NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs defenceman Jamal Shaw follows through with a shot from the point in the first period of the Cubs 3-1 pre season win against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings Sunday afternoon at the Kinplex.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs gave their young players a taste of the Heritage Junior Hockey League this weekend.
The Cubs opened their preseason with a home-and-home series against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings. Strathmore took the first game, winning 5-4 Saturday night at home before the Cubs answered back with a 3-1 win Sunday afternoon at the Kinplex.
Cubs head coach and general manager Randy Wong said it was a positive weekend for his team as they look to narrow the roster.
“I think a lot of young guys got their first taste of what our level’s all about and they had a lot of fun in their experience. That’s all part of it, is understanding what the league is about and whether you can play at this level,” Wong said. “Once you settle in, after you get through the nerves, I think we saw some guys really shine that we were really impressed with and who changed our minds on the direction that we were going. Exhibition season to me is, guys will play themselves on the team and some guys will play themselves off the team, and I think that’s exactly what happened on the weekend.”
Wong said the Cubs trimmed their roster and cut six players, bringing them to 29 active. Like a lot of coaches, Wong had a difficult time choosing who impressed him the most over the weekend games but eventually put a list together.
“I thought Kaiden Morin in net was really good Sunday. He made the saves he was supposed to and he really had a calming influence on the guys in the back. He handles the puck well, so he would be one that stood out. Kyle Woolridge, another U18 player, I think he had a good weekend and showed he can play at this level; a couple young guys,” Wong said. “Our vets, like Connor Miller was really good throughout the weekend, Dylan Trembecki only played the one game but he was our best defenceman last year and he’s starting to show that again.
“A couple of vets held their own throughout the weekend and those older guys lead the way and that’s the intent of having those older guys. I think we’ve got a good core of young guys that will follow and we’re excited about what our program and our team is going to be about this year.”
The Cubs have a week of practices before their next and final preseason action. They’ll head to Coaldale on Saturday night before hosting the Copperheads on Sunday to wrap up their exhibition games. Wong said the focus this week will be introducing their systems to the players trying out to see how they handle it.
“We’ll see if we can teach the game quickly, see if they understand and execute it. Now that we’ve got it down to a more workable number in practice, it’s the next stage of making the team is that they’re not there yet and there’s a lot more teaching them this week,” Wong said. “It’ll be up to them to not lose the intensity level by putting some structure into their game now and making them think a little bit while they’re on the ice. That’ll be the test this weekend.”
