The Cochrane Generals couldn’t have asked for a better present over the weekend as they recorded three home wins in three days to keep their pursuit of the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s (HJHL) Southern Division title on course and increase their record to 18-4-1.
Stettler Lightning (6-15-1, 7th Northern Div.) visited Gens on Dec. 4 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. Chad Harrison (two), Corey Goeson, Matthew Kaczur, Austin Keller, Kurt Thrussell, and Talus Hume were all on the scoreboard as Gens ran out 7-0 victors.
Joey Stensland, Noah Bigland, Patrick Dove (two), Dustin Boone, Brett Berndt (two), Connor Rendell, Slater Ransom, and Goeson all recorded assists.
Gens continued their winning form on Dec. 5, hosting High River Flyers (6-15-3, 6th Southern Div.). The home side ran out 5-2 winners with Brett Hamer, Hume (two), and Harrison (two) recording the goals. Stensland (two), Hamer, Bigland, Ransom, Goeson, Keller, and Kaczur all contributed helpers.
To round out the three-day hockey extravaganza, Gens took on Banff Academy Bears (9-12-1, 4th Southern Div.), a team they beat 11-0 in their previous encounter.
Gens got off to a stellar start going up 3-0 in a first period (where Bears only had four shots), thanks to a short-handed goal from Dove (assisted by Thrussell) and two power-play goals from captain Craig Packard (Stensland assist), and Harrison (Keller with the helper).
Bears got one back early in the second period through Kenta Tanaka, before Gens unloaded on the visitors added three more before the end of the period through Ransom (two) and Stensland (all unassisted).
Bears added two more before the period was over through Therann Kincross and Blaise Arkle to give their team a glimmer of hope, but there was to be no comeback as Harrison (Rendell and Packard assisted) scored the only goal of the third period as Gens ran out 7-3 winners.
After the Banff game, Gens head coach Evan McFeeters was very happy about how his team had performed both offensively and, in particular defensively over the weekend.
“Going into this weekend, it was a goal to try and not ship as many goals as we normally have,” McFeeters said. “Seeing as we had three games in three nights, we wanted to make sure we played from our goal line out.
“If you can limit teams to only two goals than you can win a lot of hockey games.”
Gens now play three games on the road and are not back home until after the Christmas break. How does McFeeters plan on maintaining this current win streak?
“We’re going to prepare and make sure that our details are in place going into the next three games,” he said. “We want to make sure that we still have a division lead going into the holiday break.”
At times on the weekend, especially during the Bears game, Gens appeared to take their foot off the accelerator, allowing teams a chance to get back into the game, it’s something McFeeters believes his team still needs to work on.
“We do need to still work on consistency,” he admitted. “Games like (Banff) where we are up 3-0 are about keeping your foot on the gas and developing good habits as a group instead of slowing down. We want to play our game, no matter what the score or whom we’re playing against.
“It’s the cliché of playing a full sixty minutes but in some games it’s tough. When we played Banff last week, we had them on the ropes from start to finish, and at the start of this game, it was 3-0 right away. It’s tough to keep the guys motivated, and with all due respect to Banff, we should be winning these games. They allow us to give some of our younger guys more experience in third periods than what they’re used to.”
Gens next travel to Three Hills Thrashers on Dec. 11. Thrashers sit fourth in the HJHL’s Northern Division, and even though they have lost their last two games McFeeters is not taking them for granted.
“(Three Hills) has surprised a few teams like Okotoks this season,” he said. “They’ve got a nice rink and a lot of fans, so we’re going into that building expecting that it’s going to be one of those hard-nosed games against a Northern team.
“We’re going to play from our goal line out and limit the other team to two goals. We’ve got the fire power that’s going to at least give us three or more goals on a Saturday night.”
Puck-drop for the Thrashers game, is 8 p.m. at Three Hills Centennial Arena.
