New board of directors elected Thursday at the Medicine Hat Cubs' annual general meeting (Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin)

By Scott Roblin

Switching Gears

Cubs reversing course, plan to return to HJHL following board election

Aug 6, 2020 | 10:42 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It appears as though the Medicine Hat Cubs’ 2020-21 season isn’t so dead in the water following a lively and sometimes contentious annual general meeting.

At Thursday night’s meeting for the Junior ‘B’ organization which was attended by roughly 50 people, a brand new board was elected who say they’re committed to putting the Cubs back on the ice.

“We want to have a season, the kids want to be on the ice,” said head scout and new board member Troy Sandau. “So, we’re going to work hard to follow guidelines, first and foremost heath and safety of the players. We just hope to field a team this year.”

Just one board member in Justin Crawford will be returning, while seven new members were elected in a meeting that became fiery at times with discussion surrounding team finances and a return to play.

Cubs general manager Dave Kowalchuk speaking at Thursday’s Medicine Hat Cubs AGM (Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin)

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

15h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

According to Cubs general manager Dave Kowalchuk, he’s met recently with the Heritage Junior Hockey League and have received confirmation from the league that the team could return if proper protocols are followed.

“Right now technically we’re looking at an October 28 start and a 30-game season,” said Kowalchuk. “As a board we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do prior to when we’re going to host our camp.”

Back in June, the Cubs announced that they would be pulling out of the 2020-21 HJHL season due to financial issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and shrinking sponsorship dollars.

That decision was made by the team’s previous board of directors, a move that some new members like Sandau called short-sighted.

“I think it was pre-mature that decision,” said Sandau. “But, that was on the old board. Now with a bunch of new faces, we hope to reverse that and hopefully have a team going this year.”

Much of the debate on Thursday evening centred around the team’s financial situation, as much confusion erupted over the official financial statements.

According to the figures from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020, the Cubs made a profit of $3,092.93 last year.

However, there was some debate about the account balances which showed a decrease of $4,000 in reserves between June 1, 2019 and June 1, 2020.

As a result of the confusion around the franchise’s profits and expenses, an unanimous motion was passed from the members to have an outside organization conduct an audit of the club’s financials.

New board member Dale Roth called the financial statement presented Thursday ‘a joke’ and said their first job will be getting their dollars in a row.

“There needs to be some paperwork, there needs to be some financial accountability,” said Roth. “When the folks in the crowd at an AGM are saying, ‘Well, wait a minute the numbers don’t make sense’ and they legitimately don’t make sense, that’s one of the key things that we have to get on.”

Joining Sandau, Roth and Crawford on the 2020-21 Cubs board are first-time members Glenn Stahl, Donna Schlosser, Jerry Straub, and Lorrie Stadnicki.

A motion was also passed to decrease the size of the board of directors from a maximum of 12 individuals down to eight.

It’s a move that Roth supports saying it will help streamline the decision-making process moving forward.

“Sometimes less is more,” said Roth. “Sometimes too many cooks spoil the dinner or whatever you want to say. But, eight people I think that are passionate about the game that all are defined in their roles, I think they can do an amazing job.”

Departing the Cubs board include president Richard Fritzler as well as team staples like Wayne Peters and Grant Vaughn.

From the eight board members elected on Thursday, a vote will be held at a later date to determine the positions of president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary.

Along with securing the financial certainty of the team, one of the first paths forward following Thursday’s AGM will be the hiring of a new coaching staff.

This summer, the Cubs announced that co-head coaches Steve Leipert and J.D. Gaetan would not be returning to the organization next year.

That’s forced the team to search for a new head coach and two assistants, something that Kowalchuk has been working on for the past number of weeks.

“I’ve reached out to some ex-coaches from the SJHL, AJHL, guys that are sitting without a job right now,” said Kowalchuk. “I know there are some local guys that are interested as well, they haven’t really reached out to me. But, I have had some emails come through, some resumes. So, we’ll start that process after we meet with the board.”

Kowalchuk will be meeting with the HJHL again next week to confirm their plans to return to the ice and will be ironing out details with the newly elected board in the coming days.

As for players, Kowalchuk confirmed second-year players Brandon Hauck and Austin Klimosko, along with their goaltending duo of Dawsen Savage and Logan Leroux have committed to return to the team.

The Cubs could also be getting playmaker Cooper Hilworth back in black and orange if the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers don’t offer the 19-year-old a contract out of camp.