By Matt Prokopchuk
Just before 9 a.m. on a brisk Saturday morning, two teams of peewee hockey players — one from Ottawa, one from Iqaluit — stream through the doors of the Ottawa Civic Centre, and head straight for the warmth of the dressing rooms.
These players, their coaches and families are taking part in the Ottawa-Iqaluit Minor Hockey Exchange. This exchange brings together 12- and 13-year-old players and their families from various teams in the Ottawa Centre Minor Hockey Association, with players and families from the Iqaluit Huskies, a team of similar-aged players from Nunavut.
The Iqaluit team visited Ottawa from Feb. 8-14 where they lived with families of the Ottawa players. During Easter weekend in April, the Ottawa players will travel to Nunavut, where they will be hosted.
Despite the large venue in which this game was played, and the fact that two dignitaries — Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar and Ontario Minister of Health Promotion Jim Watson — were on hand to speak to the players and perform a ceremonial face-off, this wasn’t a championship game or part of a competitive tournament.
In fact, the game’s outcome meant very little.
Russell McLelland, organizer of the exchange and coach of the Ottawa players, says the goal is to develop lifelong friendships and broaden the kids’ outlook on life — all while playing the sport they love.
“Personally, for my son, it’s an opportunity for him to go somewhere he probably wouldn’t go otherwise, and experience life with a different culture,” he says. “And, of course, make that lasting bond that he can continue to foster.”
To take people from two diverse cultures and to start a bond over six days is a daunting task. That, says parent-volunteer June Creelman, is where the love of hockey comes in.
“Being able to play hockey together, in a friendly way, even in shinny allows them to get to know one another gradually and then to become friends,” she says from the stands as the game whizzes by on the ice. “You have to have something to do together.
Then the friendship grows, the cultural exchange grows from the shared interest in hockey.”
Paul Suvega, coach of the Iqaluit Huskies, says that for many of his players, the bonding around hockey was essential to getting the most out of the experience.
“A lot of these kids are really shy,” he says standing outside his team’s locker room where players mingled after the game. “They don’t like to speak up, but I’ve seen them open up quite a bit since we’ve come down here.”
“It’s quite evident by the background noise here that they’re already talking, and it (hockey) really helped to open them up.”
The six days the Iqaluit Huskies stayed in town were busy to say the least. Aside from their two games, the participants in the exchange went through an itinerary of events including Winterlude, skating at Scotiabank Place and watching the Senators play that night, attending a 67s game, and skating on the canal.
Many parents said despite the busy schedule, the players still found time to play shinny, or pick-up hockey, whenever they could.
Suvega says this leg of the exchange will have a positive impact on his players. For many of them, a week is the longest they have been out of their community, he says.
“They don’t travel a lot, and when they do travel it’s a rare event,” he says. “It is very expensive to travel for us.”
This isn’t the first time a group of players from Ottawa Centre have done an exchange with Iqaluit. Three years ago a similar exchange took place, and McLelland says interest was high for doing it again this year.
Everyone who showed interest in an e-mail sent around to players born in 1993, made the team. No tryouts were held.
Ottawa defenceman Will Cheney, 12, says that this exchange was something he really wanted to try.
“My mom told me about it, and I thought that it’d be interesting,” he says. “I asked her to sign me up.”
The second leg of the exchange will take place in April. Suvega says the plans for the Ottawa players’ visit are still being finalized, but that it will coincide with Iqaluit’s annual spring festival.
Cheney says that he’s looking forward to the chance to visit the far north.
“I really want to go snowmobiling, that’s going be a lot of fun,” he says. “Also, I’m not allowed to have dogs here, but the family I’m staying with has three dogs, so I’m excited.”