Hockey Ops. - September 30, 2016

Good Evening Hockey fans on the Peninsula!

Welcome back tonight as we get all set to face the visiting Victoria Cougars in VIJHL Friday evening action.  The Cougars are in 2nd place in the South Division but have played several games less than most and so they will be looking to add to their point total tonight.  We are still trying to find our way and sit in 5th, but a few wins would change things dramatically.

Let’s take a look at tonight’s lineup.  Shawn Parkinson will most likely go between the pipes tonight however, Liam Tutte showed us something on Wednesday night and it was great to see.  We were playing in Saanich and with just over 12 minutes left, went down 4-1.  Liam has had a tendency to let in early goals in his starts and when he has gone in to mop up, but it was not the case this time.  There was one shot that went off his chest that he probably would have liked back but the rebound was kicked in and so no goal was awarded.  Other than that he was perfect and that certainly turned our heads and gives us some confidence.  He is going to play a big part in the team this season and will probably get a start soon, perhaps as early as next weekend. 

On the back end, Rookies Shota Yamamoto and Thomas Spink have been our best pairing as of late.  Shota will not turn 16 for several more weeks while Thomas is a 17-year-old.  These two kids are not trying to do too much, are wanting to learn and are getting better each time out.  Eighteen-year-old Zack Evans is getting better as well and I know that Coach Brad Tippett is really pleased with the three rookies’ development.  Chase O’Keefe is looking more comfortable after being obtained in a trade from the Wolves and we are looking for more from a couple veteran defenceman in Mitch Moloney and Garnett Roberts.  These two can be right at the top of the VIJHL in defencemen and our Club needs them to lead on the ice and to suck up some significant minutes.  We will be looking for that this evening. 

Three forwards are out tonight including Marshall Brown, Trevor Owens and Holden Cochrane and we certainly do miss the scoring punch!  We are a much, much different lineup when we are entirely healthy and with Marshall breaking his leg on August 26th in an exhibition game and Trevor breaking the same bone just 8 days later, we were in a big hole right out of the chute.  The young kids playing up front have played way more minutes due to these injuries and they have progressed further and faster than expected.  Brown is now out of his cast and on Monday night at practice, went up and rode a stationary bike for 30 minutes and then went into the pool for another 30 minutes.  I spoke to him on Wednesday in Saanich asking how he felt the next day and he surprisingly felt no pain.  His ankle does not have full range of motion but I believe it will come around really quickly now.  We might see him back on the ice in the next ten days and back in the lineup shortly after that.  Owens is still in his cast and although his injury was about a week after Brown’s, we are not sure of his timeline.  I think it is pretty safe to say he will probably be back in 3-5 weeks from tonight.  Cochrane has had some bad luck in his initial season in Junior.  The 17-year-old was banged up in Saanich on opening weekend and then hurt his ankle and is working on getting back into the lineup.  I would think he will skate next week and we will go from there.

Last season, we turned it up right around the middle of November and then raced down the stretch to have a pretty remarkable season.  I see much of the same happening this time around although I do believe that we have a better roster than we did last season.  We are looking for leadership and Coach Tippett is getting closer to identifying the leaders on the Club.  Koby Hale, Josh Poland & Owens currently wear letters for the Club however, tonight Michael Sproule was added to that list.  He will be wearing an “A” tonight as an Asst. Captain and really is deserving of such.  Sproulie has been as good as anyone on the Club and is getting more disciplined in his game with each passing day.  Congrats!

Off the ice, Coreen has sent our program to the printer this week and I would expect that the turnaround will be two weeks from today.  We are really hopeful that it arrives by our October 14th game but if not, it will certainly be here by the 21st.  Coreen takes a lot of pride in putting out a good product, one that highlights each player, staff and every single sponsor of the Club and I am sure you will enjoy reading it in a couple of weeks.

Thank you all for coming out tonight.  Be patient right now, we are young and learning and better results are on the way!  Enjoy your evening!

Pete Zubersky