But it was most certainly not without its share of dramatics.
The Mustangs needed an overtime win in the semifinal and a one-goal victory in the gold medal game to claim the title after posting a 10-0 record through the regular season – a testament to the annual ritual of things getting very interesting during the SSLL playoff tournaments.
Case in point, their counterparts in the Midget division: they also finished 10-0 on the season, but lost Saturday afternoon before winning a pair of games Sunday to force a 10-minute mini-game for all the marbles, a contest they lost 2-0 to settle for silver.
Bantam Mustangs 9, Swift Current TT 4
The Bantam Mustangs opened their weekend with a commanding win in the quarter-final, taking a 5-1 lead out of the first period and never looking back.
Liam Fitzpatrick scored twice and added an assist for Moose Jaw, while Rowan Calvert picked up four goals and a helper of his own. Eric Woodley, Colton Ebbett and Davin Williams all had single markers.
Bantam Mustangs 3, Swift Current MW 2 OT
Things were far closer in the semifinal against the second Swift Current entry before the Mustangs prevailed in overtime.
Josh Johnson scoring with 3:39 remaining to tie the game before Calvert scored his second of the contest 4:42 into the extra frame to send Moose Jaw into the gold medal game.
Bantam Mustangs 2, Swift Current MW 1
Overtime wasn’t needed to decide a league champion, but it was just as close all the same.
Fitzpatrick scored the game’s first goal 4:27 into the second period and saw his lead last until the midway point of the third when Swift Current tied things 1-1.
That set the stage for Eric Woodley, who scored the game-winning goal with 4:24 remaining to give the Mustangs their second gold medal in as many years.
Walker Williams was in net throughout the weekend and turned in a trio of stellar performance on their way to the win.
Midget Mustangs 12, Regina Snipers 4
The Midget Mustangs kicked off the defence of their league title in impressive fashion, using a big first period to take a 5-2 lead and adding five more goals in the second.
Atley Calvert – who was later in the day was named Elite 15 team MVP at the Prairie Hockey Academy awards banquet – scored four times and added three assists to lead the offence.
Bryden Bell scored twice, while Rhett Chute, Caelan Fitzpatrick, Brennan Watterson, Kael Nichols, Kayde Shymko and Brennan Blatz all had single goals as Moose Jaw showed off their balanced attack.
Midget Mustangs 9, Regina Attack 4
While scoring information was unavailable for the Mustangs’ second game, the aforementioned team balance took a serious hit as six of their top players were unavailable to due to prior commitments.
The end result saw the Mustangs lose their first game in league play this season and drop down to the ‘B’ side of the double knockout tournament.
Midget Mustangs 8, Regina Attack 6
After defeating the Regina Snipers 6-5 in the ‘B’ final in the second 8 a.m. meeting between the two teams, the Mustangs had far better luck in their rematch with the Attack and a full line-up at their disposal.
Blatz, Nichols, Calvert and Ethan Peters all scored first period goals as the Mustangs built a 4-2 lead and never looked back.
Peters finished with two goals alongside a pair of markers from Fitzpatrick. Bell added their other marker.
Attack 2, Mustangs 0
The Mustangs win over the Attack forced a second game in the double knock-out, this one a 10-minute mini-contest to determine the gold medal winners.
Riley Smith scored at the 2:16 mark and Brett Thakack added an insurance marker with 5:23 remaining as Regina took the 2-0 win and the league title.
Mac Simpson and Bryden Kerr shared goaltending duties throughout the tournament for Moose Jaw.
