For first-year head coach Jon Carlson, 2024-25 was the epitome of a storybook season for his U15 team.

A brand-new team for the season, RINK made it to the Western Championships without an extreme level of effort. From there, skill and hard work took over, helping the boys in black, red, white and blue lift the trophy high over their heads as the final buzzer sounded to close the team's inaugural season.

A Brand-New Team, Built From Scratch

When we say 'brand-new', we truly mean it. Not only was it just a new-ish crop of players making up the roster for 2024-25, it was a whole new team devised for the season out of expansion, rather than turnover. The RINK opted to add a U15 team in the fall, following successful presentations to the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) leading up to the season. The decision proved to be one of the best made in years.

"U15 is a very interesting age group, if I'm being honest with you," Coach Carlson told Game On. "Because, a lot of these kids, they're at different stages in their puberty and maturity. This is their first year of hitting for a lot of them, which brings on a whole new world. There are challenges too, some need to learn how to play away from the puck. They have to learn how to support the puck. So, there's a lot of things that are new for these kids coming into the year. And personally, for me, I was coming from the U17 Prep, where you're working with older kids where a lot of that fundamental foundational skill work has already been taught. So it was certainly a year of change and growth for all of us."

Expectations vs. Reality

But did Carlson see his team hosting the trophy at the end of the year?

"No, no. Like, you're always supposed to think that way, but coming in, I didn't think we would be winning it in our first go around, that's for sure," he laughed. "But it was just a great season for our group. I'm very proud of how the boys were able to commit, and it takes a lot of energy and time this long season. 52 games is grueling with all the practices, workouts, travel, late nights, early mornings, and then you're balancing school on top of it. It's a very grueling experience, but the kids did a great job, and I couldn't be happier for them with the way it ended in Penticton in the playoffs."

The Road Through Penticton

Yes, Penticton, BC's South Okanagan Events Centre Complex was the site of the CSSHL's Western Championships in mid-March, to which RINK started off with two losses, but battled back with three-straight wins.

"In terms of playoffs, like it's a very bang, bang tournament-style playoffs," Carlson shared. "So, you start off in the round robin, but we went down 0-2. I thought we played good enough to win, but just got a little snake bit. We ran into some hot goaltending. We got into the quarterfinals, snuck out a 2-1 win against St. George's. That really instilled some confidence and belief in the group. And from there we kind of rolled; our power play got quicker and some of our depth scorers got going. Goaltending got hot at the right time and we were able to go 3-0 in the quarterfinals, the semis, and then cap it off in the finals with 5-2 win."

A Grudge Match for the Trophy

By far the youngest team within the 17-team division, the RINK's U15 Winnipeg club actually faced off against program mate, RHA Kelowna in the final.

"Oh, it was good," Carlson laughed of the battle between the two RINK clubs. "We had played RINK Kelowna earlier in the year. We had won sort of a thriller in terms of it being one of the highest scoring games I can remember. I believe the score was 9-7 or something like that. So, we saw them in the first game of the playoffs in the round robin, and they beat us. So this one was kind of a grudge match. The true winner takes all type of game. And we came out on top, to which I couldn't be more proud of the boys, of how they were able to commit and get the job done."

The playoff victory wasn't something that came together overnight, but rather the end result of a 52-game season, hours of time working out, instructional sessions, honing the craft and reviewing video.

"We put in a lot of time and a lot of effort doing this, and again, just credit to the kids on how they were able to buy in and come together at the right time," he said. "We just have a group of very competitive kids that want to win at all costs. When it came down to it — we sort of had our backs up against the wall in Penticton there — there was no doubt in this group; they all believed that we could still get it done. Then the going got tough, they were able to buy in, work together and find a way to find a way to do it."

A 20-Man Unit Effort

According to the bench boss, it wasn't a solo effort in either of the three zones, but rather a collective group that was able to get the job done as a 20-man unit.

"As a whole, there were a lot of things that came together at the end," Carlson said. "Our power play got clicking. Haize Brightnose, our goaltender, he had some really good starts at the end of the year. The final three games and playoffs there where his do or die. Kelson Hawreluik was our horse up front. He drove a lot of the offense. He's a powerful player that brings a lot of speed to our lineup. He was huge draw on the stretch for us. And Jack Arseniuk on defence. He had been playing a lot of minutes all year long. He was very strong both defensively and in the offensive zone for us. A lot of our depth lines at the end of the year came together strong for us. But really it's the group that did it. It wasn't one guy individually that carried the weight. Everybody was able to buy in together and work as one to get it done."