6:00 pm Exhibition tilt with Westshore Wolves set for Friday night

The Peninsula Panthers and the Westshore Wolves will play a pair of exhibition games this coming weekend and the "Cats" from the Peninsula are looking forward to the challenge.  The Exhibition season will kick off on Friday evening at the Panorama Recreation Centre with the puck set to drop at 6:00 pm.  And the two Clubs will be right back at it on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm when the Panthers will travel to the Westshore for the back end of the home-and-home series.

"We have been on the ice going up against each other for a little bit now and so I know the kids are looking forward to sharing the same jerseys for the weekend," explained General Manager Pete Zubersky.

"We will have six kids in Junior A and Major Junior Camps and I would think that a number of them will be filtering back and will be in the lineup on Friday night.  At this point we plan to ice most of our returning and recently-signed players on Friday at home and then on Sunday will ice a roster filled with some hopefuls who are trying to crack the lineup as well as the signed kids who are coming out of Midget.  I would think that some of the returning players will go on Sunday as well, we will see where it all shakes out on Sunday."

The Panthers have 7 defencemen and 13 forwards at this point however, the roster may change just a bit.  "I have had some discussions with other Clubs in the League and am looking at a couple different options out there," said Zubersky.  "And with our kids in Junior A camps there may be some spots open up.  I like some of the kids in our camp and think they could help out if something happens to our roster, the next week will tell me a lot.  We can sign up to 25 players but I hate to see kids sitting on the sidelines and very seldom go to the maximum.  That being said, there is a lot of water to go under the bridge at this point."

In goal, the Panthers may have lost returning 20-year-old Alex Olson who has decided that he wants to take a shot at a Junior A League in the USA.  "It's an outlaw League and it is a one-way ticket for the most part," explained the General Manager.  "Some kids manage to get back into BC Hockey but it is a grind and there are a lot of hoops to jump through.  But Alex is 20 and in his final year of Junior so I suppose there is really no downside.  In goal, Shawn Parkinson is in the Victoria Grizzlies camp and we also have our eye on another target currently in a BCHL camp.  We have three tenders in our camp and although all three look good, there might only be room for one of them.  They have a chance to play Junior this season and I want them to keep kicking until the end."

Zubersky was also impressed with some of the young Peninsula Minor Hockey kids who will be seeing action this weekend.  "Three 15-year-olds have really turned my head.  Jonah Ragsdale, Riley Braun and Logan Speirs have all played beyond their years and the three of them are getting better each time out.  Ragsdale and Speirs are heading to Edmonton for a WHL rookie camp and Braun will see action this weekend with us.  We are only allowed to take two 16-year-olds and so we will be following the three of them closely this season.  Evan King is a 16-year-old that I want to see a whole lot more of.  The young fellow is a big horse out there and I would love to see him play his size this season in Midget, he could be an impact player there.  I asked him in April at our Spring camp to put away the video games and to get into the gym as he has such a high ceiling and I am sure he will be playing some games with us as an affiliate. Josh Lingard is another 16-year-old very coachable kid who has a big, big upside.  I want to affiliate him as well and expect he will have a great year in Midget.  He is getting more and more competitive each time out.  I expect that Devin Fraser will crack the Major Midget lineup on the back end, good kid with a lot of upside."

"Two players I will be watching closely this weekend will be Jarrod Lucoe and Wyatt Cairns.  Jarrod has speed and skill and when he uses it, he is a player that is fun to watch.  And Wyatt is bang and crash and for him to play at this level he has to bring that to the rink every game.  It will be fun to see them compete."

The Panthers will practice after the weekend with their final team and will open up at home on Friday, September 2nd when they host the visiting Saanich Braves.