Victories by the Nationals and Teslin Rag Tag 2023 capped off another successful Victoria Gold Oldtimers hockey tournament at Takhini Arena Sunday.

Division A had three teams and Division B featured six teams.

To set up the Division A final, Royal Flush beat EDI 7-0 in the Division A 2nd versus 3rd game Sunday.

Royal Flush were flushed by the Nationals 9-0 in the Division A final Sunday. Kevin Johnstone had a hat trick, and Gavin McKenna’s dad Willy and Mike Snow added two goals each.

Friday OT beat Yukon Inn 3-2 in an earlier game Sunday to advance to the Division B final. John Pereira had a goal and an assist for the OT.

Following Teslin Rag Tag 2023’s redemption triumph over the Rats Saturday, it was Teslin versus Friday OT in the Division B final.

Robert Wiseman opened the scoring for Teslin with 9:01 left in the first.

Tim Ekholm added to Teslin’s lead with 5:50 left in the frame.

They quickly notched another marker which appeared to be banked in off of OT’s goalie Glen Ruttle with 4:10 left in the first to make it 3-0. The goal, Wiseman’s second of the game, was a shorthanded effort.

Teslin, leading 3-0 going into the break, notched another one, this time by Willie Sheldon, with 11:12 left in the second to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

It took less than two minutes to add to that lead on a beautiful breakaway goal by Bruce Clark, making it it 5-0 with 9:46 left.

Teslin’s Scott Ward spoke with the Star after their big victory.

“It was great. We were here last year and we were the runner-ups. We lost in the finals to the Rats. We beat them yesterday in an eventful game to make our way to this finals game. It definitely was a good thing to win and get redemption for last year.”

Ward said the Rats beat them 4-0 Saturday morning, setting up a Saturday afternoon rematch.

“They were pretty tired out. We were down 2-0 to start the game and we came back to tie it up 2-2 and then we unleashed in the second period and ended up winning 6-3.”

Ward explained the key to his team winning the big game against Friday OT.

“I think we just hit our stride. The core group of guys play a little bit of shinny out in Teslin but we had a few additions to the team so it took us a while to work out the chemistry and we all just played really, really hard because we wanted to win that championship, so it definitely all worked out.”

Ward said the team definitely improved as the tournament went on.

“The team kept getting better and better, and we look forward to next year and defending our title.”

Ward mentioned that goalie Zie Hamidi was the difference in the game.

“He’s an RCMP officer from our community. He plays with us as well, part of our core group.”

This is Ward’s first year playing out, as he’s usually tending the twine.

“It’s great. I got my first career goal in the first game that we had, so that felt really good.”

Ward thanked the tourney organizers and his team for “putting out the effort to win.”

The Star spoke with one of the tournament’s co-organizers, CYFN Grand Chief Peter Johnston, after the final game.

Johnston was on the A Division-winning Nationals team.

“It was excellent,” he said. “It’s always good to win, of course, but just having some renewed rivalries, with Teslin coming back and beating the Rats last night and them coming to win the cup this year I think is kind of a sweet victory. And that’s what this tournament is all about and why I’m here to help support it as one of the organizers, along with Dave Wipf.

“It’s all about giving back to the community. When I think about men’s mental health, in a lot of cases we forget about how important that is. I think hockey provides that perfect platform, not only for a little bit of competitiveness, but along with a bit of healthy activity and a lot of good friendship and camaraderie.”

Johnston said 135 players signed up for the tournament.

The players also had a meal together provided by Takhini River Ranch at Takhini Arena Saturday evening.

Johnston added he wanted to thank Victoria Gold and the Whitehorse Old-timers Hockey League, plus co-organizer Wipf for his contribution.

Johnston called Wipf “the strong point of helping me do this tournament because it really takes a lot of volunteering.

We don’t get paid for this. I don’t do it for the money. I do it just for the love of the game.”