Third-year forward Trevor Hanna's stellar performance failed to push the Whitehorse Midget Mustangs past the semi-finals at the Midget AA Tournament in Lethbridge, Alta., Feb. 3-6.

Hanna sniped six goals and five assists for 11 points in four games to finish the tournament with a plus three rating.

"When he really plays well he can dominate a game,” Mustangs head coach Jim Stephens said.

But Hanna and the Mustangs ran out of gas in the semis against the Sylvan Lake Lakers, who went on to pound the host Lethbridge Hockey Hounds in the final by a score of 7-2.

Heading into their final contest, the Mustangs played three games in 36 hours, Stephens pointed out.

"The lesson learned is we're really going to work on our conditioning; we've got about a month to do that before provincials,” he said.

The B.C. Provincial Championships will go down in Cranbrook March 20-25.

The tournament in Lethbridge was the second the Mustangs played in as many weeks, having won the three-game series over the Kelowna-based Pursuit of Excellence (POE) Hockey Academy 2-1 to end January.

Stephens hopes to fit in another series against the POE, this time down in Kelowna, to start Reading Week on March 14. The previous series got the Mustangs used to high-pressure, hard-hitting situations that clubs throughout B.C. are used to playing when competing for playoff positions.

"There's less time with the puck and you've got to be moving your feet,” Stephens said. "Getting that type of experience is so important.”

The Mustangs bypass any playoff to qualify for provincials, he added.

"Our kids, a lot of these guys have played in a lot of provincials and quite a few tournaments that by the time they get to midget I think they're pretty well ready from that aspect; but the kids down south do have an advantage with that game pressure and just being able to play in those situations,” Stephens said.

That kind of experience worked against the Mustangs in their first game in Lethbridge last Thursday, when the Hockey Hounds took it to the road-weary Mustangs for a 5-3 win.

"There's obviously adjustments going on,” Stephens said. "It's probably game experience. We can practice against that, but you really need the game experience. Although, I think we adjusted as we went through the tournament.”

The Mustangs adjusted to the fore-checking pressure in their second game.

Whitehorse led the Sherwood Park Oilers 4-1 until the third period, and eventually took the win 5-3.

That was the Mustangs best game of the tournament, Stephens said.

"It looked like we had a lot of energy, and we were skating well, putting a little more pressure on their team with our fore-check,” he said.

On Saturday, the Mustangs "scraped by” the Notre Dame Hockey Academy out of Saskatchewan with a 4-3 win.

In the semi final against the Lakers, the Mustangs were dealt a blow after Lindsay Meikle was given a game misconduct for hitting from behind.

The loss of the club's best two-way forward – and penalty killer – was especially damming since the Mustangs were already without the services of defenceman Brayden Kulych and centre Matthew McCarthy, both out with injury.

The Mustangs eventually lost 5-4 in over time.

"We were kind of running out of gas throughout that game,” Stephens said.