The Fairbanks Northern Knights may not have been huge in terms of size, but they certainly seemed to have the intimidation factor.

Right from the first game, the Whitehorse bantam AA Mustangs often looked like they were in awe of Fairbanks, despite the fact the Mustangs were playing all four games of the series on home ice. Maybe it was because the Knights had swept the previous series on their home turf last fall, or maybe it was because for some of the players, this was their first time competing on home ice.

Perhaps it was the sting of losing a close one in the first game it was 3-0 for the Alaska crew at one point, then the Mustangs battled back and made it 3-2 in the third, before the Knights put it away with an empty-netter.

Whatever the case, head coach Mike Johnson agreed that it took his team the first couple of games before they started to believe defeating Fairbanks was possible. They lost the second game 8-4 before picking up a victory in Game 3 and making it close in the final contest, which they eventually lost 5-3 after another empty-netter in the dying minutes.

'We talked to them and told them, as long as everybody does their 45-second shift, and does their job, they're doing all they can do,' said Johnson. 'I think sometimes, they just see the bigger picture. You have to break it down to each game and each shift.

'At Arctic Winter Games and at provincials, it's a small round-robin. You can't take two games to decide you belong.'

Mustangs Tanner Kulych and Jaxon Glass were quick to admit the team started off bad in the series, saying it took a while to get used to their opponents.

Kulych said the team needs to work on coming out strong at the start of each game while Glass believes the Mustangs need to be more physical.

'I think it was just the awe of playing in front of our home town,' said Kulych. 'It's tough to prepare mentally.'

'It's the first time in two years I've played in my home town,' added Glass. 'It's different. You come to the rink and you sort of feel like you're playing house league. It can be tough to get ready.'

Kulych was particularly feeling the pressure from the home crowd tough when he was awarded a penalty shot in the third period of Game 4, with the Mustangs trailing 4-3. He tried to go glove-side on the Fairbanks goalie, who made a nice save.

Kulych said assistant coach Danny Johnson told him not to go glove-side, but once he hit the ice, it was tough advice.

'I was so nervous, I felt like throwing up,' smiled Kulych, who Glass said is usually one of the best Mustangs when they practice the shoot out drill. 'I had serious butterflies.

'I heard (Danny), I knew not to go to the glove, but I still did. It looked open to me.'

While Fairbanks got crucial saves from their goaltenders, Whitehorse goalies Scott Smeeton and Mel Goodman also came up big over the four-game series. Glass said Smeeton was the only reason they came close in Game 4, and also played a huge role in their win Saturday morning.

Forward Drew O'Connor and defenceman/captain Lawrence Brennan were also given kudos from their teammates.

Mike said he was pleased with the improved defensive play of several forwards, who were forced to deal with the Knights' fast breakout speed. He was also pleased with the forecheck and his own squad's breakouts. The third line, also known as the Git R' Done (GRD) line, was solid once again, he added.

'I'm happy with it overall. We can go from here. If you want to keep kids going for three weeks (until AWG and provincials), it's good to lose. Then you've got their attention. They know there's things they need to improve.

'On our power play, we're good at setting up, but we didn't get a lot of quality shots. There's another level we can take it to, get the other team to shift. Our penalty kill, we've done a bit of work on it, but not enough. We're going to make all of our defencemen work on covering a guy in front of the net.'

At this point though, Mike pointed out, the coaching staff doesn't want to introduce too much tricky stuff to the players, considering they don't have much practice time left before the big tournaments.

Both Glass and Kulych believe Arctic Winter Games and provincials� which are just a couple of days apart� will be tough.

But at their last tournament in Kitimat, B.C. they placed second against the same teams they expect to see at the provincial championships.

'That makes us feel pretty confident,' said Kulych. 'We just need to keep training hard, stay in shape, and keep it simple.'

While the bantams are training at home over the next few weeks, most of the Northern Cross midget Mustangs will be travelling to Penticton, B.C. for a series against two teams from the Okanagan Hockey Academy.

The midgets, who have been idle from competition for over a month, are hoping to get in some good action before the AWG and their provincial championships, which will be held in Whitehorse this year.

The Okanagan Hockey Academy is similar to Notre Dame, with kids from all over the world including Austria, England and Scotland, as well as Canada and the U.S.

'It's an opportunity for us to get our chemistry back and get our flow black before going to provincials,' said Mike Young, co-coach of the Mustangs. 'It's not like a usual tournament. Of course we always want to win, but that won't be our main focus. We just want to work on some things.

Whitehorse will be sending 16 players to the series, as a few of the athletes have school commitments and won't be able to attend.

Defenceman Nick Mauro, who is also the captain, is still recovering from a torn MCL in his knee injury, which he sustained in the tournament in Richmond at the end of December.

Young expects Mauro to be back in time for the AWG.

'Nick's coming along really well. The doctors say he's made a lot of progress.'