Hockey in the North (and South!)

Captain Jack Sparrow has been playing hockey for a few years now.  In Thunder Bay hockey can be quite intense, with parents screaming (getting kicked out of and/or banned from arenas) and leagues "stacking" teams with the most talented players, etc. JJ and I didn't want the drama that can come with hockey in Northern Ontario, so we found a league whose motto is "Have Fun".  Normally the Northwood Hockey League (which calls itself the "other NHL") has 7 teams, with 16 kids on each team. Each team has a name (CJS has been on the Northwood Jets and the Northwood Wild).  Every player gets a team jersey.  Each week a "hardest worker" award is handed out for each team.  There are normally two games a week and one practice every two weeks, with team standings published online. (This is how it works in most leagues in Ontario.) CJS's coach (Coach K) would write up the games and send parents an email with details about each player's successes, examples of good sportsmanship, the game strategies being used, who scored their first goal, who had an assist, etc. 

We were determined that in coming to Iqaluit the kids would not have to give up their chosen sports.  Before moving here, I checked to make sure figure skating would be an option for Coraline, and that a hockey league existed for Captain Jack Sparrow.  And one does.  However, the only way it is similar to Northwood is that both organizations are volunteer-run and everyone can play (there are no try-outs).  The Iqaluit Amateur Hockey Association (IAHA) has registration in the fall. In CJS's division (Novice 2) there are roughly 30 kids registered in total.  This is not enough to have a "league" of teams that play against each other.  Instead, every week there are 3 "hockey times" at the arena.  Mostly this time is spent on drills and exercises.  At least a couple of times a week though, usually for a brief time (20 minutes), there is a game.

One of the things Captain Jack loves about hockey is the fans cheering from the stands.  He loved to hear "GO JETS!" when he was on the ice, or parents shouting out "You can do it! SHOOT! SHOOT!"  During playoffs with Northwood there are parents with noisemakers in the stands.  One year Coraline made a poster for Captain Jack's team and hung it up on the glass behind the team bench. (Then he hung it up on his bedroom door, where it still hangs today.) None of this happens here in Iqaluit. When its time for a game (which is whenever the coaches decide), players split into 2 groups.  One group gets red pinnies to wear over their jerseys, the other gets white. No one cheers from the stands, except if a goal is scored, and then it's just mild clapping. Games are informal, with no score being kept. Teams change week to week. The kids take turns being goalie. Other than the coaches, there are no referees, no stats, and no play-offs.

Red vs. White 

That's CJS at the top of the frame, wearing a yellow
jersey under his white pinnie.

Despite the differences in playing hockey here, CJS is still having a blast.  Just before Christmas he won an award for being one of the fastest skaters on the ice (all the kids won awards, some for "sportsmanship", others for "best goalie", etc.) The award was an Iqaluit Blizzard ball cap.

Blizzard cap and candy cane.

So, who are the Iqaluit Blizzard? That's a good question.  I'm not exactly sure.  The coaches here wear "Iqaluit Blizzard" jackets.  I see kids wearing Blizzard hoodies to school.  There is no "Major Junior Hockey" team in Iqaluit.  Nowhere to go and watch the "local" hockey team play visitors. There is certainly no NHL team.  So, who are the Iqaluit Blizzard? I think that is what any hockey team traveling from Iqaluit to the "south" to play other teams is called.  So if Captain Jack travels to Ottawa for a Novice tournament in February, his team will travel as the "Iqaluit Blizzard".  My guess is they will wear Blizzard jerseys (and not play in red pinnies), but who knows?

That's another thing--this team will only play real "games" against other teams during a tournament in February. This is their only team travel for the year. With plane tickets costing up to $2400 per person (return) to get out of the territory, a lot of fundraising will be needed.  I think it's neat though, that he may get to travel by plane with his teammates (and parents), and that this small hockey association has such dedicated volunteers and coaches to make it happen.

I wrote the first part of that post about 6 weeks ago.  It is now February, and we have travelled to Brockville (via the only direct flight out of Iqaluit to Ottawa).  Sixteen players were selected for the "travel team". The players were chosen based on three attributes: ability, attitude, and attendance. Ability, obviously for their skill as hockey players.  Attitude, because the coaches wanted to select players who were keen to play and showed good sportsmanship.  Attendance was equally important: players who regularly made it to all three practice days every week had a better chance of making the team.

We were happy and proud when Captain Jack Sparrow was selected to be on the travel team.  And guess what the team is called?  You got it.  The Iqaluit Blizzard.  It IS the name every team traveling from Iqaluit goes by.  Each player selected was given "home" and "away" Blizzard hockey jerseys (on loan--the same jerseys will be used by next year's team).

On Thursday, players and coaches met at the Iqaluit airport to take the First Air flight to Ottawa.  The kids were thrilled.  For some, it was their first time traveling without their parents (flights and hotel for the players only cost about $450, because of year-round fundraising efforts--parents' flights and hotel were not covered at all, but were available at a reduced rate.) For a few, it was their first time on a plane. Bear in mind, these kids are 7 and 8 years old.  To travel off of Baffin Island for the first time, without a parent, is a pretty big deal. The north breeds them tough.

First Air flight to Ottawa

Doesn't matter where you live. Kids at airports look like this.

Trees!

The flight down was uneventful.  As we landed Captain Jack Sparrow stared out the window. "Mommy!" he exclaimed, "Trees! I haven't seen trees in so long!"  When you are only 8 years old, 6 months must feel like forever.  As we were taxiing in, the flight crew came onto the overhead speakers to wish the hockey team "good luck" on their weekend tournament. The cabin broke into applause. Looking around, waiting for the doors to open, I took note of the passengers.  Several women were wearing Victoria's Arctic Fashion parkas.  Other passengers were wearing Pang hats. (I didn't see any sealskin, its too warm to wear in Ottawa right now.) These clothing items have become familiar, yet still scream "north" to me. It was interesting to think that in just a few minutes, the people wearing this traditional clothing would be swallowed up in the cultural melting pot that is our capital city. 

We landed and went to collect our luggage.  As always, when traveling from Nunavut, a fair amount of luggage was actually big blue rubbermaid bins.  This has become so ubiquitous with travel on First Air or Canadian North, a travel magazine has actually written an article on it.  People traveling from Iqaluit bring these bins down, fill them up with stuff we can't find in the north (or can buy much more cheaply in Ottawa), and fly them back up to Iqaluit again.

Rubbermaid bins. Half the luggage from
Iqaluit looks like this.

Captain Jack hasn't stopped talking about how "warm and moist" it is here in southern Ontario. It has been unseasonably warm, with temperatures hovering between 2 degrees and -10 degrees. When you are coming from -50, that's a big change.  One of the player parents was chuckling, telling us about how the antifreeze in his snowmobile had started to gel since it was so cold lately.  The kids keep talking about how warm it is, and how wet.  I have to admit, for the first few minutes it felt very strange NOT to hear snow squeaking loudly under my boots. And it is odd for all of us not to have our hair floating around due to static.

Getting ready for the game.

Victoria's Arctic Fashion parkas worn by fans of
the Iqaluit Blizzard. 

GO BLIZZAAAAAARD!  That's CJS in front (with the puck!).

Lucky number 7.

Captain Jack won MVP for the first game.

The local newspaper wanted a photo of "the northern team" for
an article on the hockey tournament. The players and coaches were happy
to oblige.

So far, the team has played 3 hockey games, been to the movies (Jumanji), ordered Swiss Chalet delivered to the hotel, gone for a swim in the hotel pool, eaten out at Boston Pizza, and gone skating on the Rideau Canal*. 

 Aside from the movie, which was in a theatre the size of which Iqaluit has never seen, everything the hockey players have done are things that are impossible to do in Nunavut.  A player, upon seeing a group of boys in the hotel pool, came in surprised.  "I can do this?" he said. "For FREE?" When we were traveling on the team bus we drove past a farm.  "Horses!" yelled one of the coaches. "WHOA!" yelled back half the kids. For a few of them, it was their first time seeing horses in real life. Walking past trees a thought occurred to Captain Jack. "Mommy," he asked, "Do they have sticks here?" My dear boy, as much as he loves rocks and bones, misses sticks.

*For those of you who don't know, the Rideau Canal in Ottawa freezes over every year.  It is cleared of snow and maintained as the "largest skating rink in the world", about 7.8km or 4.8 miles. It meanders through parts of the city, and food shacks are set up at various points. It is AMAZING. You skate past forest, apartment buildings, historic government buildings, ice sculptures, etc. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Ottawa during the winter. If you do, try a "beavertail" pastry.

Skating on the Rideau Canal. This isn't CJS,
but a teammate of his.

The team at the canal.

In addition to cheering on hockey players, I have taken advantage of our trip to do things I can't do in Iqaluit.  First, I updated the operating system on my laptop. JJ did this in Iqaluit, and it was a real pain. Our internet is spotty and slow, so you wait with bated breath to see if anything is going to go wrong. It did.  For some reason the download happened twice (10 gigs!) which pushed us over our cap for the month (therefore costing us extra money-- $10.00 per gigabyte over our limit).  We both agreed it would be far better for me to wait until we were somewhere with free, unlimited internet--something I will never take for granted again. (I'm actually watching videos streaming online!)

I've also downloaded a few movies and kids' TV shows, and have gone shopping for the kids for Easter.  (As for shopping for myself, I was running low on eye liner so I went to pick some up. An Anthropologie store threw itself in front of me as I walked by. An additional forty percent off stuff already on sale!  WHAT?!) In fact, while the coaches took the players skating, ALL the parents went shopping at various places across the city. 

JJ and I have an extra day in the city after Captain Jack flies back home tomorrow with his team (for some odd reason it was much MUCH cheaper for us to fly back on Tuesday). We plan to spend the day relaxing, and maybe catch another movie (Black Panther!). Wish us luck on our trip home on Tuesday. 

Up next: I'm not really sure. The walrus saga is still ongoing, and has not yet reached its final conclusion. Stay tuned.