I came back here because it’ s my home town and my grandpa wanted me to come back so my grandpa and grandma could watch all of my home games season. He’ s also sixth in league scoring with 62 points in just 20 games. Not bad for an 18-year-old who returned to Fisher River this year after two successful seasons with the Peguis Juniors. The Hawks are 8-17-0-0 and an outsider might think that this would have been a difficult adjustment for Cochrane, but nothing could be further from the truth.“ I started playing in Fisher River, my hometown, when I was three or four,” said Brennan, who was raised by his grandparents at Fisher River Cree Nation.“ I played all my minor hockey in Fisher River and then got into Triple A Bantam with the Interlake Lightning. At 16, I went to junior hockey with Peguis and was there for two years before coming home.“ I came back here because it’ s my home town and my grandpa wanted me to come back so my grandpa and grandma could watch all of my home games.” When he’ s asked what he thinks of himself as a player, he’ ll hesitate before answering. Unlike, his coach, he’ s not quite as confident about his gifts.“ I’ m more of a team player, not really focused on scoring goals,” he said.“ But this is the best year I’ ve ever had offensively because of my teammates, especially( Evan) Thickfoot and( Darryl) Thaddeus.“ We’ ve always had a really good chemistry since we were little, playing in Fisher River. We grew up together and we’ ve always played together so we kind of know where we’ re going to be on the ice.” Cochrane is a Grade 12 student at Fisher River( K-12) School. He hopes to go to university next year, although the Bellingham Blazers of the North Pacific Hockey League has shown some interest in acquiring him. However, he’ s also had some college interest from NCAA Division III Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, and NCAA Division I Maine so college hockey is not out of the question. It didn’ t hurt that he was named a KJHL All-Star in late January, one of only 12 all-stars from around the league.“ It’ s not really that big a deal,” Cochrane said modestly.“ It’ s OK, I just like to play. It doesn’ t really matter that much.” Well, it certainly won’ t hurt to put an all-star selection on the resume, especially if a few more NCAA schools come calling. n
ST. MALO, MB. – When Fisher River Hawks head coach Farron Cochrane talks about 18-year-old Brennan Cochrane, one thing comes to mind quickly – and it’ s something he says it over and over.“ Speed.”“ Brennan Cochrane is fast,” said Farron Cochrane( from the Peguis Cochranes, not the Fisher River Cochranes).“ He’ s a good finesse player who is smart and, man does he have speed. He also knows when to use it. When he knows it’ s time to go, he uses his speed to its full extent.“ He’ s capable of scoring a lot of goals. In the the last few weeks, he’ s been averaging three goals a game. He’ s a really good hockey player. I do believe he should be in Jr. A or in the WHL with all the talent that he has, but he tried out for the( MJHL’ s) Winnipeg Blues and for some reason, didn’ t make it, but he’ s a good team player and he’ s still a young player.” The night we spoke to Farron and Brennan, the slumping Hawks had another tough night. Facing perhaps the best team in the Keystone Junior B Hockey League, the St. Malo Warriors, the Hawks were whipped 16-8 as Fisher River goaltender Austin Spence faced 63 shots. But that didn’ t seem to matter to Brennan Cochrane, who just went about his business. He had three goals and four assists and( at press time) now leads the KJHL in goal-scoring with 40 on the