NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Cooper Hilworth admires his shot in the first period of the Cubs 5-4 win Sunday against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings at the Kinplex.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs were able to shake off their New Year’s rust in a hurry.
The Cubs returned to action from their Holiday break with three games over the weekend, beating the Cochrane Generals 5-4 in overtime Friday and the Strathmore Wheatland Kings 5-4 on Sunday. They lost 6-3 to the Okotoks Bisons on Saturday, however.
Head coach and general manager Randy Wong says the first week back is always tough to navigate but was happy they got their two wins.
“You never know what you’re going to get when you come back after a layoff for Christmas and New Year’s, so a goal of getting two of three is probably a modest win rate, where you’re not going to stress and try to get three, you’re not going to think that you’re at the year-end game shape,” Wong said. “The skills are a little off and we were a little rusty in that first game against Cochrane in the first period. Then we finally got the rust beat.”
The Cubs could have gone three for three, they led the first-place Bisons 3-2 in the second period before allowing four unanswered goals for the loss. Wong says they’ve talked about how they lost that game and carried that focus into their win Sunday over Strathmore.
“It’s not so much what Okotoks did it’s that we didn’t do some things right,” Wong said. “We didn’t play the systems we were supposed to, I thought we were a little selfish in that game and we didn’t move the puck, and the score reflects that. It’s not so much that Okotoks was really good, I felt that we didn’t play our game and we’ve talked about that.”
The Cubs remain in third space of the HJHL’s Southern division with a 19-5-3 record, trailing the second-place Cochrane Generals by three points with three games in hand. Medicine Hat holds the season series clincher against the Generals with Saturday’s win, if it comes to that come playoff time.
Wong says second place in the division remains the goal for the club as they want the first-round bye and the opportunity to watch and recover before the second round.
“We’re not so much worried about trying to catch up with Okotoks, let’s get by Cochrane, let’s get that second spot to get past the first round, those are all goals the team has set,” Wong said. “We did what we needed to do this weekend, we still have three games in hand on Cochrane and are three points behind, so we’re in a good position to kind of get that done.
“We got the right wins on the weekend that we thought we would get and we move on from that.”
The Cubs are back in action this weekend with a two-game set on the road as they head to Red Deer on Saturday against the Vipers before heading to Sylvan lake on Sunday to take on the Wranglers.
Their next home action is Jan. 21, a 6 p.m. contest against the High River Flyers at the Kinplex. The Cubs will be holding their second rendition of Weiner dog races in that game, and anyone interested in signing their dog up for the race are to contact the Cubs at medicinehatcubs@gmail.com.
