Exhausted and banged up, members of the Whitehorse Northern Cross Mustangs stepped off the plane in Whitehorse Saturday afternoon with two things in hand a silver medal and the knowledge that they don't have far to go in order to turn that silver to gold.

The Mustangs chalked up a perfect 6-0 record heading into Saturday morning's gold medal game against the Kerry Park Islanders, at the 25th annual Richmond international midget hockey tournament.

They opened the tournament with a convincing 7-0 win over Wenatchee, followed by a 7-5 victory over Ridge Meadows, a 13-0 drubbing of Fairbanks, a 6-5 battle against Surrey and a 6-0 shutout against Seattle.

And after a slow start, they outshot the Islanders 42-16 in the final, but still ended up on the wrong end of a 3-2 score. The Mustangs made it a close game despite the fact they were down to just three defenceman by the final game, due to injury, and were forced to play a forward on the point.

Both teams were playing their seventh game in five days, and both were previously undefeated. Considering those factors, and the fact there were 20 teams in the midget AA division, from places as far away as Arizona and Utah, a second-place finish doesn't seem too bad, said Mike Young, who coaches the team along with Joe Martin.

'Obviously, it was a successful tournament,' said Young in an interview this morning. 'We went there wanting to gain experience and develop the team. We wanted to play as many games as possible and we did. So despite not winning, it was still a good tournament for us.'

Young said both teams played a little fatigued in the final and conditioning is something the Mustangs can always work on. But overall, he was impressed with the effort.

'Their goalie did play really well, making a couple of pointblank saves. There was nothing we could do but keep trying. Unfortunately, we didn't beat him until the third (period). If we could have played a better first period, I think we would have won that game.'

Whitehorse's goalies were no slouches either during the tournament, posting three shutouts between them two by Ian Perrier and one by Mitch Heynen.

Young said he had one team comment that Perrier was the reason they were winning games.

'Mitch played really well when he got the call (against Fairbanks) and Ian was just in a zone. He was a huge factor. You know it's a good thing when (other teams) are complaining about how good your goaltending is.'

Goaltending was especially important considering the Mustangs had lost four players halfway through the semifinal. Alex McDougall was out early in the tournament, spraining his shoulder on just his second shift, while forward Brad Holm was suspended indefinitely due to an incident during the first game against Surrey.

In the semifinal, Jeff Gartshore had already pulled his groin when it got worse for Whitehorse captain Nick Mauro went down after a knee-on-knee hit halfway through the game. With Mauro's injury, the Mustangs were down to just three defenceman for the rest of that game and the gold medal final.

Forward Taylor Love stepped in to play the point and did an admirable job, said Mauro.

'Taylor really showed up big and showed that he could do it. That's a really big task you're putting on someone, but he did it really well.

'Hopefully, knock on wood, we won't have to ask him to do that again.'

Despite the great job done by the rest of the team in Mauro's absence,Young admitted losing the talented defenceman was 'big.'

'Nick is such a factor, he would help anyone out in the tournament,' said Young.

Mauro still found one last way to help the team, before heading off to the hospital during the semifinal. The Mustangs were down 3-1 when Mauro gave an emotional speech in the dressing room, and they came out on fire after the speech, scoring five goals to beat Surrey for the second time at the tournament.

The captain said he never doubted his troops.

'Everyone's a leader on this team. That's what I love about them. It's just a letter on my jersey, I told the guys that. You can put the C' on my sweater, but really, it can go on anyone's jersey. These guys just mould somehow.'

That win against Surrey was 'icing on the cake', said Mauro, after what Surrey had put them through.

Surrey collected dozens of penalty minutes in their first matchup, but still got away with a lot of cheapshots, said Young, causing the coaching staff to to file a complaint.

'The ref didn't seem to have control over the game,' said Young. 'We did raise some concerns with the chief of referees and in the second game against them, we had a referee who did have a lot more control.

'He kicked out a couple guys and threw some in the penalty box right away, to send the message that it wouldn't be tolerated.'

Mauro said he was disappointed with Surrey's style of play, pointing out it was hard for the Mustangs to keep their discipline when they were up against chippy play.

'That's not the type of hockey we like to play,' stated Mauro. ' When you're playing a team like that, you're scared to go out on the ice because you're scared for your own personal health. They just didn't have any respect for the game.

'(Staying disciplined) was probably one of the hardest parts. But I'd rather keep my discipline and stay in the tournament, and not have to deal with coach Mike and coach Joe.'

Besides, said Mauro, the best revenge was getting the two wins and sending Surrey home without a medal. He was in the hospital getting his knee checked out when the Mustangs came from behind to take the second game, but forward Brad Holm called him up to tell him.

'Beating them again ... wow, that felt good.'

The other news for Mauro, with regard to his knee, certainly wasn't as good. He visited the hospital in Whitehorse this morning to have it confirmed, but it looks like he'll miss at least four weeks with a torn MCL. It's tough to take for a guy who is as dedicated to the Mustangs as Mauro is.

'Any guy who's told he's out for a month, with no hockey ... any guy on this team anyway ... would freak out,' said Mauro, obviously upset with the news. 'It's brutal.'

If there is a positive to take from it, he won't need surgery, so he should be back in time for provincials in March. It's also rather good timing, as the Mustangs don't have another tournament for at least a month.

'I really think we can push ourselves to the limit and show up real big at provincials,' he said, adding he's hopeful Whitehorse can once again challenge for gold, this time on home ice.

'That would be utopia. And the guys, I know, could do it, especially with the coaches this year. Mike is just amazing and Joe works us so hard. Everyone respects them and you need that.'

Kerry Park is planning on attending the provincials in Whitehorse in March, so spectators could be treated to a rematch of the Richmond final.

Here are the final stats for the Mustangs from the Richmond tournament:

Name GP G A Pts. PM

Chris Gleason 7 10 3 13 14

Drew Pettitt 7 5 8 13 7

Robbie Stuckey 7 3 6 9 16

Evan Campbell 7 2 6 8 4

Kaleb Dawe 7 3 4 7 0

Taylor Love 7 3 4 7 23

Ted Stephens 7 5 0 5 2

Michael Fraser 7 2 3 5 14

Nick Swizdaryk 7 1 4 5 11

JJ Stuckey 7 1 4 5 11

Taylor Pasloski 7 4 0 4 11

Nick Mauro 6 2 1 3 11

Lowell Johnston 7 2 1 3 2

Kane Dawe 7 2 1 3 12

Brad Holm 4 1 2 3 10

Josh Craven 7 1 2 3 2

Jeff Gartshore 6 0 0 0 2

Alex McDougall 1 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

Name W L SO GAA

Ian Perrier 5 1 2 2.67

Mitch Heynen 1 0 1 0.00

NOTEBOOK: McDougall is still rehabbing his sprained shoulder, but is expected back in the lineup fairly quickly...the Mustangs' coaching staff will speak with British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association officials this week, to find out when Holm is allowed back on the competitive ice...the next tournament for the Mustangs was supposed to be in Dawson Creek next month, but because of the B.C. teacher's strike, there was a change in exam dates for high school students. The exams are now during the same week as the tournament was previously scheduled to be, so the coaching staff is hoping to adjust the dates.