The defence never rests.
And that’s a good thing for the Cochrane Generals.
Down 2-0 to the visiting Strathmore Wheatland Kings, the Generals got a goal from veteran d-man Dustin Ponath before giving one back in their Jan. 31 Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) tilt. Ponath scored again in the second period and defenceman Matt Dunne sent the game to overtime with his first goal of the season, a third-period snipe with 4:20 remaining.
Cue the overtime heroics of forward Talus Hume, his second OT winner in a week, and the cardiac Generals are marching out of Spray lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre with a gritty 4-3 OT victory over Strathmore.
It was Cochrane’s second win of the weekend; the Generals defeating visiting Banff Academy Bears 5-2 the night before.
Gens (23-10-3) are second in HJHL Southern Division, three points ahead of third-place Okotoks Bisons. Each have two regular-season games remaining, one against each other.
Cochrane needs to beat either Okotoks or Medicine Hat this week to finish second in the division and earn a first-round playoff bye.
“It wasn’t the start we were looking for, obviously,” Generals head coach Evan McFeeters said outside his team’s dressing room following the win over Strathmore. “We were half asleep for the first 20 minutes of the game. We had the big rah-rah speech in between periods, saying this was unacceptable.”
The troops responded, with the defence taking an offensive role and the forwards back-checking their tails off.
“We have to clinch and we have to do whatever we can to get that bye so we can prepare for playoffs,” said Gens veteran defenceman and assistant captain Logan Brown. “It’s playoff mentality. We have to do whatever we can to win.
“It’s game time.”
Craig Packard, Hume, Colby Chartier, Slater Ransom and Ponath scored for Cochrane against Banff. Ty Robinson picked up both wins in goal, stopping 27 shots against Strathmore and 35 in the Banff contest.
Fri., Feb. 6, 8 p.m., Murray Arena: Gens (23-10-3, 2nd Southern Division) at Okotoks Bisons (22-12-2, 3rd South)
Sat. Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m., Spray Lake Centre: Medicine Hat Cubs (19-16-2, 4th South) at Gens (end regular season)
D Dustin Ponath (3g in last two), D Craig Packard (1g, 2A in last 2), Gens F Colby Chartier (1g, 4a last 2).
3 (last week, 4)
Cochrane went 8-2 last month, both losses to Southern Division-leading Coaldale Copperheads (30-6-1). Two of Cochrane’s wins came against teams higher in the standings at the time (Airdrie, Okotoks) while the other six wins were against teams beneath Gens in the standings.
Following the Christmas break, head coach Evan McFeeters stressed the importance of taking a run at Okotoks and a second-place finish in the South. His team answered the bell, taking 16 of a possible 20 points out of the month, putting them in the driver’s seat for second place and a first-round playoff bye.
A win in either of their two games this weekend earns Gens the bye. A win in both plants serious seeds of doubt in an Okotoks team that has had Cochrane’s, and the league’s, number the last four seasons. Regardless of what the four-time defending league champs manage vs. Cochrane on Feb. 6, a Gens win against Medicine Hat in the final regular-season game secures Cochrane 2nd in the South.
“We’ve done a great job of catching Okotoks the last two months,” McFeeters said. “Now we have an opportunity to finally fulfill our goal and get that second-round bye.”
Gens are 3-0 vs. Medicine Hat this season and 1-2 against Okotoks, one of those losses coming in overtime.
