The first ever Cariboo Canucks Hockey Club All-Native Hockey Tournament just wrapped up, but organizer Cecil Grinder said things went so well he’s already looking forward to hosting it again next year.
The tournament, featuring 20 teams spread amongst four division, was held in Williams Lake Dec. 28-30 at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
“It went really well,” Grinder said. “I’m already looking forward to doing it again. We’ve seen what we did well and we’ve seen what we can improve on for next time.”
Divisions included recreational, masters, women’s, and competitive.
In the recreational division it was the host team, the Williams Lake Cyroties, beating Three Nations to take the top spot. Other teams in the division were Gex Nat’i and the Xeni Trail Blazers.
In masters, the Williams Lake Longhorns downed the Southern Selects in the final to take the championship. Butch’s Bandits rounded out the division in third.
For the five-team women’s division, Kamloops took the title beating the Cariboo Stars in the process.
In competitive, it was the host team, the Cariboo Canucks, downing the Alkali Braves, 5-2, to win $2,500 in prize money. The Braves, for their part, still took home $2,000 for their efforts. In third were the Vernon T-birds.
“It was a good game [the final],” Grinder said. “It just kind of went our way this time. They’d beaten us by two goals earlier in the tournament and that time things went their way.”
Other teams in the competitive division included the Stone T-birds, Young Nation, Hun City, Canim Lake and the Fort St. James Chiefs.
Grinder added he’d like to thank all the volunteers who helped out and the businesses who donated items for prizes.
For a list of awards winners from the tournament check a future Tribune.
