NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs captain Kyle Woolridge carries the puck to the front of the net in the third period of a 9-2 win Sunday at the Kinplex over the Okotoks Bisons.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Heading into the last dance of a fourth and final season with the Medicine Hat Cubs, Kyle Woolridge is looking to go out on top.
The Cubs’ captain is also on a path to go out as the HJHL franchise’s most prolific scorer.
The 21-year-old Medicine Hat product broke the Cubs’ franchise goal-scoring record of 119 this season, adding six more over the weekend to sit at 126 after a five-goal effort in a 9-2 win Sunday at the Kinplex over the Okotoks Bisons.
“It’s an awesome feeling but really, in the end, it’s a team game,” Woolridge said. “It comes down to the players you’re with and everyone behind you. They’re there supporting you, wanting the best for you and you showing up to the rink every night wanting to win and having your teammates there to help you out.
“You always take a look every once in a while at the record and think, ‘Maybe I can get to that,’ but actually being able to do it, that’s a great feeling. You just have to be thankful for the people you play behind and play with.”
He joined the Cubs in the 2022-23 season at the age of 18, putting up 19 goals and 32 points in 35 games. Woolridge says he was scared to play at that age, a young player in a league with 21-year-olds. He says the leaders he had around him made his success possible.
“I could always score but I was never top of the league in scoring,” Woolridge said. “You get some leaders who take you under their wing, and my first year I bounced around and really got my opportunity in the playoffs. Ever since then it’s been those leaders showing how you’re supposed to play, what level you’re supposed to play at, and you keep going with that.”
He’s improved upon each of his seasons, tallying 34 goals and 53 points in 23-24 and 49 goals and 79 points in 24-25, playing all 38 games in both seasons.
Entering the holiday break this year he sits at 24 goals and 43 points in 26 games, giving him 126 goals and 207 points in 137 HJHL games. Those totals put him on pace for a pair of franchise records.
He sits 25 points back of Kyle Funk for the team record of 232, and eight games off the games-played record of 145 set by Callen Prosofsky last season.
Woolridge can also cement himself among some of the HJHL’s best. He’s tied for fourth all time in goals scored, with the next closest being Clay Murray’s total of 152 set in 2014-18. His 207 career points are 23rd all-time, he’s 34 back of the top-10 total.
One more point and Woolridge will be the highest scoring player the HJHL has seen in the 2020s, tied with Cochrane General Patrick Forde (2019-23) at 207 points.
With 10 games left in the Cubs’ season, Woolridge says he’s thought about reaching the team point record but he’s more focused on the team’s results.
“If you’re more focused on scoring than the team play, it’s going to hurt yourself,” Woolridge said. “In the end it’s a team game and it’s the last year for a bunch of guys. We just want to win the league, that’s what it comes down to. You can get the points, sure that’s awesome, but if you can win the league as a team, it’s way better.”
The Cubs are on the right path for Woolridge and his three fellow overagers Denyn Smith, Keynan Cairns and Austin Derzaph, to go out on top. They lead the South division with a 19-6-1 record and are running a 12-game win streak. They’re pushing for their first HJHL division title since the 2001-02 season when they finished atop the whole league in their first year in the HJHL.
He sees the post-holiday break as a time to make the most of their final chances in the league.
“You’re not going to be able to play hockey your whole life, so why not keep going with it,” Woolridge said. “It’s going to suck if we lose a couple games here and there, but that’s hockey, you can’t control the game. You can just control how you play and how your teammates are doing and make sure everyone’s awake and ready to go.”
