Shakey start leaves Panthers scratching their heads

The Peninsula Panthers Management worked hard over the past couple of years wanting to put into place a blueprint which would bring success season in and season out.  And after taking it on the chin over the past two seasons, the Club feel that they had formed a nucleus to go toe-to-toe with the best in the League this season and beyond.  But that feeling has not translated into wins on the board in the early going and the "Cats" now see themselves looking upwards to the Clubs above them in the standings. 

Head Coach Brad Tippett commented on the Panthers' start.  "We came out of the exhibition season with two convincing wins and some guys fell into a mindset that we should be clearing our spring calendars for the championship parade.  In the four league games, we have had stretches where we looked like an elite team and stretches where we looked far from it. Four of our top defencemen have really only been here for a few days and this situation has really affected our special teams. More importantly, it also contributed to an attitude of over-confidence thinking that with the group in place we were better than we are.  We continued to gamble, attempting to make high-risk highlight reel plays that work once in a while instead of making smart safe plays that are successful most of the time. It has taken a ten-day, four-game dose of humility to answer the wake up call. We had a number of 1-1 meetings that included video clips. The video doesn’t lie. It is not a coincidence we started to turn things in the right direction simply by playing a more simple game. We had better effort and made better decisions Saturday night.  There is still lots of work ahead. We have dug ourselves a hole but there is a simple solution — keep it simple."

Tanner Wort opened the scoring in the first period on Saturday for the Panthers and Jack Taylor tallied on the power play in the final stanza, but it was not enough as the Generals would have the last laugh in their 4-2 win.  Connor McKillop was solid between the pipes for the Panthers, perhaps the team's best goaltending performance of the early going.  Turnovers by some veterans proved to be the difference however, the effort was there for the first time in four games and although the Panthers have nothing to show for it, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

As the Iron Lung started to meander South on the Island Hwy. shortly after 10:00 pm, a disappointed group sipped on some drinks and quietly ate their post-game meal.  However nobody on the bus was hanging their heads, but rather focused on looking forward to next weekend when they will play three games in four days against some tough South Division opponents.  And all seemed to be on the same page.  It was time to take off the dancing shoes and put on the work boots.  It's a simple game.