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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It was a battle of the undefeated out-of-towners when the Nahanni Inn Flyers met the Rankin Inlet team in the A division finals at the First Air Rec Hockey Tournament.

Both teams had won all three round robin games in their respective pools before meeting on the ice in Yellowknife on Sunday evening.

Fort Simpson defenceman Owen Rowe patrols the blue line against Rankin Inlet during the A division finals of the First Air Rec Hockey Tournament in Yellowknife on April 12. - James McCarthy/NNSL photo

It was the first time in recent memory that two out of town teams have competed in the A division finals at the tournament, said Owen Rowe, the captain of the Fort Simpson team.

Yellowknife teams might have been excluded from the finals before but not since the 1980s, said Rowe. The final game, however, didn't end the way the Flyers had hoped.

"They smoked us," Rowe said.

The Flyers didn't capitalize on some early opportunities but the Rankin Inlet team did. Both teams had built their games on speed and after Rankin Inlet scored the first two goals they just kept on going, he said.

"It started at the top of the hill as a snowball and ended at the bottom of the hill as an avalanche," said Rowe. The game ended in an 8-0 shut out.

"Rankin deserved to win and it was good to play against them," Rowe said.

The competition between the eight teams in the A division was even throughout the weekend tournament held April 9 to 12. Any one of the teams could have won the finals, Rowe said.

Before the finals the Flyers were on a winning streak.

The team tied their first round robin game 2-2 against Subway. They went on to win 6-4 against Ace Enterprises and 5-3 against Weaver and Devore. Andy Williams, a goalie from Yellowknife who was between the pipes for Simpson, was named the team's most valuable player for all three games.

Now first in its pool the Flyers played Diavik in the semi-finals beating them 4-1. Mickey Ipana, a player from Inuvik who played for the Flyers, was the most valuable player for that game. In addition to the 11 Fort Simpson players, the Flyers picked up two players each from Inuvik, High Prairie and Yellowknife.

The most valuable player award for the finals went to goalie Nathan McPherson who made some good saves in the third period after coming off cold from the bench, Rowe said.

Overall it was a really good tournament with clean games, said Rowe. The Flyers weren't the only Fort Simpson team to enjoy the event.

After its win at last year's tournament the Moosehide Mammas were eager to get back to Yellowknife. This year, however, the tournament didn't have a women's division.

Based on interest from the players Fort Simpson fielded its first co-ed team, the Moosehide Eagles.

"It was a unique blend," said Rowe.

The 14-player team was composed of six women from the village -- one from Yellowknife and one from Inuvik -- as well as six male players.

"We were able to make it work," said Jennifer Thistle, one of the team members.

Positive attitude as well as a knowledge of the game and positions allowed the team, which had never played together before, to function, she said.

The Moosehide Eagles tied their first game in the E division 3-3 against a midget Yellowknife team. The team lost its next two games 4-6 to Lutsel K'e and 7-3 to the Yellowknife Wimps.

Going into the third period in its last game the Eagles were down 6-1 to the Wimps. The players knew it was the last time this season they'd be on the ice so they decided to go out and have fun, said Thistle. While enjoying themselves the team scored two more goals.

"It was fun, everyone did a good job," Thistle said.

Chris Hewitt deserves credit for organizing the two teams for the tournament as well as putting in countless hours for the Fort Simpson senior rec hockey league, Rowe said.