Members of two Yukon oldtimer hockey teams are smiling despite being held off the podium at a Las Vegas hockey tournament last weekend.

When the dust settled at the annual Las Vegas Old-Timers Classic hockey tournament Sunday, Team Yukon 1 emerged in fourth place, while Team Yukon 2 was last.

It was the first time the territory sent two teams to the tournament, which the Yukon has won twice.

“Interest peaked after last year,” said Yukon 1 captain Ron Daub.

Air North, owned by Yukon 1 team goalie Joe Sparling, chartered a direct flight to Las Vegas for the weekend.

“People still think our goalie has his own jet,” Daub chuckled. “I always tell them he has five or six now.”

Placed in the 30+ division, the two Yukon entries faced many of the same teams but not each other.

Yukon 1 opened with a 7-0 loss to The Chicago Butchers Union, a team made up of a variety of star players in their 20s.

“They were like young gazelles with ice skates on,” said Daub of the eventual tournament champions.

The local club rebounded by thrashing the CCC Shamrocks – a family team with players from Chicago, Calgary and California – by a score of 7-4.

They dropped their third game 4-3 to hockey-ipa.com however, and finished their tournament with a 4-3 OT loss to the Shamrocks in the third-place game.

Daub, 55, said his linemate Doug Terry scored “the goal of the tournament” in a crease-crashing play before leaving the tournament early.

“He’s the reason we lost our last game,” Daub deadpanned.

On the other hand, goalie and team pilot Sparling put in an “Olympic-type performance,” said Daub.

“If it wasn’t for Joe, we wouldn’t have been anywhere close to where we ended up.”

Meanwhile, the younger Yukon 2 squad opened their tournament with a 4-3 win over the Shamrocks.

First-line sniper Ryan Kinney scored all four goals in the win, said team captain Doug Janzen, 51.

They lost their final three matches however – 8-3 to hockey-ipa.com, 7-2 to

The Chicago Butchers Union, and 4-3 to the Multiple Scoregasms.

“They used us as pylons in the third period,” Janzen said of the Chicago Butchers Union squad.

Yukon 2’s final loss came in overtime in the fifth-place game.

Other members of Yukon 1 included Ross Phillips, Bill Bohmer, Mark Pike, Rick Gingell, Adam Green, Joel Witten, Gary Boyd, Matthew Sills, Bruce Demchuk and Steve McGrath.

Yukon 2’s roster also included Sean McLeish, Gary Lachance, Darnell Kiriak, James Billy, Lorne Burnett, Ed Van Randen, Kevin Neufeld, Shawn Kinsella, Bernie Heffner, Ron Limoges, Johnny Sembsmoen and Murray Arsenault.

Daub hopes to add a third Yukon team to the tournament next year.

“It was a great experience,” added Janzen. “It was kind of unreal. I can’t wait until next year.”