The Yukon Rivermen had a busy weekend of hockey, playing four games in 36 hours. The Rivermen played two games against the North Okanagan Knights in Enderby, B.C. and the East Kootenay Ice in Midway, B.C. According to head coach Carl Burgess, the travel and the schedule takes it’s toll on the players.

“It was four games in 36 hours, three different hotels, life on the bus,” said Burgess.

“It’s some good some bad, like they get in the groove of the game and the competition, but it’s quite a challenge for them to maintain.”

The Rivermen first played the Knights, a team the Rivermen matched up well with according to their coach. The team lost both their games to the Knights.

On Saturday the Rivermen played the Knights in the morning before making the bus trip to Midway to play the Ice for their second game of the day. Burgess says the Ice are one of the top teams in the B.C. Zone Bantam League, but the team had them close before fatigue began to set in.

“We played Saturday morning then jumped on the bus for three hours and played Saturday night,” said Burgess. “But they were able to have that team on their heels for two periods. We went into the third beating them 4-3, which is a significant doing. We held them, but couldn’t hold on to the win.”

The Rivermen will now get a much-needed break. The team will next we travelling in the new year. Burgess says it is a time for the team to regroup and recover.

“This is the long stretch of the year,” said Burgess. “At this point of the year there is lots of wear and tear and everybody is looking forward to a bit of a break. We have no games now until we take off New Year’s day, for a bantam tournament in Kamloops.”

The team’s mandate has been to improve in the first half of the season. Although the Rivermen dropped their four games, Burgess says the program is on track for where he would like the team to be when they head into the second half of the season and playoffs.

“We are doing well, we are finding things we need to fix and finding things we are doing well at,” said Burgess. “This was a tough bus tour to pull off. In terms of hockey experience they played four high-end hockey games and put together a lot of real good periods, we just didn’t get a win.

“It’s fine, what matters is first half getting ready for the second half and the kids know that and they have had some good challenges. We’ve got two tournaments and the playoffs ahead of us in the next three months. but it’s all fun and that is still what bantam hockey should be about.”

The development the players are going through now will prepare the ones who choose to continue in competitive hockey.

“If they want to continue in competitive hockey they need to know it’s definitely serious,” said Burgess. “It gets more serious as they go along because folks want to take their commitment seriously to the team and each other. That’s what they are learning on this competitive development team, and everything is happening right on schedule.”

This year the team will be playing in a new playoff format.

“In the past the teams from smaller districts, because there is no district playoffs, the main rep team would get a bye directly into playoffs. This coming year there will be league playoffs. We will be competing with Prince George, the East Kootenay, the North West and the North Central, called the Northern Rural Division, for a spot in the provincial championships.

“It’s still the same amount of league games, but the team will have to earn their lunch. That is what they want.”