The National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC) are back after two years of cancellations due to Covid-19 and that means Team North is also back.

The 2022 edition of the championships will be held in Membertou, N.S., next month and itSA国际影视传媒檚 just a boys team that will be making the trip this time. There will be no girls squad this year due to timing, according to Kyle Kugler, Hockey NorthSA国际影视传媒檚 executive director.

SA国际影视传媒淲e didnSA国际影视传媒檛 feel it would be realistic and the coaches made the decision to hold off for a year,SA国际影视传媒� Kugler said. SA国际影视传媒淭he boys team asked to wait on making the decision for 2022 and they were able to get things together. Going forward, the goal is to have a girls team ready for the 2023 tournament.SA国际影视传媒�

Ryan St. John of Arviat is the teamSA国际影视传媒檚 manager for this year and he said putting everything together came down to the wire.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was an 11th-hour decision on whether we would have the team,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚 jumped in to take on the role and put together the coaching staff, help select the team and try to get as much funding as we could to make it happen.SA国际影视传媒�

Half of this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 roster of 20 players will feature from the territory with the bulk coming from the Kivalliq region. David Clark of Rankin Inlet will be the head coach and heSA国际影视传媒檒l be assisted by Jamie Savikataaq of Iqaluit and Michael Tuton of Whitehorse. Alyssa Ross of Inuvik, NWT will serve as the teamSA国际影视传媒檚 trainer.

St. John said with the coaches and players in place, the job now is to tie up the loose ends as best as he can.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e finalizing all of our travel arrangements, getting the logistics taken care of, making sure all of the proper paperwork is in,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚t should all come together in the next couple of weeks.SA国际影视传媒�

When it came to picking who would be on the team, St. John said he received around 80 resumes from players all over the three territories.

He was impressed with what he saw.

SA国际影视传媒淭he first thing I noticed was the amount of kids playing AAA or AA down south,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of kids are playing in the south now and so that made the decision easy on who to select from that. For the other spots, we looked at who from the North could best fill in those gaps we had and that was the tougher part of the final decision. I think we have a really competitive team and our goal is to go there and win some games.SA国际影视传媒�

Having Team North return to the tournament was up in the air after the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT, which had organized every facet of the outfit, announced in 2019 that it would no longer look after the day-to-day operations. The main reason was the cost; the budget for the 2019 championships was a little under $200,000, with no assistance from either Yukon or Nunavut.

Aaron Wells, the Aboriginal Sports CircleSA国际影视传媒檚 executive director, said heSA国际影视传媒檚 quite pleased to see Team North back in the saddle.

SA国际影视传媒淲e worked with Kyle on handing over the uniforms and the logo,SA国际影视传媒� Wells said. SA国际影视传媒淜yle has been sitting in on the (NAHC) meeting calls and we worked with Ryan as well. ISA国际影视传媒檓 happy that thereSA国际影视传媒檚 a Team North at that tournament and hopeful that we can build a relationship with those in charge of running the operation.SA国际影视传媒�

There wonSA国际影视传媒檛 be any training camp in the North before the team leaves, said St. John, but the boys will all meet in Winnipeg on May 3 for some team-building activities and a bit of on-ice work.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檒l just do the best we can in terms of getting the kids to come together,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淎fter that, we fly into Halifax on May 6 and get ready for the tournament.SA国际影视传媒�

The boys will kick things off in the very first game of the tournament against Saskatchewan on May 9 and St. John said he knows it will be a tough test right off of the bat.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檝e had a look at SaskatchewanSA国际影视传媒檚 roster and they have a very formidable team, lots of kids playing AAA and junior,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭hatSA国际影视传媒檚 the advantage those types of teams have SA国际影视传媒� a bigger pool of Indigenous kids to pick from but we have a lot of kids who have played down south as well. Twelve of our kids have that experience at an elite level and ISA国际影视传媒檓 hoping more of our kids from the North can get that chance to play in the south. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 going to make them better players and give them a better chance to follow their dreams.SA国际影视传媒�

Here is the Nunavut contingent for Team North:

Tucker St. John, Arviat

Garren Voisey, Whale Cove

Sandy Tattuinee, Rankin Inlet

Justin Issikiark, Rankin Inlet

Bradley Nowdluk-Fraser, Iqaluit

Kadin Eetuk, Rankin Inlet

Kobe Tanuyak, Rankin Inlet

Owen Connelly-Clark, Rankin Inlet

Prime Paniyuk, Coral Harbour

Koby Connelly, Rankin Inlet

source: Hockey North