Since joining the club five seasons ago, Talus Hume has been an impact player for the Cochrane Generals.

Yeah, he gets a lot of points, but he also back pedals and plays every shift like it's his last.

So when the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) named him player of the week, Nov. 20 to 26, there was disbelief on our part to discover it was only the second time in his stellar career with the Gens.

"Just twice, believe it or not," says Hume. "But honestly, I didn't really expect to be player of the week and it's's always nice to be recognized for your individual success."

The HJHL saluted Hume for his seven-point weekend, collecting three goals and four assists in two nights against Stettler and Medicine Hat. Currently he's tied for ninth in league scoring with linemate Slater Ransom.

The Hume, Slater and Brandon Aabs line has proven to be a powerful combination this season and it's the first time Hume has been matched up with fellow sniper Ransom since minor hockey.

"We've been playing really well lately and I think our powerplay has been awesome, too. Things have really been clicking for us, so I hope it keeps going."

He believes the Gens are back on track after the slump they faced earlier in the season.

"We're about halfway through the season now and everybody is starting to realize that we are a team that's going to make it to the end if we put in the effort. It's just a matter of getting it done."

This weekend the Gens face the Red Deer Vipers on the road and Hume says it will be important to send the Vipers a message. It was the Vipers that beat out the Gens last season for the league championship, although the Gens got a little restitution when they won silver in the Alberta junior 'B' championship.

"We want to go in there and show them we're ready to go again"

Being a veteran in this league doesn't make you an old man; it makes you a bigger threat.

"I feel better than year's past," says Hume. "I think being older helps for sure in terms of being faster and stronger than the other players."

Hume, 21, joined the Gens as an affiliate in four games during the 2012-13 and was one of the key offensive players recruited in the massive club rebuild that followed. In his 13-14 rookie season he was fifth in scoring. As a sophomore, he was the club's top scorer and was named MVP in a year when the Gens escaped the basement and finished second to the eventual league champions, the Coaldale Copperheads. He has remained one of the club's top three scorers ever since, including this season. In that time, he has accumulated 96 goals and assisted on 115.