麻豆社区

Members of two Yukon oldtimer hockey teams are smiling despite being held off the podium at a Las Vegas hockey tournament last weekend.

When the dust settled at the annual Las Vegas Old-Timers Classic hockey tournament Sunday, Team Yukon 1 emerged in fourth place, while Team Yukon 2 was last.

It was the first time the territory sent two teams to the tournament, which the Yukon has won twice.

鈥淚nterest peaked after last year,鈥� said Yukon 1 captain Ron Daub.

Air North, owned by Yukon 1 team goalie Joe Sparling, chartered a direct flight to Las Vegas for the weekend.

鈥淧eople still think our goalie has his own jet,鈥� Daub chuckled. 鈥淚 always tell them he has five or six now.鈥�

Placed in the 30+ division, the two Yukon entries faced many of the same teams but not each other.

Yukon 1 opened with a 7-0 loss to The Chicago Butchers Union, a team made up of a variety of 麻豆社区players in their 20s.

鈥淭hey were like young gazelles with ice skates on,鈥� said Daub of the eventual tournament champions.

The local club rebounded by thrashing the CCC Shamrocks 鈥� a family team with players from Chicago, Calgary and California 鈥� by a score of 7-4.

They dropped their third game 4-3 to hockey-ipa.com however, and finished their tournament with a 4-3 OT loss to the Shamrocks in the third-place game.

Daub, 55, said his linemate Doug Terry scored 鈥渢he goal of the tournament鈥� in a crease-crashing play before leaving the tournament early.

鈥淗e鈥檚 the reason we lost our last game,鈥� Daub deadpanned.

On the other hand, goalie and team pilot Sparling put in an 鈥淥lympic-type performance,鈥濃�坰aid Daub.

鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for Joe, we wouldn鈥檛 have been anywhere close to where we ended up.鈥�

Meanwhile, the younger Yukon 2 squad opened their tournament with a 4-3 win over the鈥圫hamrocks.

First-line sniper Ryan Kinney scored all four goals in the win, said team captain Doug Janzen, 51.

They lost their final three matches however 鈥� 8-3 to hockey-ipa.com, 7-2 to

The Chicago Butchers Union, and 4-3 to the Multiple Scoregasms.

鈥淭hey used us as pylons in the third period,鈥濃�圝anzen said of the Chicago Butchers Union squad.

Yukon 2鈥檚 final loss came in overtime in the fifth-place game.

Other members of Yukon 1 included Ross Phillips, Bill Bohmer, Mark Pike, Rick Gingell, Adam Green, Joel Witten, Gary Boyd, Matthew Sills, Bruce Demchuk and Steve McGrath.

Yukon 2鈥檚 roster also included Sean McLeish, Gary Lachance, Darnell Kiriak, James Billy, Lorne Burnett, Ed Van Randen, Kevin Neufeld, Shawn Kinsella, Bernie Heffner, Ron Limoges, Johnny Sembsmoen and Murray Arsenault.

Daub hopes to add a third Yukon team to the tournament next year.

鈥淚t was a great experience,鈥� added Janzen. 鈥淚t was kind of unreal. I鈥坈an鈥檛 wait until next year.鈥�