When the Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre's annual Indigenous minor hockey tournament rolls into Winnipeg, Pimicikamak becomes a "ghost town," says one resident.
The community, also known as Cross Lake First Nation and about 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, virtually clears out every year for the tournament, says Corvo Castl, a defenceman with the Cross Lake Islanders.
Castl, 16, says one of his strongest childhood memories was making it to the tournament finals when he was six or seven. "We ended up losing.
I remember crying," he said with a chuckle. "That was probably my favourite memory ... 'cause we went, like, all the way." Castl played two games this weekend at the 33rd annual tournament, which ran at the Hockey For All Centre in west Winnipeg.