Rankin Rock claim peewee crown
Coach/organizer looks to add bantams to regional tourneys
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
RANKIN INLET/KIVALLIQ
The Rankin Rock scored a short-handed goal with two minutes left in the first overtime period to defeat Coral Harbour 4-3 and claim the Powerful Peewees title in Rankin Inlet on April 2.
Rankin Rock A players Terence Pilakapsi, Koby Connelly and Justin Towtongie, from left, are presented with the Powerful Peewees championship trophy by their head coach, David Clark, in Rankin Inlet on April 2. - photo courtesy of James Connelly |
The tournament shaped up to be a three-team race for the championship between Coral, Rankin and Arviat.
Tournament organizer and Rankin Rock coach David Clark said the event went well despite its two-week delay due to bad weather.
He said the crowds were a bit smaller than usual, thanks to the nice weather that settled in for the weekend of the event, but playoff Sunday had its normal sold-out crowd.
"We saw a lot of great hockey played by a number of good little players at the peewee tournament," said Clark.
"All the kids made it in this time and there were no flight problems, either coming or going, that I'm aware of.
"It was an awesome way to bring the season to a close in Rankin and I'm glad it's over."
The level of skill dropped off noticeably behind the top three teams, but the final placement games for fifth to seventh place were hotly contested for bragging rights during the summer.
When the final horn sounded to end the season in Rankin, there was no doubt the kids who gathered for the Powerful Peewees ended things on a positive note.
Clark said the final was among the best peewee games played in Rankin Inlet during the past four or five years.
He said he was getting a strong sense of deja vu as the final went into overtime.
"I coached the Rankin Rock atoms team in 2016, which also defeated Coral Harbour in overtime to take the championship, so it was pretty special to have a number of kids play in both finals.
"It was also a pretty incredible feeling to win both championships in overtime, and be up against a strong Coral Harbour team both times.
"This game could have gone either way with the great goaltending going on at both ends of the rink, and the kids on both teams skating their hearts out.
"It's tough to have a losing team in games like that, but I was happy to come out on top with the Rankin kids after coaching that group all year and seeing how much work they put into their hockey."
Clark said Coral Harbour has had a solid program in place with the peewee and atoms during the past few years.
He said he'd like to see Coral be able to attend more tournaments in the south, or, at least, have their top players suit up for the regional Junior Canucks this coming year.
"Gleason Uppahuak of Arviat and I are trying to turn the Junior Canucks into an ongoing developmental program to expose our top regional players to a higher level of play in the south.
"If we get our top players down there, they may be noticed by a team in the south, and, at the very least, they'll gain valuable experience that might lead to something one day.
"We have a good bunch of kids at these levels right now, and, as a coach, you get more familiar with the players when you're able to attend southern competitions in addition to our own Arctic Atoms and Powerful Peewees championships.
"They're producing some skilled players in Coral right now, and I'd love to add their top players to our regional team in the coming year."
Clark was unsuccessful during the past two years with his efforts to obtain funding for a regional bantam championship in Rankin.
He said while the funding doesn't cover the entire cost of the tournament, it's too expensive to host the regional championship without it.
"We have the atoms and peewee tournaments, and the Polar Bear Plate, which involves our midget players, so, we have a gap between the peewees and the midgets - a very important year developmentally for the players - and we leave the bantams without a regional championship.
"I'm hopeful we'll either find specific funding, or another way of making the bantam tournament happen during the upcoming season.
"It reminds me of how I revived the Polar Bear Plate because, at the beginning, it was tough to secure funding, but, once we got things going and people saw how good the tournament actually was, it became a little easier after that.
"The bantam age group is quite important because the kids are ready for body contact, and they're starting to participate in the Arctic Winter Games and other big events in the North, so it's a gap we need to fill and I hope enough people get on board with my thinking so we're able to make it happen."
