The long-defunct Jasper Mountaineers hockey team is coming out of retirement for one special trip this October. 

The team, made up of all new faces, left for Iceland – that’s right, the tiny country in the centre of the Atlantic ocean, and Europe’s western most country – on Oct. 18 for a short trip that will include a whirlwind tour and a hockey tournament. 

The tournament, sponsored by Icelandair and hosted by the Bjorninn Hockey Club, has been dubbed the Great Icelandic Hockey Bailout. It has a $1,000 fee that includes everything except for food and drink, plus a $100 donation for an Icelandic charity. 

The relatively cheap cost is set in place to encourage more people to come to Iceland following the country’s economic collapse in 2008. 

Joe Urie, who has become the spokesperson for the newly resurrected team, said the tournament has come to mean something beyond just a simple hockey game. 

“What was originally passed off as a hockey tournament is now becoming secondary,” Urie said. “The tournament started up just before the economic collapse.”

The idea to travel to Iceland came earlier this year after hockey practice. The following day, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, and the trip no longer looked like a good idea. Urie quickly got over the concern after he began research into the country of just over 300,000 people. 

“It’s living geography,” he said of the country, with its incredible volcanoes, geysers and other natural attractions. 

Urie, who lived in the Yukon for five years in the 90s, said he likens the Icelandic people to Canada’s northern communities, and believes the economic crisis that struck the country in 2008 will only make the people stronger.

“They’re the kinds of people who will plow through this,” he said. “They know what it takes to survive in a place like that. It just seems like such a progressive place for such a northerly place.”

The economy of Iceland relies on the ocean, and its banking system,z until it collapsed. The country is now shifting towards encouraging tourists to visit the country, which is famous for its dining and night life.  

Teams are travelling from Toronto, Russia and the Netherlands, along with the Jasper Mountaineers, for the tournament. Urie said he isn’t interested in winning, but hopes he can contribute something besides the few dollars he’ll spend on food and drink. The hockey coach will be bringing along extra equipment for kids he has collected to leave behind with him when he leaves. 

“An effort makes them feel a little better,” Urie said. 

Having left on Oct. 18, Urie and the rest of the team will arrive back in Seattle, Wash. on Oct. 24.

“We’re not there long,” Urie said. 

But the team plans to make that short trip count. When their plane arrives at 6:45 a.m. (about 2:45 a.m. local time), a car will be waiting to pick them all up and transport them directly to the Blue Lagoon, a world-famous geothermal spa. 

“It just looks dynamite,” Urie said. 

After that, Urie hopes they can fit in a driving tour of the country that is 103,000 square kilometres. 

“We’re going to see as much as possible,” he said, adding that he hopes to film a video while he’s there to submit to the country’s tourism website, www.inspiredbyiceland.com

The team will play in brand new jerseys designed just for the tournament. 

“If we suck, we’re going to look really good sucking,” Urie laughed. 

The games will be shorter than a regulation hockey game, because many of the travelling teams are just in it for fun. Urie said the team that has been rounded up from Jasper includes a handful of talented 40-something-year-olds from town that vary in their skill level. 

“It’s got a good variety,” Urie said. “It’s a great mix of guys, it’s a great mix of skill, it’s a great mix of fun.”

Without an urge to win first place, Urie said they are going to do their best not to tarnish Canada’s image as hockey champions. 

“You want to put on a show,” he said. 

Future issues of The Fitzhugh will feature photos and a story on the team’s trip to Iceland.