It’s out of their hands.
Despite splitting a pair of weekend games, the Cochrane Generals need to win both of their remaining two regular-season games while getting help from other teams. Sitting last in the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s Southern division, the Generals must defeat Banff and Medicine Hat and hope Coaldale and Medicine Hat lose at least once down the stretch.
“We sort of control our destiny, still,” said Generals head coach Evan McFeeters. “If we get all four points, we have a good shot of making it. If we only get three points, we’re toast.
“It’s crunch time. The boys know it.”
The Gens got their playoff push off to a good start Feb. 7 against Three Hills, downing the Thrashers 9-6 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. Rookie sniper Talus Hume led the charge with his first career Heritage League hat trick. Leading-scorer Andrew Bergmann returned from a back injury to score a goal and add three assists. Craig Packard, Chris Hugo, Corey Goeson, Ian McRae and Tyson Soloski also contributed on the scoresheet for Cochrane.
The Generals then marched into Okotoks for a Feb. 9 matchup against league-leading Bisons. Down 5-2 at the start of the third period, Cochrane got to within a goal of the Bisons before two empty-net goals finished the deal in an 8-5 Okotoks win. Austin Keller, Patrick Dove, Bergmann, McRae and Hume bagged the Cochrane goals in that one.
“I thought from start to finish we were the better team,” McFeeters assessed of his team’s performance in Okotoks. “But they have some experienced guys over there. I felt, at the end of the day, we deserved it. The guys were pretty disappointed afterwards.”
The Gens wrap up the regular season at home against the Banff Academy Bears on Feb. 15 before hosting the Medicine Hat Cubs on Feb. 17 in a makeup of a snowed-out Nov. 16 game. Both tilts go at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre with the Saturday-nighter starting at 7:30 p.m. and the season finale at 7 p.m.
