Cubs sweep weekend, return home for two-game stretch

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com

@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat Cubs had a bounce-back weekend at the Kinplex.

The Cubs came into the two-game stretch only picking up a single point the weekend prior after a lengthy shootout loss to the Okotoks Bisons on Nov. 17 that was followed up by a loss the next night at Mountainview.

A 7-2 win Friday over the Strathmore Wheatland Kings and a 3-2 overtime loss Sunday against the Sylvan Lake Wranglers keeps the Cubs tied for second place in the South division, an important bounce-back says head coach and general manager Randy Wong.

“Sylvan Lake is top team in the north, so we got three out of four points against them, so over the course of the year you can say we did our job against the top team in the North,” Wong said. “Last weekend we didn’t get the results and didn’t play as well. This weekend, we played really well. The structure was there, the work ethic was better, it was good to score seven the other night against Strathmore. Those are all positives we can build on in practice and take to High River next Friday.”

The Cubs fell behind early Sunday against Sylvan Lake, trailing 1-0 in the first two minutes of the game. Kyle Woolridge and Owen Wagner found the back of the net to put Medicine Hat ahead 2-1 through 20 minutes. A second-period Wrangler goal drew the game even, lasting until 50 seconds into OT when the Wranglers iced the win.

Picking up a point was a benefit for the Cubs but a reminder they could have easily had two, separating themselves from the Coaldale Copperheads who they are tied with in the South. Wong says the team as a group admitted they didn’t give themselves enough offensive chances to win that game, a reflection he says is crucial for success.

“You always look at yourself first, what can we do, what can we control, and each guy knows he had a chance or two … Typically you only get a couple chances per guy, if you’re a forward. Sometimes as defencemen, you won’t get any,” Wong said. “But the chances you get, you have to make good on them. So when you’re hitting glass, and you’re wide of the net, that’s on you to get better in practice. To get more comfortable and not feeling like you’re in panic mode.

“As long as you keep getting good reps in practice, the game gets to the point where you find out whether you’re good with what your repetitions are like in practice.”

Friday’s game marked the first day of mandated neck guards in the HJHL after teams voted the week prior to implement the protective equipment.

The Cubs reached the halfway point of their HJHL season with Sunday’s game, sitting with a 13-3-3 record. With five games left before their Christmas break and 19 left on the regular season, Wong says they haven’t discussed playoffs yet but are focused on maintaining a proper process. He says that starts with ensuring they’re ready to go for every game, focused on winning that one and not thinking too far ahead to a league championship.

Looking too far into the future and the pressures that come with that is something Wong says plagued the Cubs in prior years and has been something they’ve made sure to avoid.

“When you think about it, the goal to win a championship, well no, the goal was to play good today and so that’s our focus this year is, let’s be good today and let’s not worry about what happens tomorrow,” Wong said.

“Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

“And we just keep doing it one game, one game, it’s a better mindset to have that. You drop a game last weekend, you can’t let that snowball because that’ll crush you. So it’s good we got that out of the way and now we’re back on track. Good habits are starting to form again, that’s what you want from game to game as we get closer to the playoffs.