The 2012-13 D2 Bantam Playoffs were highlighted by the play of all three Bantam teams as these young men finished 1-2-3 in the Regular Season as well as the Playoffs. When the dust had settled late on Sunday night, March 17, the Bantam Black squad emerged as the Champions over Bantam Orange. Bantam White won their Third Place game against Mounds View in the game preceding the Championship game.

In a rematch of their late season tussle Bantam Black (16-1-2) v Bantam Orange (16-3) turned out to be an even more exciting game than the season ending game which ended with Bantam Black edging Bantam Orange 4-3 with :01 left in the game. With both teams looking good early on it took a Hugh Cunningham goal 7:00 into the game to break the ice and give Orange the early lead at 1-0. The second period wore on as the teams played very evenly with the ebb and flow moving back and forth between the top two teams of D2. At 7:52 of the second period Johnny Delaney scored from high in the slot, on a nice pass from Toi Yamamoto, as Black tied the score at 1-1 heading into the third period. Both teams traded penalties in the third period but neither could get one behind a goalie in regulation. Despite a carryover power play for Orange, as the teams headed to OT, neither team could get much going with only a couple of shots for each team. Late in the OT the momentum swung to Black which caused Orange to call their team timeout to set things up with the faceoff in Black’s end. With a five player shootout looming and time ticking away Black stormed the Orange zone, with under ten seconds to go, and after a flurry of shots on goal, Dylan Peltier roofed a back-hander from just outside the crease with, you got it, :01 left in OT to win the game for Bantam Black. A hard fought win, and Championship, for Bantam Black squad over a tough Bantam Orange team. Shots finished 25-22 in favor of Black in this closely fought game.

The Third Place game featured Bantam White against Mounds View. Bantam Orange beat White 6-2 the night before and Bantam Black beat Mounds View 4-2 on Friday night. Coming off tough defeats that put them in the Third Place game both teams were hoping to end their season on a high note. Brendan Gefre opened the scoring with a second period goal to give White the early 1-0 lead. The game stayed tight into the third period until Matt Heroff took a faceoff in his own zone and went coast-to-coast and beat the goalie to the stick side for a 2-0 lead. Despite a late goal by Mounds View White hung on for the win and sewed it up with a Nick Zappa empty net goal with :03 left in the game.

All in all a fantastic season for the Bantam C program as all three teams rolled through their regular season schedules. Bantam Black finishes 16-1-2 with 89 goals scored and 35 goals against. Orange finishes 16-3 with 83 goals scored 33 goals against. White finishes 14-3-2 with 83 goals scored and 31 goals against. Black completes the season 4-0 v Orange and White. Orange goes 1-3 v Black and White while White also goes 1-3 v Black and Orange. Three of the teams combined five losses were to other White Bear squads. Well done, young men, well done!