Photo courtesy of Medicine Hat Cubs

By Scott Roblin

Stepping Away

Cubs to take leave of absence for 2020-21 HJHL season

Jun 26, 2020 | 8:00 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Junior ‘B’ hockey will not be played in Medicine Hat this fall following a major announcement from the Medicine Hat Cubs on Friday.

The Cubs revealed that they have opted not to play in the Heritage Junior Hockey League for the 2020-21 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as shrinking sponsorship revenues.

According to the organization, the board of directors made the final decision to take the 2020-21 season off.

“The board went back and forth for hours on end until we can do a decision,” said board member Bret Jenkins. “It was still a close vote, it was pretty well a split vote as far as the board members go. A lot of people still wanted to see hockey, we all did, but it just didn’t make financial sense to continue unfortunately.”

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Medicine Hat was coming off one of its most successful seasons in recent history before the pandemic hit, posting a 25-11-2 regular season record and reaching Game 7 of the Southern Division semi-finals for the second consecutive season.

The Cubs also hosted the 2020 HJHL All-Star and Top Prospects Games back in January and were poised to host Alberta Junior ‘B’ Provincials in April before the virus shut their season down.

“It was actually going to be a pretty good year for us,” said Jenkins. “With the provincials coming here, we were banking on a lot of profit and revenue coming in from that as far as sponsorship. With that falling to the wayside with COVID, that was a big impact and that was one of the deciding factors.”

Medicine Hat remains in the hunt for a coaching staff when they return to the league, as the team parted ways with co-head coaches Steve Leipert and J.D. Gaetan this past spring.

Three players in Noah Irvine, Joshua Schafer, and Spencer Chapman were eligible to return for their final seasons in a Cubs uniform.

Players will be allowed to join other clubs next season with the goal of most of those players returning to the Cubs fold the following year.

“They’ve been told that they can go look if there’s an opening someplace else,” said board president Richard Fritzler.

In their press release, the Cubs say they’re committed to returning to the ice for the 2021-22 HJHL season.