NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Caleb Garrecht admires his shot in the third period of the Cubs' 5-3 loss Sunday at the Kinplex against the Coaldale Copperheads.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Randy Wong is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Medicine Hat Cubs and is excited for what the season ahead holds.
The Cubs open their 50th season of operation and the 2023-24 Heritage Junior Hockey League season on Sunday at Coaldale against the Copperheads. Wong took over as head coach and general manager of the Cubs in 2020 and has been vocal about how they want to transition the Cubs and the league from the ‘Jungle B’ narrative into a source of entertainment.
He says the first two years with the Cubs was about building a program and establishing an identity that has only grown and looks to flourish this season.
“Year three was optimistic because we felt we had a strong team and I think we did have success in the regular season, making it to the South finals in the last two years,” Wong said. “This year I wasn’t sure, we’re losing lots of bodies, but we’ve replaced them with better character and that’s the starting point of a good championship team. We have the good character, you can teach all the other hockey stuff and it’ll take a month or two, but I think our team will be different in two months than it is today. Once they understand how to play with team speed, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
The Cubs enter the season off a four-game sweep in the South finals at the gloves of the eventual champion Okotoks Bisons, marking the second year in a row Medicine Hat has lost to Okotoks. They had a regular season record of 27-8-3, good for second in the South division.
Medicine Hat did lose their leadership group and scoring leaders from last season, graduating overage players like Colby Friedrich, Jacob Milne, Cooper Hilworth (who led the HJHL in scoring and holds the Cubs’ games played record) and captain Levi Schlosser.
Entering this year, as the Cubs look to make a further run in the playoffs with a younger lineup, Wong says they will again rely on speed to be the difference in matches.
“We’ve kind of built this team as using our speed, we have some skill up front and we have a better back end this year,” Wong said. “Our goaltending is going to be stronger in the end, overall we’re a better club than last year. You compile that with strong work ethic and a good team bonding, it’s a team committed to each other. I’m very optimistic that we can do well this year.”
He doesn’t have any one message he is looking to tell his players heading into the season because he’s found they are more vocal with each other about what is expected and what needs to happen.
“They’re going to dictate how we want to play, they’re going to make sure we play the game the right way and the new guys understand that,” Wong said. “That work ethic cannot be sacrificed and the team atmosphere has to remain. Guys can’t go off on their own page. All of that blends well with what I want as a coach, so the players will control that and then it’s showing so far.”
