Hockey Ops. - November 4, 2016

Good Evening Hockey fans on the Peninsula!

Welcome back tonight into the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre where tonight we will face off against the visiting Saanich Braves.  The Braves come into the game tonight leading in the VIJHL South Division standings while we currently sit in the basement.  The two Clubs - as Coach Brad Tippett explains - are in very different life cycles. The Braves are trying to beef up their roster and take a run for all the marbles this season and as such, are currently carrying eight players in their final year of Junior and an additional five 19-year-olds.  They boast the VIJHL leading scorer in Nick Guerra and also former WHL’er Brandon Fushimi, both 20 years of age.  We have a wealth of youth and are probably two years younger than the Braves.  On paper tonight is a bit of a mismatch however, we like our chances but it will not be an easy go this evening.

Last Saturday night, we travelled to Comox to face the Glacier Kings and came out on the wrong end of a 3-1 score.  Liam Tutte started in goal and played well in the first period but misplayed a puck late in the stanza to give Comox a one-goal cushion going into the first intermission.  The Glacier Kings scored again on an innocent looking play however, we scored to again make it a one-goal game going into the final twenty minutes.  The kids continued to battle and midway through the period, we pounced on a loose puck in the crease and banged it in to knot the game at 2-2.  But as our luck has been running, the stripes waved it off and told us he lost sight of the puck and was somewhat in the wrong position.  Doh!  We fought some more and with three minutes left, Michael Sproule drove to the net and ripped a shot that cleanly beat the Glacier Kings goaltender to again knot the game at 2-2.  This time the stripes waved it off and instead called a Glacier Kings player for interference and our guy for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Doh!  We tried to push once again to get the tying marker however, turned the puck over in our end with only seconds left and the Glacier Kings scored the insurance marker.  Tutte played a solid game between the pipes and gave us a chance to win and our kids played hard all night long and deserved the win when all was said and done.  It has been a grind this season, I can’t remember any season where we should have won games and continue to be bit by a snake.  And last Saturday night in Comox was clearly one of those games.

Last night we headed down to the Archie Browning to take on the Cougars and the middle frame cost us the game in a 7-2 loss.  The Cougars were ahead 2-1 after 20 minutes with Tutte once again getting the start between the pipes.  He was solid in the period but in the middle stanza took a blistering shot off the front of his mask and the Cougars batted in the rebound.  Something seemed not quite right with the young goaltender after that.  He looked a bit shakey on the next couple of plays and we decided to pull him out.  Tutte got to the bench and explained that he was dizzy after getting hit with the shot and in the dressing room showed some signs of a mild concussion.  And the injury parade did not stop there.  Sproule was dashing to the Cougars net when he was hit high in the facial area and subsequently went down in a heap.  The offending Cougar was ejected from the game however, Sproule would not return.  We will probably know a bit more about the status of both of the players today.

Trevor Owens has been skating with the Club and is very close to coming back into the lineup.  I would think that next weekend will be when he jumps back in but I know that he wants to play tonight, and so we will have him warm up and make a game-time decision on him.  Josh Lingard is a 16-year-old kid who played for us last night in Victoria and if Owens is not good to go, Lingard will most likely jump into the lineup again tonight.  Josh is currently playing for the Peninsula Midget AA team and he is a good one.  Josh practiced with the Club all summer long and has been out with us during practice last Monday night and I know he feels comfortable with the group.  If he was just five days younger, he would be considered a year younger making him a 15-year-old.  If he is in the lineup tonight, keep an eye on him.  He will be wearing #21 and I would think he should be wearing the Panthers’ colours next season.

We are starting to see some of the younger kids getting better in the league and battling with the older players.  I believe that Coach Tippett will be juggling the lines a bit tonight and we will probably see two of the lines with the oldest player being 17.  Last night a couple of Peninsula Midget kids from last season had their best period of the year in the third frame.  Zack Evans and Bailey Ross played ten minutes in the final period and looked confident and strong.  We actually love the group of kids that we have.  We are young and our record stinks but we continue to battle and it is fun watching them develop.  We are well-positioned for the next three years and I believe this year will have a lot of highlights as well. 

We head up to Lake Cowichan tomorrow night and will practice Saturday night and Sunday morning before coming back home.  The weekend is a team builder and there should be a lot of laughs over the two days.

Thanks for coming out tonight, Let’s get a “W”. 
Pete Zubersky