LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Having fun and achieving personal bests were the key components of a weekend hockey celebration in Fort Simpson.

Adrien Tremblay easily clears the hockey stick hurdle during the obstacle course that was part of the Hockey Day in Canada Skills Competition in Fort Simpson on Feb. 12. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

On Feb. 12, 25 people ranging in age from five to 50 participated in the Hockey Day in Canada Skills Competition in the village.

The competition was all about having fun and promoting hockey, said Owen Rowe, who organized the event and ran it with the assistance of Chris Hewitt, Kristen Morrison, Todd Roche and Shane Thompson.

Participants - including players from Rugrats hockey, minor hockey, the Moosehide Mammas and men's rec hockey - were challenged to four different events.

The hockey players warmed up with the faster skater competition which involved skating one lap of the rink while being timed.

The winners included Chris Stipdonk at 16.06 seconds in the men's competition, Sydney Rowe with 19.53 in the women's competition and Adrien Tremblay with 17.18 for the youths.

Up next was the obstacle course, which was Thaddeus Timbre's favourite event.

Timbre, 11, said he liked sliding under the hockey stick to the finish line. In the event, hockey players had to skate around four pylons, jump over a raised hockey stick, shoot a puck at the net and slide on their stomachs under another raised hockey stick.

The winners were among the ones who had five seconds knocked off their time for scoring a goal.

By finishing in 13.69 seconds, Byron Blyth won first for the men followed by Rylan Hardisty-Gillis with 17.60 for the youths and Alexa Tsetso with 20.60 for the women.

The players also competed in a shoot-out elimination event. Only eight players remained after the first round and following the third round Elohdie and Lia Fabre-Dimsdale were named the winners.

The competition wrapped up with a team relay event and a 20-minute scrimmage game.

"It was really fun," said Lia about the afternoon.

Lia, 11, also said she enjoyed the scrimmage at the end.

"You get to move around a lot," she said.

After they'd changed, the players were treated to a pizza lunch. Every participant also received a gift certificate to the Northern Store for a six-inch pizza courtesy of Rowe's Construction. The certificates mean everyone can say they were a winner, Owen Rowe said.

Although prizes were also awarded for each event, the competition wasn't about players measuring themselves against others, said Rowe.

"You win at everything you do as long as you try as hard as you can and have fun," Rowe told the players.

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