CITY FACTS:

• Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay) is Inuktitut for "place of many fish." It is located near the mouth of the Sylvia Grinnell River that empties into Frobisher Bay - named after Martin Frobisher, who sailed into the bay in search of the Northwest Passage.
• Frobisher believed that he had discovered gold on an island in the bay, but it was only fool's gold that he took home to England.
• After being a trading post for whaling and fur, Frobisher Bay became a location of the U.S. Strategic Air Command Unit in 1960, which pulled out in 1963.
• Frobisher Bay has become the administrative, communications and transportation centre for the Eastern Arctic.
• In 1987, Frosbisher Bay officially becomes Iqaluit, reverting to its original Inuktitut name.
• April 1, 1999 - The new territory of Nunavut is officially created. Iqaluit becomes its capital.
  
  

HOCKEY FACTS:

• Last year, Hockey Nunavut had 1,302 registered people playing hockey. Of this number, 683 were involved in minor hockey, 179 women, 32 coaches and 27 referees. The rest (381) play in adult recreation or oldtimers leagues
• This year, with a few more weeks left to register, there are 1,100 registered hockey players
• One problem Hockey Nunavut is facing is the lack of competition in each age group. In some age brackets of the smaller communities there's only one or two participants in each age group
• Because of the high cost of living and unemployment rate in Nunavut, people find it hard to pay for hockey
• On the positive side, cost of participating is lower than in southern Canada and it's not as difficult to get cheap prime-time ice time
• There are two artificial rinks in Iqaluit. Everyone else in the territory plays on natural surfaces
• The oldest rink was built in the early 1970s and was renovated 15 years ago. The newest rink was built last year for the Arctic Winter Games, which Iqaluit hosted last year
• The rinks are open in early October and shut down in late April
• The biggest hockey challenge in the north is travel. Since communities are so far apart, the only way hockey teams can play other cities is to take a plane. That's not done very often. These trips take lengthy planning and serious fundraising. Without the frequent travel, the kids in isolated northern communities do not have the same opportunities as kids in, say, southern Ontario to develop their hockey skills.
• A lot of players in Nunavut have great natural skill. The best example of this is Jordin Tootoo, who plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League. Tootoo was selected in the fourth round of the 2001 entry draft by the Nashville Predators.
• Hockey gives many people in the region a diversion from the difficulties of living in the north. This remote region is fraught with chronic alcoholism, substance abuse and high teen suicide rates. Hockey keeps the kids grounded and out of trouble.
• A small crisis has developed in minor hockey in Nunavut. Temperatures across the territory have hovered near or above freezing long into the Arctic winter, keeping many teams benched until Christmas. Even villages well north of the Arctic Circle couldn't get their players out on the ice to practice.
• Rankin Inlet, which is on the west shores of Hudson Bay, about 1,000 miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, didn't start hockey until the end of December. Three years ago, it would have been ready by the end of November.