The Cochrane Chaos will be representing the South Division in the Alberta Junior Female Hockey League (AJFHL) finals after a series sweep in the South Finals over the Central Alberta Amazons on March 9 and 10.
It was a battle between the two highest seeds in the league, with both games being decided by a 1-0 score. It was a carbon copy of the majority of the team’s regular season meetings, where four of the five games were decided by one goal, with the Chaos losing only one of the contests. Both teams finished the season with 48 points, but Cochrane was given the advantage due to winning the season series.
In Game 1 of the best-of-three series, Chaos forward Summer Gibbons’ tally midway through the first period was the lone goal of the game. Brette Matheson and Jenna Wasylik also finished the game with a point, as the pair assisted on Gibbons’ goal. Both goalies stood tall throughout the game making big saves when they were needed. Megan Parkyn was solid in net for Cochrane stopping all 21 shots she faced helping Gibbons’ goal stand as the game winner.
Gibbons has two playoff game winners in the Chaos’ championship bid. Her first came late in the third period of the second game of the semi-finals against the Calgary Warriors, which propelled her team into the South Final.
The Chaos travelled to Penhold for Game 2 of the series the following day, and while the Amazons pushed hard to tie the series, the results were eerily similar to Game 1. Faith Gette scored in the first period, taking a feed from Shelby Kirkpatrick to beat the Amazons goaltender giving Cochrane an eventual 1-0 victory and two-nothing series sweep. Megan Parkyn extended her shutout streak to 120 minutes, stopping 28 shots.
Parkyn has been impressive during the opening two rounds of the playoffs, playing in three of four games while going 3-0 during those contests and only allowing one goal on 64 shots. Her goals-against-average is currently sitting at an astounding 0.33 and her save percentage is .984.
Gibbons said that Parkyn’s play in net gives the entire team confidence that they’re able to take a chance up ice and know she’ll bail her teammates out if there’s a defensive zone miscue.
“They have both kept us in games all season and they make it look easy to be honest. Megan (Parkyn) played her best hockey last weekend and it’s not every day you hear about a goalie getting back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs,” Gibbons said.
“She made some unreal saves in the last few minutes of both games to give her those shutouts. We all know how hard both goalies work and played and we can’t really ask for anymore from Megan. She already knows what needs to be done and myself and the rest of the team are really proud of her.”
The Chaos will now open the AJFHL finals against the Sherwood Park Steele at home on March 17 to kick off a best-of-five series. The Chaos and Steele have played twice this season, with Sherwood Park taking the first meeting 4-2, which was followed up by a 4-0 Chaos victory later in the week.
Gibbons said she expects a tough championship series against the North Division leading Steele, who finished with an 18-10-3 record and beat the Saskatchewan Fury and Edmonton Wolves to advance.
“We’ve only played them twice and both were one week apart from each other in October. So for sure, a lot of things have changed since then,” Gibbons said.
“We just have to play strong like we did against the Amazons … the Steele are the reigning champions so we know they are a good group of players and will battle hard to win. It’s going to be a tight battle with them, but we’re really looking forward to it.”
Both Game 1 and 2 will take place in Cochrane at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre on March 17 and 18. Puck drop for Game 1 will go at 7 p.m. while Game 2 will start at 2:15 p.m.
