NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs defenceman Jamal Shaw admires his shot in the first period of the Cubs' 6-4 win Saturday night at the Kinplex against the Mountainview Colts.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs no longer have to worry about a perfect season.
The Cubs suffered their first loss of the season Friday night, falling 4-2 to the Cochrane Generals to snap their seven-game win streak that kicked off the season. They followed the loss up with a 6-4 win Saturday over the Mountainview Colts.
Head coach and general manager Randy Wong liked how his team responded 24 hours after the loss and says their energy level improved coming off the defeat.
“Our work ethic was good and we capitalized on our chances,” Wong said. “Friday night we were snake bitten a little bit, their goalie played well and we have to bear down and make sure we score on those opportunities. If we do, we don’t panic and it’s not a game where you’re chasing because you’re getting your goals when you need it. So you’re always going to stay ahead of the game and make them push a little bit harder. We just didn’t do that all game (Friday).
“The difference (Saturday) was we actually capitalized and had them on their heels a little bit. That’s what we have to think about and get ready for Okotoks next weekend.”
Carson Christianson, Jacob Hazzard and Kyle Woolridge all scored in Friday’s loss and Dominik Jagielski made 33 saves in a game where Medicine Hat was outshot 37-27.
Saturday’s contest was a back and forth affair but the Cubs held on for their eighth win of the season. Josh Drefs scored a goal, Hazzard added two of his own and Woolridge netted a hat trick, with his third icing the game into an empty net. Dimitrius Virostek made 25 saves and the Cubs outshot Mountainview 37-29.
As enticing as a perfect regular season record sounds, Wong says he’s glad to get the first loss out of the way and have it offer the lessons it did.
“You don’t want to have to go through a perfect season, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Wong said. “You do have to go through the ups and downs. You have to learn how to handle those ups and downs, especially the downs. You see a different side to your team when they’re trying to fight and they’re fighting the game a little bit.
“It’s nice, I guess that it happened. But certainly you don’t want to make habit of it. So you can learn from them, I think we did and I think we showed it (Saturday).”
Entering the weekend the Cubs held the top spot in the Heritage Junior Hockey League and now share it with their Southern division rival, the Okotoks Bisons. Both teams have 8-1 records to start the season, sitting only two points ahead of the Strathmore Wheatland Kings in third place of the division, and three points in front of the Sylvan Lake Wranglers who hold top spot in the Northern division.
The Cubs and Bisons have the first of five regular season meetings on Saturday when the defending HJHL champions come to the Kinplex in a battle for first place of the South. Wong says it’s a measuring stick matchup between two clubs who are familiar with one another.
“We’ve played lots against the North teams, so we know that the South is a little bit tighter and the games are tighter,” Wong said. “With Cochrane we got to see how we measure up against them and we get the same with Okotoks again. We just have to be ready to compete and play your best game and make sure you’re ready to play.”
Saturday’s matchup against Okotoks is set for 7:30 p.m. The Cubs also host the Ponoka Stampeders on Sunday for a 3 p.m. contest, both games at the Kinplex.
As they approach the 10-game mark of a 38-game season, Wong likes how tight-knit his group is and says that breeds success within a team.
“They’ll work for each other, they’ll play for each other and that’s a positive thing that’s happening right now,” Wong said. “The fact we are coming from behind builds character, so we’ve got good character in the room. As we continue through the stretch, I think we’re going to play a lot of South teams coming up, lots of teams only have one, two losses. So we have to be ready to play and I think we’ll gain more confidence as we play them and have success against them.”
