KIVALLIQ/WINNIPEG
The Kivalliq Junior Canucks atoms team stunned the aboriginal hockey world by capturing the Manitoba Indigenous championship in Winnipeg this past month.

The Canucks atoms ran-up against Cross Lake in the final of the double-knockout tournament, having to beat the Manitoba team twice, with Kivalliq having lost one game up until that point and Cross Lake being undefeated.

Kivalliq took the first game of the final 6-4 to even the series before claiming the championship banner with a heart-pounding win in the final game, withstanding a furious attack by Cross Lake in the final two minutes to hang on for a 5-4 victory.

The win capped an incredible run of five games played in eight hours for the victorious Junior Canucks.

Team manager Gleason Uppahuak said the tournament was an emotional thrill ride for the players.

He said it was an unbelievable feeling when the final buzzer sounded and the Kivalliq Junior Canucks were the new Manitoba Indigenous atoms champs.

"Every game Sunday rattled my nerves in a way only hockey can," laughed Uppahuak.

"Our players were on top of the world as they kept winning and moving closer and closer to the final on Sunday.

"It was a 10 out of 10 on the excitement level, and I was so proud that our players kept digging deep, never running out of gas during those Sunday games.

"Even at that young age, five games in eight hours is a lot to ask, but they kept coming up big, with every game being a do-or-die situation."

Uppahuak said the Junior Canucks' only loss was against Sagkeeng, who were the second-last team eliminated from the tourney.

He said going into the final, he knew it was going to take everything the Junior Canucks had left in the tank, and then some, to beat Cross Lake in back-to-back games.

"I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown jumping around during the last couple of minutes in the final when everything went crazy.

"The whole crowd was screaming, just going nuts, as Cross Lake pulled their goalie and all the play seemed to take place in front of our net.

"For the last 30 seconds, it was all just a wild scramble in front of our goalie with players slapping at the puck and going down on the ice everywhere.

"Cross Lake did everything except tie it up as our goalie (Jimmy Ollie) just kept making big save after big save to turn them away."

David Clark of Rankin Inlet coached both the Kivalliq Junior Canucks atoms and peewee teams at the Manitoba Indigenous tourney.

Uppahuak said he was happy to give the Top Coach banner to Clark, who did an awesome job with both teams.

He said Clark does an outstanding job communicating with the players, and motivating them to dig that much deeper inside themselves when the games are tight.

"In my opinion, David is one of the best coaches in Nunavut right now.

"The communication skills he has with the players are second to none, and the players all really respect him.

"We should take the next step - after sending the atoms to this tournament in 2016 and the atoms and peewees in 2017 - to keep sending more Kivalliq regional teams there.

"The tournament goes all the way up to midget, and I'd really like to see us be able to add, at least, the bantams to the teams we take next year."

Uppahuak said as the tournament went on, more and more coaches and other hockey people were surprised by how well the Kivalliq atoms continued to do.

He said a number of coaches approached him to ask where they were from, how much hockey they played and how they went about selecting the team.

"These tournaments are very well organized and the people running them are very friendly.

"The kids had a blast and made a lot of new friends.

"We were about 50-50 this year, with half the players returning from the 2016 tournament and half of them being rookies.

"The level of our hockey will continue to go up if we keep competing at events like this, and it's time to get a Kivalliq Junior Canucks bantam team involved in the 2018 event."

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