Fifteen-year-olds Booker Daniel and Caleb Goncalves of Vanderhoof, as well as Fort St. James’ Slade Desharnais, have been in Whitehorse since last September with the Yukon Mustangs Elite U16 team.
Though not part of a league, the team competes in tournamets, events, and other exhibition-style play in surrounding provinces or the Alaskan state and plays five to six games per trip, and is supported by Yukon airline Air North in farway games.
Players practise on ice on Monday to Friday from 7:30 to 8: 45 a.m. and undergo dryland training three times a week.
“Our program develops off the sports school model and aims to prepare a 15-year-old to make the jump to major midget or junior league in the next season,” said head coach Martin Lawrie. Five Mustangs last year moved onto major league, and several qualified but chose to stay home.
“We’re happy about our success rate and I’m fairly confident that the Vanderhoof boys can see some success, as they’re doing everything they can to give themselves the opportunity,” Lawrie said. “If they stay focused, all three of them will have a good chance in breaking into that league.”
So far this season, Daniel scored 18 goals and assisted with 12 in 24 games, Goncalves scored nine goals and assisted with seven in 25 games, and Desharnais scored six goals and assisted with three in 21 games.
Goncalves and Desharnais recently returned to the ice after recovering from knee and ankle injuries respectively, and Daniel is currently off the ice due to a broken collarbone.
“[Daniel] is our lead scorer, a very nice skater, and our biggest offensive threat…when he’s healthy,” Lawrie said. “[Desharnais] plays a heavy game at 6’1” and almost 200 lbs., got a great shot, his skating is coming along, and started scoring for us in Calgary [this January] and had more confidence.”
Goncalves, captain of the team, plays centre and was found by Lawrie during a Cariboo Cougar Spring Camp last year.
“I like his game, an honest hard game of hockey, and he’s a very responsible player at both ends of the ice,” Lawrie said. “His style of play emulates the type of game we like to play as a team.”
For Goncalves, one of the difficult parts of the program was getting up early every morning.
“It’s definitely not an easy task, I’m not going to lie,” he said. Working on improving his arm and upper body core strength, Goncalves felt he’s improved a lot, especially his skating, and benefited from one-on-one skill work with the coach. He’s hoping to come back to B.C. for the next step. “I think we’d make the right step and it’d help to take the next level of hockey.”
Off the ice, the three boys are fitting well with the Yukoners, living with the team’s coaching staff, Lawrie said.
“We always thank the coach that gives us the boys we have now, and we absolutely appreciated what Marty Floris have done in Vanderhoof for the boys,” he said. “Vanderhoof’s Bantam hockey team winning Tier 3 provincials last year is a testament to that.”