NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Cooper Hilworth controls the puck on a 2-on-1 breakaway in the first period of their 3-2 loss to the Cochrane Generals on Saturday at the Kinplex.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
After multiple weekends on the road, the Medicine Hat Cubs were able to play in front of their own fans again this past weekend.
The Cubs hosted the Cochrane Generals on Saturday and the Sylvan Lake Wranglers Sunday afternoon, losing 3-2 to the Generals and beating the Wranglers 6-3.
Head coach Randy Wong says his team was excited to be back at the Kinplex and honour Remembrance Day on Saturday.
“It felt like the big military game, the extra jerseys that I know the guys liked and they were comfortable wearing them, and I thought they would come out with and work smarter,” Wong said. “We worked reasonably hard Saturday night, we didn’t work smart and that’s the difference.”
Wong says the Remembrance Day ceremony, which featured auctioned-off camouflage jerseys and minor hockey teams playing in-between periods, is all part of the Cubs offering a brand of hockey fans can come out to see and support.
“Having Cochrane and Sylvan Lake here, we show off our league a bit with three pretty good teams people got to watch this weekend, and that’s what our league is all about,” he said. “It’s changed; I think the ‘Jungle B’ mentality is gone. It’s certainly a lot more entertaining to come over and watch this type of hockey now.”
They had another group of international students take part in a day of hockey. The Cubs brought a group of exchange students from Monsignor McCoy High School into the Kinplex to show off their dressing room, and invited them to watch the game on Sunday.
“We want to promote the game as best we can, hopefully they learned a little bit and I think they enjoyed the day,” Wong said. “That’s what it’s all about is just showcasing the game, promoting the game, that’s what we’re trying to do. I’ve done it for so many years, that if we develop more fans, because we spend more time with them, that’s what it is all about.”
The Cubs scored first against Cochrane, with a goal from Caleb Garrett 2:03 into the game, before the Generals rattled off three straight tallies in two periods. Darnell Glasgow scored in the second to bring Medicine Hat within one but they could not claw all the way back. Mark Peddle made 20 saves in the loss.
In Sunday’s win, Colby Friedrich and Callan Prosofsky each scored twice and Connor Douglas and Glasgow added a goal each, as the Cubs led Sylvan Lake throughout the game. Kaiden Morin made 21 saves for the win.
Wong says the Cubs’ effort Sunday is how he wants them to play, especially after Saturday’s loss.
“I hate how we lost, I can accept losses all day, but how we lose or when we shoot ourselves in the foot by not competing and not working as a team, those are the two main things that you’re not going to have success with,” Wong said. “They know it, they’ve done it before and they did it today (Sunday). They build their own recipe for success and they just have to make sure they come through and play each game like that.”
After their first weekend back at home the Cubs are on the road with three away games set for this weekend. They are in Three Hills on Friday to face the Thrashers, in Mountainview Saturday against the Colts before facing off against the Rocky Rams on Sunday.
Wong says the road trip comes at a good time as they continue to build off their success and get closer as a group.
“We played well our last road trip so we should have some confidence going into next weekend on the road and our first time we get to spend some overnight time with the guys as well,” Wong said. “It’s important to do and I think it’s part of building your team and the culture, making sure they bond.”
