A 13-year-old Alberta girl made history at centre ice in Calgary's Saddledome on Saturday night when she became the first person to sing O Canada in Cree at an NHL game.

Akina Shirt, who lives in Edmonton but is originally from the Saddle Lake First Nation about 120 kilometres east of Edmonton, sang the national anthem before the Calgary Flames took on the Vancouver Canucks.
 
Shirt said she learned the Cree version of the anthem a year ago.

Akina Shirt, 13, took to the ice at the Saddledome Saturday night.
(CBC)

"I had to work extra hard in learning the words and practising it and I eventually memorized it and it just comes natural," she told CBC News.

Shirt sang to a sold-out crowd in the Saddledome and in front of hundreds of thousands of Hockey Night in Canada viewers.

She's gained a reputation as a lucky charm since she started out singing the anthem for the Saddle Lake Junior B Warriors — each time she has opened a game, the home team has won.

Saturday night was the first time she opened for a professional hockey matchup. And sure enough, the Flames beat the Canucks 4-3.

Shirt said the chief of the Saddle Lake First Nation told the Flames that they should have her sing the anthem.