The Cochrane Generals are coming off a hard weekend where they were tested to their limits against two of the toughest competitors in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL).
On Jan. 8, Gens (20-5-3, 1st Southern Division) travelled to Okotoks to play the Bisons (21-7-0, 2nd Southern Division) in a clash which will go a long way to deciding who finishes in first place in the HJHL’s Southern Division.
Chad Harrison (two), Levi Barker, and Connor Rendell were among the goal scorers as Gens eeked out a 4-3 win.
Slater Ransom (two), Colton Wong, Joey Stensland, Talus Hume, and Austin Keller all had assists.
The win now means that Gens maintain their slight, one point lead atop the division.
“We knew we would have to be on our game this weekend if we wanted to have any sort of success, and this was an extremely massive game for us,” Gens head coach Evan McFeeters said.
“We’ve always known that it was going to be a battle for first place in our division with Okotoks, and getting those two points means so much to our club if we want to win the division and have home ice advantage come playoff time.
“Furthermore, it helped us get the monkey off our back, knowing we could beat them in the own building.”
On Jan 9, Gens hosted Mountainview Colts (22-8-1, 1st Northern Division) at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
Rendell (two), Corey Goeson, and Patrick Dove all scored for Gens in a close encounter that ended 4-4 after regulation time.
Ransom (two), Harrison, Hume (two), Goeson, Logan Brown, and Brett Hamer all had helpers.
However, Colton Anderson scored in overtime to win the game 5-4 for Colts, giving them a four-point lead over second-place Red Deer Vipers in the Northern Division.
“We had a little bit of a sleepy start and you can’t do that against a team like Mountainview, since they’ve got some major offensive weapons,” McFeeters said.
“We made some mistakes and dug ourselves a big hole early on, but we stuck to our process and clawed back.
“In the third period we had a lot of chances to score, and had two goals waved off before we buried the tying goal to force overtime. A slip up in the neutral zone lead to a breakaway in overtime and cost us a point, but I was proud of the effort our guys put in to come back from 2-0 down against the best team in the north.”
Gens next play another marathon three games in three days starting against Medicine Hat Cubs on Jan. 15.
At this stage of the season, McFeeters isn’t looking to far ahead and just wants to take it one game at a time.
“The schedule get tough from here on out, and we’re not going to take anyone lightly,” he said. “On Friday we play Medicine Hat, and then we play home and away against Ponoka who are built a lot like High River in that they’re a very physical team who are tenacious on the puck.
“We’re going to have to put or work boots on and match that work ethic if we want to take six points from six this weekend.”
Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m., Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre: Medicine Hate Cubs (5-22-0, 7th Southern Division) at Gens.
Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m., Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre: Ponoka Stampeders (9-18-2, 6th Northern Division) at Gens.
Jan. 17, Ponoka Culture & Recreation Complex: Gens at Ponoka Stampeders.
Slater Ransom picked up four assists in two games over the weekend as he continues to lead Gens in scoring with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 26 games.
Blueliner Austin Keller had a relatively quiet weekend by his standards, only picking up a single assist over two games.
Ty Robinson had a busy weekend, as he played both games for Gens, stopping 67 out of the total 75 shots he faced. He has now won 15 out of the 24 games he has played in, recording three shutouts and a 3.09 GAA.
Gens lead the HJHL with 40 power-play goals from 154 opportunities for a percentage of 25.97, and are tied for second in the league (with Okotoks Bisons and behind Coaldale Copperheads) with seven short-handed goals for.
Gens were 4-0 against Cubs last season (1-0 so far this campaign), and 2-0 against Stampeders last season (they have not met this season).
The Generals have moved up to second place (behind Okotoks Bisons) in the HJHL’s power-rankings thanks to winning two out of their three games in 2016.
