More than a game - an open letter

When the final buzzer sounded at the end of 60 minutes of action at the Panorama Recreation Centre on Monday night, it marked the end of the 2015/16 season for the Peninsula Panthers Hockey Club.  Coreen and I have worked hard at putting our stamp on the Organization over the past many, many years and we are very proud of what we have accomplished and equally as proud of the young men who play and have played on the Panthers this season and in seasons past.

Last Saturday evening, many of the players and staff of the Club were at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney to watch a performance by Theo Fleury and a band that he tours with.  I also had a chance to speak with Ian McKenzie, a 77-year-old gentleman who still has the game of hockey running briskly through his veins.  Ian and I go back a long, long ways.  He was an RCMP Officer in Alberta and was also a long-time scout for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League.  It was at Ian's insistence to then General Manager of the Flames, Cliff Fletcher, that the Flames Organization draft Fleury.  In 1987, he was in fact drafted by Fletcher in the 8th round of the NHL entry draft, 166th overall and he ended up playing 1084 games and racked up 1088 points over his career.  These are amazing stats for a player who is 5'6" and played at 155 lbs. in an era in the game when hockey was an extremely nasty sport.  During the performance on Saturday, Fleury took time out to speak about Ian and made a point of the fact that it was Ian who was responsible for his NHL career even being launched.  I watched Ian and he beamed from ear to ear.

Six years ago, Coreen and I were sitting in the Brentwood Lodge having dinner on the patio outside and I noticed Ian sitting at the bar by himself sipping on a beer.  I explained to Coreen who he was and then walked up and asked Ian if he would like to join us.  He was a very sad man, had just lost his wife of over 50 years.  We had some quiet conversation and a bunch of laughs as we spoke about the game.  There was a man and wife who were at the next table and they joined in later in the evening and were totally engaged in the hockey conversation.  Ian showed them his Stanley Cup ring he received from the Calgary Flames Organization from the 1989 season when the Flames knocked off the Montreal Canadiens in six games.  Looking back at Ian and his frame of mind at that time, I have absolutely no doubt that the game is what kept him alive.  It gave him a reason to get out of bed when he no longer had a life partner with whom to share all his waking moments.

Last Saturday night, I asked Ian to come out to our game on Monday night against the Victoria Cougars.  As it would turn out, it would be our last game of the season.  I asked him to speak with our boys before the game and I knew that it would be an awesome life experience for them to hear what he had to say.  I also felt it would have a huge impact on Ian to be back in the chase once again.  The game started at 7:30 pm but Ian was there by 5:15 pm.  Around 5:45 pm we had the players sit down and I spoke briefly and then turned the floor over to Ian.  He passed along the importance of being in the battle with everything they could muster, both as individuals and as a team.  It was the same message that Theo Fleury had given on Saturday night, it was the same message that our Coach Rob Mortin has given to the boys every single day.  Ian talked about going into the Flames dressing room and addressing the Calgary Flames before Game 6 against the Montreal Canadiens, the game where they would win the Stanley Cup.  He passed his ring around the room but asked that nobody put it on.  That ring was his.  Ian left and the room was quiet.  He had a big impact.  I know that it was a wonderful moment for him and it really is what the game is about.  It's the moments like this that make the game last forever.

We lost the game and nobody was more disappointed than Ian.  Coreen told me after the 2nd period that Ian was in the battle as much as anyone, he was wearing his heart on his sleeve.  I love what he did for the kids.  I love what the kids did for him.

The end of the game marked the end of Junior careers for our four 20-year-old players Spencer Loverock, Drayson Lum, Justin Post and Ty Tremblay.  Tremblay could not be there for the Victoria series due to school commitments in Vancouver.  Loverock, Lum and Post were the three stars but in my mind they were all 1st stars for being part of the Panthers' family and they always will be.  I watched the three of them shed tears on the ice and I watched as their mates supported them in every way.  The game is in their hearts, it is woven into their fabric.  In the dressing room, I announced that our "Top Playoff Performer" was Post but it could have been anyone on the Club.  Our boys had given everything they had this season and I was extremely proud of them.  Mortin then addressed the team and his words started out with, "I am honoured to have been able to coach you all."  Tears filled his eyes.  Hockey is woven into his fabric.

The day before, I spoke to Kai Turner who was suspended and was forced to the sidelines as a spectator on Sunday.  He told me how hard it was to watch, that he wanted to be out there with his mates.  I told Kai that kids do not understand how important the game is to them, how important it has been since they were little kids.  Families give up everything for their sons or daughters to play this sport we all love so much.  I believe that Kai understood however, I think it all was much more clear as he sat in the dressing room and listened to Ian on Monday night.  It was much more clear when he saw tears flow from the eyes of Loverock, Lum and Post and from the eyes of Mortin.

Coreen and I will continue to run the Organization next year in the same way we have since we purchased it during the summer of 1999.  We will look for the best young kids that we can find and we will give them every opportunity to reach their dreams and goals.  We want to win as much as anyone however, with the blueprint that we follow, it sometimes makes Championships tough to find.  But we will compete at or near the top and we will continue to find great satisfaction in seeing young kids excel and move to the next level.  As we exited the ice on Monday night, I put my arm around Cam Thompson, a 17-year-old kid who really came into his own this season.  He will be moving to the BCHL next season, there is no doubt about that, and there will be others.  I had told him in August just at the start of our 4th practice that his skill was awesome and if he cared only about the Peninsula Panthers and played his heart out for this Club, he would move to the BCHL in one year.  I told him it was important for him to bleed Panthers blue for one year and he would move on.  And I asked him to never forget where he came from.  I know he won't.  Hockey is in his fabric.  It is in Coreen's and mine as well.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the management and staff at Panorama Recreation Centre who have been more supportive this year than we ever could have imagined.  We have thoroughly enjoyed a close working relationship, and we look forward to much of the same in the upcoming seasons.

I also want to thank every single fan and every single sponsor for being so supportive of our program out here on the Peninsula.  It's very expensive to run a Junior hockey program, and especially at the level which we choose to in order to cultivate an environment for growth where our young players can strive to reach their goals.  There is no doubt we could never accomplish any of this if it were not for the loyal and generous support of our sponsors ~ a heartfelt thank you to you all!

Sincerely,

Pete Zubersky, Governor
Peninsula Panthers Junior Hockey Club