The Aklavik Cup hockey tournament has been a fixture of the community's calendar for over a decade now.
The 2025 edition might have been the best to date as a record seven teams from across the Beaufort Delta signed up to compete.
"We had a great turnout," said Bo McLeod, who has been organizing the event with his wife Shandel since it began. "We had lots of fans and lots of hockey players who came out to Aklavik. Everybody enjoyed the weekend. It was good."
The tournament ran from Jan. 17-19 in the community of just over 600 people. It was competitive throughout, with "no blowouts," according to McLeod. In the end, the coveted trophy went to the Outlaws SA国际影视传媒� a team McLeod happens to be a part of.
The final score of their championship game was 5-3.
"It's nice to win," said the organizer, who typically plays left wing. "But I'm happy everyone enjoyed the weekend."
The trophy was not the only prize up for grabs at the tournament. There were also prizes for top goalie, top scorer and top defenceman, as well as the tournament's rising star, most valuable player and the player who demonstrated the most sportsmanship.
The prizes for top goalie, scorer, and defenceman went to Jason Nasogaluak, Dwayne Illiasiak and Lee Maring, respectively. All three played for LJSA国际影视传媒檚 Sabres, the team that came up short against the Outlaws in the final.
Zachary McLeod was named the tournament's rising star, while Matthew McLeod was crowned most valuable player and Vern Smith won the sportsmanship award. All six individual winners received custom-made mugs to mark their achievements.
"We see [the mugs] as kind of better prizes than a trophy," McLeod joked. "It's something they can actually use."
McLeod admits he and his wife expend quite a lot of effort organizing the Aklavik Cup each year. It's certainly not easy, but his love for the game and for his community is all the motivation he needs to continue.
"I enjoy hockey and I enjoy seeing all the fans and everybody coming out," he said. "It's a big weekend. It's nice to see a big event happening in the Delta, especially in our community.
"There's a lot of local talent, a lot of local players that play in this tournament compared to the IRC [Native Hockey tournament in Inuvik]," he added. "There's lots of imports that come in [for that tournament]. This one is more local. All the fans know all the players and everyone enjoys it."
