Whew! That was close.

The Cochrane Generals kicked off their quest for a Provincial B championship with a 5-4 win over the Fort St. John Huskies this afternoon.

The score was tied 4-4 after two periods, and it looked to be heading into overtime until Tristan Ripplinger hit Patrick Forde with a pass right in front of the Huskies' net and he crinkled the mesh for the win with 2.3 seconds remaining.

Gens head coach Kurtis Jones says getting that first win was important for the club, especially when you go into the tournament blind.

"It's a different game for us, but I think we were a little nervous. When we played, we very played well, and when we didn't, we were gripping our sticks a little bit too much."

Next, they play the St. Paul Canadians at 7 p.m. Friday.

"We're sitting and watching the game right now, and we'll be better prepared tomorrow," he says.

A five-day road trip isn't typical for the Gens. They hopped on the bus yesterday afternoon for the 4 1/2 hour trip to Wainwright early yesterday afternoon.

"Everybody's happy. We had a great trip up, and a great team dinner."