I think about everything my life has grown up with, I just think about all my family there and how tight-knit we are,” he said. “I’m watching my cousins and brother grow up and kind of play out their careers as well. We can’t do this without the people there and all of our families. I just always want to give my thanks to them when I can because they’re always out supporting me, whether (the Battalion) are in Peterborough or they make the drive to North Bay, they’ve always got my back and I’ve always got theirs.”

Listen here to the full interview with Dalyn Wakely: