Canoe Lake Cree Nation hosted the first-ever Canoe Lake Christmas Classic hockey tournament in Saskatoon Dec. 27-29. A total of 16 teams competed in the Recreation Division with the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) Stars being crowned tournament champions. The team received a trophy and $15,000 for its efforts. In second place was the Patuanak Pats who received $10,000 and a trophy followed by the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCS) Winterhawks who claimed $6,000 and a trophy with the Beardy’s Blackhawks taking fourth place overall to win $4,000 and a trophy. Individual awards were also presented with Trent Campbell of Patuanak being named top forward, Eric Roy of PBCN being named top defenceman, Devin Buffalo of Patuanak taking top goalie honours and Nathan Dancy of PBCN being named most valuable player. Meanwhile, the tournament also featured a Legends Division. That tournament saw Beardy’s take first place out of the eight competing teams to win $10,000 and a trophy. The runner-up was the OCN Blades who took home $6,000 and a trophy. Individual awards in the Legends Division saw Bill Cameron Jr. of Beardy’s named MVP, Chris Gamble of Beardy’s named top defenceman, Matt Krahn of OCN named top goalie and Don Melnyk of OCN named top forward.