NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY
Medicine Hat Cubs Mason Fischer (left), Mackenzie Fritzler and Tristan Stensrud pose in front of the team's new logo unveiled Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at Comfort Inn and Suites.
srooney@medicinehatnews.com@MHNRooney
Colour has returned to the Medicine Hat Cubs’ logo, just as the team feels its fortunes on the ice are on the mend too.
The junior B hockey club unveiled a sleek new look Tuesday, replete with the old orange and even a splash of red on the new feline’s teeth. They’ll get new jerseys to replace the silver, then blue-toned ones they sported under the previous logo introduced in 2012.
“We’re going to have to take this in steps and pieces,” said vice-president Ted Breznik at the press conference at Comfort Inn and Suites. “I think it’s going to be exceptional because it just really solidifies that we are changing and moving in a positive direction.”
After the team nearly folded two years ago, general manager Dave Kowalchuk and president Richard Fritzler were among those who stepped in to new posts.
Under head coach JD Gaetan this past season, the Cubs posted a .500 record for the first time in four years and even won a playoff series before falling to Coaldale in overtime of Game 7.
There’s plenty of optimism from players and staff alike, and the new duds shouldn’t hurt the mood.
“I feel like with the new jerseys and the new logo, I feel like… we’re going to start going up even ending with last year,” said Mackenzie Fritzler, who will be in his overage 21-year-old year this fall. “This year we will give our all, work together as a team, rebuilding again.”
Kowalchuk announced several other changes, starting with Mark Asham as team chaplain and ex-Tiger Trevor Wasyluk as a team-building coach. Training camp is in early September but Kowalchuk is also running the Western Canada Junior Hockey Prospects Camp June 7-9 with the idea that future Cubs will be in attendance.
“It’s a pretty exciting time for the Cubs,” said Kowalchuk, an ex-Cubs coach who’s breathed new life into the team since his return. “It was a good year for our club last year and we’re heading into a new season with high expectations.”
How high? Kowalchuk said in his talks with Gaetan and returning assistant coach Steve Leipert, they’re aiming for a first-round by next spring. That would mean a top-two finish in the Heritage League’s South Division – a tall task given their recent history but not if they keep improving in leaps and bounds.
“We are moving towards what the Cubs once were,” said Breznik. “They’re probably the longest-running club in Alberta, they had many years of success and I think we’re on the path to returning to that.
“There’s a lot of excitement, not just in the Cubs organization but I think in the whole community. It’s stirring, and that’s what we want, we want that to keep stirring.”
