For the second year in a row, a team of seven and eight year olds from Juneau, Alaska took home the gold medal at the annual Yukon Spirit of 2010 Novice Hockey Tournament. Hosted by the Haines Junction Minor Hockey Association over the weekend, this annual celebration of minor hockey in the Yukon saw eight teams vie for the coveted prize.

Co-sponsored by the Yukon Amateur Hockey Association and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, the tournament hosted more than 110 players from all over the territory as well as Juneau.

Besides the team from Alaska's capital, four teams came from Whitehorse, one from Dawson City, one from the host community and a Southeast Yukon team consisting of players from Faro, Ross River, Teslin and Watson Lake.

The novice tournament kicked off Friday afternoon with four round-robin games, followed by eight round-robin games on Saturday.

Organizers didn't think that the kids should have all the fun over the weekend, so they offered a parents versus parents game on each day.

The round robin portion of the tournament ended just before the banquet when the playoff standings were announced.

In the A pool, Klondike Motors placed first, Yukon Appliance second, Southeast Yukon third and Dawson fourth. In the B pool, Wal-Mart was first, Juneau second, Pizza Hut third and Haines Junction fourth.

Sunday brought the teams together for the playoff round of the tournament, with each team guaranteed at least one playoff game.

In the end, Juneau took home the gold medal in an 8-0 victory over Wal-Mart, which bravely accepted their silver medals after the final game.

In an earlier close and exciting game for the bronze medal, Klondike Motors edged out rival Yukon Appliance 3-2.

Pizza Hut ended the tournament in fifth place, Southeast Yukon in sixth, Dawson in seventh and the host community eighth. Thanks to all the generous sponsors, every player went home with a Spirit of 2010 souvenir puck, a certificate of participation, a medal and a prize.

This is the fifth annual 'Spirit of 2010' Tournament presented by the Province of British Columbia, the Vancouver Canucks, 2010 Legacies Now and B.C. Amateur Hockey Association.

More than 42,000 minor hockey players in 190 B.C. and Yukon communities are expected to play in almost 150 Spirit of 2010 hockey tournaments this spring.

Based on the smiles, sweat and scoring seen in Haines Junction this past weekend, everyone agrees that the spirit of hockey is alive and well in this region of northern Canada.