INUVIK
Inuvik teams might have been shut out when it came to winning any of the divisions at the Gwich'in Cup over the March 1 to 2 weekend, but no one seemed to mind too much.

Shannon Baetz looks satisfied with her individual award after the Northwind team placed second in the midget championship game March 2 at the Gwich'in Cup. The team blew an early lead to fall 4-3 to a team from Tuktoyaktuk. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

Tuktoyaktuk teams were the big winners at the annual tournament, which marks the unofficial end of the minor hockey season in the Beaufort Delta region.

Tuk teams won both the midget and bantam titles, which are likely the most competitive at the tournament, which is sponsored by the Gwich'in Tribal Council.

In the midget final, the team stormed back from a two-goal deficit to overwhelm the Inuvik team in a 4-3 rollercoaster of a game.

It didn't appear that many on the Inuvik Northwind roster were all that broken up about the defeat, although losing after having the lead must have stung at least a little.

The game featured a scary incident in the first period when Shannon Baetz was levelled during some incidental contact with another player.

She lay on the ice virtually motionless for several minutes while she was attended to by training staff, who called for a neck brace.

She left the ice under her own power and appeared to be fine afterwards.

Baetz, who was awarded the most sportsmanlike player individual trophy, said she wasn't too bothered with the incident or the loss.

"I'm not too sure what happened, but I think I hit my head on his shoulder," she said, shrugging off the on-ice injury.

"It was a lot of fun," she said of the tournament. "A lot of our players are out of town, so it doesn't bother me much that we lost. Many of us have been on a team since we started playing hockey."

She was part of the PCM Pro's team that had won the IRC Cup B Division two weeks ago, and that helped make up for any disappointment in this loss.

Her teammate, Dang Dang Gruben, 18, agreed with her assessment.

"It was good, and I enjoyed the chance to be playing with my friends for the last time at this tournament. We won another tournament (the IRC Cup), so that makes up for it," Gruben said.

The Gwich'in Cup is open to players up to 18 years of age, so Gruben won't be eligible next year.

Baetz was one of several Inuvik players to win individual awards at the tournament.

Stryden Hult-Griffin won the best overall award in the peewee division at his first appearance in the cup tournament. Sam Skinner, Jesse Israel and Jacob Israel and Tyren Kisoun also won individual awards.

"It was a lot of fun," Hult-Griffin said. "And we won silver."

Tournament organizers used the same format for the youngest divisions that they successfully experimented with for the first time last year, said Carolyn Hunter, the president of Inuvik Minor Hockey.

In those divisions, the teams were selected at random from the participating players, rather than allowing teams from the communities to play.

Hunter said that prevented any lopsided results by dominant teams, and also allowed the players to forge new friendships.

"It was a great tournament," she said. "Yes, Inuvik was shut out of the winning teams, but it's good for Tuktoyaktuk."