"Tough times never last, but tough people do." That is a quote from motivational speaker Robert H. Schuller that can seemingly relate to the members of the Cochrane Chaos after they suffered their second championship series loss in as many tries.
A 2-1 loss at the hands of the Edmonton Wolves in the deciding game of the Alberta Junior Female Hockey League's (AJFHL) best-of-five championship series decided the Chaos' fate, after falling 1-0 and 2-1 at home in Game 1 and 2 of the series, the Chaos suffered another one goal loss in Game 3. Edmonton struck first in the first period and again in the second period which stood up to be the game winner. Audrey Buston scored the lone goal for Cochrane in the loss. The Chaos also fell in last year's championship series when they were swept by the Sherwood Park Steele.
"I think the Wolves had a very conservative game plan coming in ... they sat back and would take advantage of their opportunities. Other than that, they collapsed in their own zone and got really great goaltending. It was hard to break through and create anything," said Chaos head coach Derek Loomer. "We really didn't give up much ... both teams had similar chances, they just took advantage of their of their chances and we didn't. They stuck to their game plan and it was successful."
It's not very often you find a team in any sport or league that make it to back-to-back finals, something Loomer said he was very proud of despite the results of the final series.
"I think a big part of it is the girls coming together and the commitment they made right from day one ... wanting to get back there (to the finals) and winning the league championship. You just saw that as the long term goal," Loomer said.
"They really stuck to it and stuck together. Both seasons I think the girls really got along very well and this year even more so, I thought the girls really clicked together, they wanted to be at the rink together, enjoyed challenging one another in order to try and make themselves better each and every day. It really contributed to our success in the playoffs again and into the league final."
"I think the comradery is paramount to the success we had. Again, it's about wanting to be at the rink and having that willingness and trust to challenge each other and back each other up in game situations and off the ice as well, as a lot of them are in university and they're all facing challenges in life, not just on the ice. It's important for them to have that support system and overall just have a togetherness that helps them gain a willingness to try things knowing they have that support to pick them up."
Every team has changes to their line up in the junior ranks on a year-to-year basis and the Chaos will be no different. The team will lose overage players Aspen Kozak and Elizabeth Wong once the season is done.
"Aspen has played for all three seasons and Elizabeth joined us in our second year so she's been here for two and they'll both age out this year. Terrific ladies and they were both a huge part of our success and it's going to be really tough to replace them," Loomer said, "Aspen has been our captain the last two years and she's a really solid leader. She's very committed to the Chaos and she'll be sorely missed. Same thing with Elizabeth, she was a very trusted defenceman who I think really just through her confidence on the offensive side started to use those skills this year ... joining the rush and contributing at both ends of the ice, she was a very important member of the team and both will be very hard to replace."
The Chaos will wrap up their season in two weeks time as they'll finish out the year with the annual Western Showcase in Adrossan April 5 to 7. There will be a team from China competing with the Chaos along with a team made up of North and South division midget prospects who could be playing in the league as early as next year.
