After the loss of star forward Kyra McDonald to injury during their Monday night game against Team Nunavut, captain Emma Wicks from Yellowknife and her Team NT girls hockey teammates rallied for their peer.
“We got that win for Kyra,” said Wicks, following an 8-1 shootout over Nunavut. “We won that for her.”
McDonald scored twice in the game but was forced to leave due to a shoulder injury. Team NT went on the following day to edge out the Yukon squad 1-0.
“It’s tough. She’s a huge asset and she’s a leader on our team that a lot of younger girls and myself look up to,” Wicks said of McDonald. “I think we’re just going to keep playing our game and we’re going to play for her and just try our best.”
Wicks put up two assists in the win over Nunavut while teammate Jersey Ashton potted two goals and four assists. Jeanine Nakashuk was the lone scorer for Nunavut, assisted by Maiya Ooloota Hanna Nadrowski.
“We came a long way,” said Nunavut player Jesse Qiyuk. “We woke up very early in the morning, and we left the village like four, five this morning, and we’ve been at the rink since. So I think we did pretty good for staying up and being this exhausted.”
She said the Nunavut team was still learning how to bond together, and as that grows, their performance should follow.
Charlotte Siksik said her Nunavut team performed well for being so young, though she was still disappointed in the loss Monday night.
“Today is the hardest day just because we’re all really tired and overworked,” she said about the long day at the rink. “But I think tournament will get a lot easier now that we only have a game a day.”
