Inuvik Huskies back on the ice for all-Indigenous Fred Sasakamoose hockey tournament

A group of Indigenous hockey players is reviving a team started by their fathers decades ago.

For the first time in 25 years, the Inuvik Huskies are back on the ice, playing the Fred Sasakamoose "Chief Thunderstick" National Hockey Championship this week.

Mickey Ipana, captain of the rebooted Inuvik Huskies, has memories of his dad playing for the team, and like many of the team's players, Ipana's been playing since he was a kid.

"A lot of us played hockey our whole lives…. We've been getting ready for Freddy," he laughs.

The Huskies played their first game on Thursday. The tournament runs until Sunday.

The Inuvik Huskies first began 40 years ago when the community wanted to have a team of "West End Boys" to compete with the Canadian Forces hockey players in town. 

Ipana's father put together a recreational team of all Indigenous men. Ipana used to be the stick boy, carrying their equipment. 

In Inuvik the local Roy "Sugloo" Ipana Arena is named after Ipana's dad, who created the team.

The team went on hiatus — the players got older, had children and houses, and had busy lives.

Ipana said they decided to bring back the Huskies "to show some respect" to their parents and the hockey players that are getting older.

The team won the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation tournament earlier this year. Now, said Ipana, the revitalized Huskies will see where this tournament takes them.

It's an exciting time in hockey, with the "battle of Alberta," he laughs, referring to the face-off between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers in round 2 of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Being from the northwest, Ipana said, they're cheering for the Oilers.

But when the puck drops at the Fred Sasakamoose tournament, it's all about bringing pride