Panthers season comes to a sudden end

20-year-olds Cody Allison and Kyle Richardson have played their last game in Junior Hockey after the Peninsula Panthers were bounced from the playoffs at the hands of the Oceanside Generals in VIJHL Wild Card Game action Monday evening at the Panorama Recreation Centre.  Allison, Richardson and their mates ran roughshod all night long on the Generals and in the end the shots total was Panthers 58 Generals 23.  But in the end, the only statistic that mattered was the scoreboard and the Generals were on the right side of a 5-2 count to put the nail in the Panthers' coffin.

Perhaps the night was foreshadowed early when with only 20 seconds gone in the 1st frame, Braedan Pearce found himself all alone in front of Generals' netminder David Anderson.  But Pearce found nothing but the chest of Anderson and the game continued on.  The Generals scored twice in the period on markers by Travis Flug and Keagan Fedorko however, with only 6 ticks remaining in the period, Sean Buchanan finished off a nice passing play from Kai Turner and Pearce to bring the score to 2-1.


Before the start of the 2nd period, VIJHL President Myles Parsons handed out League Community Awards to  Oceanside Generals' Sebastian Powsey and Peninsula Panthers' Kyle Richardson before the Grant Peart Award for the Most Disciplined Team was given out to the Peninsula Panthers.  And then it was back to business.  With only three minutes gone in the stanza, Logan Savard picked up the puck to the right of Panthers' goaltender Alex Olson and he beat him with a wrist shot to make the score 3-1.  But the Panthers were not done.  At the 8:32 mark, Spencer Loverock skated around everyone and then the net and his centering pass bounced off Anderson and into the net to once again bring the Panthers within one.  The lead was short-lived.  Chase Gaudreault beat Olson from the same spot that Savard had hit paydirt and once again the Generals held a two-goal lead right into the intermission.

The Panthers pressured and pressured and pressured some more in the final stanza but Anderson would not crack.  And with Olson on the bench for the extra attacker, Flug broke away and softed a puck into the wide open cage with only 19 seconds remaining to take away any last ditch effort that might have been in the Cats from the Peninsula.

The final shots tally showed the Panthers with 58 trys on Anderson while Olson blocked 18 of 22 shots sent his way.

Although Anderson was clearly the star of the game, a nice touch at the end of the contest had only two stars selected, 20-year-olds Cody Allison and Kyle Richardson.

With the win, the Oceanside Generals moved past the Panthers and will now face the Campbell River Storm in a best-of-7 series that will open on Wednesday night up Island.  And for the young Panthers squad, the group will have an informal last skate on Sunday morning and it will then be time to hit the Gym and be prepared for a great season come September.

But for Allison and Richardson, thoughts of Junior Hockey in the future will be no more, but both have a lifetime of memories as members of the Peninsula Panthers for the past several years.

The Peninsula Panthers Organization wish to take the opportunity to thank the Fans and Sponsors who helped make the season a very enjoyable one.  The Panthers also wish to congratulate the Oceanside Generals and wish them the best of luck for the remaining VIJHL playoffs.