2016/17 Season - An Open Letter

To Peninsula Panthers players, families, volunteers, fans, friends and sponsors:

We won our final regular season game at home on a cool Friday evening in mid-February but it was not just another game.  Our best crowd in attendance filed into the Panorama Recreation Centre and as we wore a special 3rd jersey for the contest against the Westshore Wolves, we looked at the game as an opportunity to gain some momentum for the Wild Card Game up in Oceanside two nights later.  And we got just what we were hoping for.  The kids played awesome and although we trailed 2-0 in the final period, we tied it up and then won late in the 1st Overtime stanza.  It felt great.  The rink was rocking, there were enough smiles to fill every single Thrifty's bag for the entire year.

The following night we held our awards dinner and once again the night could not have been more positive.  People often ask why the Panthers' awards dinner is held right after the regular season ends rather than after the playoffs and for me, it is an easy answer.  I have been involved in Junior Hockey in both the BCHL and VIJHL since 1999.  Each year only one team can win the final game that is played and no matter when a team is forced to the sidelines, there is always disappointment.  At the end of the season and before the playoffs begin, optimisim is running rampant and this feeling usually makes for a wonderful evening when handing out awards.

We took the Sunday off and then it was off to Oceanside for the Sudden-Death game on Monday night.  And once again, what a game!  We knocked off the Generals 3-1 and moved on to face the powerful Campbell River Storm in the best-of-7 series.  I knew that this was an important step for our young group, a chance to compete with what I consider to be the best Club in the VIJHL.  We were swept in straight games, the last being a 10-6 loss in Campbell River last night.  I thought that our kids played hard and felt we might have had a better result in a couple of the games if the puck had bounced just a bit differently.  Game 2 got a little bit stupid but for the most part, both teams competed hard and the series ended on a classy note in Game 4.  There were no shenanigans by either team.  Head Coach Brad Tippett stressed to our players during the 2nd intermission about the importance of playing the game correctly.  The Storm had a commanding lead and the game and series were no longer in doubt.  The Storm deserved the right to advance to the next series without extra injuries from our Club.  I see it happen all the time in Junior Hockey and we have always chosen to avoid the shenanigans.  I think it is a sign of character when the chips are down and when a win is out of reach, to go down with your heads up and we did just that.  We outplayed and outscored the Storm in the final 20 minutes of the series and battled to the end, just the way it should be.  With this group I honestly would not expect anything else.

We had two players on the roster who would be involved in their final playoff series in Junior.  20's Kai Turner and Duncan Cochrane saw the sand in their Junior hour glass run out.  Kai was tossed in the previous game for a hard check on the wall between the boxes.  It was in the last ten minutes of the game and so was sent to the sin bin for Game 4.  Duncan was the only twenty-year-old in the lineup and he played hard.  Late in the 1st period as we trailed 3-1, he found a seam and took off on a breakaway and made no mistake, knocking a water bottle off the top of the net.  I think it landed somewhere near Comox.  He curled into the corner and then gained momentum and then unexpectedly did a headstand celebration where he slid on his helmet, legs in air, from centre ice to our blueline.  I think everyone in the rink was in shock, I certainly was.  I had never seen him do this before but I absolutely loved it.  Our bench went wild and as I watched I thought that situations like this is why all of these kids started to play the game they love.  It is moments like this that I will never forget.

With three minutes left in the game and the score 9-6, Coach Tippett and I spoke on the bench and we decided that if there was an opportunity we would throw Duncan out by himself if there was a faceoff in the Storm's end.  And as luck would have it, the situation occurred with just over a minute left.  Duncan was sent out, he had no idea what was happening.  We called the rest of the players over to the bench and they all started to bang the boards in appreciation of a 20-year-old kid who has been one of the leaders on the team since his arrival before Christmas.  I don't think anyone knew what was going on, including our players but it did not take long to feel the energy grow in the arena.  The Storm players joined in as did the Storm fans and when we shook hands, Storm Coach Lee Stone told me it was the first time ever he has seen a visiting player receive an ovation like that.  I watched the tape a dozen times and one of the classiest moves that occurred was probably not seen by anyone, it was certainly not seen by me.  The player from the Storm taking the draw - I believe it was #62 Aaron Brewer - appeared to lean over and say something to Duncan.  When the ref dropped the puck Brewer made no move for the puck and Duncan calmly won the draw back to......well....back to nobody.  Once the puck dropped, four of our guys raced to jump in the play.

Duncan had a ton of promise and played his first several games in the VIJHL as an 18-year-old and decided to leave the game for personal reasons.  After sitting out for over two years, he decided to take one last crack at it.  Here are his words as he rode the bus on the way back home after the game;

"Well what a ride it's been.  Owe so much to this game & my family.  Looking back on it all I've learned so many different life lessons that I'll take with me forever.  All the friends I've made near and far.  It's not until you leave the game until you really reflect and realize how much it means to you.  Coming back to finish off my 20 year was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I owe a thanks to a handful of people who made that possible.  It's been a bumpy road with so many different highs and lows but I wouldn't change a thing.

Tough to put it all into the words but to my friends, family, coaches volunteers, thank you for everything you have done for me.

To the Panthers and Storm thank you for what you did for me tonight, it was an extremely classy moment that I'll hold close to me for the rest of my life."

The video of the celebration has gone viral on youtube, social media and and media outlets across the Country all the way from CHEK and CFAX here in Victoria to the Tim and Sid Show on Sportsnet in Toronto.  I think it will continue to get a lot of play over the next several weeks.  What a way for a 20-bomb to go out!

Coach and I went into this season with an absolute commitment to youth and we stuck to that plan.  We wanted to build from the ground up and we did just that.  It was a tough year in terms of wins and losses but there were bright lights in every single win or loss and after the game when we discussed the players and the game that had just unfolded, we made a point to look at the glass half full.  These kids will come back in August 10-15 pounds bigger and as importantly, with a year in Junior hockey under their collective belt.  We believe that for the next two or three years we have the makings of a really good Club and we hope that some of the pain that we went through this season will be a fading memory in our rear-view mirror as we move along the hockey highway.

The group of players we have here on the Peninsula are quality plus!  Although it was a grind at times, they remained tight as a group and never turned on each other.  It was always fun to go to the rink, game or practice.

The Kai Turner's and Duncan Cochrane's will always hold a spot in my heart.  Both of these fellows are awesome young men and they will find their way in life.  I will bump into them at the rink in a few years and they will probably be walking around holding the hand of their young daughter or son, I have seen that many times over the years.  And I will remember the good times and the good feelings that they brought to our hockey club.

I cannot possibly thank the fans and sponsors enough for sticking with us over many years.  Your support allows stories like the one that was created in Game 4 against Campbell River to continue to happen.  We are a team with deep routes in the community on the Peninsula and our community is dear to both Coreen and me.  We moved into our home in Brentwood Bay in January of 1982 and I would guess that we will be here for many more years to come.

We will be holding exit interviews in the next couple of days and I am already looking forward to an exciting 2017/18 season.  The "B" Arena is in for a huge renovation starting on April 1 and the improvement from the fans point of view will be immense.  It will be the "Best Little Barn" on the Island and one that I am proud to be even a small part of." 

I hope that you all have an incredible Spring and Summer and we look forward to seeing you out in September.

Pete Zubersky, General Manager
Peninsula Panthers Jr. Hockey Club