Medicine Hat Cubs forward Kyle Woolridge backhands the puck past the Coaldale Copperheads netminder for the 3-2 shootout win Sunday at Coaldale.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs passed the first litmus test in the 2024-25 season.
The Cubs open their 51st season with a pair of road wins, sweeping the opening weekend of the HJHL season with a 3-2 game Saturday over the Okotoks Bisons and a 3-2 shootout victory Sunday over the Coaldale Copperheads.
Head coach and general manager Randy Wong looks at the opening weekend sweep as something to build off.
“You beat the defending champs in their rink and then you play your arch rivals down the highway, that’s the two biggest rivalries that we have,” Wong said. “To be able to go in both buildings and have success with a fairly young club, we’ve got a lot of rookies in the lineup, so hopefully that will pay dividends down the road.”
In Saturday’s season opening win against the Bisons, the Cubs rattled off three straight goals in the second period for a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Nolen Sutherland, Kyle Woolridge and Callen Prosofsky all found the back of the net during the stretch.
Okotoks made it interesting the third with an early goal but goaltender Tyler Wakelam held firm thereafter, picking up the win with 42 saves. The Bisons outshot Medicine Hat 44-30. Barrett Quayle had two assists for the Cubs, Sutherland added a helper to his tally.
In Sunday’s win, after a late night Saturday, the Cubs still got on the board first. Jacob Hazzard scored 2:49 into the game and Hayden King found twine with a late-period power play for a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Coaldale tied the game up in the second, and neither team scored in the third despite back and forth chances. Coaldale outshot Medicine Hat 29-25 through 60 minutes.
The Cubs poured on chances in the overtime, with eight shots to Coaldale’s one. But it took a shootout to decide the winner, with Sutherland and Woolridge scoring and net minder Adam Ranger shutting the door for his first HJHL win. He finished the night with 28 saves and two big stops in the shootout.
After the late night Saturday, Wong says Sunday’s win wasn’t the prettiest but showed off their depth as a team.
“Coming into Sunday you wonder what kind of energy levels do we have and what kind of excitement do we have about the game,” Wong said. “A pretty, pretty big game (Saturday) night, so they’ve been on the high, so now to get re-energized again to do this one.
“Not a pretty one (Sunday), but finding ways to get the job done is early learning lessons in the year. Take it to a shootout and we have guys on the club who can finish, and so we’ll get the win that way. And sometimes you’ll do it.”
Wong was encouraged by the early scoring from the team’s depth, with two members of their top line (Woolridge, Sutherland) able to show finish in the win. He says depth and skill, this year more than any other, will help lead the Cubs to success.
“More times than not your skill guys are going to show what they brought in the shootout and they did that,” Wong said. “It was a collective effort, certainly great job by Ranger coming in his first game in the league, shut the door when he needed to make some big saves.
“That’s all part of having depth on your team in all positions, being able to have success because of it.”
The Cubs are off until Friday when they return to the Kinplex for their home opener against the High River Flyers. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
