Panthers kick off pre-season - a little old, a little new

The Westshore Wolves invaded the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday night and with just under one second left in the game, one of the visiting forwards slid a puck from just outside the blueline into the vacated "Cats" cage to seal a 5-3 win.  But there were smiles all around as both Clubs fielded young groups in an effort to assess what they had.

For the Panthers, it was a story of a bit of old and a lot of new.  The locals played returning veterans Jack McMillan, Joe Stafford-Veale, Carson Cox and Bailey Ross as well as recently signed rookies Brendan Martin, Tanner Wort and Josh Lingard.  Surrounding this group were some players trying to land a spot on the Team, some hoping to find a place to affiliate for the season and many who were still a couple of years away from playing Junior Hockey but who had worked hard over the past couple of weeks in camp and deserved an opportunity to play.  McMillan, Cox and Devin Fraser each tallied once for the Panthers.

"We had three 15-year-old defencemen, a 15-year-old goaltender and a 15-year-old forward and these kids all competed hard," said General Manager Pete Zubersky.  "We will most likely be releasing these youngsters this coming week so they can jump into tryouts in Minor Hockey however, I really loved watching their confidence grow over their time with us and I think they will be better because of the experience.  There were a couple guys that we were looking at closely, guys that we are on the verge of signing but we will most likely address those issues next week."

"Our returning guys have looked great in practice this past week as did the kids that we had signed after Spring Camp," continued the GM.  "Cox blew me away with some of his physical play and McMillan and Stafford-Veale are coming in stronger and more confident.  They were impactul every shift they were out.  Ross played physical on the back end and we will need that from him this time around.  We had a number of kids away and we chose not to dress a number of returning veterans."

Thomas Spink (Cowichan Capitals BCHL), Goaltenders Chris Akerman (Prince George BCHL) and Shawn Parkinson (Victoria Grizzlies BCHL) and Riley Braun (Kamloops Blazers WHL) were all away but could start filtering back into Pantherland as soon as Monday.  Trevor Owens, Ty Hermsen, Braeden Hansen, Shota Yamamoto and Marshall Brown did not play.

"One of my highlights for the evening was seeing the two kids come into the rink after driving from Winnipeg and jumping on the 5:00 pm ferry.  Skyler Diamond-Burchuk and Matt Lawrence came in midway through the 2nd period and both were a sight for sore eyes.  They walked and talked with so much confidence; what a bright future both of these kids have.  They were heading to their billet home after the game and on Saturday will be helping out Peninsula Minor Hockey in a Goalie Camp where some shooters are needed.  I'm sure it will be a busy time for both kids."

"I received a call from Marshall Brown an hour after the game asking how it went and telling me how excited he was to come down from Quesnel to get going on Monday evening.  I believe that the general feeling around the Club is one of excitement and optimisim," explained Zubersky.

"Things are looking good.  I loved how our young coaches Justin Isaac and Matt Sheeran took the ball and ran with it this week.  These two guys have been a huge addition and it showed over the past seven days while Brad was away."

All players on the Panthers had full facial protection for the first exhibition game and this new policy, which has been adopted by the Club, is set in stone.  "Yes, we moved forward implementing this policy a couple of weeks ago to protect our players," said Zubersky.  "There were some questions and a bit of grumbling from a few but that is all behind us.  We decided that we would make the change and it is something that we will not go back on.  I read on social media where a player was questioning why the Panthers were doing this.  The player who played several years in the VIJHL had lost an eye but said he would still not go to full facial.  Sometimes, as management, some decisions are made to save players from themselves, and this example puts a big exclaimation point on the point.  Brad made a good point.  Kids that are twenty years old have 45 years of earning power and have goals in future careers out of hockey.  These goals can be crushed if the player was to sustain an eye injury.  Would the risk be worth it??  Of course not!  Would any of us not buy house insurance knowing that a fire could destroy our future?  Of course not."

The Panthers will travel to the Westshore on Wednesday to play the Wolves and will then play a home-and-home series next weekend against the Saanich Braves to close out the Exhibition Season.  The Panthers next and final home exhibition game will be on Saturday, September 2nd at 8:30 pm.  All tickets for that game will be $5.