The top Arviat men's old-timers hockey team is not one to hold a grudge.
Arviat had been scheduled to host the Kivalliq Cup old-timer's tournament from Feb. 28 to March 2, but Baker Lake deciding to pull out at the last minute led to Rankin Inlet also dropping out and the cancellation of the tournament.
Baker Lake is attempting to host its inaugural Gray Wolf Cup old-timer's tournament from March 21-23 and Arviat senior men's hockey organizer Gleason Uppahuak hopes Team Arviat will be there to compete.
Uppahuak said Arviat was expecting two teams from Baker Lake, two teams from Rankin Inlet and single teams from Coral Harbour and Arviat to compete at the Kivalliq Cup in their community and it was disappointing to have to cancel the event.
He said Baker Lake notified him a couple of weeks ago that they were going to concentrate on hosting their own old-timer's tournament and wouldn't be coming to Arviat.
“When Rankin found out that Baker were pulling out, they reconsidered and decided not to come as well, and there went our tournament,” said Uppahuak.
“Rankin Inlet has the Terence Tootoo Memorial, Arviat has the Calm Air Cup (Jon Lindell Memorial) and Baker wants to host one major tournament permanently too.
“I understand that, but the Kivalliq Cup, traditionally, was always held in a different community every year, but I think we'll be looking forward to travelling to Baker and playing for the cup on their home ice.”
Uppahuak said for a variety of different reasons, Arviat hadn't hosted the Kivalliq Cup since 1998 and was looking forward to hosting it again this year, but he's sure Team Arviat will enjoy their time in Baker Lake.
He said no matter what community it's held in, the Kivalliq Cup always draws good crowds, especially on playoff Sunday.
“The Kivalliq fans always come out when the playoffs in a tournament start and the hockey gets a little more serious.
“The Kivalliq Cup is good, clean, fun hockey and everyone has fun during the round robin, but, like any tournament, that changes when it becomes lose-and-you-go-home.
“And you have rivalries in every tournament. I'd say the most intense one during the Kivalliq Cup is Rankin Inlet and Coral Harbour.
“I'm not sure how that rivalry originally started, but it's still pretty intense today,” he said.
Uppahuak has played in the Kivalliq Cup one time, suiting up with the Rankin Bears.
He said the Bears lost to Coral Harbour 6-5 in that tournament and it was intense hockey.
“It was a fast, back-and-forth game and you wouldn't notice it was 50-year-old guys out their because the hockey was still very fast.
“It's a lot of fun playing against Coral Harbour because they always play intense hockey. Their players take the game very seriously and so do their fans.
“My first year playing in the Kivalliq Cup (35 and older) it was all fun and games, chatting on the ice and making fun of each other, and then Sunday hit and things turned very serious. At the time, I had no clue about that part until the puck dropped. I really had to step up my game. It was awesome.
“I'm sure the Baker tournament will be the same way. I'm hoping all our guys come together and look forward to us being there.”
