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Nahanni Inn Flyers lose their title in Yk Fort Simpson team struggles; player wants city teams to come to Deh Cho tournamentsRoxanna Thompson Northern News Services Published Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Fort Simpson Nahanni Inn Flyers were looking to defend their title for the third year in a row in the A division of the Yellowknife tournament from April 5 to 8. Instead, the team that was made up of players from the village, Inuvik and Yellowknife, got hung up in their pool. "That tournament is always tough," said Owen Rowe, the Flyers' captain. "We had really good games." The Flyers started off the tournament on Friday night with a 2-0 loss to Diavik. It was a close game but they just couldn't score, Rowe said. "The Diavik goaltender was really hot," he said. The following day the Flyers lost again, this time to the Hay River Ptarmigan Inn Huskies 5-3. During the game the Flyers were short one player and were also playing a little flat, said Rowe. This was the first time in a few years that Hay River has participated in the tournament and it was great to see them there, he said. The Flyers finally secured a win in their third game, beating Ace, a Yellowknife team, 6-3. The Flyers finished third in their pool with Hay River in second and Diavik in first. There were 12 people on the Flyers' team including Rowe, Chris Stipdonk, Travis Hanna and Jarret Hardisty from Fort Simpson. "The pick ups we did have played really well," Rowe said. This was the 32nd annual First Air Tournament and 40 teams competed. Rowe has been to approximately 25 of the tournaments. During the last few years the tournament has been hosted very well, he said. Reciprocation Rowe said the level of competition in each division has also increased. One change that he would like to see is for teams from Yellowknife to participate in the tournaments in communities in the Deh Cho including Fort Simpson and Fort Providence, he said. Everyone goes to their tournaments, he said, and reciprocation would be nice.
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