NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Cooper Hilworth fires a puck on net in the first period of the Cubs 9-1 win over the Kainai Jr. Braves on Jan. 7.
It’s a whole new kind of season for the Medicine Hat Cubs.
After finishing the regular season in second place of the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s South Division with a record of 25-8-3, the Cubs have some time off. They picked up a bye in the first round of the playoffs and are awaiting to face one of Coaldale, Strathmore, Kainai or High River.
As they wait for a playoff match to be announced, the Cubs will work on things they haven’t been able to this season. Head coach Randy Wong said they’ll keep the focus on their own team instead of an opponent.
“I think if you start focusing on the other team too much you get side tracked a bit,” Wong said. “So you just worry about you and what can we control. We can control our work ethic, our execution and our systems and how we want to play them … We talk about the little things that are going to be successful in the playoffs and making sure we are ready in any situation.
“That you don’t necessarily have to call a timeout because we’ve already prepped the guys and they know situations that happen on the ice in a tight playoff game. Those are things that you work on now and get ready to go.”
Cubs forward Cooper Hilworth thinks they have a great team going into the playoffs and says depth will help propel them in the postseason.
“If we just keep playing and keep pushing like we are, we have great depth in our line-up,” Hilworth said. “Playoffs are normally won by third and fourth lines, because they are always covering your top guys. I think the depth we have, we definitely have a good chance of going far in the playoffs.”
When asked how he thinks his team will do when the puck drops come playoff time, Wong said players’ previous successes shows an ability to succeed.
“I was thinking back to our Midget-AA year and I have four guys in the room that were with me when we went all the way to provincials and got a championship,” Wong said. “It was little championships along the way. We had a little tournament in November that we won, we learned how to win there. Then we got into the South final, a next step, and we won that, then the league final, then provincials. Each one was a level of having to go through those and experience those levels to win and they did that each time and so that’s a good starting point for me. I think they are grounded and are ready to go.”
“… They seem ready and eager to go but not a cocky bunch that think they are all that; we are far from that I think,” Wong said. “… The playoffs is a new season but it is a tough season and you’ve got to be ready to grind it out.”
