The Cochrane Generals had their busiest stretch to date in the early parts of their Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) when they had three games in three nights from Oct. 5 through until the 7. The three-game stand started off with the Generals making the 40 minute bus ride down the road to Airdrie to take on the Thunder. The game got away quickly from the Gens as Airdrie scored four goals in the first and added another in the second before Braden Bain got Cochrane on the board. Airdrie then pounded in four more goals to make it 9-1, which was followed up by a goal from Damion Keller to shorten the Thunder lead to 9-2. Airdrie extended to lead to 11-2 and 12-4 at the game's end with Caylin Wildman and River Ross both scoring their first goals of the season capping off a fairly miserable night for the visitors. Damion Keller was a lone bright spot on the night for Cochrane, scoring a goal and adding two helpers. The General goaltenders struggled on the evening as Erik Garber stopped 23 of the 31 shots he faced in just over 40 minutes of play while back up Robert Michetti stopped 12 of 16 in mop up duty. The Gens had no time to dwell on the loss as they returned home the following night to tangle with the Stettler Lightning. Cochrane raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Brandon Aab, Braden Bain, Scott Shugg and Caylin Wildman. After the Lightning cut the lead down to two with a pair of goals, the Cugnet twins combined for a goal as Carter assisted on Zach's goal making it 5-2 heading into the third period where Braden Bain would put the game away making it 6-2. Stettler would score two more goals in the period to bring it close on the scoreboard to give the game its final of 6-4. Bain was the offensive catalyst with his two goals while goaltender Knute Loe was solid on the evening making 28 saves. Finally to finish off the weekend, the hometown boys once again hopped on the bus and took off to face the rival Coaldale Copperheads. It was a very close battle from start to finish as Coaldale kicked off the scoring at the 18:40 mark of the first period to give them an early 1-0 lead. It took almost the remainder of the period for Cochrane to get the goal back after Chris Sambrook scored his first of two goals on the evening with his power play marker, with his other coming at 2:18 of the second period to once again answer a Copperheads goal. The third period was scoreless with both teams getting lots of chances pushing the contest to overtime where Harry Osler banged home the rebound giving the Generals a 3-2 overtime victory, bringing their season record to 2-2. New Gens forward Damion Keller said the vibes around the dressing room were positive following the win and was happy he and his teammates bounced back in a big way following the tough loss to Airdrie. "Safe to say that all the guys were very excited to walk away with four of six points this weekend. We started off slow but definitely picked up by the end of the weekend," Keller said. "Being able to bounce back shows how resilient we are as a group, how we don't just fold under a little bit of pressure and how quick we can respond to some adversity." The young forward who currently has three points in two games said he's having an OK season so far but is looking to work on some things to help his team continue building on their first two wins of the season. "Still have a lot to work on ... it's early in the season, but it's certainly coming along. Overall, not disappointed in my game but definitely some mistakes I need to clean up," Keller said. "As a team, communication is a big part of this game and the team, including myself need to pick it up and be more vocal on and off the ice." Cochrane will now only have one game this upcoming weekend on Oct. 13 when they're taking to the road to face the two-time defending league champions in the Red Deer Vipers. "Nothing in this league is given ... every inch of ice is earned so we have to be prepared for this weekend's game," Keller said. "We need to battle hard and get these two points."
