Arctic Winter Games: TeamAK Women win GOLD! Bantams Boys win Bronze!

For TeamAK`s hockey players it was a night of medals! Early in the afternoon The Bantam Boys coached by Mike Tvenge worked hard on the ice and played a smart game against the strong NWT team. The game went back and forth all three periods and TeamAK did a great job holding the zone and shooting on NWT`s goalie. It was a tight race and tour boys pulled it off w ith a 5-4 win that through the arena in an uproar. The crowd was definitely cheering for the home team but Alaska had a considerable following with many of our contingent attending as well as being cheered on by Team Nunavut, It was a loud and exciting game. The boys, including Delta residents Brett Smith and Jacob Schultz, along with Coach Tvenge received their medals in the medal ceremony on the ice after the Gold medal game at 5:00 PM. It was great to see the excitement in Coach Tvenge`s face as he and the boys each received their Bronze Uluu around their neck.

After the ice was cleared, the Women`s game against NWT began. The arena was completely sold out with standing room only. TeamAK was also playing the "home" team but was not without it's supporters as well. When the first goal came for TeamAK during the last minutes of the first period there was lots of noise in the barn. Annie Grossmann played a phenomenal game and had numerous shots on net that looked like they were in for sure. NWT`s goalie as well as our own made unbelievable saves. But TeamAK proved to be perfect on the penalty kill and took advantage of our power play opportunities. The girls made beautiful tape to tape passes and were masters in controlling the puck up and down the ice. We took a few foolish penalties the first period but killed them off and smartened up after that. NWT scored their only goal on a shoot high in the corner when our goalie was being screened. After that, we scored two more beautiful goals using skill and teamwork that was remarkable for a team that had only one 50 minute practice together EVER!

It was amazing to see the girls work out there on the ice. We were also playing on the Olympic size ice for the first time but you would never have known it based on the energy we saw out there. In 3, 20 minute periods Alaska ruled the puck and the NWT team just couldn't find the back of our net, thanks to a phenomenal game by our goalie, Melissa Deardorf of Anchorage and the smart play and unselfish skill of every other player on the team. It was a joy to watch the girls perform and we heard several exclamations of amazement from the crowd at the calibre of play from TeamAK. When the buzzer sounded and we had won the GOLD, it was unanimously agreed that it was a well deserved win. The NWT women played well and deserved their Silver Uluu. Team Alberta won the Bronze for the women. After hearing our national anthem played our girls broke into the Alaska Flag song as they skated off the ice. Each game, before skating onto the ice the girls sang the Alaska Flag song before their warm up, but never with as much emotion and pride as this last time. This evening after the closing ceremonies and all the trading and goodbyes are over; the Interior athletes will board the first plane back to Alaska. The five girls from the interior, Anna Johnson, Erin Winters, Vivian Bishop, Kayla Weber, Annie Grossmann and I will fly out of Yellowknife, NWT, taking some with us wonderful memories, some cool souvenirs and a very precious medal.

TeamAK made a great showing in hockey at these games. The Midget boys also went on to win 3-2 over the Yukon team and take home the Gold Medal as well. TeamAK medaled in all three hockey categories. In the medal standings for the entire team, Alaska stands at 180 medals over all, with its closest competitor being NWT with 100 medals. This was a fantastic Arctic Winter Games and I encourage you to check out the website www.awg2008.ca to learn more about it.

From Yellowknife today…
Dawn Grossmann