NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs goaltender Tyler Wakelam squares up to make a save in the second period of his 20-save shutout win over the Okotoks Bisons on Sunday at the Kinplex. The Cubs scored three times to down the Southern division leading Bisons.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs continued their roll of success over the weekend.
The Cubs picked up a pair of wins on home ice, beating the Strathmore Wheatland Kings 8-5 on Friday before shutting-out the Okotoks Bisons 3-0 on Sunday.
Those wins extend the Cubs’ win streak to six games and also narrows the gap to one point between them and Strathmore for second in the Southern division and the critical first-round bye.
Head coach Randy Wong says they approached the weekend with a playoff-like attitude.
“They’re important games, two of the most important games we have,” Wong said. “We felt to get home ice, you’re going to have to beat Strathmore, so we’ve got them twice. We got the first one out of the way, and then Okotoks, to get that those two points and try and just stay up in the standings, not fall. We’ve been playing pretty good at home, we’ve been playing pretty good since Christmas time and we just want to keep that rolling.”
Caleb Garrecht led the Cubs offence in Friday’s win, tallying a goal and five points. Kyle Woolridge had two goals with an assist, Callen Prosofsky with a pair of goals and Keynan Cairns had three goals. Both Mason Olinski and Austin Derzaph had a goal and an assist and Barrett Quayle also scored. Adam Ranger made 27 saves.
Against Okotoks, Tyler Wakelam stopped all 20 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season. It was also the first time the Cubs beat Okotoks on home ice since Game 4 of the South finals in 2022. Medicine Hat won Game 4 and then Game 5 before falling in Game 6 of that series.
In Sunday’s win, Nolan Sutherland scored twice and Woolridge scored as well, adding two assists.
“Okotoks has been our nemesis since I’ve been here and so we’ve changed some things, we gave them a different look,” Wong said.
“If you get a chance to play them in playoffs, in whatever series it is, you know going in that you can play with them,” Wong said. “We beat Okotoks early in the year, we’ve beat them in their barn and we’ve won here now. We’ve have a chance to play well here in our barn. It’s good because it’s been a long time coming, and if you’re going to win, you have to play the best teams and right now, they’re the dogs to beat.”
Sunday’s win was also a milestone for Wong and assistant coach Johnny Stehr, each recording their 100th win at the HJHL level.
Wong says the century-mark win means more coming against Okotoks and he’s happy to share the milestone with Steve.
“In four years, it means that we’re doing the right things,” Wong said. “We’ve got the right players, the right mentality and the program is solid. The 100 wins shows that in the four seasons, we’re extremely happy about it, it’s a good accomplishment and we’re hoping for bigger and better things come.”
The Cubs (23-7-2) are on the road for a pair of games this weekend, they face the North division leading Sylvan Lake Wranglers on Friday and the Ponoka Stampeders on Saturday. Wong says they’ll continue to try and continue the win streak and make the push for the first-round bye with six games left on the calendar.
“We’re starting to believe in ourselves, we’re starting to believe in the style of play that we have to play to be successful,” Wong said.
