The Whitehorse Mustangs bantam rep team continues to garner major attention Outside the territory this season, both from opposing teams and junior scouts.

The local AA squad competed in another AAA tournament this past weekend in Langley, B.C., and although they lost in overtime in the semifinal, they finished with a record of 3-1-1 and didn't lose any games in regulation.

'I was really impressed with the whole tournament,' said head coach Mike Young. 'Everyone played well and worked hard, and nobody got injured.'

The bantams started the tournament with a 4-4 tie against Port Coquitlam, but by all accounts outplayed their opponents.

'We just made a lot of silly mistakes,' stated Young. 'It definitely wasn't our best game.'

Game two of the tournament would go much better for the Yukon, when they pulled out a 4-0 win against Chilliwack, the team which ended up second overall in the tournament.

In game three, they took on Coquitlam, a team which at the time was sporting a 2-0 record, and skated away with a 7-2 victory. Young said that was probably their best game.

'We were both undefeated going in against each other, so we knew it would be a good game.'

After their win against Coquitlam, the Yukon crew was guaranteed first place in their division and a spot in the semifinals, so their final round-robin game against Burnaby didn't seem too important. They came out slow, but when they were down 2-0, Young said their competitive juices kicked in and they decided to pick it up. They ended up defeating Burnaby 4-2.

'It was actually a good experience,' said the coach. 'It's always good to learn how to come from behind.'

Not only did the Mustangs finish first in their pool with the most points, they also claimed the lowest goals against, best plus-minus and lowest total penalty minutes. It seemed like the team was destined for the final. But in the semis, they drew a tough opponent in Seattle, who ended up winning gold.

'They were a really strong team,' said Young about the Americans. 'They had a really good goalie. He played very well. He was like 6'2, his pads looked like they weren't even legal.'

The local team was down 4-2 halfway through the third period, but completed a comeback with just a few minutes left on a goal by Robbie Stuckey.

'Robbie got a really nice goal to tie the game. It was a hard shot from the top of the circle, off the crossbar and in.'

Whitehorse was riding an emotional high heading into overtime, but they broke down just for a minute in the extra frame. And unfortunately, one mistake was enough to cost them the game. Seattle advanced to the final with a 5-4 win.

'I think they were a little disappointed, but hopefully it's experience for our main goal, which is provincials,' said Young, adding all the teams at the tournament were fun to play against because they were clean.

'They were quite disciplined, so there wasn't a lot of goons or meatheads out there. It was just good, clean hitting and hard working games.'

Two of the Yukon forwards, Lowell Johnston and Ted Stephens, were named to the all-star team at the end of the tournament. Johnston picked up seven goals and an assist overall while Stephens also potted seven goals.

'I think I played a great tournament,' said Johnston. 'We played good as a team.

'I didn't even know about the award at first. I was at the movies with some friends and then when I went to the airport, my dad gave me the award. I thought it was great. Usually you don't think guys from Whitehorse will win these things.'

It was the second such recognition for both Johnston and Stephens this season. They were also named to the all-star squad at December's AAA tourney in Prince George. Johnston gave credit to his linemates, Drew Pettitt and Joe Densmore, for setting him up.

'It's always nice when guys get recognized like that,' said Young, also praising a few other players on his team.

'Drew (Pettitt), he ended up with a goal and six assists. He played very well, he just didn't get recognized this time (he was name an all-star in Prince George). He's always skating hard, making good plays, back-checking. He's always a good force on offence.'

The coach was also impressed with goaltender Ian Perrier, who recorded a shutout and finished with the lowest goals against average. While he didn't make the all-star team, Young said he very well could have.

Perrier gave credit to his teammates, especially the defence, who he said made some mistakes but usually recovered them quick enough that it didn't cost them on the scoreboard.

'There were some games where we didn't have a lot of shots on us, because the defence was doing a really good job of limiting the other team's opportunities,' said the goalie. 'But in one game, we came out slow and the final shots were something like 42-28 for them. That game was hard work for me.'

Young said the defence really bought into the fact the Mustangs have a strong offence, which means they didn't have to do all the work. He said they did a good job of making the outlet passes, playing the body and just doing 'all of the little things.'

Rumour has it that scouts from several major junior hockey teams were inquiring about a few of the Mustangs, due to their play in both Langley and Prince George. So while they didn't come home with the gold medal, everyone on the team is confident they are primed for the B.C. provincial championships next month, which is a AA tournament.

'We've been playing in AAA tournaments and we're going to AA provincials, so we're going to do our best and go for the gold,' said Johnston. '(Before provincials) we just have to work on everything shooting, passing and skating. We're pretty good at all of it, we've just got to perfect it.'

Perrier said he feels the team needs to work on their intensity in upcoming practices.

'In our games, we almost always come out too slow. We need to work on building up our intensity level so we can come out harder from the start.

'I think we have a better chance now at winning provincials. We played the best AAA bantam team in Seattle and we gave them a really good game. After this tournament, I think we're going to be the team to beat at provincials.'

With all but four of the bantams in their veteran second year, this is their best shot at winning provincials. In fact, Young said, this is the best shot the Yukon has had at winning in nearly two decades.

'This is probably the strongest team since (Bobby) House and (Jarrett) Deuling played bantam here (about 18 years ago),' stated Young. 'So there's a lot of expectations around town that these guys are going to win provincials, as well as (expectations) among themselves.'

Kay Haggard, who has been involved with minor hockey here since the mid-1970s, says she doesn't recall the bantams ever winning provincials.