Determined hockey-players snowmobile to Nunavut tournament

Players huddle in Rankin Inlet’s aging arena during last year’s Sakku First Avataq Cup hockey tournament. (PHOTO COURTESY OF RANKIN HOCKEY)

Rankin Inlet’s well-known hockey tournament got off to a bumpy start this week when blizzard warnings delayed the arrival of a number of teams from nearby communities by air.

But the annual Sakku First Avataq Cup proved that it draws some of the territory’s most dedicated athletes, when two neighbouring teams decided to make the trip to Rankin Inlet on snowmobile.

The team from Whale Cove made the first move late March 14, when players and crew travelled through gusting winds and low visibility to reach Rankin Inlet, after their flight was cancelled.

The trip, which normally takes about three hours on snowmobile, took six.

“There were a lot of prayers being said, but all of them made it,” said David Clark, the tournament organizer and recreation coordinator in Rankin Inlet.

The team had just enough time to rest, eat and lace up before hitting the ice March 15 to play the Rankin Inlet Miners, who beat Whale Cove 5-3.

Players from Chesterfield Inlet must have been inspired, because that team also opted to trek more than 100-kilometres by snowmobile March 15, arriving in Rankin Inlet in the afternoon.

But players will likely feel the strain — Chesterfield Inlet was scheduled to play not one, but two games on the evening of March 15.

“It definitely adds to the challenge,” Clark said. “But you do the best you can with the energy you have.”

The last of the 10 participating teams — from Iqaluit, Baker Lake and Coral Harbour — are scheduled to arrive March 16, when the forecast for Rankin Inlet shows the weather gradually clearing.

And tournament officials are still waiting on Repulse Bay and Arviat teams to arrive to fill out the tournament’s roster.

Clark said this isn’t the first time the tournament is faced with bad weather, although he says they’ve been lucky in recent years.

The Sakku First Avataq Cup, now in its 11th year, remains one of the community’s most popular sporting events.

But the tournament’s popularity also shines a spotlight on the community’s aging arena, which has suffered electrical problems, poor ventilation and a roof leak.

The 24-year-old building can only hold 500 people. Clark calls that a “huge issue” during events like the Sakku Cup, which draws large crowds from the community of 2,500.

But MLAs turned down a plan to budget $500,000 towards the design of a new arena last October, when they realized the scope of the proposal had ballooned from a basic arena to a multiplex recreation complex.

The plan was then re-submitted as a basic arena and the $500,000 approved March 8 during the recent winter sitting of the Nunavut legislature.

Clark said local residents are doing the best they can to support the project.

“We’re doing our part to fundraise, but we want to see more than design plans,” he said. “I won’t get excited until I see this project actually moving forward.”

The Sakku First Avataq Cup tournament runs until March 18. Hockey fans can follow the scores here.