Cubs set to kick off main camp
By RYAN MCCRACKEN on October 2, 2020.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken The Medicine Hat Cubs will take their first strides toward a Heritage Junior Hockey League season when the local junior B hockey club’s main camp kicks off tonight at the Kinplex. Head coach and general manager Randy Wong says he expects more than 30 players to take part in the camp, with a handful of other potential returners currently seeking spots on teams at a higher level. It’s a number that will need to be trimmed to 25 by the team’s first pre-season game on Oct. 16 against the rival Coaldale Copperheads. “With the state that things are at, Hockey Alberta wants numbers fairly minimized early,” said Wong. “So, to get down to 25 guys, that’s a number we’re hearing we might be able to carry.” Wong added he believes coaches may be able to be excluded from the 50-person cohort rule if they wear a mask at all times in the arena and around the players, allowing both Coaldale and Medicine Hat to bring 25 players to their upcoming pre-season game at the Kinplex. “I was on a conference call with Hockey Alberta and we were talking about who’s in the cohort. From my understanding, if you mask up as a coaching staff you wouldn’t have to be named in the cohort,” he said. “There’s a lot of balancing and communication that has to happen with the other teams. In this case we’re playing Coaldale for a couple weekends, so we’ve kind of got to be on the same page or it won’t work.” The Cubs held a rookie camp in Redcliff last month. Wong says the team was able to recruit roughly a dozen players for main camp through the event, which should amp up competition for spots on the roster. “I think that’s really positive. Considering it was a lot of local players from the surrounding area we were pleasantly surprised with that. I think we’ve got some 18-year-olds coming in to really battle for some spots and we’ve got some older guys who may not return and go on to the workforce full time. That opens the door for a couple more rookies to come in, so certainly I’m really happy with what we have to select from, and knowing that we still expect some guys to show up later on.” Medicine Hat’s first pre-season game on Oct. 16 could feature up to 100 fans, though Wong says that number may need to be reduced in order to accommodate for game day staff. Either way, he’s asking fans for patience as the team navigates the new guidelines and protocols. “Because of the uncertainty of the cohort rule there might only be 80 fans allowed to get into the building,” said Wong. “We’re really controlled by Alberta Health, so that’s probably the biggest message to people, is that we’ve got to have patience and Alberta Health is controlling a lot of what Hockey Alberta is allowed to do.” 11-10
