Cubs look to continue momentum with pair of weekend games

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jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
@ReporterTubb

 

The Medicine Hat Cubs look to start a new winning streak this weekend.

The Cubs had a four-game winning streak to open the season that was snapped with a 2-1 loss Oct. 4 at home to the Coaldale Copperheads. They bounced back with a 4-2 road win Saturday over the Three Hills Thrashers the next night.

Head coach and general manager Randy Wong says they made decisions they wouldn’t normally make that resulted in a lost scoring chance in the defeat. He hopes they learn why they lost and he liked the response the next night.

“It’s disappointing when you lose, early in the season you have to take it in stride that you’ve learned something from it,” Wong said. “You’re not going to win a championship in October. So it’s not the end of the world. But you want the guys to understand why we lost, what we need to do to be better and improve as we go through the season, so it doesn’t happen when it really means more in the playoffs.”

The Cubs remain tied for first place in the HJHL entering the weekend, sharing the same record as the Okotoks Bisons at 5-1. Medicine Hat has scored the third-most goals (27) and surrendered the third fewest number of goals (11) among the 13 HJHL teams.

They’ll look to carry that offence into the weekend facing the Cochrane Generals (4-2 on the road Friday before hosting the Rocky Rams (3-2) on Sunday for a 3 p.m. contest at the Kinplex. Cochrane sits fifth in the Southern division, Rocky is tied for first place in the Northern division.

Wong says both matchups will be exciting, between their rivalry with Cochrane and the scoring prowess both them and the Rams have.

“I expect it to be the same, intense rivalry that we’ve normally had with Cochrane, and the games are relatively close each time we play them,” Wong said. “With Rocky, they’ve got some scoring early on, in league scoring leaders it’s a couple Rocky guys and a couple Cubs guys. So you’d think it should be a good offensive game, but you never know.

“The early stats indicate that those two teams can put the puck in the net, so we’ll have a good battle on our hands there as well. We don’t see the north a lot, so it’s our one and only chance to see Rocky at home here.”

The Rams and Cubs each have two players in the top five of HJHL scoring. Rocky’s Jake Smith leads the way with six goals and 16 points in five games, tied with teammate Cooper Lawrence who has five goals and 13 points in five games.

Medicine Hat’s Nolan Sutherland and Kyle Woolridge are third and fourth in league scoring respectively. Sutherland has four goals and 11 points, Woolridge has tallied six goals and nine points, both playing in six games.