NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN Medicine Hat Cubs forward Desmond Crawford scores on Lomond Lakers goaltender Brady Newton during a Heritage Junior Hockey League game at the Kinplex on Sunday.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
It all comes down to next weekend for the Medicine Hat Cubs.
After cruising to a 9-0 victory over the Lomond Lakers on Sunday at the Kinplex, the Cubs moved into sole possession of second in the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s Southern Division standings with just two games left in the season – a home-and-home series with the third-place Generals to determine who will earn a bye through the first round of the playoffs.
“It comes down to the last two games and that’s exactly what we were planning for,” said co-coach Steve Leipert, whose Cubs improved to 25-9-2 with the victory. “Our team is excited for it.”
The road to a winning record has been a long time coming for the Cubs. Leipert and coaching counterpart JD Gaetan stepped behind the bench of the struggling squad in 2016 and took their lumps over the next few seasons. But Leipert says Sunday’s 78-shot, nine-goal victory to put his team in the driver’s seat for a first-round bye served as a testament to just how far they’ve come.
“Just the reflection on that,” said Leipert. “From where we started when the Cubs almost folded to where we are now, just getting guys and everything else like that, to producing a 9-0 win today, it was a long road and we are very happy with what we’ve done.”
General manager Dave Kowalchuk also played a significant hand in the rebuild – bringing in the right staff and talent with the goal of fostering a junior A environment at the Kinplex. Kowalchuk also helped launch the league’s first-ever top prospects game, hosted by Medicine Hat in tandem with the all-star game last month.
“You have to give props to him,” said Cubs defenceman Joshua Schafer. “He’s done a good job recruiting and making it a likeable place to be around so lots of people like coming to the rink. We’ve managed to slowly build a team over these couple of years.”
But there’s still work ahead, and plenty riding on their upcoming home-and-home. Medicine Hat has been without goaltender Dawsen Savage after he fractured his thumb in warm-up Friday, while captain Tavin Stadnicki has been out since Jan. 10 with a lower-body injury. Both are expected to miss at least two weeks, making a first-round bye crucially important for the Cubs.
“That’s why we’re pushing hard,” said Leipert. “We have some other people who are also injured and playing through that, so it would be great to have that week bye.”
The Cubs have been leaning on backup Logan Leroux in Savage’s absence, and the 18-year-old Lethbridge product has been giving them his best – stopping 43 shots in Friday’s win over the Coaldale Copperheads then collecting a 16-save shutout Sunday.
“It’s impressive to watch,” said Leipert. “We’re going to be riding him for the next two games. He’s very confident and he’s very skilled, so we’re excited to actually have that as a back-up.”
Medicine Hat left nothing to chance Sunday, outshooting Lomond by a 62-shot margin to convincingly take an edge over Cochrane in the standings – though the Generals (24-8-2) have a game in hand, which will be played Friday against the Airdrie Xtreme (28-6-2).
Levi Schlosser, Mason Fischer and Noah Irvine scored in succession to give Medicine Hat a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Cooper Hilworth, Spencer Chapman and Chandler Aleman doubled it in the second, then Irvine Fischer and Desmond Crawford put the game away in the third.
“I think it’s an accomplishment for us. We got lots of chances and that builds confidence,” said Aleman. “It feels good. We’re going to try and make a good playoff push and maybe get second.”
Fischer finished the win with four points, while Irvine and Aleman each had three. Schlosser, Hilworth, Chapman and Crawford all closed out the afternoon with a goal and an assist.
Lomond’s Brady Newton made 69 saves in the loss to earn the game’s first star. The Lakers slipped to 3-32-1 with the result.
The Cubs return to the Kinplex to open their home-and-home against the Generals on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
