Aiden Fink and the Brooks Bandits claimed every piece of hardware there was to win this past season.
The Bandits were AJHL regular season champs after a ridiculous 55-5-2 run, won the AJHL Championship and topped it off with the CJHL crown, becoming the first team to win the Centennial Cup three times in a row.
And for Fink, how about being named to the AJHL South All-Star Team, AJHL Top Forward, AJHL MVP, CJHL Top Forward and finally CJHL MVP.
Pretty impressive stuff.
"It was an amazing season," he said. "From off the ice to on, we put in the work every day, that's why I think we had so much success. Our coaches were unbelievable this year, teaching is how to win and how to get better as a team. An unbelievable year that you couldn't draw up any better.
"My teammates pushed me every day and I couldn't have had the season I had without them or my coaches. It was a solid year for me."
Once the Bandits made the trip back from Portage with some extra cargo, the party was on with the town of Brooks in full support of their team.
"It was unbelievable when we pulled up to the arena," Fink said. "There was a ton of fans waiting for us at the front entrance. That was really cool, just seeing the support they gave us all year, that's a big factor on why we won.
"The parade was awesome, it's just so cool to see how much support we have from that town, it's a great town. I couldn't have asked to play in a better junior team than Brooks."
Rewinding the clock back, this was exactly what he imagined and wanted when he committed to Brooks a few years back and now, Fink will look to join other Bandits' alumni to hear their name called at the NHL Draft.
The top ranked AJHL player, Fink is listed at 63 on NHL Central Scouting's Final North American Skaters rankings after posting 97 points (41G, 56A) in just 54 games.
"Last year I got to learn from three of the best players I think I've ever played with, T.J Hughes, Ryan McAllister and Zach Bookman. I learned a lot from them," he said. "Took stuff like deception and shot accuracy, that was a big one for me that I patted down on.
"I tried to limit all distractions this season, didn't want to think about it and just think of winning the national championship. That was my biggest goal. I tried to zone it out as much as I can but there were a couple times I looked just to see where I was at."
And while Fink won't be in attendance for the draft in Nashville, he'll be watching closely as he's off to get a jump on some school work and training, gearing up for his freshman year at Penn State.
However the draft goes, the local product has carved out quite the career for himself, with plenty of more aspirations.
"I was thinking about it the other day, how quick my minor hockey and junior days went by," he said. "It felt like a month ago I was playing U-15, so it's pretty surreal how fast it went and to be here.
"It would be awesome to get drafted. But I know if I don't, I know there's other ways to get to the NHL. That's my end goal, to win a Stanley cup, so if I get drafted it'll be exciting, but there's other ways to get there if I don't."
