Takhini Arena was buzzing on Saturday evening for a game between the Men’s All Stars and the Young Guns.

The beer garden upstairs was packed and the stands were almost as full to watch the entertaining hockey game. At the final buzzer, it was the Men’s All Stars winning by a wide margin, 11-4.

All the money raised from the door and the beer garden stayed in the Yukon for the T1D (type 1 diabetes) Network.

It didn’t take long for the Men’s All Stars to get on the scoreboard. Clayton Thomas took a pass in the slot from Ryan Bursey and he made no mistake as he fired it over the glove of Young Guns netminder. Daniel Cletheroe also assisted on the goal.

Each team seemed to settle in and get to work on offence. The Young Guns used their speed to get behind the defence and in alone on goalie Brayen Weins, but he was up for the task and kept the youngsters scoreless.

The Men’s All Stars added to their lead at the 10:42 mark of the first. Drew Pettit sent a crisp outlet pass to his brother Aaron who was sent in alone on the goalie. His first shot was stopped but he stuck with it and banged in his own rebound.

Undeterred, the Young Guns kept pressing and were finally awarded with three goals in the final 4:30 of the opening stanza.

Alex Hanson broke in down the right side of the ice and from the top of the face-off circle, wired a wrist-shot just over the pad of Weins. Gavin Lawrie assisted on the play.

Sawyer Adams was the recipient of some nifty in-close passes before he shelved the puck. Ty Beacon and Landon Marsh helped set him up.

In the final minutes of the frame, Currie Dixon took a tripping penalty to give the Young Guns a power play.

They made no mistake as Beacon was found at the top of the slot and fired the puck home. Assisting on the play was Mack Benn-Whipp and Josh Schenk.

After scoring three unanswered goals to close the period, it would be plausible to believe they would carry that momentum forward - that wasn’t the case.

The Men’s All Stars were unfazed, almost like they’ve been in these types of situations before. They held the Young Guns scoreless in the second while tacking on three goals to their lead.

Bursey added to his point total this time tallying a goal. He took a feed from Thomas and was in all alone. His first shot was kicked out but he gathered the rebound and fired it in.

After a strong cycle, the men were able to get the Young Guns goalie scrambling in his crease. Cletheroe gathered the puck and sent it over the sprawling keeper.

Bursey got his second of the game and the period on a nice individual effort capped off with a beautiful shot into the top of the net.

During intermission (there was only one flood), fans were treated to a tykes game. The future hockey stars put on a pure performance much to the delight of the crowd. Actually, the cheers for their goals were just as loud as the main events.

Also during the break, the Whitehorse Peewee Mustangs were honoured as they watched their 2019 Peewee Tier 3 Provincial Champions Banner raise to the rafters of Takhini Arena.

There was no let-up from the Men’s All Stars after the break. Malchow netted his second of the game in the first minute of the period. Assists went to Hannah and Wyatt Gale.

The Young Guns did pull one goal back off the stick of Oscar Burgess but it was to little too late.

The men scored three more times in the final frame. Hannah, Clethoroe and Malchow, who earned himself a hat trick, netted the insurance markers.