Leading the Edmonton Oilers to Stanley Cup victories and breaking scoring records made Wayne Gretzky an incredible hockey player, but doing so with class made him The Great One.
Similar to Gretzky, winning a league title, a provincial championship, and Regina's 21st annual Peewee Classic Tournament made the Yorkton Sherring Gold AA Terriers one of the best peewee hockey teams in Western Canada, but capturing those accomplishments with humble attitudes puts them in a class of their own.
"I'm very proud that there isn't any showboating and the kids win with class," said Terriers head coach Chad Korczak. "They are actually a pretty quiet group of kids. Some times when I walk into the dressing room there isn't a whole lot being said. They just go out on the ice and do their jobs."
"We just have a great group of kids," added team manager Brent Repsch. "The winning doesn't go to their heads. They play with respect and don't do over-the-top goal celebrations."
From the net out, the Terriers were a stacked hockey club. But three players in particular - Carson Miller, Kaeden Taphorn, and Keenan Taphorn - shinned the brightest.
Miller was essentially the "Sidney Crosby" of the peewee AA hockey league. He averaged over four points a game in the regular-season, racking up 46 goals and 85 points in 20 games.
"His stats say it all," said Korczak. "He's a very talented player with great offensive instincts."
The Taphorn twins were a dynamic 1-2 scoring punch, finishing second and third in points in the league. Kaeden scored 34 goals and 67 points; Keenan potted 28 goals and 63 points.
"The Taphorns with Miller was a line that was very tough to stop," said Repsch. "They have a lot of skill and are good skaters. You don't score that many points by accident."
The Terriers started to gain hype when they won Regina's 21st annual Peewee Classic Tournament in late January. The tourney not only included the top peewee teams in Saskatchewan, but also other elite squads from Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.
In the championship game of the tournament, Yorkton beat the Edmonton NWW Renegades 4-1. The tourney victory was especially sweet because the Terriers lost in the final game the year before to the Langley Eagles and are the first Yorkton-based team to win the tourney since Los Angeles Kings star Jaret Stoll led his squad to the title 17 years ago.
"One of the our goals at the beginning of the year was to capture the Regina title, so they had their sights set on the championship trophy from the opening faceoff," said Repsch a couple days after the tournament.
In the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League, the Terriers wrapped up their regular-season with a 20-0-0 record. Their 40 points stood 21 ahead of the Melville Millionaires and Weyburn Youngfellows, who finished tied for second place.
As expected, Yorkton went on to win the SSMHL title. In their two best-of-three series, they knocked off the Estevan Sherritt Coal Bruins in a sweep in round one, and beat the Weyburn Youngfellows in two games in the championship round.
But even though they won league, the coaching staff felt they weren't at their best. This lack of satisfaction is a true testament to the high level of accountability the peewee club holds itself to.
"I'm happy we won, but I think we could have done better," said Korczak. "In the first game we won 7-3 and I think if we were sharper we could have stopped a couple of those goals."
In provincials against the best Saskatchewan has to offer for peewee AA clubs, Yorkton made it look easy. They defeated Prince Albert 10-4 in game 1 and 7-3 in game 2 in the final to capture the provincial banner.
"It was a great team effort," said Repsch. "Every line played hard and contributed. Prince Albert came out strong, but we responded well. Our defence played great and our forwards scored some big goals."
All in all, the Terriers finished the season with an outstanding 49-1-1 record. Their lone tie came against the Regina Prairie Storm and their single loss was at the hands of Spruce Grove in a Lloydminister tournament.
"It was a great year," said Korczak. "We had a very talented group of kids, but they also worked hard and played well together."
The head coach couldn't pinpoint one of their many accomplishments as his club's highlight of the year.
"I don't think one thing stands ahead of the rest," said Korczak. "The provincial banner stands out because it shows they were the top of the province for 12-and 13-year-olds. But the Regina tourney was also a big highlight because they beat teams from across Western Canada and Yorkton didn't win the tournament since Stoll played here."
As for next year, a handful of the Terriers' core is moving on to bantam; however, with the peewee AA program winning five of the last six peewee AA league titles, history suggests they'll do just fine.
"I think we will be a competitive team next year," said Korczak. "We will have six returning kids, so that's a pretty good core to build around. And every year kids come up from atom and do a good job of transitioning to peewee."
