Indian Horse

Toronto is very unfamiliar. A “mad jumble of speed, noise and people…There was nothing wild” (158). The couple he is billeted with are the Sheehans: Patrick, an ex-player, and his wife Elissa. At training camp, he is the only brown face and is roundly ignored by the other players. Only three of thirty players will be chosen for the team but the talented players around him “made [him] reach deeper, fight harder, skate more deliberately” (160).

Saul makes the team and trusts the ability of his teammates, making his passes “the solder that welded [their] attacks together” (162). Unfortunately, Saul remains an outsider to both his teammates and audiences. The press covers his play in racist terms, saying he is “taking scalps” or “counting coup.” As he says: “I wanted to rise to new heights.... But they wouldn’t let me be just a hockey player. I always had to be the Indian” (164). As in Ontario, he begins to be checked and hit frequently and in one game, snaps. A player from the rival team slashes him behind the knees and Saul punches him in the face. His game changes. He becomes a puck hog, and continually gets in fights.