Kusugak wows 'em in TO

NNSL (Jan 13/97) - The phone rings at St. Michael's College School in Toronto.

A woman answers and says hello.

"I'm looking for a student of yours from the NWT," this reporter asks.

"He's a hockey player, Puujuut...

"Kusugak?" the secretary answers.

"Yeah, I know him. We don't get many students with a name like that," she says.

Maybe not. But Kusugak is becoming known as much for his prowess on the ice as his unique name. He's a gifted midget player in the Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League and is starting to turn heads on the ice.

Over Christmas, the Rankin Inlet-born forward led the Toronto Red Wings to a second-place finish at the prestigious Young Nats Midget Showcase Hockey tournament at the St. Mike's Arena.

It was the first time the Red Wings qualified for the tourney.

Although his troops dropped a 3-1 decision to an Illinois club in the final, Kusugak scored the lone goal and was named his team's most valuable player.

His exploits were featured in a xxToronto Sun article and his goal was shown on Toronto television.

The 17-year-old scored two goals and added an assist in four games. He missed the first two contests while visiting Rankin Inlet for a week.

"I was playing in the men's league in Rankin before I returned to Toronto and the pace of the midget tournament was just incredible. But I didn't have too much trouble re-adjusting."

Kusugak admits his goal in the final wasn't spectacular, but he recalls it vividly.

"It was a dump-in play. I got the puck and cycled it. There was a scramble in the corner and I went to the front of the net. I called for the puck and my line-mate passed it and I one-timed it in."

Although Kusugak plans to attend Grade 13 next year and play for the St. Mike Buzzers junior team, he says he might have caught the attention of Ontario Hockey League scouts who were in attendance.

"They never approached any of the players but our coach told us he was talking to them and they were interested in some of our players."

Kusugak says his coach stopped tabulating

individual statistics after the team's 18th game because players were putting undue pressure on themselves. Kusugak had 17 points in 18 games and the team has played nine games since then, so he isn't certain of his current season stats.

He had 49 points in 60 games last season.

Kusugak's Red Wings will travel to Hartford on Friday for a couple of exhibition games and a tour of Yale University. At the end of the month they'll travel to Lake Placid, N.Y., to compete in a tournament.