Mustangs finish Kelowna hockey tournament with 6-3 win

Players on the Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs didn't let a bit of bad luck and a short bench prevent them from achieving their goals at a B.C. tier two hockey tournament.

Players on the Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs didn’t let a bit of bad luck and a short bench prevent them from achieving their goals at a B.C. tier two hockey tournament.

This was the bantams’ first tournament of the season, which was held last weekend in Kelowna. The Mustangs finished the competition with a record of 1-3, winning its last contest 6-3 against the Prince George Cougars.

What was really impressive about the win was the fact that the Mustangs were able to beat Prince George using only two lines after three of its players suffered key injuries.

“We ran into some injury trouble early and we were caught a little bit flat footed, but overall I think when you look at the whole thing we improved every game,” said Bantam Mustang co-coach Jay Glass. “So when you look at it that way, we are not really happy with the record, but I think we are happy with the performance and the growth.”

Two of the team’s injuries came early in its opening game Friday against a squad from Calgary. In the game against Calgary both a Mustangs forward and a defenceman each suffered a broken arm in the first period.

One of the players had his arm jammed, while the other suffered the injury on an errant slash. Glass said both players will need about six weeks to recover.

The third injury wasn’t as serious, occurring in first period of game four against the Cougars when a Mustangs player suffered a bruised hip.

“It made it tougher on the guys that were left because we had a short bench, but it gave them the opportunity to step up to the plate as they say and show us that they can compete,” said Glass about the injuries. “They did that, so that is just going to make us all that much stronger when we are healthy.”

The Mustangs had a tough challenge in its game against the Calgary squad that boasted both size and skill. Calgary took it to the Mustangs early on in the contest and had decisive 13 to 3 shot advantage over the Whitehorse boys.

However, despite the lopsided shot advantage, Calgary was limited to just one goal in the first period, thanks to the brilliant play of Mustang goalie Nigel Sinclair-Eckert. Sinclair-Eckert made several huge saves to keep his team in the contest.

In the second period, Calgary capitalized on a few lucky bounces and Mustangs breakdowns to take a 7-0 lead into the third frame.

Calgary notched a couple more goals in the third period to make the final score 9-0. Shots on goal were 48 to 9 in favour of Calgary.

Whitehorse’s next contest was against host Kelowna on Saturday. The Mustangs got off to a quick start, scoring its first goal of the tournament eight minutes into the game.

The goal came off the stick of Mike Arnold, who made a nice deflection on a shot by Brayden Kulych. The Mustangs out shot Kelowna 11-7 in the first period and led 1-0 into the second frame.

Whitehorse increased its lead to 2-0 in the second frame. The goal came after Arnold stole the puck along the boards and was able to fire a pass to Michael Hare.

Hare, who had a partial breakaway, made no mistake, sending the puck into the top corner of the net.

For a second straight period, Mustangs goaltender, Patrick Soprovich was once again unbeatable, stopping all 10 shots that were sent his way in the second frame

Kelowna came out strong in the third period and was able to get back into the game, scoring its first goal with less than eight minutes remaining on the clock.

Just a couple of minutes later, Kelowna drew even with the Mustangs, taking advantage of a power play opportunity. The host team then scored the winning goal less than a minute later.

The Mustangs were able to generate a few chances of their own in the final four minutes, but were unable to notch the tying goal.

The final score was 3-2, with Kelowna out-shooting the Mustangs 13-5 in the final frame. 

Players on the Mustangs had only a couple of hours to prepare for their next contest, which was against one of the most talented teams at the tournament from Aldergrove, B.C.

Once again Whitehorse got off to a quick start, scoring the opening goal two minutes into the game. Gibson Pearson notched the goal for Whitehorse and Gage Preece was given an assist on the play.

Aldergrove tied up the contest nine minutes later, but it would be short-lived as the Mustangs stormed back to regain the one-goal advantage with two minutes remaining in the first period.

The goal came after Scott Meredith blocked a shot to give himself a breakaway. Meredith made no mistake, burying the puck in the back of the net to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead.

Aldergrove turned it on in the second frame, netting three goals before the conclusion of the period to take a 4-2 lead into the third.

The B.C. squad didn’t let up in the third period, scoring seven more goals to win the game 11-2.

Whitehorse put forth its best effort of the tournament in its final game Sunday against Prince George.

The Cougars were the first team to get on the board, scoring early on in the second period. Just three minutes later, Prince George increased its lead to 2-0, but the Mustangs showed despite being outsized and outnumber they were not about to go down without a fight.

Brett Roulston notched his first goal of the tournament to get Whitehorse back into the game around two minutes after Prince George scored its second goal.

Soprovich did his part to keep Whitehorse in the contest. The goaltender made one of the best saves at the tournament where he dove across the net and was able to get his stick on the puck just in time to prevent it from crossing the line.

Soprovich’s great play sparked the Mustangs, who took advantage on the power play with eight minutes left in second frame.

Matthew McCarthy tied the game up for the Mustangs at 2-2 after firing a hard slap shot, which eluded the Cougars goaltender.

A few minutes later, Tyson Glass gave Whitehorse its first lead, banging in a loose puck on a scramble in front of the net.

Two more second period goals courtesy of Pearson and Tyson gave the Mustangs a commanding 5-2 advantage. The Mustangs out shot Prince George 19 to 11 in the second period.

In the third period, Roulston notched his second goal of the game to give the Mustangs a four goal advantage with less than two minutes left in the game. The Cougars scored with 20 seconds left on the clock, but that would be as close as the team would get in the 6-3 loss. The Mustangs out shot Prince George 41 to 30.

Glass said the Mustangs accomplished all of its goals for the tournament in Kelowna.

“We weren’t expecting to win the tournament, but our minimum goals were to win a game and to improve every game was our second goal,” he said. “So those were our minimum objectives and I think we more than accomplished both of them.”

He said some of the areas that the team will work on include the play in its own zone, the flow through the neutral zone and the transition game when going into an offensive rush.

Glass said there are benefits for the Mustangs when the team participates at these tournaments.

“It’s a totally different game when you add the full on body contact,” he said. “They are not really two different games, they are the same game, but there’s quite a bit of a different feel out on the ice. It’s great that we are playing in the rec league, but we need these games desperately.”

The next tournament the Bantam Mustangs will participate will be in Wetaskiwin, Alta. in November.

Dave Pearson, co-coach on the Bantam Mustangs, said it was important to have take part in a tournament early on in the season.

“It gives us a measuring point right away and it gives the kids a taste of that physical contact very early in the season and allows them to understand and measure where they are,” he said. “We will play some of these similar type teams as we go through the year and we can measure how we do and how we improve.”

He said he was pleased with the way the bantams played in Kelowna.

“At no time did we feel we were overmatched,” Pearson said. “We felt like the kids gained some excellent experience and overall it was a very positive experience.

Each and every one of the kids played to the best of their abilities and that’s all you can ask.”