Hockey Ops. - September 16, 2016

Good Evening Hockey fans on the Peninsula!

Welcome back tonight for a tilt with the South Division rival Kerry Park Islanders.  Lots more on tonight in a minute!

So much news to talk about, so let’s get going.  After five games we have yet to hit the win column, sitting with a single point for an overtime loss in Saanich on opening weekend.  But other than our injury situation, I honestly believe that the bad news stops right there.  OK then, let’s talk about our injury status first.  Seventeen-year-old Marshall Brown broke his leg in our first exhibition game on August 26 and will have his cast removed this coming week.  The swelling is down and the pain is gone and I know he is chomping at the bit to get back going with the Club.  Trevor Owens is a week or two behind Marshall with the same type of injury.  These two guys are top 6 forwards on our Club, Owens is our best forward so obviously that is a big hole in our roster.  Seventeen-year-old Shawn Parkinson hurt his shoulder on opening weekend and has yet to see game action since the injury.  He practiced this week and was backup to Liam Tutte last night in Victoria and will probably be the same tonight.  I would expect Parky will be back next weekend.  Bailey Ross pulled a groin and did not play last night and is out tonight.  Holden Cochrane was banged up opening weekend and practiced once this week.  He skated with the Midget Team last night and is close.  If he is not in tonight, he will certainly be ready to go next Friday. 

The good news starts between the pipes with Tutte.  The 17-year-old youngster is cutting his teeth at the Junior level and as expected, it has not been all smooth-sailing.  At times he has fought the puck but Tutter is getting more comfortable and you can see the results in his game.  He probably would have liked the first goal back last night in Victoria however, but continued to battle and played his best game of the year.  As Coach Tippett said when speaking about the young netminder after the game, “You ask your goalie to give your team a chance to win and he did that tonight.”  Liam is a laid-back young man and I really believe he can be a good one.  He fought some adversity to make the Club and also in the early-going.  I look for him to be solid for sixty minutes or more tonight.

Last night we played a much older and experienced Club in the Cougars and could have just as easily won the game as lost it. We had a questionable goal called back when one of our players was pushed into the net causing it to go off the moorings.  It was called a goal, but when the officials got together for a chat, the call was overturned. Dumb penalties 200 feet from our net cost the game as the Cougars scored twice on the power play.  I expect that this will stop happening.

For the most part we had a lot of heart and battle and are getting better each time out. We had a great week of practice, in fact it was the best couple of practices since I have been involved with the Club.  Our kids are being pushed like they have probably never been pushed before.  I believe we have the finest coach in the VIJHL and these kids are showing it.  Last season we had a very young squad as we always do and it took us until mid-Novemember to start putting up wins.  I have seen it many times before and never panic.  Right now we are ahead of where I thought we would be  When our walking wounded get back and up to speed we are going to be better than fine.  But I think we will start to realize some good results on the scoreboard very soon.  I am actually having more fun with this group and with our coach than I have had for quite a number of years. 

Tonight we face a really good Islanders squad who spanked us last Saturday night in Mill Bay by a 6-1 score.  But the score was not indicative of the play in my mind.  Save for 7 minutes in the 2nd period, the game was anyone’s and we will need to play a full 60 minutes tonight.  Kerry Park is a tough barn to win in.  Last season we lost all four up there and we won all four at home in our eight-game series.  We are hopeful that the trend holds for tonight and we put a “W” up on the board. 

Tonight we start with a FastHockey broadcast, live streaming of the home games online.  We are looking for a play-by-play and camera person, so if you know of someone looking for an opportunity please let me know.

Thank you for your support of the Club.  Fans and Sponsors allow the Panthers to run what I believe is a fine Organization - it’s because of each and every one of you that we can do what we do.  Remain patient and positive, we are close to turning the corner and the giggles will follow!  Enjoy!

Pete Zubersky