NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs general manager Randy Wong looks on from the bench alongside assistant coach Johnny Stehr in the third period of a 4-1 win Nov. 16 over the High River Flyers at the Kinplex.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs have the second half of the HJHL season to continue growing.
The Cubs head into a two-game weekend that will be the halfway point of the season, sitting fourth in the South division with a 10-6-1 record. They’re just a point back of the Okotoks Bisons (10-6-2) and Strathmore Wheatland Kings (11-7) who are tied for second in the division. They are also just two points back of the division-leading Coaldale Copperheads (11-6-1).
General manager Randy Wong didn’t expect they’d have as many losses as they do at this point of the year. But the former head coach says they’ve started to gel as the season’s continued.
“It’s just taken some time to for them to gel and to become a cohesive unit, and maybe that’s expected with some more young guys in the lineup, but they have some skill,” Wong said. “Overall, the skill level is higher and the depth that we have this year is as good as we’ve seen. So maybe I was naive in thinking that we wouldn’t have any losses because of that, but nonetheless I think it’s starting to come.
“I can see some good things now from everybody. We’re starting to become a team that we need to be come playoff time.”
They hit the halfway point this weekend with a pair of games, facing Okotoks on the road Saturday before hosting the Red Deer Vipers on Sunday.
The Cubs have been led offensively by captain Kyle Woolridge who has 12 goals and 27 points through 17 games in his fourth season with the club. Second-year forward Nolen Sutherland has 13 goals and 19 points in 15 games. They’ve also seen rookie Randen Collier tally three goals and 14 points in 17 games, joining the Cubs from the Medicine Hat Hounds U18AA team.
In net they’ve run out two rookies in local product Kayne Wright and former NJHL net minder Marlo DeRosa. Wright has a 5-3 record with a 2.88 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. DeRosa, from Slave Lake, has a 5-2 record with a 2.15 GAA and a 906 SCV%.
“We’re always looking to improve, we found that with some young guys from our local U18 team. We went outside, getting (DeRosa) from a B.C. league,” Wong said. “We’ve found some guys that I think can help our club and I think we’ve improved it. So with that, that meant a little bit of turnover.”
This season has also seen change behind the bench with Wong stepping away from coaching but remaining in the general manager role. Trent Derzaph has been running the team behind the bench alongside assistant coach Johnny Stehr.
After 28 years of coaching hockey he says it’s been a real change watching, rather pacing, in the stands, but it has provided him a different perspective on the game and his team.
“I can help the coaches probably a little bit more by being in the stands and watching and giving them some feedback, so that’s been a good tandem that we’ve done,” Wong said. “Trent’s new to the league, Johnny’s got the experience, so be able to still support them where need be but try not to get too involved, and I try and stay out of the way and let them make the decisions. But I can still kind of talk to them in the room and go over some things and give them some advice.”
Wong has filled in behind the bench at times while Derzpah has had to serve suspenions as a result of the Cubs being assessed three or more major/match penalties in a game.
Wong has enjoyed working with Derzaph in his first HJHL season behind the bench and he says the transition has been better than expected.
“Trent’s technical skills are really good, he ran that power edge program for years in Medicine Hat, so he’s worked with kids of all ages and he runs a good practice, the structure that I see has been really positive,” Wong said. “The transition from myself to Trent has been really good and having Johnny there, too, he is a good stable guy that the guys are comfortable with. So all in all, the transition’s been really good.”
Sunday’s game at the Kinplex against Red Deer gets underway at 3 p.m. The Cubs are welcoming the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter at the game and they will be accepting donations of hygiene products to help those who need them in the community. All fans who bring a donation will be entered to win a Cubs prize pack.
