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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - The ice is long gone, but hockey action continued in the Fort Simpson arena last the weekend.

Six teams competed in the five-on-five ball hockey tournament, which was held on May 22 and 23. The action came to a head on Saturday evening when the Slab Slammers faced off against the Bushwhackers in the finals.

Holt Humphrey of the Bushwhackers, left, tries to get a goal past Nathan McPherson of the Slab Slammers during the finals of the five-on-five ball hockey tournament. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The game was a rematch for the two opponents.

When the two teams met at the start of the tournament in their first round robin game, the Bushwhackers lost 4-2. Right after that, the Bushwhackers went on to win 5-0 against the Makeshifts before trouncing the Fruitcakes 13-2, putting them in second place in the A division.

The Bushwhackers, a team composed of Clifford Antoine, Holt Humphrey, Kenny Harrison, William Blyth, Stephen Good, Liam Hardisty, Dave Lafferty and goalie James Erasmus, would beat the Makeshifts again before challenging the Flatfoots.

"It was a close game," said Clifford Antoine, who organized the team.

The Flatfoots and Bushwhackers traded goals back and forth until the score was tied 6-6. With little more than a minute left in the game, the Bushwhackers scored the winning goal, closing the score at 7-6.

The Slab Slammers took a similar journey to the finals. The team lost their second round robin game to the Flatfoots in a shootout. The score was tied 2-2 going into the shootout, in which both Jeff Cholette and Josh Allen scored goals for the Flatfoots.

The Slab Slammers came back to win 12-2 in their next game against the RCMP, giving them first place in the B division. The team also beat the RCMP again in the semi-finals where they won in a shutout 8-0.

The RCMP went on to take third place in the tournament when the Flatfoots forfeited.

In the finals, the Bushwhackers and the Slab Slammers seemed evenly matched. The first period with lots of scoring chances but no goals.

The Slab Slammers, however, scored nine minutes into the second period and didn't look back. They scored two more goals in the third period for a final score of 3-0 and the tournament title.

"It was a hard-fought battle," said Antoine.

"We were getting our chances but our puck just wasn't getting into the net."

The Slab Slammers just played an all around good game, said Nathan McPherson, the team's goalie.

The team also included Owen Rowe, Thomas and Anthony Roche, Sydney Rowe, Travis Hanna, Kristen Morrison, Jennifer Thistle, Jared Hardisty and Shawn Gillis.

The team played well defensively and also had some strong players, McPherson said.

"The two Roche boys didn't tire, they just kept going," he said.

McPherson, who organized the tournament as part of his role as the village's recreation co-ordinator, said he was pleased with the event, which attracted more than 50 players.

The co-ordinator is looking at the possibility of holding two more ball hockey tournaments over the summer.