NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Ethan Machan celebrates his assist on Cooper Hilworth's goal in the first period of his team's 7-2 win over the Strathmore Wheatland Kings Saturday night at the Kinplex.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs may not lose in 2022.
After their 9-1 win Friday night over the Kainai Jr. Braves, the Cubs ran it back Saturday night and beat the Strathmore Wheatland Kings 7-1 in their first two games of the new year.
Cubs head coach and general manager Randy Wong laughed when asked if his team had shook off the rust of the Holiday break after Saturday’s win.
“I think we’re excited. We’re confident and we’re focused, I think that’s the big thing,” Wong said. “We’re focused on the second half and I think the preparation we had going early on, I think the guys are showing they are ready to play and get some wins in the second half. Stay above Coaldale and make sure we get that second bye and it’s important that we get there, so we’re doing the right things to get there.”
The Cubs have a record of 20-6-2 after the pair of weekend wins and hold second place of the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s South Division. They sit seven points ahead of the third-place Coaldale Copperheads.
Securing a top-two position in the division means the Cubs would get a bye for the first round of the playoffs. With eight games left in the regular season, including one contest against Coaldale, Wong says the Cubs just have to play their game no matter the opponent.
“That was really the focus and message of the second half and we saw that this weekend,” he said. “We didn’t really sit back and we just kind of moved forward because that’s going to help us against the Okotoks’ and Coaldale’s, the stronger teams. We have to be ready for them and we are preparing for them. We are making sure that we are doing the right things to make sure we set up a good match for the next couple weeks.”
Saturday’s win had five different Cubs score as Darnell Glasgo and captain Levi Schlosser had two goals each to lead the offence. Cooper Hilworth, Colby Friedrich and Jacob Milne rounded out the scoring and Layne Gilroy turned aside 15 of the 16 shots he faced to pick up the win for a second straight game.
In both wins, the Cubs appeared to be enjoying themselves as any team outscoring their opponents 16-2 would. Wong says the swagger or confidence the Cubs are carrying right now comes from the results they’ve been achieving.
“I think we’ve changed the culture, it’s been a really good attitude, the guys like playing with each other so that’s what you’re getting,” Wong said. “A confident group that is enjoying playing the game, and that’s what it’s about – having fun, enjoying the game. It’s a game and we know that, so let’s not make it any more than that and make sure that we enjoy it.”
A new part of that group is forward Gerret Harty, whose first two games with the Cubs came this past weekend. The 18-year-old says it’s been fun so far with the Cubs and added the fans were “awesome.” He says it can be a challenge joining a tight locker room like the Cubs have, but they’ve made it easy.
“It’s tough to jump in, just room-wise, I knew quite a bit of the guys going in but jumping into a new team is always difficult,” Harty said.
“They’ve been really good, good vets, great group. They’re pretty tight but they are a good group of guys.”
The Foremost product joined the Cubs after being released from his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League team earlier this season. He joined with Medicine Hat and was practicing with the club before he debuted Friday.
Wong says he’ll bring physicality and depth to the lineup and is excited to see what he can do once he’s up to speed.
“He hasn’t played a lot of hockey this year… so he’s got to get the rust out and you can see it’s coming,” Wong said.
“He’s not in game shape yet, so we have to be patient for him with that, but it will come. He’s excited and happy being here and I think that’s just part of reading the right character guys and bringing them in and making sure they don’t disrupt what the guys have got started here.”
Harty describes himself as a power forward who likes to score and says Cubs fans would have seen that in his first two games playing at the Kinplex.
The Cubs continue their push towards the HJHL playoffs Thursday when they host the Lomond Lakers for a mid-week contest. That game gets underway at 8:15 p.m. at the Kinplex.
