INUVIK
The IRC Cup hockey tournament is back for another year and teams from across the Beaufort Delta and beyond have flocked to Inuvik to take part.

The PCM Pro Mechanical team, which includes Shannon Baetz, left, Matthew Skinner and Ryan Ballas, won the B Pool in last year's edition of the IRC Cup. The first game this year starts at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 18. - NNSL file photo

"There are probably about 250 players in total," said organizer Donny Hendrick. "There should be a lot of people in town, the hotels are all booked solid."

A first this year, the tournament has drawn a team from as far away as Whitehorse, as well as players from Yellowknife and teams from all across the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. With 16 teams in total, 11 of them in the B division, Hendrick said he was looking forward to this being a good year.

"There are more teams," he said, crediting former players with coming back to battle for the cup against new teams. "It's one of the good tournaments, it's a big thing for this region."

Games will kick off Feb. 18 at 4:30 p.m. with the team from Tuktoyaktuk facing off against the boys from Paulatuk. The opening ceremonies will follow at 6 p.m.

With a total of seven teams from Inuvik, Hendrick said it's good to see so many communities putting together teams for the cup.

"There's not much in the region for these hockey teams," he said. "This is the one that all the communities look forward to. They want to play in it, it's a good competition."

A member of the returning champions, the Aklavik Outlaws, Tim Gordon said the IRC Cup is always a good time.

"There's a lot of camaraderie and good, healthy competition," he said. "Some people love to compete and I'm one of them."

Gordon said the tournament really brings people from all the communities together and gives them a chance to play high-level hockey. Part of a new team himself, he said he was eager to see how the rivalry between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik teams EGT and Northwind would play out. He said last year, the Aklavik Outlaws came in and won against the top teams, and a repeat performance is the goal for this year as well.

"Kudos to Donny and his crew, and thanks to the late Roy Ipana, he was a mentor to us, and he started the whole tournament," Gordon said. "Great things happen every year."