A season removed from losing to the Sherwood Park Steele in the Alberta Female Junior Hockey League (AFJHL) championship, the Cochrane Chaos are back and ready for a shot at redemption. The team wrapped up their week-long fall camp on Sept. 9 in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 30. "It was a really good week. We had about 25 girls out and we had a couple girls that haven't come back yet due to other commitments," said Chaos head coach Derek Loomer. "We have a really solid group and they're very energetic with lots of intensity. A lot of the core girls are back so the team's setting up to have that depth that we had last year ... it was just a solid camp all around." "When we were going through battle drills and stuff like that, the girls were able to see how they stacked up against each other and I thought they brought a lot of competitiveness and challenged each other on the ice in each session." Loomer said there were a few returning players that have elevated their game over the summer and really showed improvements during the fall camp. "I think both the returning girls as well as some of the new girls made an impact over the course of the week. Audrey Buston will be back again as well as the Cochrane girls (Summer Gibbons, Kyla Kruger and Brette Matheson) have really stepped up their game from last year and came into camp with a lot more confidence and looked ready to approach the season with new confidence to make a difference," Loomer said. "As I said, a lot of our core is returning with the likes of Shelby Kirkpatrick who is a really solid player and I expect lots from her ... Ryann Altwasser is our most enthusiastic player and a real grinder out there, she's come back with lots of energy and Faith Gette has lots of potential and she was skating really well in camp. Those girls really stood out and if they keep playing into the season the way there are now, there's a lot of high expectations in my mind." Loomer added that with so many returning players who fell short in the league final, this year's version of the Chaos are a highly-motivated group heading into the season. "Absolutely, they're very motivated. They really want to get back to the league final and have that opportunity again ... I think all the girls are thinking that way. I think all the teams are going to be good this year, the Amazons now have our top scorer from last year (Breanna Martin) as she moved to Red Deer, so I expect them to be more of a challenge than they were last year," said Loomer. "Just to get through the South Division will be a challenge, as well as getting into the North Division, Sherwood Park is always strong and they've got good depth in all their teams up there. Our goal right off the bat is making it back to the championship this year and in order to achieve that goal, we need to follow the process and hopefully peak at the right time." The Chaos will help kick off the league's 10th anniversary season when they host the Lethbridge Eagles at 1:45 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
