Cochrane Generals forward Dean Olenyk celebrating a goal in Saturday's 2-1 victory over Medicine Hat (Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin)

By Scott Roblin

Series Set

Cubs shut out in regular season finale, to face Strathmore in playoffs

Feb 9, 2020 | 8:52 PM

COCHRANE, AB – One victory away from earning a bye in the first round of the Heritage Junior Hockey League playoffs, the Medicine Hat Cubs came out flat in their final game of the regular season.

The Cubs put 34 shots on Erik Garber on Sunday night, however he stopped everything he saw to help the Cochrane Generals blank Medicine Hat by a 6-0 final.

A regulation victory would have seen Medicine Hat clinch second place in the HJHL’s South Division, however they have now dropped to third and will face the Strathmore Wheatland Kings in the opening round of playoffs.

Dean Olenyk and Chris Sambrook scored 11 seconds apart in the first period to give the Generals a 2-0 lead, which was followed up by goals in the second period from Nick Koch and Patrick Forde.

In the third frame, Justin Giacomin and Shane Benoit lit the lamp for Cochrane to put the game completely away.

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Medicine Hat pressed late with half of their shots coming over the final 20 minutes, however Garber shut the door to complete the shutout.

The Generals were also able to sweep their home-and-home series with Medicine Hat, picking up a 2-1 victory at the Kinplex on Saturday night as well.

Finishing the 2019-20 season with a record of 25-11-2, the Cubs will take on the Wheatland Kings in the first round for the second straight year.

“It’s never a bad thing if we do have to play that first round to keep that competitiveness going into playoffs,” said Cubs co-head coach J.D. Gaetan after Saturday’s loss at home.

Last February, the Cubs swept their best-of-three series with Strathmore by 2-0 and 5-2 scores before eventually falling in seven games to the Coaldale Copperheads.

Completing one of the best regular seasons of the decade, the Cubs earned at least 20 wins in a season since the 2012-13 HJHL season.

Veteran Noah Irvine said the team will be leaning on that regular season success when they open their series against Strathmore.

“As the season [went] and we started winning more and more, we kind of started gelling better as a team and honestly playing better too,” said Irvine. “I think it’s helped with the confidence of everybody and hopefully there’s just good things to come.”

Despite their two losses over the weekend against the Generals, Medicine Hat enters the post-season playing some of their best hockey of the year.

Dating back to December 20 against the High River Flyers, the Cubs have compiled a record of 10-4-0 with three of those wins coming against Strathmore.

Rookie Levi Schlosser, who scored the lone Cubs goal in Saturday’s loss, said the team feels more bonded than ever with their biggest games of the season ahead of them.

“We’re a lot closer as a team coming into it,” said Schlosser. “Everyone wants to win, it’s coming down to that time. So, everyone’s more focused, everyone’s ready to go, we know what we got to do.”

The best-of-five series between the Cubs and Wheatland Kings will kick off on Tuesday night at the Kinplex at 8:15 pm.