A hockey-heavy weekend kept Yukon old-timers on the straight and narrow in Sin City late last month.

Two Yukon teams – made up of nearly identical rosters – competed in the annual Las Vegas Old-Timers Classic hockey tournament Oct. 22 to 25.

Yukon 1 and Yukon 2 featured a variety of returning players from the territory. Air North has chartered a direct flight to Las Vegas for the tournament for the last number of years, piloted by goalie Joe Sparling.

The Yukoners would play eight games total, with the Yukon 2 team eventually winning the Coors Light division’s silver final with a 2-0 victory over the ZipTek Cluster Pucks – thanks in large part to a shutout by goalie James Billy.

In lieu of medals, the team took home commemorative T-shirts and socks.

Meanwhile, Yukon 1 dropped their Coors division silver final 2-1 to the CCC Shamrocks.

Overall, the two teams finished with a collective record of 3-8.

Many of the attending players suited up for both teams after three team members pulled out of the trip late.

Jim Giczi, Mark Pike, Sean McLeish and Darnel Kiriak played all eight games, while the rest of the 15 players took to the ice for at least six.

“It was a pretty amazing trip because with that much hockey, the guys were closer together,” said team organizer Doug Janzen, 52.

“The hockey was actually better this year. It was a fun tournament or whatever, right.”

Several players turned in inspirational performances.

Giczi scored several goals. Blaine Demchuk was a leader in the dressing room. Sparling turned in a super-human effort in Yukon 1’s final loss to the Shamrocks.

Officially, Yukon 1 beat the Calgary Mustangs 1-0 in preliminary play before losing to both the Shamrocks 4-0 and Chicago Brew 7-2.

Meanwhile, Yukon 2 lost 3-1 to the Fading Fighters and 5-2 to the Band of Brothers, before downing the Cluster Pucks6-1.

Aside from Sparling and Billy – who split netminding duties – attending players included Bill Boehmer, Brian Currie, Ron Daub, Blaine Demchuk, Bruce Demchuk, Giczi, Janzen, Shawn Kinsella, Kiriak, Stu Mackay, McLeish, Blayne Monahan, Pike, Johnny Sembsmoen and Joel Witten.

Janzen said the number of players participating in this year’s tournament was down, possibly due to the high U.S. dollar.

He also said the teams’ success would not have been possible without the support of the players’ wives and daughters, who cheered from the stands and kept them well-nourished.

While the trip was enjoyed by all, Janzen said next year, the players hope to have more time to pleasure in off-ice activities.

“Next year, we don’t want to play that much hockey,” he admitted. “We’re in Las Vegas. Guys want to experience Las Vegas. We also had the challenge of the (Toronto) Blue Jays playing as well, so there was a lot of things going on.

“But it was an awesome experience. It was a lot of fun.”

The tradition is expected to continue in October 2016.

In total, more than 70 Yukoners made the trip to Nevada.