The Cochrane Generals junior B hockey team find themselves in a dog fight in their second-round playoff series against the Medicine Hat Cubs.
After three games, the Cubs lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. The next battle between the two teams will be this Wednesday (March 1) in Cochrane at 7:30 p.m.
Highlighting the parity between Medicine Hat and Cochrane – who finished second and third in the Heritage Junior Hockey League's (HJHL) south division during the regular season – two of the three games thus far have been decided in overtime.
"We knew it was going to be close coming into the series," said Connor Stephenson, a Cochrane Minor Hockey product and one of the Gens' 21-year-old players. "We actually have two teams that are very similar. They're very offensive and so are we, our defence is good, our goaltending is good.
"On paper, we're probably the most equivalent teams in the whole league, so we knew the series was going to be tight."
The Generals won the first game of the series 6-5 in Medicine Hat on Feb. 21, before the Cubs evened the series with a 3-2 overtime win in Cochrane three nights later.
"We had an unlucky penalty called with two minutes left and then Medicine Hat scored [in the final minute]," Stephenson recalled of game two. "That took all the momentum away from us."
Medicine Hat found an overtime winner again on Saturday night (Feb. 25), generating a 4-3 road win over the Gens to lead the series 2-1.
Cochrane showed their fighting spirit in game three however, clawing their way back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to force the extra stanza thanks to goals off the sticks of first-year Generals Logan Paquette and Caden Stephenson. The latter player's tying goal was scored in the final few seconds.
While Connor Stephenson was suspended for game three, he said he was cheering louder than anyone when his younger brother scored the late tying goal.
"I would have much rather been on the ice for it, but it was still pretty cool," he said.
After this Wednesday's fixture, the two teams will face off in Medicine Hat again this Friday for game five. Game six, if necessary, will be back in Cochrane on Saturday night (March 5) with puck-drop at 7:30 p.m. Given how close the series has been already, the two teams could very well go the distance and see each other the full seven times.
"We have them right where we want them," said Stephenson. "We're very confident. We had a great first three games. We had a couple of unlucky bounces, which happens, but we're not down in the dumps. We're prepared for game four and we're just excited."
The winner of the series will vie for the HJHL's south division title against the Okotoks Carstar Bisons, who swept their second-round series with the Strathmore Wheatland Kings. The Okotokians have been a dominant force in the HJHL all season, losing just two games thus far in their 2022-23 campaign.
