With seven of eight possible points, the Cochrane Generals are off to a flying start in December.

The Generals snapped the winning streak of the hottest team in the junior 'B' league Friday night with a 5-4 win over the Airdrie Techmation Thunder. On Saturday, they rolled into Coaldale to take the bite out of the Copperheads, 10-1.

Gens head coach Kurtis Jones says Coaldale is a better team than the score indicated.

"At the start of the game, Jordan (McGinnis) made some real big saves to give us some confidence. And then we came, and came, and we came. I think that was our best game all year long. Even compared to beating Okotoks, it was by far the best in all aspects."

He says the game against the Thunder could have gone either way. 

"They're very skilled," he said of the Thunder. "They're a whole different hockey team than what I saw at the start of the year. Props to their staff and guys."

These were crucial wins for the Gens to stay in the conversation for a first-round bye in the HJHL playoffs that start in late February. 

"This was probably one of our best weekends as a group in a while," says Jones.

On Dec. 6, the team didn't hit the ice for practice. Instead, they had a team meeting to address concerns over taking needless penalties. He believes it sank in.

The Gens had only four minor penalties against the Thunder, allowing them to utilize their full bench.

"Everybody gets to play when that happens, and you can run a bench," he says. "One, it allows players to get confidence to know they're going in on a five-on-five situation. Secondly, when killing penalties, you don't see (Patrick) Forde, you don't see (Tristan) Ripplinger, you don't see key elements of our hockey team. When you can roll a bench of 20 players every game it makes a big difference."

The Forde-Ripplinger-Logan Paquette line is the top in the league, with 127 points between them. Forde leads the league in points and goals, Ripplinger is number two in points, and Paquette is third.

The Gens, though, can't be defined by one line. All four offer a scoring threat every time they hit the ice, and proved it once again over the weekend.

Cochrane has two games before the Christmas break, and they want to head into the New Year on a high note with a pair of wins.

Both will be tough. On Friday, Dec. 16, they host the Strathmore Wheatland Kings. The Gens have a 3-1 record against the Kings and lost the last one after a 12-round shoot-out on Dec. 3. On Dec. 18, they head to Medicine Hat to play the Cubs, who are right behind them in the south division standings. The Gens currently lead their season series 2-1.

Jones says there's plenty of parity in the league, and that's OK by him.

"When teams are competing like that, it pushes your team to be better every night. Medicine Hat is chasing right now, which to me is a good thing, and we're chasing Okotoks. Our group set a goal at the start of the season and they want to accomplish what they set out to do."

Two things come to mind. Raising the HJHL championship cup that eluded them in last year's final, and returning to the provincials.