DELINE/FORT FRANKLIN
When Deline RCMP Cst. Neal Machek took to the ice in his red serge uniform for a little shinny on Remembrance Day, he did not expect to become an Internet sensation.

Cst. Jason Ellefsen, left, and Cst. Neal Machek face off on Great Slave Lake in Deline on Nov. 11 after Remembrance Day services. - photo courtesy of Deline RCMP

Machek and fellow Cst. Jason Ellefsen were heading home after Remembrance Day services at the school in Deline on Nov. 11 when they decided to go get their skates, clear a little snow off the ice on Great Bear Lake and play some hockey. Then, Ellefsen took a video of the game and posted it to YouTube, where it quickly garnered 17,000 views.

Ellefsen actually posted the video to YouTube then someone from the community tweeted out a photo of their game and that got the ball rolling on all the Internet attention, Machek said. He added the idea to go out on the lake not a big planned event in advance and was fairly impulsive.

"I just wanted a memento for myself and my partner wanted one as well just to show we skated in the birthplace of hockey outside where the game was born. We just wanted to put a picture up at the house showing that we had done that," Machek said. "It shows that police officers are human too and enjoy sport. We all had dreams of playing hockey but not all of us could make it."

Machek said they knew the ice would be safe in that area because they could see snowmobile and moose tracks already on the snow.

"We thought if the ice is thick enough to support them then we figured it would be thick enough to support us," Machek said. "We just took our high browns (boots) off and threw on some skates, grabbed out sticks and gloves and went out there."

Machek said that they had to clear very little snow and that the wind had blown most of the snow off that part of the lake making it ideal for an outdoor rink. Machek's wife Shelagh Machek was with them at the time and took both video and still photos of the two officers out on the ice. He said that he and Ellefsen were not cold despite being dressed in only their dress uniforms and stetson-style hats.

"It wasn't too bad. The ears got a little cold and my face a little bit. But the serge is pretty warm. My wife was really cold standing there taking photos and video. It was only like -10 C or -11 C but it was pretty windy. It was probably about -20 C with the windchill.

Machek said the images were taken for themselves - he had no intention originally of posting the video to YouTube. He said he is well aware of Deline's claim of being the birthplace of hockey and said that was on his mind when they took to the ice.

"When I came here I looked into it a little bit. I know that Windsor, Nova Scotia also claims to be the game's birthplace. But the two towns are trying to make a claim based on evidence that they deemed the sport had been played outdoors on a lake near their city. For Deline it was John Franklin who had journal entries saying that he and his crew had enjoyed skating as a pastime. He also had written a letter back to England saying that his crew enjoyed playing hockey out in front of their post in Deline where they wintered in 1825."

Machek said he was happy to draw some attention to the community of Deline with his video.

MLAs voted for Deline to be named the birthplace of hockey in 2006.

"So I am not the only one," he said.

The video has had views from as far away as Texas, Machek said, adding he has also heard that people would like to see the image of them on the ice on a postage stamp.

Machek has been a Mountie in Deline for just over a year but has been in the North just over four years in total.

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