Panthers Oh so close after week full of transactions

After a couple of player moves and a coaching change the Peninsula Panthers made ready for the Kerry Park Islanders on Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre.  Jordan Law had been moved to the Westshore Wolves on Sunday night for 18-year-old Defenceman Brett Carpendale and this transaction was followed up with another when on Tuesday afternoon forward Connor Logan was dealt to the Campbell River Storm for future considerations.  And the waters were not yet calm.  On Thursday morning Head Coach Grant Sjerven's 9-game tenure with the Club came to a close after a quiet one-on-one meeting with Owner Pete Zubersky.  Zubersky jumped on the bench for the game and joined Assistant Coach Rob Mortin in handling the squad.

The situation was not a glowing one for the Panthers as they headed into the game.  Veteran Defencemen Kyle Richardson and Spencer Loverock remain out with upper body injuries.  Talented 17-year-old rookie forward Trevor Owens is still on the shelf with an upper body injury although Loverock and Owens are much closer to playing than Richardson, possibly next Friday.  And recently acquired Tom Dakers who has played solid minutes on the back end, was fighting a high fever earlier on Friday and was also scratched from the contest.

19-year-old Jacob Krupp was making his 4th start in a row however, the last two have not been vintage for the stopper.  Krupp was solid last Friday night in a 3-1 loss to the Victoria Cougars however made an early exit in games in Oceanside on Sunday and Westshore on Wednesday evening.

Everything looked the same to the untrained eye.  The Panthers and Islanders took the traditional 15-minute warmup and then the Zambone came out to grease the ice in preparation for the first 20 minutes of hockey.  Young Clayton Butler belted out the National Anthem as he does every Friday and face-off at Centre Ice followed.

But when the puck dropped there was some urgency in the Panthers game and there was urgency for the entire 60 minutes of play.  The scoreboard did not treat the Club well as they were on the wrong end of a 2-1 count but there were a lot of positives to take from the hard-fought affair.

The Islanders opened the scoring at the 13:46 mark of the 1st frame when Cameron Nickerson solved Krupp.  It would prove to be the only tally in the period, one that saw the Panthers outshoot the Islanders 8-7.  But in the 2nd stanza the Panthers appeared to have more jump and it was veteran Brett Sjerven who opened the scoring on the powerplay at the 2:35 mark when he whipped a snapshot past a startled Leighton Williams who was between the pipes for the visitors.  The good-sized crowd barely sat back down when Kyle Green gave the Islanders the lead only 33 seconds later and that marker would prove to ultimately be the winner.  The Panthers outshot the Islanders 12-7 in the 2nd and 16-7 in the 3rd but the snake-bitten group were turned aside from the win column once again.  The Panthers outshot the Islanders 36-21 on the evening.  Sjerven, Islanders Ryan Hogg and Krupp were named the game's three stars but Islanders' netminder Williams just as easily could have been named a star as well in a stellar performance.

"We had some jump out there tonight and I thought that every kid worked hard and contributed," said Assistant Coach Rob Mortin.  "I thought our D was really solid but the forwards made it easier as they hustled back all night.  We talked about breaking out when the puck comes to the wing and we did that as effectively as we have all season long," he added.

Behind the bench for the Panthers was Zubersky after Sjerven's term with the Club came to a close after their meeting.  Together they decided that the Club would be moving in a different direction.

"Grant just felt that a change really needed to be made and let me know that he was stepping down as the Head Coach of the Club, " said Zubersky.  "There was not a lot of time to figure things out and so I jumped in to help out under the circumstances.  This is a tough situation for all of us.  I know that Grant did not want things to go this way and I am exactly of the same mind.  We had a great discussion, talked about what could have been better and some of the bright spots that we saw under his guidance.  He is a real gentleman and as honest as they come and it bothers me a lot that this did not work out.  Grant was new at the Head Coaching position and the players were not his players, his selections.  It was a tough situation all around.  He wants to coach down the road and I am sure that after he is away from the game for just a bit something positive will come around for him.  At the end of our meeting we shook hands and he thanked me for the opportunity he was given.  He is a class act and our entire Organization wish the best for him and thank him for his time in the trenches with us.," said Zubersky.

The Peninsula Panthers hit the road Saturday night in Kerry Park to complete the home-and-home weekend and will then be back at home next Friday night when they host the North Division Nanaimo Buccaneers.  The puck will drop at the Panorama Recreation Centre at 7:30 pm.