Like many Yukon hockey players before him, Trevor Hanna is adapting to a new role with an Outside club.

This season Hanna joined the ranks of the Creston Valley Thunder Cats in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).

"Here, I'm not the vet anymore, I'm not the third-year guy, the go-to guy,” the 17-year-old said. "It's a change in roles for sure, because in Whitehorse I was depended on to score and lead the team; but here I'm more of a grinder. I've got to work my way up on the ladder.”

Last season with the Midget A Mustangs, Hanna sniped 54 goals and added 58 helpers for 112 points in 63 games, second in team scoring behind Chris Vance's 115 points.

Hanna was also an integral player for the Mustangs' bronze-medal winning team at the Teir 3 B.C. Provincial Championships last season.

Former Mustangs' head coach Jim Stephens noted that Hanna played with stitches in his elbow and the flu.

"At provincials he'd be described as a guy that gave 120 per cent,” said Stephens, who stepped down from the Mustangs this season.

"He's just the type of player that every coach wants on their team. He's got a real great competitive spirit, and is a really good team player too. So I think Creston is lucky to get him.”

The Thunder Cats are third in the Eddie Mountain Division of the KIJHL with an 8-7-0-1 record for 17 points, good for 12th overall. League leaders are the Kamloops Storm of the Doug Birks Division in the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference with 34 points.

As a third-line centre, Hanna has helped his club with three goals and four assists in 16 games this season.

Hanna, who has also found himself on the first penalty-killing unit, said adapting to his new role has taken some adjusting.

"Getting less ice time, you just got to get used to it, you just got to play your role and be happy with what you get.”

Joe Martin, who was the Thunder Cats' head coach and general manager last season, helped guide Hanna to Creston Valley. (This season, Martin moved on as assistant coach and general manager of the Junior A club the Merritt Centennials in the British Columbia Hockey League.)

Martin previously coached the Whitehorse Midget Mustangs and Team Yukon at the Canada Winter Games.

Over the summer Martin suggested Hanna take a shot at Creston Valley.

Now Hanna joins the growing list of Yukon players grinding their way onto Outside clubs.

Over the past few seasons, the Thunder Cats alone have enlisted the talent of three Whitehorse players: Kane Dawe, Alex McDougall and Robbie Stuckey.

"Knowing from other players from the Mustangs have gone down to Creston and succeeded and moved on to Junior A and university hockey – like Drew Pettitt – it's just a good stepping stone, for sure,” Hanna said.

Stephens also pointed to former Mustangs Evan Campbell and Joe Densmore, who both played for the Peninsula Panthers in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League last season, Adam Henderson, who played for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks in the NCAA and Andrew Pettitt of the Powell River Kings in the BCHL.

For Stephens, it's unusual for a city the size of Whitehorse – hovering near 26,000 – to produce hockey players of this caliber.

"I think our kids coming up through the Whitehorse system have an opportunity to develop some of the skills more so than if you're playing AAA hockey form the get go,” Stephens said.

"A lot of our kids can skate well. One thing that stands out – and I've watched a lot of kids – our kids can handle the puck well.”

Due to the isolation, the Mustangs get most of their game experience in the Whitehorse Recreational Hockey League – a no-hitting league.

But Yukon fans got a taste of the heavy-hitting game down south when the Kelowna-based Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy visited Whitehorse for a three-game series

The Yukon boys adapted to the hitting and took that series 2-1.

"We've got a pretty good brand,” Stephens said. "Our kids, like Trevor, they really compete hard. Their skill levels are high.”

Hanna has to counter his inexperience with the faster, heavy-hitting game with extra effort.

"There are definitely bigger kids and bigger players – bigger, stronger, faster players,” Hanna said.

"It's just about going and giving it your all at every practice, competing with teammates and making sure you're giving it your all every shift in games.”

That's the attitude that got Hanna there and will see him rise within the organization, Stephens added.

"Like all guys moving up the ranks, you're not just going to get your first-line assignment right away; you got to prove yourself, put in your time, however you want to describe it,” Stephens said. "And he'll definitely get his chance, and might even be this year. He'll get better and more comfortable as the year goes on. And I would suspect that he'll be one of their top players in the next two and a half years.”