INUVIK - A group of current and past Inuvik residents joined forces recently to win the Hay River Old-Timer hockey tournament.

The 11-player squad went undefeated in the Feb. 5 weekend event, which featured 14 teams from southern NWT and northern Alberta.

The Inuvik Mad Trappers pose with their championship trophy after winning the 14-team Hay River Old-Timer hockey tournament last month. The team was made of up of current and former Inuvik residents. Back row, from left, Ken Jacobson, Merv Jacobson, Mike Gravel,Paul Grech, Chris Hewitt and Franklin Carpenter. Front row, from left, Todd Moran, Dwayne Flett, Tom Williams, Owen Rowe and Dwight Flett. - photo courtesy of Todd Moran

Although the Inuvik Mad Trappers wanted to win, it was a reunion of sorts for many of them who, in some cases, played together on and off since the 1970s, said Trappers' defenseman Todd Moran.

"Everyone got along great," said the Inuvik resident. "It was a good dressing room. We didn't expect to win anything. We just wanted to have fun and play together with guys who haven't played together in years."

The playoffs proved to be no cakewalk for the hometown boys. Down a goal late in the semi-final game against the tournament champs from Yellowknife, Inuvik scored with just 11 seconds remaining, and completed their comeback in overtime by a score of 6 to 5.The Mad Trappers faced off against Grand Prairie, Alta., in the championship game, which they led for most of the match, until some late-game penalties allowed the opposition to claw back and take the lead. Thanks to some late game heroics, Inuvik scored on a penalty shot with just seconds left to tie the game. Once again, the Mad Trappers managed to take the game and the tournament in overtime, 6 to 5.

Moran said the team maintained good chemistry throughout the event, which helped them to succeed.

"We had good camaraderie. We played together as a team and we were lucky enough to win."

Moran said a few of the guys on the team came up with the idea of participating in the tournament a few months ago. They got some enthusiastic responses after sending a few mass e-mails to buddies.

"Everyone was keen to do it and like I said, we all had fun and Hay River deserves a lot of credit for putting on a really good tournament."