The Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers of the SBAAHL travelled to Calgary, Alberta, for the third annual Rocky Mountain Classic Bantam 'AAA' Invitational tournament from November 13-16 hoping for a better showing after an early departure at Regina's Graham Tuer tournament.
The Terriers, the lone 'AA' team invited to the 16-team invitation only tournament, were the lowest ranked team heading into action and found themselves in the Lorette Pool with the Kamloops Blazers, Calgary Bisons and the number two ranked team in Western Canada, the Delta Hockey Academy Wild.
But instead of bowing down to the supposedly superior 'AAA' teams the Terriers decided to open eyes and turn heads defeating Kamloops in their opening game 5-1 before upsetting the heavily favoured Delta Hockey Academy Wild 6-4 and crushing the Calgary Bisons 8-3 on the strength of a four goal performance by Carson Miller. "I'm pretty sure people would have thought that we would have lost two out of three of those games," offered UCT Terrier head coach Graham Garrett via a Monday afternoon phone interview.
"Instead we ended up being the only team that was undefeated in pool play so we played extremely well in our pool and were able to come out first place in our pool undefeated and I'm sure that turned a lot of heads."
The perfect 3-0 record through round-robin guaranteed the UCT Terriers a spot in the quarterfinals, where they met up with the 2-1 Calgary Northstar Sabres. The Sabres proved to be a worthy opponent for the Terriers, however they weren't good enough as the UCT Terriers moved their tournament record to a perfect 4-0 by virtue of a 6-4 win, sending them into the semi-finals where they were set to take on the official tournament hosts, the Calgary Bantam Flames, Western Canada's fifth ranked team.
The Flames gave Yorkton their best game of the tournament so far with both teams going back and forth. However it was the 'AA' Terriers that once again prevailed over a 'AAA' opponent, defeating the Flames by a score of 4-3 to send them to the tournament final against a familiar foe: the Delta Hockey Academy Wild.
Unfortunately the clock struck midnight for the Cinderella Terriers on Sunday night as a weak second period allowed Delta to pile on the goals for an eventual 10-1 victory to win the gold medal. "The second period was one that we'd obviously like to forget," suggested Garrett. "Nothing went right. From not being able to kill of multiple penalties in a row and then losing a player to being hurt seriously where he had to be carried off, I think mentally it just took too much out of us and it was hard for us to refocus and get back to where we needed to play."
However Garrett remains optimistic, saying that, while the second game against Delta was painful, the first game was the complete opposite. "We played a great game against Delta the first time we played them. We matched them in speed and skill and strength and it was a really good hockey game," offered the UCT Terrier bench boss. "It was really intense and fast and the most skilled game that we've had to play in all year.
"It's great to be able to have that opportunity to play against a team like that."
And while everyone else considered the Terriers to be the underdogs, according to Garrett, the team did not. "I don't think these guys ever really consider themselves underdogs," laughed Garrett. "They've had too much success over the years so I don't think they were reading into anything there."
Marvelous Miller
The entire Yorkton Bantam UCT Terrier roster played amazing hockey at the third annual Rocky Mountain Classic Invitational, however one player in particular stood out among the rest.
Carson Miller, thought by many to be a top draft pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft, proved to everyone why he is on every WHL teams' radar, scoring four goals against the Calgary Bisons in an 8-3 win and adding four more throughout the tournament, as well as three assists, to lead the Rocky Mountain Classic in scoring through the round-robin portion with 11 points, one ahead of Riley Stotts (Winnipeg Monarchs) and two up on linemate Kaedan Taphorn. "He (Miller) had a phenomenal tournament," offered Garrett of his star player. "There is no other way to say it.
"I thought in Regina he couldn't find that scoring touch but he was able to find it in Calgary. He did everything. He threw body checks, made great passes, set up goals, scored goals. He was probably at his the top of his game."
Next up
The next action for the Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers (10-0-0) will be Tuesday, November 25 when they welcome the Notre Dame Hounds (3-8-2) to the Farrell Agencies Arena. Game time is set for 8:00p.m.
