As traditions go in Yellowknife, Dec. 26 is usually the day where everyone cleans up from all the post-Christmas excitement while determining what sort of leftovers would be re-heated for that night's dinner.

But there's another tradition on Dec. 26 that's been happening for many years and that kept on trucking at the Yellowknife Curling Centre as the Koe Family Boxing Day Bonspiel hit the ice. It was another full house with 20 teams playing a series of modified games in the hopes of winning the coveted trophy.

And those 18 teams were the maximum that could enter, said Lynda Koe, who once again served as the main organizer.

"We actually had five teams on the waiting list, but we added two, but there were still more," she said. "We just didn't have enough room to have all the families play and we hate to turn anyone away."

The format of the bonspiel has remained largely unchanged over the years: each team is guaranteed three games with each game consisting of four ends. The scoring system differs from a regular game in that teams score points for winning each end of a game along with earning points for winning a game in addition to the points they score in each end.

When all the points were added up, it was the Stabel family, consisting of skip Morgan Stabel, Grady Stabel, Stacey Stabel and Tyson Stabel who came out on top. The rink skipped by Ben McDonald ended up finishing in second place.

Koe said it was the Stabels' first time playing in the bonspiel and, in a funny twist, were one of the families who lucked out and managed to get a spot after originally being on the waiting list.

Another tradition of the tournament is that every team goes home with a prize of some sort before it's all over and Koe said that's because of the generosity of the business community.

"A big thanks to them," she said. "We had multiple donations and everyone had a good time."

As for the great turnout, Koe figured the nicer weather may have had something to do with it.

"People weren't staying at home and we had some new families this year" she said. "It's all about encouraging people to come out and play and maybe we'll get a few new members at the club because of it."