It may be disappointing news to some that the Banff Bears aren't in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) this season, but their loss is Cochrane's gain. Those who recall last season's playoffs will remember how hard it was to knock off an inferior Banff squad and goalie Erik Garber was part of the reason.

Just turning 18 last Wednesday, Garber has since become a General and this week he's been honoured as HJHL's Player of the Week.

The Cochrane High grade 12 student did more than blow out the candles last week, he helped disarm the top two teams in the south division. With the aided of the Gens' solid defence, Garber limited the Okotoks Bisons to two goals on 28 shots and just 24 hours later blocked all 31 of the pucks sent his way by the Coaldale Copperheads to earn his third shutout in nine starts.

Garber posted a 1.00 goals-against-average over the two games and had a .966 save percentage. He's currently ranks first in shutouts in the HJHL, second in wins and third in GAA with a 2.14 average. His save percentage of .924 also ranks him fourth in the league in that department.

Garber is a product of Kirkland, Washington and is enjoying billeting with teammate Brandon Aab and his family so he can play hockey here. His dad flew in from Washington to help Garber celebrate his birthday and take in both of the weekend wins. His family comes here when they can and he's expecting to see the whole gang for the upcoming American Thanksgiving long weekend.

Hockey is what brought Garber to Canada. When you start to age out in minor hockey in the Seattle area, options are few and it's largely limited to the WHL, so at 16 he used his dual citizenship to come to Banff and split duties between the Banff Hockey Academy's prep team and their HJHL entry.

In Gens head coach Derek Donald, he found a familar face.

"Derek coached me way back when I first started playing hockey. He lived in Seattle for awhile, so I had that connection. He asked me if I wanted to come play for the Gens."

With the Bears he played 11 games and had two wins. Now in just nine starts he's far surpassed that.

"I'm playing for a much better team this year so I have some better players in front of me, but I'm also feeling a lot more comfortable in net. It's my second year playing in Heritage so I kind of know what to expect from teams. I'm just in a good groove right now; I'm just playing my game."

He hopes to eventually play in either the BCJHL or AJHL, leaves the door open to possibility of playing college hockey and, if it opportunity arises, go pro. But first things, first.

"Right now the main focus is having a good year in Junior 'B' and hopefully getting a chance to play Junior 'A' next year."

The Gens are a good fit for Garber.

"It's good here with the guys off the ice and on the ice. Everyone gets along and I've had a lot of fun playing with these guys so far and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

He says the team has found their rhythm after the four-game slump.

"The guys are shooting well and they're finding the back of the net. I think that was the difficulty we had with that four-game skid, but guys are finding their way again. I don't think much has changed, it's just the fact that we're scoring, that's the main thing."