Hockey madness
Tournament season set to begin this month in Kivalliq
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
ARVIAT/RANKIN INLET
With the holiday season behind the region, a large percentage of people in the Kivalliq will be turning their attention to hockey as tournament season officially gets underway this month.
Rankin Inlet rec co-ordinator David Clark expects the 2016 Polar Bear Plate midget-junior 'C' tournament to be highly competitive this coming month in Rankin. - NNSL file photo |
Gleason Uppahuak is organizing the JLM (Jon Lindell Memorial) Calm Air Cup from Jan. 22 to 24 in Arviat.
Uppahuak said this year's event will almost certainly be an eight-team event.
He said in addition to the local Arviat teams, Rankin Inlet is expected to send two teams, while Whale Cove, Baker Lake and the family-member-dominated Karetakers have all confirmed their participation as well.
"We'll try to get one game out of the way between two local teams on Jan. 21 to make the round-robin schedule a little lighter on the 22nd and 23rd," said Uppahuak.
"I'd like to have the round robin finished before Jan. 24, so the final day of the tournament will feature four playoff and two medal games.
"Round-robin games will be 15-minute periods, and the playoff and medal games will be 20-minute periods."
This year's JLM Calm Air Cup will see the winners receive $10,000, while second place is worth $3,000 and third $2,000.
A super raffle is also being held in support of the event, with top sponsor Calm Air putting up two grand prizes of a pair of round-trip tickets to anywhere the airline flies.
Uppahuak said the lineup of teams points to this year's tourney being another highly-competitive affair.
He said, on paper, it looks like any of the teams still standing on the final day of the event will have a legitimate chance of going all the way.
"Unless there are some real surprises, I expect every playoff game on the 24th to be very close.
"I know the 2015 champion Rankin team will be going all out to defend the title and match the Arviat Stars record of two consecutive titles, but it won't be easy.
"I was contacted by the Hamlet of Arviat to carry on organizing the JLM Calm Air Cup, and I'm working closely with the hamlet to ensure this year's tournament is a success."
Following the JLM Calm Air Cup, the tournament scene shifts to Rankin Inlet with the Powerful Peewees running Jan. 29-30, and the highly anticipated Polar Bear Plate midget/junior 'C' tournament running the following week from Feb. 4 to 7.
Rankin recreation co-ordinator David Clark said he expects the Powerful Peewee to be a six-, possibly even seven- or eight-team event.
He said the number of teams at the tournament depends on the number of peewee-aged players each Kivalliq community has registered in any given year.
"We hope every community is able to send a team each year," said Clark.
"But, however it works out, our goal remains to have players, if not full teams, from every Kivalliq community taking part in the Powerful Peewee tournament.
"I highly doubt any teams from outside the region will be taking part this year, so it's going to be a true Kivalliq tournament."
Bad weather forced the Powerful Peewee tournament to be played in two different segments in 2015.
Clark said because of that, there is no official defending champion this year.
He said, hopefully, that's a plus for the 2016 event, which he expects to be quite competitive.
"This tournament has been going for more than 10 years now, and the kids really look forward to it every year.
"The fan support has always been great for the Powerful Peewee tournament and I expect it to be the same this year.
"After the round robin, we'll separate the top teams to have two playoff pools.
"So, it will be kind of like having an A Division and a B Division champion."
The Polar Bear Plate midget-junior 'C' event is the only remaining annual tournament in Rankin Inlet to feature full-contact hockey.
This year's event is expected to boast eight teams, including the defending champion Iqaluit squad.
Clark said Rankin is hosting a month-long tryout to select its Plate entry.
He said the camp will feature a number of intense practices and inter-squad games.
"The final team will be picked about a week before the tournament to give the selected players a few practices together.
"It's a new way of doing it, and I hope it will all work out well in the end.
"Rankin may also enter a B team but that hasn't been decided just yet.
"We expect every Kivalliq community to enter a full team because the Polar Bear Plate is a well-funded, well-organized and well-attended event."
Clark said it's a little disappointing midget hockey is not being included in the 2016 Arctic Winter Games (AWG).
He said the AWG midget team will be missed at this year's tourney.
"The Polar Bear Plate was a good test for the midget boys going to the AWG. I have to say I'm honestly going to miss having that team in the Plate this year. It might be time for Nunavut's territorial teams to compete in Manitoba, instead of worrying about the AWG.
"We'd still have our own branch, but we'd get to compete in the AA bracket of the Manitoba provincials in every age group from atoms up to midget and I see that as more beneficial to hockey development in Nunavut than concentrating on the AWG."
