The Booster Juice Blenders forgot the wheatgrass and pomegranate, and served the Atom Jr. Mustangs an old-fashioned glass of payback at the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association’s Closing Tournament on Sunday at the Canada Games Centre.
The Blenders went undefeated in the tournament and shut out the Whitehorse rep team 4-0 in the peewee division final.
“It was an excellent game,” said Blenders head coach Derrick Hynes. “We’ve had a tough go with that team all year long. They’ve certainly been our biggest competitor and they brought their ‘A’ games, like they always do.
“Our kids came to play, from the first line to the third line, and they worked hard every shift, as I asked them to, and they came out champions as a result.”
The Atom Mustangs won three tournaments this season, including the Yukon Peewee Hockey Championships in Watson Lake, defeating Booster Juice 4-3 in the final.
“We’ve been fortunate enough this year to have good end results ... but things aren’t always going to go your way,” said Mustangs head coach Patrice Brunet. “I think the kids demonstrated a lot of character throughout the year when faced with adversity.
“The pucks didn’t go our way today, but we created a lot of chances.”
Blenders defenceman Ewan Halliday scored his team’s first two goals in the first period. After a scoreless second, centre Cole McCulloch and defenceman Jarod McCulloch found the back of the net in the third. Blenders’ Adam Hynes and Logan Kruse each had two assists in the final.
The Mustangs definitely had their opportunities. When Joey Schultz was tripped into the boards, coming out with a bloody nose, the Mustangs went on a five-minute power play in the third. Just seconds after the major penalty ended, the Mustangs went on a two-minute power play with a roughing call against the Blenders.
But the Mustangs couldn’t beat Blenders goalie Griffin Bisson, who stood on his head in the final.
“He’s been our goalie all year and has been, hands down, the best goalie in peewee,” said Derrick Hynes. “He’s got the perfect personality for a goalie: he never gets too high, never gets too low. Lets in a goal, he just forgets it and moves on.”
Skookum Asphalt captured the bronze with a 5-2 win over Pacific Northwest Moving.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com