The Yukon Native Hockey Tournament (YNHT) is returning from a three-year hiatus in record numbers.

The 2023 Kilrich Building Centres tournament, sponsored by Victoria Gold, is scheduled for March 23-26.

According to a YNHT press release, this is the largest tournament to date. It has been expanded from three to four days in order to accommodate an increase from 42 to 56 teams.

The Star spoke with Michelle Dawson-Beattie, president of the board of the Yukon First Nations Hockey Association Tuesday.

“I’m very excited. It’s surreal that the weekend is almost here already. It seems like it’s been forever because it’s been three years but then at the same time, it’s like holy moly, sort of uncertainty days like, do we have everything? So kind of getting back into the swing of things of having the tournament and everything has been a little bit of an adjustment.

“But you know, we have a great team, great board of directors. We have an amazing coordinator, Karree (Vellevand), and everybody’s just really getting ready to pull their weight and make this event everything that it has been, but everything that it can be and more.”

Needless to say, the preparations for this tourney are pretty involved.

“The tourney doesn’t start until Thursday morning. But we had our last meeting last night. I’m going to pick up the trophies this afternoon. We just got all of our merch. We’ll be at Takhini for registration tomorrow (Wednesday), I think from three o’clock till nine o’clock and then back at the rink Thursday morning for the first game, so it’s really exciting. It is a lot of hard work, but just to have it happen is like totally worth it.”

New to the tourney is the introduction of a women’s division, consisting of five teams.

“It’s been a long time in the making,” said Dawson-Beattie. “We had our first all-women’s team back in 2019, the Nisutlin Knights and maybe this kind of three year hiatus is a little bit of a blessing in disguise because it gave us the time that the board needed to sit down and to work it out.

“It’s going to adapt and change as time goes on.

“We’ll have all women refs for their games, who are familiar with the players. They’ve done this before, they’ve played together.

“I think we have all women scorekeepers as well,” Dawson-Beattie added. “I’m glad that I was able, along with my board, to pull this off. It really means a lot.”

Dawson-Beattie said the women will have the prime time spot right after the opening ceremonies, which take place Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Takhini Arena. Yukon Deputy Premier Jeanie McLean will drop the ceremonial puck for the two women’s teams facing off.

“We really want to see it grow and have more interest and just make it better. So this is kind of our test run,” related Dawson-Beattie.

She added that originally, she was hoping for possibly three teams.

“But then there was five teams and it’s just like, ‘Wow, this is so great.”

The Jamboree divisions are made up of kids aged 14 to 17 years old.

They have been split up into competitive, A, and not-so-competitive, B, divisions.

“We don’t want any teams, especially when they’re at a younger age to get blown out of the water … it’s just really a way to make it fair and make it more enjoyable,” explained Dawson-Beattie.

She said there are other divisions that bear watching.

“The A Division is really high-calibre hockey. Those usually bring in a lot of spectators. But I think everybody’s gonna be hungry for the championship titles of their divisions because it’s been three years.

“We think all around, it’s gonna be great hockey, regardless of what division you watch.”

Dawson-Beattie said, “This is not just a hockey tournament, but it’s really a family affair.”

Rick Smith is playing in the old timers (CA Bruins). His two sons, Ryan and Chris Gleason, are playing in the A (CA Storm) and B (Tahltan Bear Dogz) divisions, respectively.

Ryan’s oldest son, Brayden, is finally old enough to play in the A division with his dad on his team.

Ryan’s youngest son, Josh, is playing in the youth division (CAFN Lil Storm).

“So it really becomes so much more than hockey, right, like a family tradition,” said Dawson-Beattie.

“Sandi Gleason was instrumental in the tournament and the association and those are her boys.”

They will also hand out the Jean Gleason Memorial Hockey Mom Award at the tourney. Jean was Sandi’s mom.

“It’s so cool to see three generations all being able to play in the same tournament,” said Dawson-Beattie. “Really just making it so much more than hockey.”

Beatie added there are 1,100 players coming from across the territory, the North and the country to play in the tournament.

“Like, it is huge. Just the economic impact that it’ll have on Whitehorse and especially, you know, going through a pandemic. I’m sure the city could use it.”

A special video commissioned by the tournament board will be shared on social media to honour those lost during the three-year break in the tournament.

Family members of those lost during the pandemic will be invited to join organizers and players on the ice with a photo or jersey of their loved one for a moment of silence during the opening ceremonies.

The A Division starts Friday at Takhini Arena with the North Yukon Eagles taking on the Selkirk Bears at 11 a.m.

The B Division starts Thursday at 12:30 p.m. with the North Yukon Eagles facing off against the Deline Braves at Takhini and the Northern Construction Grinders tackling the Tahltan Bear Dogz at Northwestel Arena at the Canada Games Centre (CGC), also at 12:30 p.m.

The C Division starts Thursday with a multitude of games starting at 9:30 a.m. at Takhini, Norwestel and the ATCO Ice in CGC.

The Oldtimers Division also starts off Thursday with the Kaska Warriors taking on the Tahltan Silvertips at Takhini at 2 p.m., followed by the 1016 Royals versus the CA Bruins at 3:30 p.m. at Takhini.

The Women’s Division faces off Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Northwestel with AFN Storm taking on the Vixens.

The Jamboree A Division starts Thursday at Northwestel with a matchup between the Arctic Backhoe Warriors and the Tahltan Selects at 5 p.m.

The IDC Junior Huskies also face off against the North Yukon Eagles at 5 p.m. on the ATCO Ice.

The Jamboree B Division action starts Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on the Northwestel ice with the Inuvik Ice Bears taking on TH Jamboree.

The Youth Division schedule kicks off Thursday as well at 12:30 p.m. with the Gwich’in Warriors battling the Kaska Warriors on Atco ice.

The full schedule of games can be found at https://www.yfnha.ca/schedule