The Cochrane Generals marched into Strathmore to, supposedly, meet their end.
They didn’t get the memo.
Instead, the Generals conquered the Wheatland Kings on Strathmore’s own battlefield to win the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s best-of-3
survivor-series showdown 2-1.
The determined 5-3 Game 3 victory on the international-sized Strathmore ice was as inspired as it was improbable, given Cochrane’s 8-2 Game 1 beating Feb. 20 at the hands of these same Kings on this same capacious rink.
Obviously, the Generals are either too young or too dumb to know they weren’t supposed win – particularly qualifying out of the fifth and final playoff spot in the HJHL Southern Division to play a team they failed to beat on the road in the regular season.
But that’s why they play ’em. You just never know.
Team captain Jay Labelle knew, boldly predicting: “We’ll take them” prior to the start of the series.
And not all the Kings’ men on their home court could change that.
But it didn’t come easy. The Generals had to win the final two games of the series, winning their home tilt 4-2 Feb. 22 before the Feb. 23 series-decider in Strathmore.
Playing from behind in Game 3, the marauding Generals took their first lead with just 3:29 remaining in the third-period when defenceman-turned-forward Nick Borody crushed a room-service feed from Labelle in the deep slot past stunned Kings goalie Richie Hubbell for what stood as the game winner.
“Feels good, for sure,” understated Borody right after the contest. “We were kind of trailing all game. But when it comes down to life or death in playoffs, you just battle through it.”
And battle the Generals did, as their Game 3 effort on the Kings ice acreage showed remarkable adjustment from the Game 1 blowout. Cochrane defencemen choked the lanes to the middle of the ice, forcing Strathmore’s forwards to the far reaches of the corner. Generals forwards skated hard miles in both directions for the full 60 minutes, despite the middle 20 being played on “dirty” ice because the ice-resurfacing machine was “out of order” at the end of the first period. The machine was coaxed to life at the end of the second.
“We adjusted to win. We learned how to play in this rink,” head coach Ken Soloski said following the contest. The Strathmore international ice surface is 14 feet wider, or 2,800 square feet larger, than North American rinks. “The first game taught us how to play in this rink. We made adjustments on covering guys in our end. When you play a sport, you have to be able to adjust from shift to shift, period to period, game to game.”
Borody said the adjustment was simple enough; just skate your rear end off.
“Our team skated a lot harder. We won the races to the puck. That’s key in this rink, because there’s so much ice.”
Labelle did all he could to fulfill his prophecy of a series win, bagging two goals and the pivotal assist on Borody’s game winner.
Taylor House had three assists, streaking up and down the right wall all night. Matthew Dunne put it away, chipping the puck from centre ice into the empty net with 43 seconds left.
Matt Shawchuk did exactly what he had to do in goal for Cochrane, holding the hosts to three goals on 30 shots.
The Generals are now engaged in a best-of-7 series with league-leading Okotoks, losing the Feb. 24 series opener 3-1 in Okotoks.
