North Saanich is 2015 Kraft Hockeyville

The Peninsula Panthers were bounced around in a couple of weekend games and get ready for a busy three game week up next.  But for the moment it was time to reflect on the Kraft Hockeyville winning bid and the week that was.

On the first Saturday back in April Gary Bettman stood up before all of Canada and on Sportsnet announced that North Saanich had outvoted every other competitor and thus captured the title of Kraft Hockeyville 2015.  It was an exciting time on the Peninsula but little did anyone know about the heavy workload that would follow.  The North Saanich bid which was penned by Jason Fletcher earned the Panorama Recreation Centre a 100k boost for arena improvements and it also provided the bid to host an NHL pre-season game between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks.  And this past Monday in front of a packed Q Centre the two NHL squads were front and centre skating up and down the ice with the only marker coming in Overtime from Greater Victoria boy Adam Cracknell.  Cracknell had just been inked by the Canucks as a free agent over the summer and he picked a fine time to light the lamp in his first contest with his new Club.

Although the game was exciting, it was the local flavor surrounding the game that had everyone in attendance smiling.  Jason Fletcher accepted the Kraft Hockeyville Trophy on behalf of the Local Organizing Committeeat Centre Ice from Bettman prior to the game and this was followed by longtime Peninsula Minor Hockey and Peninsula Panthers volunteer Larry Orr heading out with his son for the customary puck drop.  (An excellent article penned by NHL.com writer Kevin Woodley on Orr has recently been added to this site)  Panthers singer and PMHA player Clayton Butler followed up by belting out the Canadian National Anthem.  Cst. Kent Nelson from the Sidney RCMP and Sgt. Greg Nelson from the Central Saanich Police Service acted as the Color Guard.  Panthers security Dennis Varga and Peter Besteman were assisting a group of men and women doing security for the game.  Penalty box attendants were Mark Frampton and Gareth Turner, two gentlemen who have been longtime volunteers for both the PMHA and the Panthers.  Two PMHA players Cameron Sneek and Malcolm Fletcher were the stickboys for the two teams and Panthers equipment manager helped out both the Canucks and Sharks in this area.  And ten PMHA players cleaned the ice acting as a shovel crew when NHL TV timeouts took place throughout the game which was televised across Canada on Sportsnet.

"It was a lot of work by quite a number of people on the Organizing Committee," explained Pete Zubersky.  "We had many, many meetings with the NHL, NHLPA and Kraft but it was all worth it. I wish that everyone could have come out to the game but that was obviously impossible.  I want to tip my hat to other committe members Jason Fletcher, Wayne Ruffle, Lorainne Brewster, Melanie Alsdorf and Lisa Sneek.  We were able to develop new relationships and for me that was one of the highlights."

The North Saanich bid will lay claim to the Hockeyville title until next April when a new champion from somewhere in Canada will be named.

The Panthers will travel to the Q Centre next Wednesday to take on the Westshore Wolves and will be back at home on Friday night when they host the visiting Comox Valley Glacier Kings.  The puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm right after Clayton Butler belts out the Anthem once again.