The Lacombe Generals continue to be the toast of the Allan Cup Hockey West league after scoring another league championship — defeating the Rosetown Red Wings 5-3 over the weekend.

“It is pretty important for us. It was a goal of ours and we accomplished that goal. It is rewarding and it lets you know you aren’t wasting your time and you’re doing good things,” Coach Sean Robertson said.

The win was crucial, according to Robertson, considering Rosetown scored a big win two weeks prior to the championship game.

“We went in there short-staffed and they took advantage of us. It was important for us to go back there and prove we can win when we got all of our guys going,” Robertson said.

The win sets the table for the Senior ‘AAA’ Provincial Playoffs, with the Generals prepping to take on the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs. Robertson said his team has been buying into their roles and playing unselfish hockey.

“We have to put our best foot forward. Every time we play Fort Sask, there is a chance for us to get complacent,” he said. “Our guys have done a good job so far not getting complacent. We have had some games against them where if we didn’t have goaltending, we wouldn’t have won. We have to go out and earn a 60 minute victory.”

The Generals play on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Fort Saskatchewan, before returning home for Game 2 of their seven-game series at home on Family Day Monday, which will also be played at 2:30 p.m.

“The Monday Family Day game is a good draw for us. We feel we can put on a good show and get some people out that may not usually watch us that often. It is a good way to spend a day with your family,” Robertson said.

Robertson added his team isn’t looking past this weekend, despite Games 3 and 4 taking place the following weekend.

“We are preparing for a war. We may not get it but that is what we are preparing for. We have to focus on moving the puck,” he said. “We have been talking about being stingy defensively. We want to be able to create, but we don’t want to do it with the risk of pucks ending up in our net”

He added it is crucial they come up with two points on the road in Fort Saskatchewan.

“You don’t want to let Fort Sask get set into a rhythm where they can be dangerous. They are a dangerous hockey team offensively and we have to be aware of that. We have to be hard to play against,” he said.

todd.vaughan@reddeerexpress.com

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