Cubs officially a go for 24-game HJHL season

By RYAN MCCRACKEN on August 12, 2020.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken

The Medicine Hat Cubs are all in on the 2020-21 Heritage Junior Hockey League season.

Just four days after electing a new board, the local junior B squad rescinded its June decision to withdraw from the upcoming season in a meeting with the league on Monday night.

Newly elected Cubs president Troy Sandau says there’s still plenty of work to be done in the days and weeks ahead – both for the team and the league – but if all goes according to plan the Cubbies will be kicking off a 24-game schedule on Oct. 28.

“We let them know last night that we’re back in,” said Sandau. “The league’s got a whole bunch of stuff to figure out with Hockey Canada and Hockey Alberta, so it’s the waiting game.”

That stuff is mostly comprised of new COVID-19 regulations for teams, staff, officials and fans to follow. While plenty could change between now and late October, Sandau says the league is currently looking at allowing 45-50 spectators per game – which will provide a financial challenge for a number of teams in the league, including the Cubs.

“I think it’s going to hurt every team,” said Sandau. “There are some teams that, ticket sales, they don’t have to bank on it every year for income, but a lot of teams, they do. And 45-50 people doesn’t really bring much at the gate.”

Sandau added the HJHL is also planning to limit travel schedules by division for the 24-game campaign, which will require a bit of shuffling in order to provide an even experience.

“They’re looking at North and South – they’re going to divide them,” he said. “So far, we’ve got 14 teams in – in the North there’s eight and in the South there’s six – so they’re going to move Airdrie from the North to the South and we’re just going to play within North and South.”

Sandau added the team has not yet looked into the potential for live streaming games for those who cannot access the limited number of tickets. The Cubs streamed live audio from games last season on Mixlr.

“We haven’t talked about anything like that. Oct. 28 is a go provided everything is good for a 24-game season, so we’re just going to take it one day at a time really,” said Sandau. “I’m thinking there’s going to be some changes.”

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