The National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Membertou, N.S., are over for 2022 and that means Team North鈥檚 adventure has come to an end.

May 14 was the final day of action as the medals were handed out but for Team North, the preceding day was where their tournament came to an end with two games in the placement round versus Manitoba and Team Atlantic. Fifth place was the best the boys could do but they would end up finishing sixth as they were on the wrong end of an 8-3 decision to Manitoba but came back to outgun Team Atlantic in a truly defensive struggle, 11-7.

The Yellowknife duo of McKinley Talbot and Emmery Golchert each had a pair of goals in that final contest while Crew True-Jewell chipped in with three assists.

The boys began back on May 9 in the round-robin and finished with a record of two wins and two losses, the victories coming at the expense of B.C and Team Atlantic. That was good enough to get them into the playoffs and a rematch with B.C. with a place in the medal round on the line.

It didn鈥檛 happen as they ended up losing the second encounter, 7-5, putting them in the placement round.

Owen Pettipas, one of Team North鈥檚 goaltenders, said it was a tough pill to swallow.

鈥淲e get a win and we鈥檙e in the semifinals and playing for a medal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat hurts a bit more than any of the other losses. We beat them already but we had a bad turn of events and it鈥檚 disappointing, for sure.鈥�

Even more so when you consider Eastern Door and the North (Quebec) pulled off perhaps the shock of the tournament by beating Manitoba in their playoff match-up, 4-2.

Ontario went on to beat Saskatchewan for the title while B.C. took home bronze with a win over Eastern Door and the North.

This year鈥檚 staging of the championships was the first since the 2019 edition, which was also held in Membertou. Team North鈥檚 participation was doubtful following that year due to the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT, the group that looked after all of the program鈥檚 operations, decided to step away in July 2019. This year鈥檚 Team North was put together through the work of Hockey North and Ryan St. John of Arviat, who served as the team鈥檚 manager.

Pettipas is still eligible for next year鈥檚 tournament as he hasn鈥檛 yet aged out and he said he鈥檚 looking forward to getting another crack.

鈥淚 hope we can do a bit better next year,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was good to get those wins and I鈥檓 hoping we can go for a medal.鈥�

Talbot played in his first and only championships this year and he said it was everything he thought it would be.

鈥淲e (did) a lot better than we set out to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he first game, we were getting used to each other but we got along pretty quick and got into the groove.鈥�