NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Medicine Hat Cubs watch on as the Okotoks Bisons celebrate their 3-2 Game 4 win Tuesday at the Kinplex to sweep the Cubs 4-0 in the South Finals.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs entered the 2022-23 Heritage Junior Hockey League season with the goal of making it past the South Finals after losing in Game 6 against the Okotoks Bisons the year prior. A quick four-game sweep later by the same team and that redemption season has come to a sudden close.
The Cubs lost 3-2 on Tuesday at the Kinplex, bringing their post-season run to an end with a record of 6-6. Coming off a disappointing loss in Game 3 on Sunday, Cubs head coach and general manager Randy Wong challenged his team to bring a better effort and compete level into Game 4.
Despite the loss, Wong says he respects how they battled.
“The win or loss is irrelevant to me really, it’s how the guys are, how they perform, is the work ethic there and did they play well as a team,” Wong said. “Then you can handle the loss a little better knowing that you put your best foot forward. I didn’t think we did that in the first few games and I didn’t want this team to go down and lose four that way. You can accept losing four if you play the game the right way and I felt in Game 4, we did that.”
The Cubs led Game 4 2-0 after 40 minutes on goals from Connor Douglas and Cooper Hilworth. However, a three-goal third period from the Bisons was all it took for the away team to take the win home.
Game 4 not only marked the last Cubs game of the season, it was the last junior hockey game for Medicine Hat’s overage core of captain Levi Schlosser, Hilworth, Colby Friedrich and Jacob Milne. Wong says he feels for them and didn’t know what to say to the four who set the tone of what it means to be a Cub.
“I put my hat out to those four, they came into the organization and they did the right thing,” Wong said. “They handled themselves the right way, they changed the culture of this program. Schlosser and Hilworth have been here a long time and so it’s those guys who have built the program to where it is, that we can now carry forward.
“I have total respect for the four guys and how they handled things and led the team this year.”
Wong thanked the fans in attendance throughout the playoffs and the regular season for their support and is looking forward to seeing them again in their 50th season.
He says they will take a few days as a team to regroup before looking toward next season and how they can build that championship team. Wong also hopes the players who lost in Game 6 against the Bisons in 2022 and are coming off a Game 4 series loss, carry that into the offseason and bring that motivation into next season.
“The goal is to win a championship every year that I’ve coached, that’s the end result and that’s what you hope for,” Wong said. “We’ll make improvements on the club, bring in some new players and we hope we have a lot of the returning players come back. They’ve got to make decisions, ‘Do I go off to school, do I start work, do I come back and play hockey for another year?’ So lots of time, too, for those guys to figure that out.
But once we put all of the pieces in place as the summer goes on we’ll get ready and prepare for next year for what is the ultimate goal, to win a championship.”
