Skip to content

Chaos sitting pretty at number one in AJFHL

After a set of back-to-back wins at home over the weekend, the Cochrane Chaos are sitting at number one in the AJFHL. 

After a set of back-to-back wins at home over the weekend, the Cochrane Chaos are sitting at number one in the AJFHL. 

On Friday, the women's hockey team beat the Lethbridge Eagles 4-1. On Sunday, Dec. 5, the Chaos hosted the Sherwood Park Steele winning 7-1. 

Head coach Derek Loomer said the Dec. 3 game against Lethbridge was an important one for the team to win, having lost to them earlier in the season.

"I thought we played really good in that first game and just came up on the wrong side of a very hard goaltender," he said. "So, we really wanted to come back and have a better game against them." 

From the moment the puck dropped Friday night (Dec. 3), Loomer said the Chaos were in control of the game.

"The girls were very focused, played very, very well and really just shut Lethbridge down. Once we got a couple breaks and the goals started going in, I thought we just smothered them the rest of the game."

While the score of Sunday's game against Sherwook Park makes it look like the game was a runaway, Loomer said it took most of the game to wear down the Steele to a point where the Chaos were able to add another four points to the scoreboard to shut them down in the last period. 

The shots were 31-31, but the final score was heavily in Chaos goalie Ella Fournier's favour.

Loomer said the team's performance this year is consistent with previous seasons, though he has noticed improvements.

"This is our sixth year and we've worked very hard at developing a culture within the team that everyone understands," he said.

The team, which includes almost 10 new players this year, practices twice a week, and all the girls who are there just want to play hockey at the end of the day, said Loomer. 

"They're excited to be out there and want to be at the rink. We emphasize that through the year and the support that we need to have for each other on the ice, also challenging each other all the time.

"We've worked really hard to have that buy-in and so I think the girls really enjoy being a part of that and it's easy to understand," he said. "They just come to the rink ready to have fun and work hard, and that's where the success comes from."

The only other loss for the Chaos this season came at the hands of the Edmonton Wolves, who the Chaos have also lost to in their last two provincial championship showings.

They will have their shot at regular season redemption again this weekend playing the Wolves in an away game Dec. 12.

"Hopefully we get better results, but Edmonton has always had a very solid team," said Loomer. "They're very good defensively and have great goal tending. You can't make mistakes against them, and you've got to bury the chances when you get them."

 

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks