Cats limp out of weekend with 2 tough losses

Last Friday night at 7:00 p.m., the Peninsula Panthers went out onto a clean sheet of ice for their warm-up against the visiting Nanaimo Buccaneers.  Coach Brad Tippett and his troops knew that they would be in for a tough pair of weekend games against the two top teams of the Northern Division of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.  The Buccaneers were in front of them on the Friday night, and on Sunday the Club would board the iron lung and head to Campbell River to take on the league's hottest team. 

Both the Bucs and the Cats traded a few opportunities early in the affair within the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  And midway through the 1st frame, speedy Panthers' forward Logan Speirs broke in all alone on the visitor's goaltender Austin Dendl and made no mistake in drawing first blood.  And it looked like the Panthers would skate into the intermission with the 1-0 lead, however two very late goals turned the tables on the Club and also changed the entire complexion of the game.  The Buccaneers carried a 4-1 lead midway into the 3rd stanza when Captain Thomas Spink decided to take things into his own hands.  Spink skated through most of the Buccaneers' team and finished with a pretty sporting play.  And only a minute later, Panthers' top scorer Josh Lingard broke in all alone, but it would be Dendl who would prevail.  That moment in the game quickly became the turning point when only seconds later, the Buccaneers put the puck past Panthers' starter Chris Akerman and for all intents and purposes, put a stake in the Panthers' heart.  Dendl stopped 24 of 25 Panthers' shots, while Akerman was only able to stop 21 of 26 and was collared with the loss.

On Sunday, the Panthers headed up for an afternoon affair with the Storm and once 60 minutes was finally in the books, the Storm was credited with a convincing 8-3 win.  Marksmen for the Panthers were Spink, Riley Braun, and Stephan Grunert - with his first Junior career marker.  Grunert's tally came with only 8 seconds left in the game, and it was a blistering wrist shot from the right point that went through a maze of players before ripping the twine.  Connor McKillop made the start between the pipes for the Panthers and he managed to block 25 of 33 Storm shots and was tagged for the loss.

Coach Tippett comments on the weekend:
"It was a weekend of frustration. We showed flashes of competing with anyone in the League, then to struggling to even make a pass or a check. Sometimes the bounces go your way and sometimes they don’t. Right now any let down of effort or a half second brain cramp, is ending up in our net. The competitiveness in the league leaves little for error. When we are not getting full effort from everyone, we lose.  We need quicker pursuit to the puck instead of arriving just in time to be late. We need quicker decision-making with the puck and quicker support of the puck. Until that happens, we will remain stuck in the mud. Right now we are going through a stretch where nothing but better effort and commitment will solve these problems. We have a few guys giving 100%, but too many guys who aren’t - one shift great, one shift poor, one game great, one game poor. We will continue sitting the passengers out or limiting ice time. This isn’t minor hockey - ice time is earned." 

The Panthers will practice on Monday and Tuesday evening, before heading to the Westshore on Wednesday to take on the Wolves at the Q Centre in a game of great significance to both Clubs.  And on Friday night, the Cats will return home for their last game at the Panorama Recreation Centre before Christmas when they play host to the visiting Kerry Park Islanders.  The puck is set to drop at 7:30 p.m.