NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Jacob Hazzard skates in the Okotoks end in the first period of a 4-3 win Jan. 30 at the Kinplex over the Bisons. The Cubs and Bisons will meet in the second round of the HJHL playoffs, starting Friday with Game 1 at the Kinplex, a 7:15 p.m. puck drop.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
There is no other road the Medicine Hat Cubs want to take to continue their historic season. They want to go through Okotoks.
The South division champions get set to face the Bisons in the second round of the HJHL Playoffs, starting Friday with Game 1 at the Kinplex, for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
It’s been a painful route in the playoffs for Medicine Hat. They lost to the Bisons in six games in 2021-22 and were swept in 2022-23 by Okotoks. They lost in four games last season to the Bisons, who then lost to the Sylvan Lake Wranglers in the HJHL finals.
For head coach Trent Derzaph, getting set for his first postseason behind the bench, there was no doubt who they wanted to face.
“Pretty much the entire team, anyone who has any past history with Okotoks, that’s where they wanted to go. We wanted to go to Okotoks,” Derzaph said.
The Cubs won the season series 3-2, rebounding from a pair of losses on the road to the Bisons to start the season. Okotoks won 4-2 on Oct. 10 and 6-1 on Oct. 31.
They beat the Bisons 4-2 Nov. 22 and entered the holiday break with a 9-2 win Dec. 20. In their penultimate game of the regular season, the Cubs beat Okotoks 4-3 on Jan. 30.
“We know we can score against them and we’re excited, we’re ready to get rolling,” Derzaph said. “They’ve got a series under their belt now and they’re moving at that speed and pushing their weight around already. So we’re going to have to be ready for a big, quick start.”
The Bisons beat the Coaldale Copperheads with a two-game sweep in the best-of-three first round. Derzaph says they aren’t looking to meet the pace the Bisons are playing at, they want to set the standard.
“That tone has to be stronger and faster than their tone,” Derzaph said. “It’s that simple, we just have to come out of the gates hard.”
Having watched the other series, Derzaph says they’ll look to use their four lines to wear down the Bisons throughout the best-of-five series.
“We got here because of playing four lines, watching the other series they were running a line and a half, two lines,” Derzaph said. “As the series goes on, teams get tired when you’re only trying to run the top part of your group. So I have confidence in four lines and that’s the way we’re going to play.”
The Cubs captured the South division for the first time since the 2001-02 season, their debut season in the HJHL. He says they have to try to finish what they started, with the first step coming Friday as they look to build one shift after another.
“You win every shift, every line goes out and wins every shift, they’re going to win the period and if we win every period, we’re going to win the games,” Derzaph said. “That’s the way I’m looking at it and that’s the way I want my team looking at it.”
He’s hoping as they rise to the occasion, the Cubs faithful will match them, as they have all season at the Kinplex.
“We’ve had really good fan support and I know it’s normal for the fans to even step it up as they get into the playoffs, it doesn’t matter what league it is,” Derzaph said. “They come out, they get bigger and bigger with more and more of them as playoffs go on.
“The Kinplex is a tough rink to play in for teams coming off the road versus our home crowd. I’d love to welcome everybody to come out and support these boys as we make a run for it.”
The Cubs will continue wearing their orange throwback jerseys for home games in the playoffs while they are being auctioned off online. Bidding closes April 3 and the auction can be found on the team’s social media.
