Prime Okaliq Paniyuk, left, Preston Kaludjak and Justin Eetuk pose for a picture following their bronze medal win against Team Yukon in Wasilla, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Photo by Dustin Patar, special to Nunatsiaq News)
Nunavut U-18 boys hockey squad takes home bronze after all
Players get Arctic Winter Games medals despite official preventing them from participating in medal ceremony
Nunavut’s Under-18 male hockey players came home with medals they won at the Arctic Winter Games despite an official preventing them from participating in the medal ceremony over the unspecified “actions of individual members.”
Those actions, which have not been described publicly in any detail, constituted a violation of the team’s code of conduct, Team Nunavut chef de mission Mariele dePeuter said on Saturday.
But in an email to Nunatsiaq News on Monday, Department of Community and Government Services spokesperson Cyrone Cabatu said that Team Nunavut’s hockey team accepted the bronze medal it won on Thursday and that all players came home with medals.
Nunavut defeated Team Yukon 6-2 on Thursday to finish third in the Winter Games hockey tournament.
But dePeuter said Friday it would be “not be appropriate to participate and to receive the bronze ulu” because of some players’ actions.
A Team Nunavut statement issued Saturday said a committee that reviewed the decision agreed removing the team from the medal ceremony was a “reasonable disciplinary measure.”
On Saturday, however, dePeuter posted another statement to the team’s Facebook page that said Team Nunavut had convened a committee “to review the conduct of the U18 male hockey team, and subsequent decision to remove the U18 team from the hockey medal ceremony.”
“The U18 team earned these bronze medals on the field of play,” dePeuter wrote.
On Monday, Cabatu clarified that the disciplinary measure was “removing the team from the medal ceremony.”
The medal win stands.
“The medal counts towards Team Nunavut’s total medal count,” Cabatu added.
DePeuter added Saturday that Team Nunavut is reviewing the incident involving the hockey squad, and how it was managed and communicated to the public “in the context of a fast-paced major games environment.”
The scope of that review is yet to be determined, Cabatu said.
The department would not comment on the nature of the actions, how many players were involved or what section of the athletes’ code of conduct was violated, but Cabatu said there is no further action being sought by local authorities in Mat-Su that the department is aware of.
c’mon, someone dish out the dirt.
Regardless of the win, this medal is tarnished.
With all the rumors floating around, i think it would be wise to go public on what happened in detail. No names of the kids. Just details. The Chef de Mission, Nunavut Sport, and the GN (CGS) are responsible to the supporters and funders to be open about this.