Sport | Hockey |
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Jurisdiction | Northwest Territories, Nunavut |
Founded | YYYY |
Official website | |
hockeynorth |
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Hockey North is the governing body of all ice hockey in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada.
Hockey North is a branch of Hockey Canada. The organization is divided into two regional bodies: the Northwest Territories Hockey Association and the Nunavut Hockey Association. Hockey Nunavut has a 3-team regional Junior "C" hockey championship with its winner given the chance to play in the Maritime-Hockey North Junior C Championships. The three Junior "C" teams are Team Kivalliq (Rankin Inlet based), Team Kitikmeot (Cambridge Bay based), and Team Baffin (Iqaluit based).
As of 2015, the president of Hockey Nunavut is Michael Courtney of Iqaluit. Previous presidents include Darrin Nichol of Rankin Inlet and Dale Smith of Cambridge Bay. Smith was the regional winner of the "Royal Bank of Canada Local Hockey Leaders" award. $10,000 was donated to the local hockey program and a display was mounted at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Originally three teams, Team Kivalliq became the Kivalliq Canucks and Team Kitikmeot and Team Baffin became the Qikiiqtani Elks. The two teams hold regional tryouts and go directly into a head-to-head playoff for the right to compete in the Maritime-Hockey North Junior C Championships. Although no team Nunavut has ever won the Maritime-Hockey North championship, the region has had much better showings since dropping to only 2 teams.
At the 2012 Atlantics, the Kivalliq Canucks finished the round robin with an even 2-2 record. In the semi-final, the Canucks shocked the Pownal Red Devils (PEI) 3-1 to earn their first ever chance in the finals. The Canucks would fall to 7-3 to the Chester Clippers (NS) in the gold medal game, but still become the first Nunavut team to make it past the semi-finals.