Too little too late as Panthers drop VIJHL opener to Wolves

September 5, 2018
Colwood, B.C.

The Peninsula Panthers walked into the Q Centre around 5:15 pm for the VIJHL's initial game of the season however when 60 minutes were firmly in the books, they showed and walked out on the wrong side of a 4-3 count.  The story of the game was that it took the Panthers 53 minutes to realize that there was a game on Wednesday night and when the alarm clock sounded at the 13:09 mark of the final stanza, it was simply too late to make the comeback.

Westshore Wolves speedy veteran Cameron Kinsman opened the scoring at the 2:13 mark of the 2nd period when he beat Panthers' Connor McKillop who was starting between the pipes for the visitors.  And before the period expired, three more Wolves hit paydirt including 2nd year forward Andy Westhaver, Connor Eddy and Grady Nursey.  For Eddy and Nursey they would celebrate just a little bit more as it was the first Junior goals of their careers.

The final stanza saw more of the same for the Panthers on the first shift as they bobbled the puck around for a minute or so before an icing call brought the faceoff to the left of Goaltender Chris Akerman.  Akerman arrived on the scene to start the 3rd period chasing McKillop to the bench.  The Panthers seemed to finally gain some composure and some plays began to develop.  With just under 7:00 remaining in the game and the Wolves holding what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, Riley Braun knocked the puck off a Wolves' defenceman behind the net and it was gobbled up by linemate Tanner Wort.  Wort deftly moved the puck accross the crease to Josh Lingard and he made no mistake in beating Wolves' starter Jordan Spandli.  And although it seemed like an insignificant marker, it did give the Panthers something to build on heading into their home opener on Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre.  But there were more fireworks in store.  Four minutes later and at the 17:27 mark, Josh Lingard picked up the puck deep in his own end and romped down the ice to the top of the circles in the Wolves end.  He dropped a cute pass to rookie Fraser Auchterlonie and the first-year forward did the rest.  Auchterlonie danced around a would-be Wolves defender and then snapped a shot past a startled Spandli to half the deficit at 4-2.  But there would be more.  Kinsman was sent to the sin bin at the 18:23 mark and Panthers' head coach yanked Akerman in favour of the extra attacker only seconds later.  And with 26 seconds remaining in the contest, Wort picked up the puck on the half wall deep inside the Wolves end and moved it back to veteran Zack Evans.  The rearguard threw the biscuit towards Spandli and a crowd of players that filled the area around the net, and Braun managed to get a stick on it first.  Spandli made the save however the recently-acquired Jake Gajda, who has found a home on the Peninsula, banged in the rebound from 12 inches out to make it a one-goal game.  The Panthers took control on the ensuing faceoff and it was right back into the Wolves' zone to chase the equalizer.  Spandi was forced to make a save and corral the rebound with only 3 ticks left on the clock and that would be as close as the Panthers would get.

"There are going to be a lot of disappointing moments for every team in this league and certainly for our squad, this was certainly one of them," lamented Pete Zubersky.  "Our guys really wanted to leave here with a win but so did the Wolves and they played for most of the game while we just figured out that we were in a game late in the third period.  I thought at the time that the Nursey's goal, with only five seconds left in the final stanza to give them a 4-0 lead, might be a big one and it turned out to be the winner.  I do believe that a different Club will show up Friday night at home."

McKillop blocked 20 of 24 shots and Akerman was good on 5 of 5 while Spandli was better than the Panthers duo making good on 24 of 27 shots.  In the age when everyone wins a ribbon, the three stars have been abandoned and now each team will be awarded a player of the game.  Westhaver and Lingard were named for their respective squads and both selections were deserved.

"The ditching of the three star selection irks me a little," said Zubersky.  The Wolves' Governor Dave Horner approached me during the game and asked me what we were going to do.  I told him we would select three stars for games in our barn and would put up the best players from each side on the scoresheet after the game.  They did the same thing but I just did not hear who they announced as the three stars."

The Panthers have been working on putting together a great pre-game ceremony for their home opener on Friday night and fans are asked to come early and be in their seats no later than 7:25 pm.  "Yes, it's going to be a very special celebration that is unheard of at this level," explained Zubersky.  "We have the huge screen which was purchased from the proceeds of the Hockeyville win and we have been working the kinks out over the last several weeks hoping to get it right for Friday.  We think we have a handle on it although we just received some replay equipment this week and I am not sure we will implement it for the opener.  We want to, we will see how that goes.  But the addition of the screen is going to add some real entertainment for our fans and some real added value for our sponsors and it will be a huge part of pre-game and game itself.  We are asking that fans get into their seats by 7:25 pm as we will start the proceedings five minutes later.  I expect that there will be a bit of a lineup and I hope fans take that into consideration.  If fans miss pre-game it's a mistake."

And hopefully the Club has set the alarm clock to go off just a little bit sooner on Friday than it did at the Q Centre on Wednesday evening.