NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs goaltender Adam Ranger mades a blocker save on a breakaway in the second period of a 2-1 loss Sunday at the Kinplex to the Sylvan Lake Wranglers.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Cubs put themselves in a spot of control heading into the last week of the HJHL regular season.
An 8-6 comeback win Friday night at home over the Coaldale Copperheads put the Cubs into second place of the South division, jumping the Strathmore Wheatland Kings after they lost to the Aridrie Thunder 4-2 on Saturday.
Kyle Woolridge scored three times in the third period Friday, adding a pair of assists in the win. Caleb Garrecht had a pair of goals and three assists, and Makhi Carriere scored twice. Hayden Gebhart scored as well, and both Mason Osinski and Nolan Sutherland had three assists. Tyler Wakelam made 26 saves.
The second spot in the division is crucial for the Cubs, who have earned a first-round bye alongside Strathmore and division-leader Okotoks Bisons under the HJHL’s new playoff rules. The top three teams in each division get a bye, with the four and five seeds playing a best-of-3 to face the Bisons.
Medicine Hat lost to the North division Sylvan Lake Wranglers on Sunday, falling 2-1 on Sunday at the Kinplex.
Head coach Randy Wong says they redeemed themselves from a 6-0 loss at Sylvan Lake on Jan. 24.
“We embarrassed ourselves (last time), we didn’t play like we could so it was important if we’re going to go far,” Wong said. “You’re going to have to play them again probably, so you want to make sure you leave an impression that we are as good as you and that you can compete against them for the most part. I thought we did that (Sunday).”
Garrecht scored the Cubs’ lone goal Sunday, tying the game up at 1-1 in the first period. Sylvan Lake took the lead in the second, holding on for the win. Adam Ranger made 24 saves for the Cubs.
Wong says Sunday’s game was a playoff primer, facing the top team in the North. He also says the two mistakes on the goals against are a lesson as playoffs near.
“It’s those little things, the little mistakes that could happen in the first period, that might be the difference in the whole game,” Wong said. “We talked about that too, about the mistakes we made. We controlled our own fate in those because we made error. We didn’t work hard enough and made a poor decision, that resulted in the two goals that we gave up.
“If that’s all you gave up, you don’t have to fix a lot of stuff, so we just have to hope for a little more puck luck offensively, but defensively, I thought we played pretty hard.”
The Cubs have two more games left before the playoffs. They’ll head to Strathmore on Friday with a chance to clinch the second spot in the division, securing home ice in the eventual second-round matchup against the Wheatland Kings. Wong says their focus remains with keeping control, taking care of Friday’s game to remove necessity from the last game of the year.
“We control our fate and that’s what you want late in the season, to give yourself that best chance,” Wong said. “You don’t have to rely on anybody to do you a favour. You have to win one hockey game to get home-ice advantage in the second round. So the approach will be, have a good practice, get mentally prepared and get ready to battle, making sure that we can get the job done.”
They’ll wrap the regular season on Feb. 9, hosting Coaldale at the Kinplex for a 4 p.m. contest.
A win on Friday and the game is nothing but prep for the Cubs’ playoffs set to start Feb. 17. A loss and they’ll rely on either a Strathmore loss on Feb. 8 to Coaldale, or to beat the Copperheads the next day.
Heading into the final week, beyond the playoff seeding, Wong likes where his team is at and the buy-in they’ve received from the group.
“We’ve changed our structure quite a bit in the last month, we’ve tweaked some things and I think they’re buying in,” Wong said. “They’re doing the little things that’s required of them, everybody’s got a role. They’ve got that established.
“I can kind of feel it on the bench, where they know who the power play guys are. They know who’s killing penalties. We have some energy guys who we can send out when we need to. So all of that is important to make sure you understand there’s no fighting amongst the group pushing for different positions that you may not be fitted for. So I’m happy with that.”
