The "Magician" goes from the bad books to Hero with Overtime Winner to keep streak alive

The diminutive and feisty Koby Hale plays centre in a shut-down role for the Peninsula Panthers of the VIJHL.  He also attends the University of Victoria and is having a great first year as he pushes towards an Engineering degree.  Perhaps the pepper pot should have studied to become a "Magician"  because in only a matter of minutes, he demonstrated how it is possible to turn a goat into a hero.  

The Peninsula Panthers have been on a very nice roll as of late putting wins up on the board in their quest to climb the standings and challenge the Kerry Park Islanders and the Westshore Wolves for the second rung on the South Division ladder in VIJHL standings.  And on Saturday night, they took a five-game winning streak into Oceanside to face a very much improved Oceanside Generals squad and one that was looking to knock off the "Cats" from the South.  Alex Olson started between the pipes for the Panthers while the Generals countered with Brandon Ward, two goaltenders who have a proven track record in the league.

The first frame was all Panthers as they outshot the Generals by an 18-11 count and out-chanced the home squad by a wide margin.  However, the Club was unable to capitalize on several scoring chances and the hosts were good on their only opportunity.  At the 13:04 mark, Olson stopped a shot however the rebound squirted out to Philippe Lam who burried the power play tally for the only marker of the 1st frame.

It was Panthers leading the shot parade once again in the middle period and they were rewarded early.  A nice forecheck in the Generals' zone with only 2:24 having been expired paid dividends when gritty and hard-working Ty Hermsen took a puck down low in the corner to the left of Ward ripping a pass to Hale who was cruising in at the side of the net.  Hale directed the puck past Ward to knot the score at 1-1.  But the pressure continued and at the 4:15 mark Grayden Hohl found himself with the puck behind the Generals net.  Hohl quickly wrapped the puck out front and through the wickets of a startled Ward to give the Panthers a well-deserved 2-1 lead.  Kai Turner was in on the goal.  The lead was short-lived.  The "Cats' turned the puck over on the half wall in the Oceanside zone and it allowed the Generals to break out with numbers.  A pretty passing play left sniper Logan Savard 15 feet in front of Alex Olson and he ripped a shot past the unprotected netminder.  Although the teams would share chances over the next 15 minutes, both starters held firm and the two teams skated to the dressing rooms tied at 2-2.

Trevor Owens scored on the power play for the Panthers at the 9:05 mark when Spencer Loverock and Hohl teamed up to get him the puck at the top of the circle just to the right of Ward.  Owens took a stride to the net and let a shot go that seemed to have eyes, surprising everyone in the rink including Ward.  The Generals' goaltender had lost his stick just before Owens took a feed from Loverock and it seemed as though this threw him off just a bit resulting in the go-ahead marker.  And it looked like the Panthers might just walk away on the road with a 3-2 regulation win, but Hale would hit the score sheet once again.  With just a few ticks over seven minutes remaining in the contest, the frisky forward hooked an Oceanside skater in the Generals zone a full 175 feet from Olson and he was sent to the sin bin for his efforts.  The Generals' power play had their marching orders and 27 seconds after Hale had settled into his new surroundings, Generals Brodie Smith took matters into his own hands.  Smith gathered in the puck on the half wall and swung to the middle of the ice in a high arc inside the Panthers zone.  He then blasted a shot past Olson from the mid-slot in the prime scoring area and after the red light flashed indicating the score was once again knotted, Hale was let out of the penalty box for what might have been his longest skate of the night.  When he arrived at the players box there was not a lot of giggles.

Both targets once again made some nice saves and when the horn sounded to end the 60 minutes of regulation, both Clubs had nailed down a point.  For the Peninsula Panthers, the next goal would be huge.  The Kerry Park Islanders had been dismantled in Mill Bay by the Victoria Cougars by a 7-3 count and with the tie in place, the Panthers had pulled into a 3rd place tie with their foes just over the Malahat.  The additional point up for grabs was crucial.

Both teams skated up and down in the 1st overtime and out came the "Magician" for his final act.  Known more for his defensive play, Hale was inside the Panthers zone as two would-be Generals attackers sped towards him.  The puck was bobbled just outside the line and when it squirted over the line to Hale, a Generals' forward had to clear the zone on a delayed offside before they could move in to check Hale.  The Magician chipped the puck past a pinching defenceman and sped down the ice towards Ward on a 2-on-1 opportunity.  Hale moved in on Ward however, on this night there would be no pass and only a shot. It beat Ward cleanly and the Panthers spilled off the bench and greeted the Magician with a celebration fit for a Hero.  Yes, Hale had turned a goat into a Hero and along with the effort he had kept the Panthers winning streak alive, moving it to six games.  Defenceman Ryan Warner had a helper on the play.

Of course the man of the hour was named the game's 1st star with his two goal performance including the winner.  Savard and Ward from Oceanside were awarded the other two stars on the night.  Olson picked up the win and was good on 30 of 33 shots while Ward was the busier of the two but was tagged with the Overtime loss stopping 38 of 42 Panthers shots.

The Panthers will hit the ice on Wednesday when they travel to Westshore to face the Wolves.  They play the Saanich Braves on Friday in Saanich and the Buccaneers on Sunday in Nanaimo before taking a break for the festive season.  The Club is back home against the Kerry Park Islanders on Wednesday, Decmeber 30th. 

The Panthers' brass is hopeful the magician has a few more tricks in his bag before Christmas.   Word had it that he was missing a glove after the win over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings on Friday night.  Can he make it appear??