Iqaluit's all-girls hockey team wins first league tournament title
Leetia Eegeesiak still remembers the first time she stepped foot in a hockey rink as a 10-year-old.
"I wasn't good at all and I was super scared of all the older girls, but I quickly grew closer to everyone … and every year, I've grown to love [hockey] more and more," Eegeesiak said.
Fast forward eight years, and she's part of the winning team at the 40th Kanata Girls Hockey Association House League, hosted in Ottawa.
It's the first time the Iqaluit Blizzards under-18 female team has taken home a league tournament title, beating 22 other teams.
This tournament could be the last for captain and forward Leetia Eegeesiak, as she prepares to head to university in Prince Edward Island. (Samuel Wat/CBC)
Hearing the buzzer go off in their final against the Gatineau Nitro last month put a big smile on Ayva-Lin Noah's face.
"It was just crazy, just knowing we were going to come back with gold, it's just crazy," the 14-year-old said.
"Especially coming from here, we don't get to play as a team playing games very often. It's just practice. Whereas the other girls down south, they're playing in games and tournaments every weekend," she added.
The team will have a reminder of that milestone now, as their two coaches put up a banner on Friday, proclaiming their victory inside their home rink at Iqaluit's Arctic Winter Games Arena.
Maxwell Joy said he was asked two years ago by two of the team's players whether he'd join the team as a coach. He said he did not hesitate to say yes. (Vashisth Trivedi/CBC)
Growth as a team — and as individuals
That final was a nervous watch for coach Maxwell Joy on the sidelines.
"When you're a coach, obviously you're very invested in the kids, so you know you want it just as bad as them," Joy said.
He said he still remembers first starting with the team two years ago, and struggling to get even four players out on the ice to practice.
His fellow coach, Lauren Perrin, said it's been a challenge to grow the team over the four years she's been at the helm, so seeing this fully-fledged team of winners has made her extremely proud of them.
"They've made me fall in love with hockey all over again through a new lens. I owe a lot them and how they've kept me in the game," Perrin said.
The league tournament victory was more than just a hockey win, she said.
"They've grown not just as hockey players over the years, but as humans and strong women. And that alone is a win."
Iqaluit Blizzards coach Lauren Perrin said she was full of pride being able to hang the team's victory banner in their home arena on Friday. (Samuel Wat/CBC)
Inspiration from the PWHL
Perrin also credits a lot of the growing interest in hockey among girls and young women to the launch of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
While in Ottawa, the Iqaluit Blizzards got a meet-and-greet with some of the PWHL Ottawa players, ahead of their match against PWHL Toronto.
That's where Ayva-Lin Noah got to meet her idol, Ottawa forward Gabbie Hughes.
"She told me that she used to play number seven, which is my number, and now she plays with 17, so maybe I'll make the change too."
"It's great having the PWHL. It's not just the boys that get to go to the NHL. Now we have the PWHL and we have somewhere to go," Noah said.
Now that they've established themselves as winners, both Noah and Eegeesiak have high ambitions about the next hockey season.
'The group of girls that we play with, it's just everyone's great, everyone's best friends, we're a family,' Noah said. (Samuel Wat/CBC)
For Eegeesiak, who is leaving the territory to study in Prince Edward Island, she wants to build on the skills she's gained as captain of the Iqaluit Blizzards.
"With my leadership, I could build up the skill and maybe one day become a coach," she said.
For Noah, she's looking to take the Iqaluit Blizzards even further up the ranks.
"I'm hoping next season we can play in higher level tournaments, and maybe we can get a medal there too."
