A former NHLer and a member of Aamjiwnaang First Nation finally has his own NHL hockey card.
Jason Simon is one of eight players featured in the Upper Deck First Peoples Rookie Card collection. The set honours former Indigenous players who never had their own trading card.
Simon told Sarnia News Today that it's a huge honour to be a part of the group.
"I was pretty excited to hear that they were going to move forward because I wanted my own card for probably, I would say 30 years now but I kind of accepted that I wasn't going to have one."
Simon, now 53, played five games in the NHL between 1993 and 1997 -- four with the New York Islanders and one with the Phoenix Coyotes.
About three years ago, Simon was doing a presentation for a First Nation in western Canada when he was approached by Naim Cardinal, an Indigenous card collector, to see if he'd be interested in being a part of the set. The next thing Simon knew, Upper Deck had agreed to produce the cards.
"It's a huge honour for sure, absolutely. For me, it's a funny thing, when I do my presentations and I talk to the youth in other First Nations, the first thing they ask me is where's my NHL hockey card and do I have one? And the answer was always no," said Simon. "And it's so funny because the first thing I thought was I'll be able to pull my card out now and go 'here, here's the card for you.'"
Simon said his card came in this month after the pandemic had stalled the process over the past few years.
Nowadays, Simon spends his time visiting First Nations across Canada and working with school districts to get his message across to "dream big."
"Dreams do come true through hard work, dedication and discipline, anything is possible. If you have that mindset that you can achieve greatness, always know this that Jason Simon will be behind you."
Simon said it's not just about being a hockey player but rather whatever someone sets their dreams to be.
"Going off to college and getting that scholarship and that diploma or following your pursuit to be a police officer or a firefighter or a doctor or a lawyer. It's what you put in your mind that you want to be when you grow up and have that determination and that desire to succeed and the discipline to say no to drugs and alcohol."
Other players featured in the set include Dan Hodgson, Ted Nolan, Dan Frawley, Johnny Harms, Victor Mercredi, Rocky Trottier and Bill LeCaine.
-With files from Josh Boyce
Jason Simon's NHL rookie card. (Photo by Upper Deck)