Rankin Inlet (Sep 01/04) - With the 2004-05 NHL season shrouded in uncertainty, Kivalliq hockey pool lovers are taking advantage of the World Cup of Hockey in case it's the only chance they get to show their hockey smarts this year.

The tournament began Aug. 30, and features the best of the hockey world.

The World Cup of Hockey pits teams from Canada, the U.S.A., Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Moe Aupilarjuk was the youngest of the 11 players in the Rankin pool.

Although two of the players he selected aren't competing due to injury, he's still glad to be in the running.

"I still like my team, even with two players out," says Aupilarjuk.

"The talent was getting pretty thin for the last few picks, so I think I still have a chance."

John Hodgson has been a hockey pool player for the past 12 years.

He says when he was asked by Leonard Forbes to take part in the pool on the World Cup of Hockey, he jumped at the chance.

"First Leonard asked if I would be interested in taking part and, when I said yes, then he asked if I'd organize it," laughed Hodgson.

"I didn't want to walk on the toes of the guys who have been around for a while, but how do you say no to helping out a friend?"

Like most Rankin hockey lovers, Hodgson says the World Cup of Hockey is a chance to have fun with at least one pool this year, with a lockout looming on the NHL front due to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NHLPA.

He says the World Cup is a challenging pool, with so many high calibre players involved -- and the gap between them and the next tier of talent available.

"I'm used to pools that pick about 120 players out of the entire NHL.

"In this one, we picked 110 players from eight teams of 26 and that was tough after about the mid-way point.

"There were some interesting picks the last two rounds."