The golden Peewees return home to Nunavik

NYHDP Peewee players were greeted with applause as they entered the Kuujjuaq airport terminal Feb. 23 to a group of proud parents, friends and regional leaders. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

NYHDP coach Gary Joe Angnatuk and Peewee team captain Jimmy Kasudluak show off their gold medals at the Kuujjuaq airport Feb. 23. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

KUUJJUAQ — The cheers started as soon as the door of their Air Inuit Dash 8 aircraft opened outside the Kuujjuaq airport terminal.

The members of the Nunavik Nordiks Peewee team filed off the plane, each one wearing a gold medal around their neck.

The winners of the 40th annual International Peewee Tournament, held last week near Quebec City, were greeted with applause as they entered the airport terminal, from a group of proud parents, friends and regional leaders.

The group of kids, aged 11 to 13, smiled, obviously proud, but shy from the attention.

Team captain Jimmy Kasudluak, 13, has played with the Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program for the last three years.

But this was his first year as captain, and the first time he’s celebrated such a big victory.

The Nordiks won every one of their games at the Lévis, Que. tournament, which put them on top of teams from France and Switzerland.

Kasudluak helped lead his team to the 5-2 win against a team from Edmundston, N.B. Feb. 22 to win the championship. That was the highlight of the tournament, he said.

By the third period, the Nordiks knew they had the win in their sights, but the final buzzer was no less exciting.

“I was so excited,” Kasudluak said. “Everyone came out on the ice like crazy.”

Everyone, including the team’s coaches and volunteers, had goose bumps, said coach Gary Joe Angnatuk.

“The tournament went great,” said Angnatuk, 17, who lives in Quaqtaq. “They didn’t lose a single game and they had a lot of fun.”

Angnatuk, who just played his final season with the Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program, enjoyed his first tournament from the bench last week.

Just last year, Angnatuk hoisted the championship trophy from another provincial midget tournament, as the Nunavik Nordiks midget team captain.

Moving on to be a coach with the NYDHP was a big step, he said. “But I grew up with it,” he said. “And it’s good to get the younger kids into hockey.”

Angnatuk encourages other hockey players who have grown out of the program to give back to it through coaching.

“If they like kids and want the program to get better, they’ll stay,” he said. “I recommend it.”

Angnatuk plans to stay on as a coach until he finishes high school and goes south to study at college, he said.

The NYHDP Peewees and its other teams have won a number of southern Quebec championships in 2014 and 2015.

The NYHDP was launched in 2006 with the help of former NHLer Joé Juneau as a way to promote education and a healthy lifestyle. Its select program requires regular attendance at school.

One hockey dad who waited at the airport for the Peewees return Feb. 23 expressed a hope many Nunavimmiut share: to one day see a “Nunavik Tootoo,” in reference to the New Jersey Devils’ Jordin Tootoo, the only Inuk player in the National Hockey League.