With the economic downturn hitting Albertans hard, there hasn’t been much to cheer about lately.
That is unless you’ve been following the Cochrane Generals.
Gens opened their best-of-seven Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) finals series at home on Mar. 16 against Mountainview Colts, with a nail-biting 2-1 win, thanks to two goals from on-fire forward Connor Rendell.
However, the team wouldn’t have even been a part of the game if not for the hard work and heroics displayed in their previous series against Coaldale Copperheads.
Gens claimed the HJHL’s Southern Division title series at home on Mar. 11, with a stunning 6-5 double-overtime win against Copperheads (the defending league champions).
The game five victory meant the Cochrane side claimed the series four games to one.
“This is what we strived for when we started out the season,” said Gens head coach Evan McFeeters. “We’ve been preparing for the finals since training camp, and now they’re finally here. We’re itching at the chance to get going.”
Gens went into the game, after bouncing back from a 3-1 loss in Coaldale during game three, with a 3-2 victory in the Snake Pit in game four, before returning home to set things up for a fairy tale end to a long, hard battle.
“After the two games in their building, we knew it was going to be a war from there on in,” McFeeters said.
“Coaldale is a very proud club and we knew they weren’t going to go quietly. They gave us everything we could handle.
“If it wasn’t for Corey Goeson and Talus Hume hooking up for a goal in the last couple minutes of the fourth game we could have been coming home with a tied series.”
Copperheads drew first blood on the night through a power-play goal, but with renewed determination, Gens survived the 90 minutes of tight action and came out on top with a dramatic goal scored by the unstoppable Chad Harrison at 17:09 in the second overtime period to take the win.
Captain Craig Packard, Corey Goeson (two), and Connor Rendell (two) all got on the score sheet for the home team.
Harrison provided three assists for a four-point night (taking his playoff points total to 25), while Rendell added three helpers in a five-point performance.
Gens starting goalie Ty Robinson proved yet again why he is one of the best netminders in the league, keeping out 38 of 43 Copperheads shots on target, and winning the game’s first star.
“This was one of those games you dream about taking part in as a player and a coach,” McFeeters said.
“You have a winning outcome at the end, but it takes a lot of battling through adversity as well as a lot of effort and desperation to get to that point.
“I feel that our team has been constructed all season long to relish these moments and to capitalize on our chances.
“We’re going to carry this momentum of knowing that we can win big games in these type of situations into the finals.”
It didn’t harm Gens either, that they were playing in front of a nearly 700-person crowd (the biggest of the season), which spurred them on when things got mentally taxing late on.
“Having that many people in the crowd for a nearly three and a half hour game gave us a huge boost,” McFeeters said.
“We’re a very proud group, and it helped so much for us to know the community has jumped on our bandwagon. We’re going to do everything we can to give the people of Cochrane a reason to come cheer for us.”
Going into the finals against Colts, Gens have a bit of a monkey on their back, as they lost both regular-season encounters to the Didsbury-based team (6-5 and 5-4 in overtime), but McFeeters doesn’t feel that is going to have any effect on how his team comes out of the gates.
“We gave them a 3-0 lead early on in both of those games and had to battle back,” he said.
“We stack up well against Mountainview, and are peaking at the right time. Everyone’s a lot better now than they were even a week ago, so that’s good to see.”
Colts have three solid lines that can put pucks in the net led by star forwards such as Cole Sutherland, Jacob Vander Zaag, and Ryan Klinck, but McFeeters feels Gens have done their homework and are more than up to the challenge.
“We need to make sure we keep the puck out of their hands, keep them in their zone, and try pressure their goaltending much like we did Coaldale,” he said.
“We think we’re the best defensive club in the league, and feel that is what is going to carry us through the series.”
Gens next host Colts on Friday, Mar. 18 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre for game three. Puck-drop is 7:30 p.m.
Game five also takes place at Spray Lake on Tuesday, Mar. 22. Puck-drop is 8 p.m.
