The Cochrane Generals are onto round three. After defeating the second-ranked Okotoks Bisons 3-2 in Game 5 on Feb. 28 to take the second round Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) series four games to one.
The Generals are now head to-head with the Coaldale Copperheads, who lead the series 1-0 after beating the Gen 5-2 on March 5.
Game 5 against the Bisons was another close game between the two team. The Gens got two power play goals from Chris Sambrook to help Cochrane build a 1-0 and 2-1 lead going into the third period before Braden Bain pumped a goal into the empty net to salt away the win even with Okotoks scoring with six seconds left to give the game its final score of 3-2 in front of a crowd of just under 400 people.
"If you noticed how the scoring and the rate of play went out in Game 5 vs Okotoks, I'd like to think we played a pretty complete game. Unfortunately, they got that second goal with five seconds left but the boys understood what was at stake and when the puck dropped for the third period, we held a lot of momentum ... we just take it 10 minutes at a time and it gave us a sense of direction and a chance to talk about the things we needed to work on to make sure the next ten were our best," Generals head coach Travis McMillan said.
"I always like to think we play well in our rink so it was a good game and it turned out in our favour so we're happy with the outcome. I've been very happy with our move from Spray Lakes to the old rink due to the atmosphere being a heck of a lot closer so the boys can feel their reactions when they score and win games and it's only gotten better since the playoffs have begun. That first game versus Okotoks at home was one of our biggest crowds in the last two years and on top of that, the Game 5 crowd beat that in terms of attendance. It just goes to show that everybody loves playoff hockey and the whole town is supportive of what we're doing and it's been a fantastic experience so far."
McMillan added it was important for Cochrane to close the series out as quickly as possible tp prevent Okotoks from climbing back into the series. Coaldale struggled to beat fifth ranked Medicine Hat who took them to seven games and the two-time defending league champion and heavily favoured Red Deer Vipers had a 3-0 series lead over Mountainview before losing the next four and bowing out of the playoffs in surprising fashion.
"It goes to show you that when the playoffs happen, the regular season really doesn't matter anymore. Mountainview did a fantastic job of finishing off Red Deer in seven and then you see Medicine Hat pushing Coaldale to the seventh game in overtime," McMillan said. It really is another level of hockey and it was very important for us to finish off Okotoks in five games or less which was our goal ... it could have been finished in four, it could have gone seven but fortunately enough we were on the upper hand the majority of the series and got some timely goals in the first two games."
The Copperheads were the top team in the Southern Division, finishing the regular season with a 29-7-2 record, good for 60 points just four ahead of the Generals who claimed the third spot in the division with their 27-9-2 record. All four games were decided by one goal with Cochrane taking the first three games 3-2, 5-4 and 5-4 before Coaldale took the final meeting on Feb. 1 by a similar score of 5-4.
"Coaldale is perennially one of the best teams in the South Division as we are ... at the end of the day, they're going to throw everything at us and we're going to do the same thing. We just need to make sure our systems are running properly, we don't spend too much time in the penalty box and not give them any opportunity to have any breathing room in this series," said McMillan of the upcoming match up.
"That's going to be very important for both teams obviously but like I said, hopefully we come out with a few good wins and steal a few from their rink like we did during the regular season. We're just looking for the best results possible."
Game 2 of round three goes tonight at the Cochrane Arena with puck drop at 8 p.m.
