LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - The new concrete at the Fort Simpson recreation centre was put to good use as it bore the weight of play during the second annual five-on-five ball hockey tournament over the weekend.

"It was a great time," said Chris Hyatt, who played on team Slab Slammers.

Sydney Rowe takes a swing at the net during the final game of the tournament on Sunday afternoon between her team, Slab Slammers, and Thor's Thunder. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

"(It was) good exercise, got my heart rate up. Just getting ready for the hockey season coming up when the winter hits."

The tournament started out with a round robin tournament, where every team played each other twice over Friday evening and Saturday. The playoffs were on Sunday.

The round robin games consisted of three, 10-minute periods with short breaks in between, and the playoffs had three, 15-minute periods.

The three teams were Cougar Bait, Slab Slammers and Thor's Thunder.

Each team played with a lot of heart and although that made for exciting play it did mean some very tired players by the end of the weekend.

The tournament's only weakness were short benches and each team suffered from a lack of substitute players. Thor's Thunder suffered the most from player shortages.

With no substitution the team faced a tiring 60 minutes, playing back to back games to open the tournament. Fatigue was definitely a factor to the team's winless streak throughout round robin play.

"(In) the first (tournament) we had a few more teams, but it still worked out really well this weekend. We had a lot of fun," said Nathan McPherson, the recreation co-ordinator for Fort Simpson, and the man who organized the tournament.

McPherson said nearly 30 people showed up for the tournament, though some only played a couple games.

There was an air of good sportsmanship amongst the players, which led to an easy-going, incident free group of games.

"We didn't have referees, everyone used the honour system - if someone got hurt, you stopped. If the ball went over (the siding) you stopped. (Everyone had) respect for each other and I think that was what made it fun," said Hyatt.

Owen Rowe, who played on Slab Slammers with his daughter Sydney Rowe, thought it was a good way to spend the weekend.

"They were all good games," he said.

"It's good to get people out. It's a rainy weekend, (we) can't golf."

"Not like the Edmonton Oilers who are going to be golfing all year," he added with a laugh.

Thor's Thunder, despite its tough luck in regular play managed to advance to the tournament final winning its first game of the tournament in the play-offs - 5-4 against Cougar Bait, bringing them against Slab Slammers in the final game.

Slab Slammers came out on top with a 5-0 win.