A&K claims senior crown
Much discussion on hockey league format going forward
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
RANKIN INLET
A&K fought back from a two-goal deficit entering the third period to defeat White A by a score of 6-5 to claim the Rankin Inlet Senior Men's Hockey League A Division championship two games to zero earlier this month.
The Rankin Inlet Senior Men's Hockey League A Division champions A&K are, back row from left, Sean Smith, Brandyn Airut, Bobby Misheralak, Amauyaq Lindell, David Clark, Chris Connelly, Stephane Nukapiak, Keenan Eetuk and Wendel Kaludjak. Front row from left are Keegan Burton, John Maktar, Jamie Roach, Silu Oolooyuk, Kenny Saviakjuk and Craig Beardsall, in Rankin earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Noel Kaludjak |
White B also defeated Red B in straight games to claim the B Division title.
A&K captain Craig Beardsall said he enjoyed the two-division format used by the league this season.
He said the format worked in improving the competition level, and in providing more ice time for a number of players in the league.
"It was good to not see a lot of guys only getting a shift or two in the third period when teams shortened their bench in close games," said Beardsall.
"The two divisions were all about ice time and competitiveness and, in that respect, I'd say the approach worked pretty well.
"There were a few times with the scheduling and the ice times we had available, a team would go a week, or so, between games and that was pretty tough.
"There was also a bit of a wait between the two rounds of the playoffs because of the blizzard but overall, I thought it went pretty good."
Beardsall said the difference for his team in the playoffs was its forechecking and strong defensive play.
He said the team also had good chemistry throughout the entire season.
"I knew they were going to come out strong in game two, and they really had us back on our heels for awhile.
"If we had of had more time before the Avataq to make it a best-of-five series, I think it would have become a lot more intense.
"But we lost some dates due to weather and a lot of guys lose interest after the Avataq, so that's why we had to make it a best of three.
"We'll look at options over the summer to try and make the league better, but it's too early to say which direction we might go with things."
League executive member Andrew Simms said he also thought the A/B format worked well, and the hockey was good during most of the season.
He said the league would need more ice time to improve upon the format, but evening ice time is in high demand in Rankin Inlet.
"Even just one more slot would prevent teams from going seven-to-10 days between games, but our arena goes pretty much non-stop," said Simms.
"If everything were to work out - mostly with games lost due to the weather - we'd definitely prefer to have the final a best of five.
"If we narrowed down who was eligible to play in the league, like midget-aged players for example, we could probably pare it down to four teams in one division.
"That would bring back the old problem with some guys and their ice time but it seems no matter what we do we can't please everyone with the ice-time issue."
