Iqaluit Blizzard takes Ottawa by storm

Blizzards battled demons and hawks in Ottawa as the year 2004 drew to an end — but all the action took place on the ice, as 407 peewee hockey teams from Canada, Finland and Russia competed in the annual Bell Capital Cup tournament.

For the first time, the Iqaluit Blizzard sent 17 players to the international tournament — and their presence both on and off the rink received a lot of attention, mainly due to the enthusiastic group of Nunavut flag-waving fans in the audience.

“We had a flag waving in front of us, but I had to keep my hands free to clap,” said Iqaluit mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik, who was there to cheer on her son and team member Iola as well as her spouse and team coach Brian Twerdin.

The Ottawa Sun closely followed this team’s “magical trip.” Players stayed in a downtown hotel, toured the city, shopped and ate food you can’t buy in Iqaluit: for two of the young players, it was their first trip south.

Highlights for the team included playing in the impressive Corel Centre and watching the recent Ottawa 67s game that helped set a Canadian Hockey League single-game attendance record, with 20,081 fans packing the Corel Centre.

While the Bell Capital Cup tournament is almost as much about new experiences, sportsmanship and making friends as it is about hockey, the Iqaluit Blizzard team played very well, winning an exhibition match against an Ontario team.

Blizzard captain Beetanee Eeseemailee was chosen Most Valuable Player during one of the exhibition games, which featured two Iqaluit Blizzard players and a goalie chosen by the team.

The Blizzard made it into the quarter finals in the Atom B division, even though the team rarely gets to play against teams from other communities. The entire rankings are posted at www.oihf.net.

“We never expected to go that far. This trip really put Iqaluit and Nunavut on the map,” said Brian Martel, a coach and one of parents who accompanied the boys, aged 9 to 10, on the trip.

More than 130 kids, from the age of four up to their late teens, participate in hockey programs run by the Iqaluit Amateur Hockey Association.

The Blizzard’s trip to Ottawa was sponsored by the Ottawa Senators Alumni, who traveled to Iqaluit in November to put on clinics and play an exhibition game.