If it's their only tournament of the season, the Yk Women's Hockey Association made it worth the trip.
The ladies squad hit the highway to play in the annual Moosehide Mammas Women's Tournament in Fort Simpson this past weekend and came out with the banner after defeating the Fort Smith Tornadoes in the final by a score of 6-5. The win capped off a near-perfect weekend for the ladies as they won all but one of their games, the only non-win being a tie in their first contest against the Tornadoes.
Contessa Stead joined the team for the trip and said the Tornadoes gave them all they could handle in the final.
“They came out hard against us in that game,” she said. “We spent about two minutes keeping them at bay in the third period.”
The Yellowknife ladies got the early jump on Fort Smith in the final, eventually building up a 6-3 lead in the third period. Two quick goals from Fort Smith, though, got them right back in the game but goaltender Kate Gamble was able to shut the door and preserve the win.
In the round-robin portion, Yellowknife managed three wins to go along with their tie against the Tornadoes. They defeated the Fort Smith Cyclones by a score of 9-3 and followed that up by beating the host team, 5-1, before finishing off the round-robin with a 3-1 win over the Fort Nelson Ice Hawks from B.C.
Yellowknife had the best record after the round-robin and ended up taking on the Moosehide Mammas for a spot in the final.
Stead said the ladies were expecting to see the Tornadoes for the big prize.
“We knew if we got to the final, we would probably end up seeing them again,” she said. “I think both our teams knew it would be us in the final.”
Stead was full or praise for the entire team, noting that it was an total team effort and everyone came out flying for every game.
She was also happy to get the chance to play in a tournament.
“We play Monday nights (at the Multiplex) and try to get out for at least one tournament a year,” she said. “The Hay River (Hazardous Hockey) tournament is usually around this time but they haven't had it in a couple of years because they have no arena. Fort Simpson did a great job hosting and they had great hospitality all weekend.”
