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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Two Fort Simpson hockey teams pitted themselves against teams from across the territory during the long weekend.

The Nahanni Inn Flyers and the Sub Arctic Eagles both competed in the First Air Tournament in Yellowknife between March 29 and 31. Of the two teams, the Eagles progressed the farthest in the annual tournament.

"It was just a motley crew," said Shane Thompson, who organized the team.

Puck bounced off goalie

Motley or otherwise, the team finished with two wins and one loss in the round robin of their pool in the E division. It was comprised of one female athlete from Fort Simpson and three from Yellowknife along with seven men from Fort Simpson and one each from Fort Liard and Fort Smith. The Eagles started with a 4-2 win on the Friday morning against the Wimp Warriors from Yellowknife.

They lost their next game to Joint Task Force North (JTFN), also from Yellowknife, 5-3. While the score was 4-3 the Eagles had a chance to tie the game, but Thompson said he was unable to get a goal as the puck bounced off various parts of the goalie's body. JTFN, however, got a lucky goal on an empty net in the last 45 seconds of the game.

"It bounced off the wall and ended up in the net," Thompson said.

The Eagles shook off the loss and came back to win against Bassett, a combined Hay River and Fort Smith team, 5-2. The win ranked the Eagles second in their pool and allowed them to advance to the crossovers where they lost 2-0 against Al's Cardinals from Yellowknife.

The Eagles had a lot of fun and worked hard over the weekend, said Thompson.

"The team played really well," he said.

Thompson said he enjoyed playing on the same team as his son Steven Thompson. The Eagles had a second father-and-son duo of Raymond and Darnell Horassi.

B division loss

In the B division the Flyers lost their first game, 4-0 against Tait, a Yellowknife team. The loss hurt the Fort Simpson team's chances, said Owen Rowe, a member of the team.

The Flyers came back with a 3-3 tie against the Midgets on Friday evening. The Flyers were down 3-1 against the Yellowknife team in the third period, but managed to score two goals in the last five minutes.

The Flyers had their first win in the tournament against Diamond Glass of Yellowknife with a score of 7-4 on the Saturday, but it wasn't enough, Rowe said.

The Flyers ranked third in their pool and missed advancing to the crossovers by one point.

The team, which had 13 Fort Simpson players and two pick-ups, still played well, he said.

Because the men's recreational hockey league in Fort Simpson plays pick-up games the athletes don't get as much experience in different game situations as players from larger centres like Yellowknife do, said Rowe.

"They are good skaters," he said.

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