Just one day after stepping off a 20-hour bus ride home from Grande Prairie, Alta. the Whitehorse Mustangs pee wee AA rep hockey team was already eager to get back on the ice.

You could call it a byproduct of their convincing championship victory at this past weekend's tournament another big feather in the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Associations cap this season but you get the feeling watching the 10- and 11-year-old youngsters suit up that it's about more than gold medals for them, more than bragging rights.

They'd only been off the ice for a couple of days, but goaltender Brad Gustafson was busily strapping on the pads during his interview and a couple of the forwards were shifting their legs around in an antsy fashion as they talked about their big win.

In fact, a few of the players were already fully changed and lined up on the bench 10 minutes before practice even started, which isn't too common when you're dealing with kids.

This year's pee wee group just genuinely loves to play the game of hockey.

'This is a really good bunch of kids,' said Jim Stephens, an assistant coach with the Mustangs. 'From a coaching standpoint, they're a really easy team to work with. And they have a lot of fun.'

'Just the eyes in the dressing room when we won was enough for me,' said an obviously proud Dave Pearson, head coach of the pee wees. 'It's pretty nice to watch kids who are that excited.'

The Mustangs obviously dominated the competition at the Alberta tournament, outscoring their opponents 24-9 in four games. In Game 1 on Friday, they skated past St. Albert 5-1.

Captain David Stephens led the Mustangs with two goals and an assist while Gibson Pearson, Travis Rivest and Ryley O'Connor also found the back of the net. Trevor Hanna picked up two assists while Chris Vance and Joel Brennan each had one assist.

On Saturday, Whitehorse took on host Grande Prairie and came out with a convincing 8-2 victory, thanks in part to a hat trick by Rivest.

Gibson tacked on two goals and an assist while Hanna claimed a goal and two assists. Vance finished with a goal and one helper while David (Stephens) kept his offensive streak alive with a goal. Adrian Hawkings collected two assists while Henry Kedziora and Brennan each had one assist.

In their second matchup Saturday, the Mustangs overpowered Slave Lake 5-2. David was impressive once again, netting two goals and an assist.

Pearson, Hanna and O'Connor also hit the twine while Vance grabbed an assist.

The win Saturday evening put Whitehorse into the gold medal final on Sunday, where they would face-off against Fairview the defending Alberta provincial champions. Fairview had beaten the Mustangs 4-3 at a tournament in Dawson Creek earlier this year, but the Mustangs would get their revenge.

'We beat them pretty soundly,' said Dave (Pearson). 'It was a good, tough game, but it wasn't ever in doubt from start to finish. We outplayed them.'

Hanna notched two goals and an assist for Whitehorse in the final while Gibson also potted a pair and David posted a goal and four assists. Hawkings claimed one helper.

'It wasn't unexpected, because we knew we had a good team,' said Dave of the win. 'But that was our 12th game of the year and some of those teams had played 30 or 35 games, so we didn't really know what could happen. Alberta teams tend to be bigger and stronger and we have a small, fast team.

'A couple of teams tried to run us out of the tournament, but our kids were very resilient. They weren't at all intimidated. In fact, we stepped onto the ice at the start of the tournament and went right at it right away.'

David scored just six seconds into the opening game for the Mustangs, setting the tone for the rest of the weekend.

'I thought our team gave a good effort,' said David. 'We played really well and it turned out great for us in the end.'

'We scored quite a bit, which was the main part,' smiled Gibson, who plays on the first line with David and Hanna. 'I thought David pretty much led this team.'

David said the first line for the Mustangs is successful because they are a good combination of speed, skill and hard work, as well as fast skaters.

'We were all on our game,' stated Hanna. 'Our goaltending was excellent, our defence overall did pretty good.'

Considering there were only four defenceman dressed for Whitehorse in Grand Prairie, Rylan Bechtel, Adrian Hawkings, Henry Kedziora and Chris Vance did a fine job, logging tons of minutes.

Other players who gave a solid effort throughout the weekend were Michael Hare, Lyndsay Miekle, Lowell Tait and Jarod Worsfold.

Hawkings said he was particularly impressed with Bechtel, as well as David and goalies Gustafson and Steve Harlow.

'Our goalies were probably the best ones down there, for sure. Even though our team is smaller, we still hit quite a bit. We all work together really well. Everyone is really nice to each other.

'I would also say we've got some skill.'

And most importantly, as coach Dave put it, 'these kids can really skate.'

'It really shows the quality of skating coaching we have here in the Yukon. (Arctic Edge Skating Club coach) Trish Pettitt has been working with some of these kids since they were knee high. Some of the kids were just miles ahead of the competition down there.

'We had Fairview on their heels the whole time. They didn't know what to do.'

A sure sign of a good team is when players are already talking about what they can improve for next time, even when they are winning, and this pee wee crew is no exception. They constantly want to improve.

'I thought I played quite well, but there were a couple of goals I really wanted back,' said Gustafson. 'I need to work on my rebounds.'

Harlow, who took two penalties in the gold medal final for some incidents around the net, admitted he needs to work on controlling his emotion. The team as a whole, he said, needs to work on covering the man in front of the net and not taking stupid penalties after the whistle.

'We'll work on a lot of little things, the fundamentals,' said Jim.

'Our play in our own end was good, but we still need to work on being composed,' added Dave. 'We made mostly good decisions this weekend, but at times, we lost our focus I think.'

The pee wees will now be idle until the B.C. provincial championships in mid-March, where they hope to continue this season's success.

Gustafson said when you look at some of the teams the Mustangs beat in Grande Prairie squads from cities a lot larger than Whitehorse Whitehorse has a great chance of medaling at provincials. Harlow called each tournament this season a stepping stone for the big one.

'This tournament gave them the confidence to go out and know they can complete with players their own age (at provincials),' the head coach agreed. 'It's really worthwhile to be able to teach kids how to win, and that's a really hard thing to do in the Yukon.'

The pee wees are fortunate to have such a great support system, he added, pointing out close to a dozen parents made the trip to Alberta with the team.

'We just have to keep the momentum going now, keep them working hard and having fun.'