JULY 15, 1980

CREE NHL PLAYER JONATHAN CHEECHOO BORN

A member of the Cree First Nation tribe from Moose Factory, Ontario (ON), Jonathan, at age 14, left home to play bantam hockey. After 3 seasons with the Belleville Bulls of the ON Hockey League (OHL), he joined the San Jose Shark’s AHL affiliate, the Kentucky Thoroughblades/Cleveland Barons, in 2000. In 2002-03 season, Cheechoo joined San Jose and had 10 points in 17 playoff games. In the 2005–06 season, paired with center Joe Thornton, Cheechoo netted a franchise record 56 goals and 93 points–the 1^st Sharks player to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy and 2nd aboriginal player to score 50+ goals in a season. In 2006, Cheechoo signed a 5-year contract extension, however, his production dropped off and, in September 2009, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators. Waived by the Senators in February 2010, he played in the AHL & in Europe before retiring from hockey on March 6, 2018. In 2023, Jonathan was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.

Sources:

Ben Powless, “Jonathan Cheechoo honoured for his pro hockey career, Local Journalism Initiative, 3/31/2023.  Retrieved 5/2/2023, Jonathan Cheechoo honoured for his pro hockey career (yahoo.com)  Jonathan Cheechoo honoured for his pro hockey career (yahoo.com)

Wikipedia

Photo:  Ivan Makarov, 2/12/2008. Permissive Use.