After being up three games to none in their best-of-seven Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) second round playoff series with the Okotoks Bisons, the Cochrane Generals were looking to close out the series durimg Game 4 in Okotoks on Feb. 26.
While the Generals lost a close game 3-1 to extend the series for at least one more game, the major story line was what took place following the contest when the Generals players and staff were leaving the Murray Arena ice to their dressing room directly after the game. There was an off ice confrontation between a few Okotoks spectators and a couple of Cochrane players and coaches, as the stands have access to where the visiting team leaves the ice, which led to a verbal and physical altercation.
"Unfortunately the altercation between the players on our team, the Okotoks fans and the volunteer security staff got out of hand and unfortunately it wasn't controlled as well as I would have liked it to be. I was physically coming off the ice and had to go into the stands to make sure that nothing else happened ... it just goes to show that some fans shouldn't be taking in any alcohol during hockey games regardless of their age," said Generals head coach Travis McMillan.
"It is what it is ... it's been 12 hours since the altercation, everything is fine, none of our players are injured nor were hurt but there is not place for physical or verbal abuse of any kind, especially racist comments. That doesn't belong in any rink and I did speak with the front office staff of the Okotoks Bisons and they will be taking the necessary precautions for the remainder of the series, as are we to make sure something like that doesn't happen again."
With all that being said, there is still hockey yet to be played as the hometown hockey heroes will be looking to close out the series tonight. Cochrane won the first two games in overtime before taking a 3-2 decision in Game 3 to race off to a 3-0 series lead before Okotoks got on the board with their victory on Feb. 26. McMillan said his team will be ready for Game 5.
"Obviously, being up 3-1 in the series, it's nice to have that cushion. But in Game 4, Okotoks had an extra step and unfortunately we fell flat. The series got comfortable for us and we were a little too comfortable with where we were at and it worked out in Okotoks favour because they made us extremely uncomfortable," McMillan said. "The boys weren't doing their jobs, we were missing assignments, we were turning over pucks, we were weak in the defensive zone and weren't getting shots in the offensive zone. It all culminated in a loss. Give credit to Okotoks because they were in a do or die situation and they made a statement."
"Thankfully enough we will be in our rink which means we get last change and a lot of players take that into high consideration but I feel like with our depth that the last change and home ice advantage doesn't really matter as long as you're sticking to your game plan. We've never changed our forecheck the entire year nor has our defensive coverage ... it's going to take a lot of guts to win that fifth game and it will take all of our guys staying positive. They've done a phenomenal job of making sure we're acting as a team and playing our best hockey. It's an important game for both teams and will be an interesting night in Cochrane."
Game 5 will take place at 7:45 p.m. at the Cochrane Arena.
