Cubs hire Randy Wong as HC/GM
By RYAN MCCRACKEN on August 29, 2020.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Randy Wong’s fingerprints have been on the Medicine Hat Cubs for the past two seasons – now his hands are on the helm.
The local junior B hockey club announced Friday that Wong had been hired to step in as head coach and general manager after helping load up the Cubs with young talent as coach of the Medicine Hat Hounds U18 AA program.
“I’m excited about it,” Wong said in a Friday phone call with the News. “Obviously I’ve got a tie to a lot of those guys that are on the team now, so it makes the transition easier and the decision easier to go there because I know what a lot of those guys are capable of. Hopefully we get things organized quickly and build toward trying to build another championship team.”
After coaching the Hounds to the provincial title in 2019, several of Wong’s players made the jump to the Heritage Junior Hockey League with the Cubs and had an immediate impact in the team’s success. Cubs president Troy Sandau says that connection was a major factor in narrowing down the field of applicants for the role.
“Just his knowledge of developing players from his time in the AA program, straight up to our club now, his development with players is what I’d call extraordinary,” said Sandau. “That’s a huge part for developing our club into a competitive team, and speaking with Randy, he’s ready to win a championship.”
Wong added he will be bringing in Matt Knutson and Johnny Stehr to join the coaching staff. The trio worked together on the SEAC Tigers’ midget 15 squad eight years ago and Wong says having a level of familiarity with his staff will help get the ball rolling early.
“I know them, I know what they can provide,” he said. “It’s a nice comfort level coming in that we can bring a coaching staff in with probably 40-plus years of coaching experience between the three of us.”
No stranger to the bench, Wong has coached at nearly every level of amateur hockey. He spent more than three seasons as an assistant coach with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, then stepped in as head coach for part of the 2000-01 campaign – finishing his interim stint in the rebuilding year with a 5-15-2 record.
The following season, Wong opted to try his hand as head coach and GM of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits – in what was their second season as a franchise – before returning to serve as GM of Medicine Hat Minor Hockey for five years.
While he finished both of those stints with sub-500 records, Wong has been a force behind the bench in recent years. Wong’s Hounds closed out the 2018-19 campaign at 25-5-5 en route to a provincial championship, then responded with a 24-6-4 record this past season before COVID-19 pulled the plug on their run in Game 1 of the South Central Alberta Hockey League’s best-of-three final.
“I really like that (2019) group and I think that was part of the decision to go – being familiar with a lot of the faces there and understanding what they’re made of already and not having to start from scratch. There’s a good base there, a good foundation and it always makes coaching a little easier when you have that,” said Wong, adding some of this season’s Hounds may find their way onto the Cubs as well.
“I know Connor Miller was already signed up before I got involved with the Cubs, so I know he’ll be there. There are a couple guys in Tier 2 camps, so they’re looking to play in the (AJHL or SJHL) so I’ll wait to see what those guys do, but they know at least that there’s a good, solid program at home should they need it and aren’t able to play Tier 2.”
The Cubs parted ways with co-coaching duo JD Gaetan and Steve Leipert back in April, then released general manager Dave Kowalchuk from his duties earlier this month.
After electing a new board of directors following the club’s Aug. 6 annual general meeting, Sandau said the Cubs opted to combine the roles of head coach and GM as a cost-cutting measure. Wong says the new board was another factor in his decision to step behind the bench.
“I know a lot of those board members and I think they’ll do a phenomenal job at that level,” he said. “We’re hoping to tie in an on- and off-ice program, and you need good people around you… I think it’ll be a complete program to give people confidence that they can stay at home and play.”
With Wong’s hiring out of the way, Sandau says the focus will shift on preparing for a potential HJHL season, which is tentatively set to begin a 24-game schedule on Oct. 28.
“We’re just going to concentrate on navigating the COVID situation,” said Sandau. “We’ve got some hurdles we’re waiting to come down from Hockey Canada, Hockey Alberta and our league, but we’ve got our rookie camp on (Sept. 12) in Redcliff, then our main camp is going to open up on (Oct. 17) weekend, provided everything is good with COVID and nothing changes.”
As for the Hounds, Wong says former assistant Kevin Riehl will step in as the team’s new head coach. Wong added he hopes the programs can help each other out through the upcoming developmental season, even suggesting a potential cohort between the teams in the event of COVID-related scheduling interruptions.
