The Yukon's female Canada Winter Games hockey team returned from a tournament in Burnaby, B.C. this past weekend, picking up both a second-place finish and a much-needed confidence boost.

In their first Outside tournament in preparation for the Games, the Northern Avalanche played in the midget AA division, even though most of the team is made up of bantam-aged players, and went undefeated throughout the round-robin.

'It was a really big success for the girls,' said head coach Randy Merkel, in an interview after stepping off the plane at the Whitehorse International Airport Tuesday afternoon. 'Our expectations were exceeded and they overachieved on their performance as a whole.

'We knew we were a greatly improved team, but I had no idea how we would fare against the teams down there.'

In their opening matchup Saturday, the Avalanche edged the Richmond Ranglers 2-1, thanks to goals by Angela Burke and Chantele Rivest. Rivest, Michelle McKay and Jessica Trotter claimed the assists.

In their second contest, also on Saturday, the Avs downed the Surrey Breakers 5-2. Mallory Lesage and Jocelyn Boutilier notched two goals apiece for the Yukon squad while Trotter also bulged the twine. Assists went to Rivest (2), Burke and Kelsey Kabanak.

On Sunday, the Northern Avalanche took on the hometown Burnaby Wildcats, narrowly defeating them 2-1. Lesage and Burke provided the offence for the Avalanche, each grabbing a goal and an assist. Alex Bouchard was credited with a pair of helpers.

Next up for the Avs was their first elimination game, Monday morning against Port Alberni. It was a close game, with good goaltending on both sides, but in the end it was the Yukoners who clinched a spot in the gold medal final that afternoon, blanking Port Alberni 1-0.

Burke scored the lone goal for the Avs, assisted by Boutilier. Megan Moore picked up the shutout in goal, making her fourth straight start of the tournament.

In the gold medal game, the Avs were up against a familiar foe, the Richmond Ranglers. This time, the Ranglers got their revenge and denied the Avalanche their gold, with a 4-0 victory. Both Moore and Teneesha Merkel spent time in net.

Despite the final loss, Rivest, a centre on the Avs, was pleased with the team's performance throughout the weekend.

'I kind of thought we were going to get our butts handed to us,' she laughed, adding they were the youngest team at the tournament. 'We were playing midget AA when over half our team is either first- or second-year bantams.

'Even winning our first game, that was an accomplishment. Being second-best out of eight teams, that's huge.'

Randy said everybody contributed to the team's success, right down to the third line. 'Certainly, our leadership came through. Our biggest asset is our team cohesion. We played like a hockey team, acted like a hockey team. They were very well behaved. I was proud.'

Rivest pointed to the play of both goaltenders, calling them 'outstanding'.

'I've never seen them play so good before. They definitely stood on their heads for us. And our captain, Jessica Trotter ... she had an injury during the tournament, but she stuck it out for the team and was definitely one of our MVPs. She showed why she's the captain.'

Rivest said teammate Lesage, who recently moved to Watson Lake from Ontario and was only able to make a few of the practices before Burnaby because of the long commute, was also impressive.

'She fit in right away and she's definitely going to be a top player on our team.'

Rivest felt like the team exhibited a number of strengths during the tournament, including some great offence and consistent penalty-killing.

'We killed penalties amazingly,' agreed Randy. 'In our last three games, the penalty ratio was about 10-2 against us, so we did not get any breaks. They worked so hard.'

Still, there are a couple of things which need to be worked on over the next couple of months, acknowledged the coach. One of those areas is endurance. Randy felt like they 'ran out of juice' by the time they got to the final. Breakouts are also a concern.

'We were working on our breakouts before we left,' explained Rivest. 'They're still not down pat, but it's something we're working on.'

The Avs will be back at work in practice Thursday, when they'll get a chance to skate with Canadian women's hockey superstar Hayley Wickenheiser, who will be in town for the Canada Winter Games' 99 days out celebration.

'I'm so excited,' grinned Rivest. 'Everyone is excited. One of the girls on our team, Coralee (Ullyett) has done a couple of projects on Hayley. She's her idol. The look on her face when she found out Hayley was coming was priceless.'

Perhaps the Avs will pick up some tips from Wickenheiser to help them out on the road to Canada Games, including their next competition, which is at the end of the month in Yellowknife.

After a series of games against the N.W.T. female hockey team, they hope to attend one more Outside tournament in January in preparation for the Games. This time, the coach plans to put them in the AAA division, so they can get a feel for higher-calibre competition.

'That's our next goal, the jump to AAA in January in Penticton,' said Randy. 'I think we'll be ready for that and the girls now believe it. They believe in themselves.'

Rivest agreed that AAA competition will only improve the Yukoners' skills and push them further.

'A bunch of our girls are good enough to play AAA right now, they're old enough. And for the rest of us who aren't old enough or at that level yet, it can only help. It will be great experience.'