Gearing up at the Polar Bear Plate
Midgets use Rankin tourney to bond, prepare for AWG
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, February 12, 2014
RANKIN INLET/IQALUIT
The Baffin region was well represented at the Polar Bear Plate juvenile-junior hockey tournament in Rankin Inlet this past week, with the Iqaluit junior team attending along with a number of Baffin players on Team Nunavut's Arctic Winter Games (AWG) midget squad.
Repulse Bay players celebrate after defeating Iqaluit 8-6 to capture the Polar Bear Plate juvenile-junior hockey championship in Rankin Inlet this past Sunday, Feb. 9. - photo courtesy of Noel Kaludjak |
Iqaluit dropped the championship game 8-6 to Repulse Bay.
AWG midget team head coach Todd Gardner said Iqaluit's junior team was bolstered by a couple of players from Panniqtuuq, who are attending school in Iqaluit.
He said allowing any player from Team Nunavut to play for his home community in the Polar Bear Plate simply wasn't an option with the AWG in Fairbanks, Alaska, only about a month away.
"Nobody contacted me with a request for that at the tournament because they probably knew it just wasn't going to happen," said Gardner.
"Our AWG team entry may have lowered the numbers for a few other teams at the Polar Bear Plate, but it was a very, very important tournament for us.
"There was never any doubt any player selected to Team Nunavut, who was competing at the Polar Bear Plate, would be playing with our midget team."
Gardner said the Plate is a great tournament with perfect timing for the Team Nunavut midget squad about to head to the AWG. He said the event goes a long way in bringing the team together and preparing it for the competition it will face at the AWG.
"You couldn't ask for a better tournament, to begin with.
"It's exactly the same type of play they're going to be facing at the AWG with full body contact.
"Unless you play AAA midget down south, you're not going to find a better tournament anywhere to bring this team to.
"So, with only about a month to the AWG, it's a perfect fit for these guys."
Gardner said playing at the Plate brings the players together and makes them feel all part of the same team under the Nunavut banner.
He said prior to the Rankin tournament, the AWG midgets only had one game together during their selection camp and, really, didn't even know each other.
"I talked to the boys before we left for Rankin to point out that while it's always good to win any tournament you're in, the Plate is more of a team-bonding effort than anything else.
"We stayed together and ate together, just like you do at the AWG, so we could let the guys get to know each other better and get the friendships going.
"Most of these guys have been to the AWG before and know what to expect, so the biggest challenge I have, as coach, is to make sure they're all bonded together as a group because that leads to success at the Games.
"The guys really knew each other and played well together using this approach at the past two AWG, and we won a medal at both of them."
