Rankin Inlet team advances to eastern Northern Hockey Challenge final

Kuujjuaq Umimmak players start packing it in on March 24 after their fourth and final game of a weekend series they played in Rankin Inlet, following an 8-4 loss at the hands of the home team. Charlie Tukkiapik, second from left, was second star of the game. Teammates Larry Snowball and Putulik Tayara are on the right and Edward Watkins at left. (FILE PHOTO)

After some hard-fought games, Rankin Inlet’s hockey team now moves on to the eastern finals of the Northern Hockey Challenge.

That’s thanks to two high-scoring wins against Kuujjuaq’s Umimmaks on March 23 and March 24 in Rankin Inlet.

“Both games were do or die for us,” said Hamish Tatty, manager for Rankin Inlet’s team.

“The first game was a little more nerve-wracking I guess,” Tatty said, recalling a 10-7 win that saw Kuujjuaq open the scoring and lead briefly in the first period.

Rankin Inlet went ahead by three goals in the second, with key plays by Pujjuut Kusugak and David Clark.

Then, Kuujjuaq’s Umimmaks climbed their way back to tie again in the third.

However, a goal by Kusugak early in the third took Rankin Inlet ahead 8-7, and proved to be the game-winner.

The former mayor of Rankin Inlet then closed scoring at 10-7 with a short-handed goal, earning a hat trick and first star-of-the-game honours.

The home team beat Kuujjuaq a second time on the 24th, which advanced them to the eastern final against Iqaluit.

“They came together and they were able to pull it off,” said Tatty. “The chemistry between the players was just great.”

But the losses were hard to take for Kuujjuaq, said Jonathan Grenier, the Umimmak’s goalie-team manager.

Grenier said he thought his team’s second loss to Rankin Inlet on the afternoon of March 24 was their better effort, despite the 8-4 score.

“We had to win that game,” Grenier said. “Our guys played really well, but the in the end their goalie really made the difference and gave them the win.”

Goalie James Merritt’s stops and Rankin Inlet’s solid defense locked out Kuujjuaq, allowing the home team to pull ahead by four goals in the second period.

The teams traded two goals apiece in the third, with Merritt and his defensemen conserving the lead.

“The score didn’t represent what the last game really was,” said Grenier. “We played a lot better.”

The weekend match-ups were part of a four-game series for Kuujjuaq’s Umimmaks at the Singiituq Complex in Rankin Inlet, and the Nunavik team’s first visit of the tournament to the Kivalliq hamlet.

The visitors also played two games against Repulse Bay on March 22 and March 24.

March 22’s evening game began three hours late, at 10 p.m., due to flight delays on Kuujjuaq’s itinerary.

And four regular players did not make the trip that day – two who missed a connecting flight and two who declined the visit altogether. This left the team with just 11 skaters that night.

“Our legs were just not there,” said Grenier. “We put in an effort but obviously it wasn’t our game at all.”

Mental and physical exhaustion from 10 hours of traveling took its toll, and Repulse Bay took the game 11-5.

Kuujjuaq eventually found their hockey legs once two missing players joined the team on the morning of March 23, and “the more the weekend went along, the better we were,” said Grenier.

The tense first game against Rankin Inlet on Saturday afternoon was followed by a 11-6 win against Repulse Bay in the evening.

The 1-3 record for the weekend was a definite disappointment for the Kuujjuaq Umimmaks, who will host Repulse for their final two games of the Hockey Challenge next weekend.

“We’ve promised our fans we would have those games in Kuujjuaq and a lot of our kids are looking forward to it,” said Grenier.

But flight delays and cancellations caused by blizzards have dogged his team’s schedule throughout the tournament, wiping out two entire weekends of play.

“It’s tough on us,” said Grenier, but despite this, the goalie-manager said he was thankful that the tournament’s airline sponsor First Air made it all possible.

Hockey players were not the only athletes to fly into Rankin Inlet this past weekend.

March 22 to March 24 also coincided with the Laura Gauthier Memorial Volleyball Tournament, which hosted teams from five Nunavut communities.

Teams from Rankin Inlet and Repulse Bay were the big winners.

Rankin Inlet’s V team, named after team member, tournament organizer and breast-cancer survivor Veronica Tattuinee, were the women’s champions.

Repulse Bay won the men’s division.