Juneau-Douglas High School varsity hockey teams received some on-ice schooling in Whitehorse over the weekend.
The visiting Crimson Bears went winless against Yukon Mustangs rep teams in six games at Takhini Arena and the Canada Games Centre.
“This is really a team building trip to see where we’re at, where we need to progress to,” said Crimson Bears junior varsity head coach Luke Adams. “The quality of play here is much higher than we’re used to in Juneau. We compete all around the state in Alaska and we have competition that matches up to us equally, but also a little above, so this gives us a feeling of where we’re at.
“Whitehorse has a great association, very talented players, and it’s good to get here and see where we line up.”
The Crimson Bears senior varsity took on the U16 minor midget Mustangs and the junior varsity the U15 Bantam Mustangs.
The U15 Mustangs won 5-2 Friday, 7-0 Saturday and 14-1 Sunday while the U16 Mustangs won 14-4 Friday, 7-4 Saturday and 4-2 Sunday.
Mustangs teams also won six straight against the Crimson Bears in a similar series a year ago.
“Our best game, on the scoresheet and generally just how we played, was the first game,” said U16 Mustangs head coach Martin Lawrie. “We sort of lowered our game instead of upping our game through the weekend, which was a little disappointing. There’s some stuff for us to work on in the next week and a half before we travel.”
Leading the way for the U16 Mustangs — an “elite 15” program in its second season — was Joe Stokes with five goals and five assists in the series. Teammate Booker Daniels, who is from Vanderhoof, B.C., had three goals and four assists and Oscar Burgess logged two goals and three assists.
The U16 Mustangs will be traveling to a tournament in Anchorage, Alaska in a week and a half.
“It was good to get some games under our belt — full contact games, which we don’t get at home,” said Lawrie. “It’s good preparation for Anchorage in 10 days.”
Ashton Underhill and Josh Zaccarelli each had three goals and four assists for the Bantam Mustangs in the series. Teammate Cole Cowan finished with three goals and three assists while teammates Landon Marsh and Saul Gale each had five points by the end.
The Bantam Mustangs captured silver at a South Okanagan rep tournament at the end of last month in Osoyoos, B.C.
“We’re just starting off — we start in October — so this is us just getting going, see where we’re at, get our legs moving to the speed they need to be,” said Adams. “So it’s a good preseason warm up.”
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com