Medicine Hat Cubs conclude season with awards banquet

Sportsmanship – Connor Chapman
Most Dedicated – Cole Fisher and Jacob Hazzard
Outstanding Scholastic Achievement – Hayden King
Most Improved – Lucas Dulle
MVP, Most Goals, and Leading Scorer – Kyle Woolridge
Top Defensive Forward – Tash Armstrong
Best Defenceman – Austin Derzaph
Unsung Hero – Nolen Sutherland
Rookie of the Year – Josiah Jackson
Playoff MVP – Makai Carriere and Jacob Hazzard

Woolridge was also acknowledged for winning the HJHL MVP and Top Goal Scorer Awards, as was Marlo DeRosa, who took home the HJHL Top Goaltender Award. Both were announced as winners by the league in February and given the awards during the playoffs.

The banquet also served as a farewell for the four 21-year-old players on the Cubs roster who have aged out of junior hockey. Each received their own framed jersey that they wore during part of the season. That included captain Kyle Woolridge, alternate captains Austin Derzaph and Keynan Cairns, and Ethan Burgeson.

Woolridge concludes his four-season Cubs career as one of the top offensive players in team history. His 134 regular-season goals in 147 games are a modern-day team record, and his 222 regular-season points trailed only Kyle Funk for the modern-day points lead.

During a speech at the banquet, he said that the team, the organization, and the city have been something truly amazing.

Derzaph, a smooth-skating puck-moving defenceman, played his final two seasons of junior hockey with the Cubs after playing two seasons with the Red Lake Miners of the Superior International Junior Hockey League. He wrapped up his junior career with a league championship in his father, Trent’s, first season as head coach of the Cubs.

Cairns, a physical defenceman who could chip in with offence, wrapped up his four seasons with 469 regular-season penalty minutes to sit fourth on the modern-day Cubs list.

Burgeson, who joined the Cubs in January from the High River Flyers, provided additional offensive punch to the Cubs’ top line alongside Woolridge and Mason Osinski through the end of the season, playoffs and provincials. A season for Burgeson that could have ended with the regular season saw him play meaningful hockey with the Cubs and help them win a championship instead.

The team was also sizing up the players’ fingers at the banquet, as each will receive a championship ring to commemorate the HJHL title.

by Jesse Gill

Medicine Hat Cubs conclude season with awards banquet

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