The Whitehorse Mustangs Bantam rep team recently returned from the B.C. provincial championships in Castlegar, B.C.

The Mustangs finished in seventh place overall, but that standing is a little deceiving as they won three out of the six round-robin games they played, and tied one.

'The kids really rose to the challenge,' said head coach Dale McGowan in an interview today. 'We did kind of exactly where we thought we were going to place.

'We only lost two out of six games and those games were actually real barn-burners. They could have gone either way.'

The tournament featured 11 teams in two separate pools. The top two teams from each pool made it to the playoffs.

The Whitehorse bantams started the tournament with an 8-2 win over Creston. Adam Henderson led the Mustangs with a hat trick while Neil Chambers and Lowell Johnston notched two goals apiece. Taylor Pasloski added a marker while Ian Perrier recorded the win in net.

In game two, the Mustangs faced off against hometown Castlegar, who eventually claimed the overall championship. The game was held after opening ceremonies and the rink was packed to match what McGowan called a wild game.

'That was probably the biggest crowd our kids have played in front of,' he said.

Whitehorse escaped the first period trailing 1-0 and in the second, Evan Campbell tied it up with a shorthanded solo effort.

Then Castlegar scored two more to take a 3-1 lead going into 3rd.

Whitehorse dominated third period, outshooting the hometown team 20 to 7. Drew Pettitt made it 3 to 2, but the Mustangs could not tie it up, even after pulling goaltender Daniel Salamandyk.

Next the bantams took on Hollyburn, settling for a 5-5 tie.

The Yukoners jumped out to a 3-1 lead on goals by Pasloski, Henderson and Cam MacKinnon. However, Hollyburn got back into to game, and the second period ended in at 3-3 tie.

A third period goal by Robbie Stuckey put the Mustangs ahead 4-3 but Hollyburn scored two goals and had a 5-4 lead with 5 minutes left in the game. Whitehorse pulled goalie Salamandyk and Henderson was the hero scoring with nine seconds left in the game.

Game four featured Whitehorse against Penisula (Vancouver Island), who ended up with the silver medal.

Penisula ended up blanking the Mustangs 1-0. Although, according to team officials, Whitehorse actually tied it up but the referee missed the call as the puck was behind the line and the Penisula goalie pulled it out.

For the third game in a row, the Yukon squad pulled their goalie late in the third but could not get the puck behind the Penisula goaltender.

Game five against Dawson Creek proved a different outcome for the North crew.

Whitehorse had some additional fans as some of the Whitehorse Peewees made the two hour drive from Cranbrook to cheer on their older colleagues.

Neil Chambers, Kaleb Dawe, Campbell, Daniel McGowan and Johnston scored for the Mustangs, who claimed a 5-2 victory. Ian Perrier was in goal.

In the final game of the tourney, goaltending duties were split between Perrier and Salamandyk.

The game was for seventh place and after falling behind 2-0 after the first period, the Yukon crew skated away with a 5- 3 victory on goals by Johnston, Kane Dawe, Kaleb Dawe, Chambers and Nick Mauro.

'After playing the way we did, we should have been in the top four,' said McGowan. 'The whole team did exceptionally well, considering almost 10 of those kids are first years.

'The speed that we had, the application and the work ethic really paid off. We had good goaltending, excellent defence and real fast, never-say-die forwards. That's kind of been the theme we've had all year and it really paid off for us.'

McGowan said there were a few players on the Mustangs who really stood out at the tournament.

'Reid Campbell, he was the quarterback back there,' said the coach. 'He's probably one of the smaller kids on the ice but he played really big. Adam Henderson really brought his game. Those were two of the standouts I guess.

'Daniel Salamandyk in goal, he came up with the big saves when he had to. He played really solid all tournament.'

McGowan said Salamandyk gets really good coaching from his dad Dennis, who is the goalie coach for the Mustangs.

'Actually, both of our goalies have really benefited from Dennis,' said McGowan. 'That's a real good one-two punch we have in goaltending.'

This weekend will mark the end of the season for most of the bantam Mustangs, as the Whitehorse Minor Hockey League year-end tourney takes place. McGowan said it's been a really good year for the team, which won gold at a tournament in Prince George, B.C. earlier.

He believes a lot of the second-year players have a very good shot at making the midget rep team next year. And he's hoping first years will start setting their sights on the 2007 Canada Winter Games. It will be players born in 1990 and 1991 which will make up the nucleus of the under-16 team at CWG.

'We want to start (training) now,' said McGowan, who's hoping to help with the 2007 team. 'The long-term goal is to get them together even on dry-land training, start working with a big group right now.'

In fact, McGowan said he will be calling for kids born in those years to come out for one or two more ice sessions after this season is over. He will also be making a general call for dry-land training in the summer.