Randy Wong coaching with the Medicine Hat U18 AA Hounds (Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin)

By Scott Roblin

Wong Hired

Cubs add longtime AA Hounds bench boss Wong as head coach & GM

Aug 28, 2020 | 12:38 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Randy Wong will be returning to the local junior hockey scene, hired on Friday as the new head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Cubs.

Wong will replace the outgoing Dave Kowalchuk in the GM role, who was relieved of his duties earlier this month.

On the coaching side, Wong will move into the head coaching role that Steve Leipert and J.D. Gaetan shared last season before the pair were released from the organization.

For Wong, who is originally from Redcliff, it’s a full circle moment growing up watching the Cubs.

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“I said to some buddies years and years ago that I would be a part of the Cubs program somewhere, somehow,” said Wong. “I never got to play in it, I was playing junior elsewhere. So, it’s funny how it all evolved now where as a coach I can come and help the program.”

Wong will be back coaching junior hockey in southern Alberta for the first time in almost two decades, as he has spent the last several years with the Medicine Hat U18 AA Hounds program.

Many of the players whom Wong led to a provincial championship in 2019 were rookies with the Cubs this past season, players whom the 53-year-old will get to coach once again.

“It’s been a while for me for junior hockey, but certainly happy to be back,” said Wong. “I thought it would be a good year to probably transition myself. Knowing that we’ve worked with a lot of the players in the past, I think the timing was kind of right for us.”

Wong spent four seasons as assistant coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers between 1997 and 2001, briefly serving as head coach for 22 games in the 2000-01 WHL season.

He then went on to coach the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits for a single season in 2001-02 before joining the executive of the Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association.

It was during those years with the Tigers and Bandits that Wong discovered a passion on the managerial side of the rink, something that he’s excited to pick up with the Cubs organization.

“I was always up in that owner’s and coaches room just listening,” said Wong. “I really like that GM side of things, the recruiting. [Cubs President] Troy Sandau and I will kind of spearhead that and make sure that we’ve got the players involved.”

This hiring follows seismic changes in the Cubs over the past month, beginning with voting in an entirely new board of directors at their annual general meeting.

Sandau was elected president and the board decided to play in the Heritage Junior Hockey League this fall, reversing course on the previous board’s decision.

Then came news of the Cubs and Kowalchuk parting ways to combine the head coaching and general manager roles into one, followed by Friday’s news of Wong’s hiring.

“Junior ‘B’ has changed over the years,” said Wong. “So, I’m quite excited to offer my experience to the guys and try to bring home another championship to the Junior ‘B’ Cubs.”

The Cubs will hold their rookie camp at the Rec-Tangle Arena in Redcliff on September 12, while their expected opening night of the 2020-21 HJHL season is tentatively scheduled for October 28.

More to come…