The final selections have been made for the Team Kivalliq squad that will compete at the inaugural U20 National Indigenous Junior Hockey Championships from June 9-13 at the CanLan Sports York University in Toronto.
Three rinks will be used for the event, plus the facility's two simulator rooms.
The event will be an annual competition that brings together Indigenous junior hockey athletes from across the country to compete for the national title.
The championships are open to male and female division players aged 16-20 and are an opportunity for players to showcase their skills, and for the Indigenous hockey community to come together and celebrate their achievements.
All team members and staff must be of Indigenous ancestry (First Nation, Metis, and Inuit). Every player and team staff member must bring documentation that verifies their Indigenous ancestry.
Picture identification and a provincial Metis card (from Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia), certificate of Indian Status card, or a Nunavut health card will be acceptable.
Team Kivalliq General Manager Gleason Uppahuak said in selecting the team he watches all the players as much as he can, as well as evaluating how well they performed at the Kivalliq's most recent tournaments, such as the Polar Bear Plate and the Terence Tootoo Memorial.
He said he will be talking to the 鈥渇ather鈥� of the Kivalliq Canucks hockey program, Donald Clark, to ensure he has no problem with the team using the Kivalliq Canuks nickname.
鈥淚 have a lot of respect for Donald (Clark) and I want to ensure he's OK with us using the name.
鈥淲e started travelling to these major events in 2016. We travel to Winnipeg for the Manitoba Indigenous Minor Hockey championships every year and we won the atoms title in 2017, the peewee title in 2019 and we made it to the semifinals or finals every year there.
鈥淭wo years ago we went to Regina, Sask., for the Oskana Cup and we placed in fifth place out of 17 teams, and last year at the same tournament we placed second out of 15 teams.鈥�
Uppahuak said he only has one or two rookies on this year's squad, with the rest being returning players.
He said he expects the Kivalliq entry to play fast, highly-skilled hockey and stay away from the rough stuff as much as possible.
鈥淭oday it's the complete opposite of what the 1990s used to look like. The players focus more on the play-making, scoring and defense-first style of play that resembles the European style of play.
鈥淭heir priority is not the rock-'em sock-'em style of hitting anymore, so I'm very happy and proud to see the boys evolve with their style of play like that.
鈥淲e usually meet in Winnipeg about three days to a week prior to the tournament and do a few skates with the instructors down there, or rent a rink to try to come together as a team before the tourney begins.鈥�
Uppahuak said he doesn't get involved with putting the team's forward lines or defensive pairings together. He said he named Terrance McLean, of Baker Lake, to be the team's head coach this year and McLean has 100 per cent control of what he wants to do on the bench with his players.
鈥淭errance (McLean) and I will decide who the two assistant coaches will be. I ask for his input on who he wants to work with. I don't force him to accept anyone I'd like to see in that position.
鈥淚'm here to give 100 per cent of what I got and try to win.
鈥淚 have a good feeling this year. I think we'll be a very competitive team in this tourney.
鈥淚t would be awesome for us to capture the inaugural U20 National Indigenous Junior Hockey Championship.鈥�
