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Players serious about ball hockey
Five teams battle for title in Four on Four tournament

Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 21, 2015

INUVIK
The ice might be gone, but hockey season continued at the Midnight Sun Recreation Centre on May 17.

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Lucas Lemieux was more than ready to play some serious ball hockey on May 16 at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

The second annual "Four on Four" ball hockey tournament organized by municipal recreation director Steve Krug drew five teams to battle for the title ... and just for fun, too.

"Well, no one likes to lose," said Duane Seward with a wry smile. "It's pretty competitive."

Seward said one of the best parts of the tournament is that it adds some activities to an otherwise quiet long weekend, noting the Victoria Day weekend isn't a big one for Inuvik residents.

"There's not much going on in town this weekend, and it's good to get out with my buddies."

Others are enthusiastic about the sport.

"We're all here to have some fun and get some exercise too," said Nick Saturnino.

"We lost in the finals in overtime last year," he added. "We're just the same group of guys who have played together for 15 to 20 years."

Their team which, like the others, didn't sport a name, went on to win the tournament.

Saturnino recalled how at one time he was the organizer for a recreational ball hockey league that ran for several years.

That was back in the days when there were "about eight gyms" to choose from in Inuvik, he said.

"There's no space for it now," he said wistfully. "There's no gym space now that there's only the two gyms at East Three."

James Day Jr., who was on the defending championship team, said "We're all friends, and we grew up playing together."

"We play a lot," added Lucas Lemieux, the team's goalie. "I love having this tournament, it's awesome."

Their team would finish second.

A team backstopped by Chris Church would finish third.

Several players said they didn't mind playing indoors, where the surface is level and they don't have traffic but a suitable outdoor facility was on their wish list as well.

"I enjoy playing outside," said Saturnino.

Krug said he rated the tournament's competitiveness at "around an eight or nine out of 10."

Fifty per cent of the fees collected from the entrants go to the winning team, adding to the zest for competitiveness.

Most of the players play ice hockey during the winter months, and some of the rivalries there likely carry over to the ball hockey session.

"I started the tournament just to have more access to interesting things," Krug said.

"The arena is here, why not use it? It's clean, it's dry and it's all level ... and you don't have to dodge cars.

"It's a long weekend, so maybe some people used to go out camping or whatever, but there are other people here looking for something to do, so why not use it?"

Last year, five teams registered to play, but two dropped out, Krug said, so he was quite pleased with the turnout for the double-elimination competition this past weekend.

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