Cubs surge through weekend

By Ryan McCracken on December 17, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

The Medicine Hat Travelodge Cubs rode a freight train of momentum through three games this weekend.

After picking up a 7-5 victory over the Flyers on Friday night in High River, the Cubs mauled the Three Hills Thrashers in a 15-2 blowout on Saturday at the Kinplex then lit up the Lomond Lakers with a 7-1 win Sunday in Claresholm to string together a four-game winning streak with one contest remaining before the holiday break.

“The scoring has been coming in bunches for us,” Cubs head coach JD Gaetan said following Saturday’s victory. “It’s definitely something we’ve been working on and it’s nice to see us putting the puck in the net.”

Defenceman Fletcher Aleman led the offence in Saturday’s double-digit beatdown, netting a career-high four goals and adding an assist in a barrage that featured four Cubs goals in the first, five in the second and six in the third.

“We were all buzzing,” said Aleman, whose Cubs pushed past the .500 mark at 12-11-3 on the season with the trio of weekend wins. “Our record isn’t what we wanted it to be, it’s not what we expected at the start of the year but it’s definitely coming and it brings a lot of confidence.”

Gaetan added he was pleased to see a string of 60-minute efforts from his players despite bouncing back-and-forth between games over the weekend. By the time the clock ran out on Saturday’s barnburner, fourteen Cubs had worked their way onto the scoresheet.

“That’s something we’ve focused on, for sure. We want to stay focused and it’s something in the past that we’d lose during the game. It’s something that we’ve preached and it’s nice to see that they battled for the full 60 despite the score.”

Chandler Aleman finished Saturday’s win with two goals and two assists, Desmond Crawford had a goal and three helpers, Josh Schafer racked up four assists and Noah Irvine added three.

Mackenzie Fritzler led the way in Friday’s win over High River, scoring twice and adding a pair of assists, while Cooper Hilworth had a goal and two assists Friday and two goals Saturday.

Statistics from Sunday’s game in Claresholm were not available by press time.

The Cubs return to the Kinplex to host the Lakers on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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