For the Nahanni Inn Flyers, it was worth the drive to Fort Smith.
The Fort Simpson team ended up leaving with the big prize from the second annual Fort Smith Oldtimers Hockey Tournament on Feb. 4 thanks to an 8-0 win over Fort Smith Blue in the final. The win capped a perfect weekend for the Flyers as they won all six of their games.
Shane Thompson joined the Flyers for the tournament and said it was a close game up to the halfway point.
"About 10 minutes into the second period, we started to get better," he said.
The Flyers won all four of their round-robin games over teams from the host community and Hay River before winning their semifinal and the championship.
While winning all six games was impressive enough, the length of time it took for the Flyers to win that half-dozen was even more impressive – 28 hours.
"We just went out and played as hard as we could," said Thompson. "If we had a short break in between games, we just grabbed some food to keep us full but if there was a longer break, we sat down and had some proper quality food and that's the type of stuff you learn as you get older. Kids can grab a burger and fries and that's good for them but you find out that salads, chicken or a bowl of soup goes better. You just try to eat as healthy as possible."
As much as winning the tournament was fun, Thompson said the best thing about playing in the tournament was seeing old friends and even some father-son combinations on the ice.
"Allan Larocque of Fort Providence played on our team and it was his first time playing in about 15 years," he said. "He was out there playing with his son, Mike Krutko, and that's what you love to see. I've played with my sons before but that was really cool to see. It's all about fun and playing with your kids makes it even better."
Thompson also had glowing reviews for the tournament's organizers, saying they did a great job of keeping the players entertained.
Craig Walsh was part of the organizing committee and said the tournament itself was a way to help out Hay River, which doesn't have a functioning arena.
"We'll probably hand it back to Hay River next year once their arena re-opens," he said. "This was our second year doing this and we always end up helping each other out."
The Flyers will be back in action when the village hosts its oldtimers tournament from Feb. 23 to 25.
Thompson said the team that played in Fort Smith most likely won't be the same one that plays at home.
"We split up the players and try to have two equal teams," he said. "We'll have some guys from Fort Providence playing with our teams. I was just happy to play with this group, even if I was sore after that Saturday. Not as bad on Sunday but just lots of fun."