Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

Feisty Affair

Cubs home opener dominated by brawls, ejections, penalties

Oct 7, 2019 | 11:23 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It was clear on Sunday that neither the Medicine Hat Cubs nor the Coaldale Copperheads had forgotten how fierce their Highway 3 rivalry can be.

Penalties on top of penalties highlighted Coaldale’s 5-1 victory at the Kinplex, resulting in a combined 110 penalty minutes being doled out.

Three ejections and six misconduct penalties were given by officials in the first regular season meeting since last year’s seven-game playoff series.

Tempers boiled over near the end of the second period after Medicine Hat’s Tavin Straub was booted from the game after delivering an illegal cross check. Leaving the ice, the Cubs enforcer was confronted by Copperheads goaltender Broc Merkl and both teams came close to a full-out line brawl with a dog pile of fists ensuing.

Straub, Merkl, and Cubs captain Tavin Stadnicki were all ejected from the game in what served as the catalyst for a game full of infractions and trips to the penalty box.

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“Against Coaldale it’s always those types of games,” said Cubs co-head coach J.D. Gaetan. “We’re the Highway 3 rival, we don’t like each other. You’re always going to get that kind of game between our teams, we just have to stay out of it.”

All the penalties ended up costing Medicine Hat in the end, as the Copperheads were able to net two power play goals in the victory.

“Besides that first goal, I thought we were in control for the most part,” said Gaetan. “We were outshooting them and as soon as the melee hits, we kind of stepped back a little bit.”

Medicine Hat’s home opener got off to a poor start for the Cubs, as it took just five seconds for Isaac Benoit to open the scoring on Coaldale’s first shot of the afternoon.

The Cubs were able to keep it to a one-score game well into the second period, however Coaldale was able to pot their second of the game with less than seven minutes remaining from Mason Sande.

Following the brawl involving Straub and Merkl, the Copperheads were able to make it a 3-0 on the ensuing power play with a Brandyn Howg marker.

Cubs defender Fletcher Aleman was able to halt the bleeding two minutes into the third period with his second goal of the campaign off a dish from overager Mason Fischer.

“I was down in the offensive zone,” said Aleman. “Mason Fischer came up the boards and chipped it down to me. I just shot it and it went off his glove and in.”

Through four games Aleman is the highest scoring defenceman on the Cubs roster with four points, seeing an increased role as a leader on the team.

Gaetan said he’s not surprised to see the 19-year-old Aleman leading by example in his second year with the club.

“He’s not wearing a letter this year, but he’s definitely someone who we rely on in our leadership group,” he said. “He put up some points for us last year and definitely expect that again from him this year. He’s stepping up and playing well so far this season.”

Any momentum from Aleman’s goal was quickly halted by the Copperheads however, as Howg potted his second of the game just 36 seconds later.

Down to just a handful of players left on the bench midway through the third, the Cubs allowed a second goal on the penalty kill from Jayden Bexte to put the final nail in the coffin.

Gaetan added it was a tough game to coach with two of his players receiving ejections and even more making routine trips to the sin bin.

“It’s tough, it messes your lines up,” said Gaetan. “We were down to four defencemen in the third there, so it throws everything off. It’s just now a game that we have to put behind us, have a good week of practice, and come back fresh next weekend.”

Despite being booted from the game after just 35 minutes of action, Merkl was credited with the win after stopping all 19 shots he faced. Brandon Clark in relief of Merkl stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced over the final 25 minutes of action.

As for Cubs starter Brett Vanderveer, he allowed five goals on 27 shots to see his record on the season dip to 0-2-0.

The loss put a bit of a damper on Medicine Hat’s home opener, which had previously been delayed twice due to weather and extended renovations at the Kinplex.

Aleman said it’s nice to be back home with the major upgrades to the Kinplex ice, boards, and dressing rooms.

“Last week was our first couple practices here and I like it a lot better,” he said. “I think it’s one of the nicest looking rinks in the league, I love it.”

Seeing a two-game win streak snapped, the 2-2 Cubs have slipped into fourth place in the HJHL Southern Division with four points.

Medicine Hat will have to wait until December 14 before their next meeting with the Copperheads, however players like Aleman are already imagining what another series with Coaldale could look like.

“I hope we play them again in the south final,” said Aleman. “It would be a good series as it was last year. Coaldale has a good team as well, but I think we’re better.”

The Cubs head to Cochrane on Saturday looking to get back in the win column against the Generals, before returning to the Kinplex on Sunday at 2:15 pm to face the upstart Rocky Rams.