NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Medicine Hat Cubs raise their sticks to the fans after beating the Red Deer Vipers 4-3 in their memorial game on Dec. 5.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs are gearing up for a playoff run.
The junior B club hit the holiday break on a two-game heater that has them in second place of the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s Southern Division and fourth overall in the league with a record of 18-6-2.
Head coach and general manager Randy Wong says he’s happy with the Cubs unofficial first half and is looking forward to seeing what the club can do down the stretch into the playoffs.
“We had a good first half, we met or exceeded our expectations and we’re quite happy with that and we’ll look to continue that and have a strong second half. Now we can look at what playoff position we are going to be in,” Wong said. “You look at that now and try to start planning for playoffs.”
After their first 26 games the Cubs sit second in the league in goal differential, trailing only the first-place Okotoks Bisons. The Cubs have lost all three of their games with the Bisons this season.
Wong has said there is no frustration with the losses but sees motivation building with 10 games left in the regular season.
“We feel that we can beat them. We have to have a real good game to beat them but I don’t think we have played our best games against them,” Wong said. “We don’t feel that we have allowed goals that are filled with mistakes.
“We feel our speed is equal to them, our goaltending is equal to them and so we have two more chances to see where we are at and make sure we feel like we are somewhat confident that we can play them in the playoffs in a best of seven.”
As it stands heading into the break, the Cubs would get a bye past the first round of the playoffs, which Wong says is their goal. He added he wants them to avoid playing games they don’t need to in order to avoid injuries or suspensions.
That makes Medicine Hat’s final 10 games important, as they have two more games against the Bisons and one more against the Coaldale Copperheads, who trail the Cubs by one point in the standings. It’s something Wong says they’ve talked about as a team, making the push in their final 10 to secure second place in the division and get that first-round bye.
Having a strong end to the season would also mean extended home ice advantage which is some Wong says he is looking forward to.
“I think that’s so important in playoffs. We’ve got a pretty good crowd and it looks like our crowds are building and we are starting to draw some attention and I think that’s where our focus is,” Wong said. “We have an exciting brand of hockey. We’re scoring lots of goals and we’re hoping people will come out and support us in those last 10 games with a lot of them being at home… Then to be able to have a first-round series at home and getting that home ice advantage is so key. Having a big crowd, a loud building, we love playing here and we love playing in front of our fans, and so we hope we can fill the Kinplex come playoff time.”
At the start of the season, Wong had a hard time outlining his expectations for the team. Now, he says they’ve exceeded what he thought they would do.
“It’s been a lot of fun. I didn’t think we would have this much success,” he said. “Now that we have the wins that we’ve gotten and we’re playing hockey against the good teams, we see that we’re that close.
“Conner Douglas is a top 2-3 guy in the league right now in scoring. Certainly I didn’t expect that and he’s got a lot of teammates that are right behind him in that top-20 scoring.”
Wong says he’s liked how much chemistry his team has built throughout the lineup this season.
He sent his guys home with what he said was a message to relax and don’t think about the game. But to be ready for a playoff run once they get back.
“Take your gear home if you want, play some shinny hockey with your buddies but overall relax and enjoy family time and get ready for a second half which will include hopefully a long playoff run,” Wong said.
The Cubs return to action on Jan. 7, when they host the Kainai Junior Braves at the Kinplex for a 6:45 p.m. game.
