Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Dustin Cook

POWER SHOT – P&M Recycling player Patrick Whyland takes a shot on net in their game against the 202 Saloon Shooters Friday night at Takhini Arena.

Yukon broomball hosts opening tournament

The Yukon Broomball Association kicked off their season with the annual Bob Park Opening Tournament at Takhini Arena from Thursday to Saturday.

By Dustin Cook on November 29, 2017

The Yukon Broomball Association kicked off their season with the annual Bob Park Opening Tournament at Takhini Arena from Thursday to Saturday.

Eight teams participated in the three-day tournament divided into two pools of four.

Seven of the teams will be competing in the upcoming league season, association vice president Chad Bustin said Friday during his break from refereeing the evening’s games.

“One team just doesn’t have the players for the year but they come from the tournament,” he said.

The league is comprised of players from Whitehorse, Bustin said, but the association usually does host a tournament towards the end of the season with players from out of town.

“We do have an end of the year tournament where we invite teams from Alaska and stuff like that but usually it’s just in town,” he said.

The Spectrum Bears won the opening tournament Saturday after a three-round playoff consisting of the quarter-finals, semifinals and then the final game.

The Bears played four games on Saturday to take the title including their final round-robin game against the Yukon Thunder.

In the first game of action on Friday evening, the 202 Saloon Shooters took on P&M Recycling in a back-and-forth affair.

The Shooters won the game by a final score of 3-0 adding one late after second half pressure from P&M to get back in it.

The conditions of the ice were very slippery with the players often finding themselves sliding on the surface.

“In some spots it feels like you’re a chicken with your head cut off, but sometimes there’s good control,” Bustin said.

The game, very much like hockey but without skates, is played on foam shoes to give players a grip on the ice.

As well, the players use a broom and a large ball rather than a stick and puck.

“It’s very similar to floor hockey on ice, we just use foam shoes,” Bustin said.

“For offsides there is only one line, there is icing. It’s just without skates and a bigger ball.”

The association’s outdoor rink is still in the process of getting ready for the upcoming season, Bustin said.

The rink is still in the freezing stage as the weather continues to get colder.

On top of that, Bustin said the association prefers playing in an arena with locker rooms for tournaments, which their rink doesn’t offer.

“We like tournaments to have locker rooms, we don’t have locker rooms in the other rink, so this is more comfort,” he said.

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