The Cochrane Chaos have reached the homestretch of their Alberta Junior Female Hockey League (AJFHL) season, with four games remaining on their schedule and playoffs just around the corner.
The Chaos start the final leg of their journey on Feb. 9 against the Calgary Jags, a team Cochrane has defeated the previous three times this season while outscoring them 8-2 in the process.
"I think for us it's just a matter of managing the puck well, getting lots of shots on goal and we need to finish when we get our opportunities," said Chaos head coach Derek Loomer. "I think you need to have a lot of respect for all the teams in this league, which I believe is kind of the keynote ... don't look at the standings or how many wins they have, just come and play our game at our level and hopefully everyone comes ready to play and ready to finish."
The team currently sits second in the South Division with 34 points thanks to their 16-6-2 record which has them one point up on the Calgary Titans and are tied with the Central Alberta Amazons in terms of points with games in hand on both clubs.
"We're a point ahead of the Titans because we beat them on Feb. 5, so that win put us ahead of them and I think we'll be able to catch the Amazons and be ahead of them at the end of the day," Loomer said.
"We just have to finish the games we have, obviously the game against the Amazons on Feb. 10 is an important one to win and hopefully takes away any momentum from them. If we win any of the final two games I think that guarantees us top spot in the division due to having games in hand."
"Only the top four teams from the division qualify for the playoffs so that leaves us likely playing the Jags if we get that first-place seed rather than the Titans or Amazons so it's hugely important for our group to finish first."
The Chaos are led by Audrey Buston who has 16 goals and 28 points and Faith Gette who leads the team in goals with 18. But the Chaos' attack goes much further than those two players, with Ryann Altwasser also reaching the 20-point plateau and five other players registering at least 10 points or more on the season. Loomer said the spread out scoring is important for the Chaos should they have success moving forward this season and into the playoffs.
"I think it's the key to our success. We rely on girls all the way through our line up and any line we put on the ice can contribute offensively which makes it hard for the other teams to match up against us," Loomer said.
"It also makes it easier for us that we can roll our lines and trust that any four of our lines are capable of shutting down the other team's top line. We spend our time worrying about how we're rolling our lines, making sure everyone gets on the ice in the right situations instead of worrying about matching up against other teams. We have a lot of trust in all our players."
Another key to Cochrane's success has been the goaltending of veteran Jenna Weseen. On the season, she's 11-2-1 with two shutouts to go along with a sparkling 1.93 goals-against-average and a .924 save percentage.
"She's been fantastic this year. What I've found is right from our first opening tournament at SAIT, she's shown another level of confidence and being capable of making the plays in all situations and making the saves that she needs to make," Loomer said of his starting goaltender.
"Last year, she was kind of second behind Megan (Parkyn) so she had that safety valve so there wasn't the need to put everything on her shoulders. This year, being the number one, she's really relished in that role and has been focused in every game that we've played which has shown in her stats."
The game against the Jags will start at 7 p.m. at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, the first of a back-to-back with the second game against the Central Alberta Amazons taking place at 5 p.m.
