INUVIK - Before Dickie Mistaken-Chief participated in the World Pond Hockey Championship last year it had been more than two decades since he last played the game on an outdoor rink.

For Mistaken-Chief, who plays in the town's senior rec league, the experience of playing at the international event held in Plaster Rock, N.B., gave him an opportunity to revisit his younger hockey years.

Muskrat Cup organizers Rose Constantineau, the town's recreation programmer, and Tony Devlin, Inuvik's director of community services, stand on the frozen Mackenzie River close to where the three-day pond hockey tournament will occur. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

"I hadn't played on a pond since I was 10 years old," he said. "It's a great game. It's a more open game. It brings you back to when you were a kid when you always liked to be on the ice outdoors."

That explains why he plans to play in the first Muskrat Jamboree 3-on-3 pond hockey tournament March 27 to 29.

Tony Devlin, Inuvik's director of community services and event organizer, said the idea originally came from Sara Brown, Inuvik's senior administrative officer, last December.

In January Devlin travelled to Devon, Alta., with a team of town representatives, including the mayor and a crew of Northern games athletes who were participating in an Olympic Torch relay exchange visit. At the time Devon was hosting its own pond hockey tournament and a few of the Inuvik athletes took part.

Devlin said he was able to get a close up look at how a successful tournament is run and the benefits it provided to the town, which reaffirmed his desire to make one happen on the Mackenzie River in conjunction with the jamboree.

He said the town approached the Muskrat Jamboree committee with the idea, and the committee welcomed it with open arms.

"It adds to the cultural experience of the event," said Devlin. "You've got built-in infrastructure on the river and we won't be conflicting with any of the main events."

Devlin said he's unsure if the tournament will boast three or four 50 by 100 foot rinks. Nets are eight inches by six feet and will be goalie-less. Teams will be guaranteed four 30 minute games with two 15 minute periods.

Each game will be refereed. Action will be flat out with players changing on the fly. Slap shots are not allowed and penalties will result in goals for the opposing team. Rinks will be flooded after each day of competition and shovelled or swept between games.

Playoffs will start Sunday with the championship game on Monday.

The top three teams will get cash prizes with a $1,500 championship purse, plus a trophy.

Devlin said so far the tournament has garnered a lot of interest. Nine registration packages have been sent out. He guesses the event will attract 20 to 25 teams from the Inuvik and the Delta area.

Mistaken-Chief said he's concerned about the tournament's loosely-defined mandatory female player rule. Teams aren't required to play their female players for a minimum amount of time, which concerns Mistaken-Chief because he said it has the potential for taking the fun out of the tournament.

Devlin said although this year's pond hockey tournament will be a test run, he's hoping it will eventually grow into an international event.

In fact the town has already gotten interest from a large scale pond hockey marketing company in the south looking to promote the venue.

"You're playing on the famed Mackenzie River in the Arctic, which is a selling point in and of itself, said Devlin. "It's a growing sport and we're past the normal pond hockey season. We're not stepping on anybody else's toes. So we're excited about the possibilities."