Team Rankin Inlet first TTM champs
Defeat Miners 4-0 in an all-Rankin championship game
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
RANKIN INLET
The first Terence Tootoo Memorial (TTM) Calm Air Cup senior men's championship saw two Rankin Inlet teams still standing when the championship tilt was ready to begin in Rankin on March 19.
Barney Tootoo presents the Terence Tootoo Memorial Calm Air Cup senior men's championship trophy to Team Rankin Inlet's James Merritt, left, and Chad Taipana after Rankin Inlet defeated the Rankin Miners 4-0 to claim the Cup in Rankin on March 19. - photo courtesy Noel Kaludjak |
Neither Rankin team had an easy time reaching the final.
Nap Karetak of the Arctic Chiefs fired home the 1-1 equalizer with less than 10 minutes to play in the third period of the Chiefs semifinal against the Miners, setting the stage for Panniuq Karetak's overtime marker to give the Miners a 2-1 win.
Team Rankin Inlet took on the always-dangerous Naujaat in their semifinal and withstood a late rally to defeat Naujaat 6-4 and confirm their championship date with the Miners.
Also competing in the first TTM Calm Air Cup were Arviat, Coral Harbour, Whale Cove, Baker Lake, OCN and Rankin's Team Todd.
The OCN squad did manage to make the quarter-final, despite only having a handful of players from their original roster willing to risk flying to Rankin Inlet with bad-weather forecasts book-ending the tournament dates.
The majority of the Rankin crowd, once again, went against the Miners in the tourney final; a trait that has lasted for a number of years now in Rankin Inlet.
The triumphant underdog story of the TTM revolved around Rankin Inlet goalie James Merritt, who was knocked out of action by a nasty ankle injury more than two months before the start of the tournament.
Merritt got his happy ending, however, when he was between the pipers to blank the Miners 4-0 in the final, and was then named the tournament's top goaltender.
The sometimes volatile goalie, known for his willingness to risk getting thrown out of games in order to protect his water bottle from the lips of opposing players, was poised and rock solid while guarding the crease this time around.
Merritt shared a bit of crease time with Kyle Misheralak during the TTM, playing two games in the round robin and two game in the playoffs.
He said he honestly didn't think he was ready to go as the tournament approached, but then he decided to give it a try in Rankin Inlet's first game against Baker Lake.
"I was a little nervous about it, I guess, because I got injured on Jan. 11, so I'd been out of action for quite awhile," said Merritt.
"I felt great on the ice during the game against Baker.
"The ankle was a little sore afterward, but nothing too serious.
"My timing was off a little bit to start, but it's a big tournament and everything felt fine as we went along, and I could feel myself getting sharper as the games got more important."
Merritt said the Miners are a good hockey team, and it was a sweet feeling to shut them out in the final.
He said he could tell during the round robin that the TTM was a four-team race.
"There were some good teams this year, but there were also too many blowouts for a tournament like this.
"If you were a fan paying to watch, you might catch one good game out of every four during the round robin and, I don't know, I just think the Rankin fans deserve better than that.
"You might see this tournament go with an A and B pool next year.
"The tournament would be a lot more competitive that way, and the fans would see a lot more close games instead of all the blowouts they saw this year."
