Nunavut men’s hockey tourney honours memory of drowned hunters

Pitseolak Alainga, right, checked in on his brother Matthew’s woodwork shop at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit, Dec. 3, where Matthew was starting to work on the Qaqsauq Cup, a hockey tournament trophy which will honour the memory of their father Simonie and seven other men who perished in a boating accident in October 1994. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

Pitseolak Alainga, like many in Iqaluit, remembers his father Simonie as a respected elder, an exceptional hunter, and a huge fan of ice hockey.

Simonie died in a disastrous boating accident during a walrus-hunting expedition that took the lives of eight hunters, 20 years ago.

Pitseolak and fellow hunter Billy Kownirk were members of the ill-fated crew that met disaster in frigid waters at the mouth of Frobisher Bay in 1994 — but they miraculously survived by clinging to the wreckage of the 34-foot vessel, called the Qaqsauq, for three days.

Memories of Nunavut’s worst boating accident still linger, two full decades later, among families who lost relatives, Alainga says.

Their memory will be honoured at Iqaluit’s new top-level hockey tournament, which takes the name of the hunting vessel: the Qaqsauq Cup.

“It’s going to help out the other families too, to recover from the accident,” said Alainga, who remarked that he and Kownirk have gotten more than enough attention for their feat of survival.

Both men were honoured earlier this past spring with a Nunavut Commissioner’s award.

The memorial tournament, which organizers intend to hold annually, will honour all the families affected by the 1994 loss and help them continue to “move forward,” Alainga said.

“I think it’s about time for Iqaluit, and Nunavut to simply pay their respects,” said Dwayne Twerdin, president of the Iqaluit Senior Men’s Hockey Association, which is organizing the tournament.

Twerdin recalled Alainga, his father and the greater family as “crazed hockey fans, who came to the arena all the time to celebrate hockey events.”

Their involvement with the game carries through to this day. Pitseolak’s brother, Matthew, who teaches traditional tool-making and woodwork at Inuksuk High School, eagerly took up the challenge when Twerdin asked if he could create the tournament’s championship trophy.

The inaugural tournament runs Friday, Dec. 5 to Dec. 7, when Iqaluit’s best puck-handlers will play against teams from Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet, Ottawa, and Kuujjuaq.

The Qaqsauq Cup tournament will not only honour the memory of the eight men who drowned and pay respects to their surviving family members, Twerdin said.

It will also keep alive the senior men’s league’s wish to host a top-level hockey tournament in Iqaluit that all Nunavut hockey fans and players can look forward to.

That idea follows from the Northern Hockey Challenge, a tournament that saw men’s senior teams from Nunavut, Nunavik and the Northwest Territories battle for hockey supremacy for three months in 2013. Iqaluit hosted a smaller-scale weekend version of the tournament earlier this year, with three other teams attending.

The Qaqsauq Cup will of course carry greater meaning for Iqalungmiut beyond just hockey, Twerdin is quick to add.

“It’s nice to have a hockey tournament, but a lot of people say ‘what’s a tournament for’ — it doesn’t really mean anything,” he said. “To have a memorial for something that happened around the same time, 20 years ago, brings a lot of community interest.”

Cody Dean, who pushed the idea to keep a northern Canada-wide senior tournament going, said Twerdin’s decision to make it a memorial event helped turn an idea into reality.

Younger generations, and Nunavummiut elsewhere in the territory need to hear the families’ story, said Dean, who hails from Rankin Inlet.

“Even myself, I didn’t know a whole lot,” Dean told Nunatsiaq News. “I was eight years old when it happened, and living in Rankin Inlet. So I’m learning more about it because of this hockey tournament.

“It’s a nice way to share this story and remember the hunters that were a big part of this community.”

The tournament will also honour the memory of another prominent figure in he community’s history. The family of the late Fred Coman, founder of the multi-service business Coman Arctic Ltd. in Iqaluit, agreed that his name be used for the tournament’s most valuable player award.

Coman was also a big supporter of local hockey — as a fan, player and tireless sponsor.

“I remember him sponsoring the youth and the senior league,” said Twerdin. “He gave money effortlessly to help with whatever we needed. He made sure things happened.

“I think he was one of the first people to actively get involved like that and actually take money out of his own pocket to ensure that hockey was a thriving sport in Iqaluit, and in Frobisher Bay,” he said, as the community was called before the 1990s.

Coman passed away in 1998, having left an enduring mark on the community’s early social and economic development.

The Qaqsauq Cup gets underway at Iqaluit’s Arctic Winter Games Arena at 6:00 p.m., Friday, Dec. 5. The Iqaluit Icemen face off against the Ottawa Redwings in the opening game, followed by Yellowknife versus Rankin Inlet at 7:30. Ottawa takes to the ice again at 9:00 p.m. to face Kuujjuaq.

Play resumes Saturday afternoon through to the evening. Semi-finals take place Sunday Dec. 7 in the afternoon, and the tournament closes with the championship game at 8:00 p.m.

Admission is $10 for a day pass and $20 for a weekend pass, available on entry at the arena. Entry is free for children under 12 years old and elders 65 years or older.

See the Iqaluit Senior Men’s Hockey Association website for details.