Wolves howl in Thompson
Arviat goes undefeated to claim A Division crown
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
ARVIAT
The Arviat Wolves went undefeated in both round-robin and playoff action on the way to capturing the A Division title at the 2017 Prince Berscheid Thompson peewee tournament championship in Thompson, Man., earlier this month.
Arviat Wolves Cayla Kablutsiak, Tucker St. John, Abel Ukutak and Jason Curley Jr., from left, accept the 2017 Prince Berscheid Thompson peewee tournament A Division championship trophy in Thompson, Man., earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Gleason Uppahuak |
The Wolves travelled to Thompson with 15 players, using nine forwards, five defencemen and one goaltender.
Team manager Gleason Uppahuak said going through the entire tournament undefeated was a special time for the Arviat squad.
He said he'd like to return to Thompson one day and compete in the tournament's highest level, the AA Division.
"David Clark of Rankin Inlet -who is looking after the two regional atom and peewee teams with me -and I both agreed we were better suited for the A Division again this year, and that decision certainly paid off," said Uppahuak.
"Ryan St. John did a great job handling the head coaching duties in Thompson.
"We received excellent goaltending from Ryan's son, Tucker, throughout the tournament, which gave us a chance to win every game, but I never thought coming in that we'd go undefeated.
"The action went back and forth pretty good for the first two periods of the championship game, but we kept getting stronger as the game went on and we pulled away in the third period to win the gold-medal game by a score of 7-1."
Uppahuak said a number of Arviat teams have been saddled with the reputation of running out of gas late in games during the past few years.
He said he's excited about the young crop of players coming up in the Arviat system, and the days of Arviat teams tiring after two periods will soon be a distant memory, in his opinion.
"We are becoming the new team that goes hard for all three periods, and I'm confident things are going to continue to go that way.
"It's true that Arviat teams were getting known for playing two great periods of hockey, and then just dying in the third period.
"But this is the new breed of Arviat players, who will keep playing hard right to the end of each and every game.
"Tucker faced about 35 shots a game during the tournament and never let up for a minute, so we look to have a pretty strong future between the pipes, too."
The A Division championship was especially sweet for Uppahuak this year, as his family plans to move south for a few years following this hockey season.
Going out on a winning note and leaving a solid minor-hockey foundation in the community when he departs is important to Uppahuak, who said the Arviat kids haven't finished adding to the trophy case this year -not by a long
shot.
"The kids are really pumped after playing so well in Thompson, so we've got some good momentum built-up now heading to the rest of the tournaments we'll be participating in.
"We're sending teams to the Powerful Peewee and Arctic Atoms tournaments in Rankin Inlet, as well as the Munn Cup in Manitoba in the middle of February.
"Watching our teams get ready, I have a really good feeling that we're going to find ourselves in the final of every tournament we enter this year for both the atoms and the peewees.
"Our players always look forward to playing in Rankin Inlet, and they're pretty pumped for both the Powerful Peewee and the Arctic Atoms this coming weekend."
The Arviat players have been practising hard this year, taking to the ice four times a week, but travelling to southern tournaments is not cheap.
Playing in the Thompson tourney cost the Arviat Wolves more than $30,000.
The team did its own fundraising to attend the event, earning the money from bingo slots, teen dances, penny sales, giant raffle draws and bake sales.
Uppahuak said even though bad weather delayed their trip for a day, the players "had a blast" at the event.
He said the tournament organizers were gracious enough to reschedule Arviat's first game from the afternoon to the evening, so they didn't have to start the tournament with a forfeit.
"For the most part, we've received really good support from the parents this year.
"They've been behind us all the way, and they've been helping us a lot with our fundraising and stuff.
"The only real hiccup we've had so far this season, was having two or three of our players show up just one week prior to the Thompson tournament and expecting to still be put on the roster.
"These days you need travel permits, and you have to have your official roster in well before the tournament, so we couldn't take them.
"It was heartbreaking that they couldn't go, but everyone has to follow the rules today and that's all there is to it."
