PHOTO COURTESY MATT PIOTROWSKI PHOTOGRAPHY
Medicine Hat Cubs goaltender Kellen Bojic stands in his net during one of his seven regular season starts as a Cub.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Kellen Bojic has played seven games in a Medicine Hat Cubs jersey and is ready to help backstop them between the pipes in the playoffs.
The 18-year-old net minder joined the Cubs from his hometown Regina Silver Foxes of the Prairie Junior Hockey League.
As much as he is enjoying donning the orange and black, he has quickly adapted to the Gas City.
“I’m loving it, so far everybody I’ve met is awesome, no issues whatsoever,” Bojic said. “Everybody in the locker room was awesome, in all of the games I’ve played any time I mess up or do anything wrong everybody’s got my back and I’ve got theirs as well. It’s been awesome.”
There haven’t been a lot of mistakes while Bojic is between the pipes as the Cubs have won six of his seven starts, earning him the net for Game 1 of the postseason.
He hasn’t yet faced the Cubs’ semifinals opponent in the Cochrane Generals but will get the chance tonight when the series gets underway at the Kinplex with an 8:15 p.m. start.
He says he’s enjoying the HJHL style and is excited for the playoffs.
“It’s been a little bit different, it’s a little bit faster paced hockey and I haven’t really had that many starts this season. So for me, it’s just about focusing on one shot at a time, one game at a time, not really focusing too far ahead,” Bojic said. “I haven’t played playoff hockey in a while, so I’m looking forward to it. I enjoy the atmosphere and I enjoy playing it.”
Getting a chance to play in the playoffs was a large part of the pitch to join the Cubs, Bojic says. Upon arriving and getting to know his teammates, he was excited seeing how much they want to have that post-season success.
“Everybody wants to go far, everybody has the hustle, they have the grind and they want to they want to go far in the playoffs,” Bojic said. “They want to play good hockey and they have the chemistry. Everybody knows each other, we gel well and it shows with how we win and that shows in the guys.”
Cubs head coach and general manager Randy Wong says they are excited to see Bojic between the pipes in the post season and have told him to just play his game.
“It’s a club that scores a lot of goals, he doesn’t need to make every big save, you know, he just needs to make the right save and hopefully that relaxes him where he can come in and make those saves that he should make, and the odd spectacular one is a bonus in our minds,” Wong said.
“That gives us enough confidence that we’re going to score some goals and get the win that way. We hope he comes in relaxed, he’s got great athleticism, he competes and battles hard. He’s a hard worker and he’s a good kid.”
Game 1 of the semifinal series against the Generals goes tonight with Game 2 back at the Kinplex 8:15 p.m. on Friday. Wong says they are excited to see a packed Kinplex for Game 1 and beyond.
“We’ve got some exciting things planned for fans who are there, it’s going to be entertaining,” Wong said. “We’re just anxious to start the playoffs and have them witness, hopefully, a long championship playoff run.”
