The first annual Yukon Brewing ball hockey tournament, ah … knocked it out of the park, so to speak.

Nine teams competed in two pools and then in two playoff divisions.

There were four to seven players on each team, with most teams “icing” seven players.

The format was three-on-three plus one goalie.

The tournament was co-ed, with one female on the ice at all times.

It was a self-reffereed tournament with a few basic rules like no contact allowed, although some contact occurred.

“I think we were right on the line of people (being) competitive, but in a nice way,” said Laurence Vandal-Côté, who organized the event.

In the B Final, the HPW Pylons (red) took on Gated Ghetto (pink).

Gabriel Nadon, he of broomball fame, was on Gated Ghetto. He scored two quick goals to make it 3-3 but the Pylons scored a go-ahead goal. Gated Ghetto knotted it up again, at 4-4. They completed the comeback by scoring to make the final 5-4.

The captain for the Pink team, Jessie Hill said, “It was good. It was physical, it was a fun game. It’s nice to get out here and play with other people.”

Hill said winning the B Final felt “pretty good. Big victory for the team.”

Of the tournament, Hill said, “It was really good. Overall, it was really well-organized. Everyone was really lovely to be around. Being able to still have that competitive edge too. With all of the teams, there was lots of competition.”

Hill said she would definitely put another team in the next ball hockey tournament.

In the A Division, the Brew Crew (gold) beat the Crestview Cup Crew (green) team.

Crestview Cup Crew goalie Eric Walker said the tournament was “a lot of fun.”

“(Our team) played unexpectedly well, everyone had a great time. It was really well-organized.”

Walker recalled Rendezvous had a ball hockey tournament 10 or 15 years ago that he played in.

Walker said the Yukon Brewing tourney was “competitive, but nobody got out of hand.”

When asked if he would play in another event like this tournament, Walker replied, “Absolutely. I think they should do this every year.

“It’s kind of a nice springtime event because springtime in the Yukon, there’s really not much going on. We’re a summer-winter kind of place, so this time of year everyone is really itching to do something fun, so the timing’s great and it couldn’t be a better idea.”

Walker said he doesn’t normally play goalie.

“It was a lot of fun. I took a lot of (ball) hits. I’m pretty bruised up but it was a good time.”

The A final featured the Broozers (yellow) versus the Brew Crew (gold).

The Broozers opened the scoring and never looked back, building up a 5-0 lead until the Brew Crew struck for two goals make it mildly interesting. However, the Broozers came right back with a goal of their own to make it 6-2.

The final ended up 8-3 for the Broozers.

Broozers captain Patrice Brunet said the final was “great.

“It was a bit more work than I had signed up for but – everyone here, by the last game, we were all hurtin’ a little bit more than we wanted to. I think it was a total of six games in the end.”

Brunet said the tournament went really well.

“We worked super-well as a team (which) I was really impressed to see. Everyone came together, we had great goaltending, everyone played a good balance of forechecking and defence. We created a lot of opportunities and we got a lot of goals. But it was a fight ‘til the end.

“We were a few goals up, but it didn’t feel like an easy game, that’s for sure. We had met them before in the round robin and it was a two-goal game.”

Of the tourney, Brunet said, “It was tonnes of fun. Great job by Yukon Brewing. They did a fantastic job, especially for a first event like this. I hope they keep going in the future. I think it was a good turnout and I think there’s potential for a lot more teams as well.”

After being presented with the trophy, Brunet said, “It’s fantastic. I wasn’t even expecting anything, so it’s pretty cool.”

When asked what the key to their victory was, Brunet replied, “Hard work. It’s ball hockey. You have to fight literally for every step. You’re not gliding out there. It’s about creating space for yourself and getting open and obviously, working together as a team. That’s why I think we did so well.”

Brunet added, “Great event. It was super-cool. Looking forward to the future ones.”

Vandal-Côté explained how the tourney came about.

“The curling club was really welcoming. We work with the curling club all year round with curling, so we thought ‘Why not summer as well?’”

He said overall, it was “great.

“I think for the first edition, the tournament has been good. Smashed YXY Burger came to supply food. That was very nice. People, I think, drank responsibly. There was no fights on the ice.

“There’s a few things we can work on, but if we just improve on what happened today, it’s gonna be great.”

Vandal-Côté said they had a 12-hour day Friday setting up the tournament, including five hours of building the boards.

“That was a long day.”

They used pallets to reinforce cardboard behind the goals and had low boards on the sides.

They used Ball Hockey Canada dimensions to make the rinks as close as possible to make the rinks about 70 feet long by 38 feet wide.

Vandal-Côté said he was “really happy” about how the tourney went and added, “See you next year.”