By the fifth goal, the celebrations began to wane. By the ninth, the fans quietly nodded with approval. For goals #16 and #17 in the last minute of play, the horn was too exhausted to sound anymore.
The Cochrane Generals came out with the thrust of a Saturn V rocket last night, while the short bench of the Medicine Hat Cubs had the fizzle of a wet firecracker.
It was a 17-0 victory for the Gens in the first game in the south division quarterfinals of the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) on home ice. They rapidly fired eight goals in the first, then slowed down their pace in the second with five and geared down with four in the third. It was like a nudge and wink in the final minute of play when the Gens scored two to let the Cubs know they could have lit it up even more if they wanted.
Still, says Gens assistant coach Travis McMillan, you take it one game at a time and enter each with intensity and focus to win. He believes the Gens won't take the Cubs lightly at the Kinplex for game two of the three-game series on Saturday.
"I like to think we approach every game with the mentality that we're going into a war, going into a battle. Whether it be in Med Hat, whether it be in Okotoks, whether it be in Airdrie, any team on any given night can give you a run for your money, but as long as the guys have an open mind and are focused and ready we give ourselves an opportunity to win."
"As soon as the train gets going, it's hard to stop. The guys were playing well, they had a complete game and they were having fun. Hopefully, we get another complete game from the guys and push through to the next series."
Both McMillan and head coach Derek Donald, who was serving a one-game suspension after the Gens started their celebration with one second left on the clock last Saturday, believe the club is peeking at the right time.
"Towards the end of the second half of the season, everybody started contributing more offensively and defensively," says McMillan. "Everybody was grasping the concept we were laying down and everybody was pulling the rope and everybody said, 'OK, this is it'."
Knute Loe got the start between the pipes and Erik Barber is sidelined with minor injuries and is day-by-day.
"We have an excellent goaltending tandem in Garb and Loe. You can go with either of them any night and you know you're going to be OK either way."
Domingo says spirits in the dressing room are high and they're ready for playoffs and want to move on as quickly as possible.
"Coming back from Med Hat last game, we knew 70 shots aren't necessarily enough to put it past him and come out with the win. We kept it simple and put the pucks on the net and they started going in this time."
"I think they were banking on us just showing up like we did last game. We came prepared today and I think we had a bit of an edge from last game with something to prove."
The Cubs' Josh Breznik faced 74 shots and unlike the regular season finale, where he held the Gens to three goals on 64 shots, he couldn't close the floodgate. Breznik didn't get much help from his support crew who let the Gens float around the offensive zone at leisure and were left unchecked in front of the net. Left to fend for himself, Breznik eventually landed a slashing penalty.
On the other end of the ice, Knute Loe only faced 20 shots in his first playoff shutout with the club. The Cubs were held to only one shot in about the first 10 minutes of the game and ended that period with five and few scoring opportunities.
Unfortunately, the Gens lost Colton Wong to a game misconduct from a fight late in the second.
Should the Cubs bounce back with a win, the series returns here Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
Fri, Apr 26, 3:30 PM
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