Panthers take huge step retooling roster for 2019/20 season after Spring Camp over the weekend

The Peninsula Panthers management were all smiles Sunday afternoon after their 3-day Spring Camp over the weekend had come to a close.  The 60 players had filtered out of the Panorama Recreation Centre after being put through the paces, and after the jerseys were washed and put away, it was time for the staff to sit back and reflect on the hectic weekend.

The Club made commitments to six skaters and are still in discussions with others.  "We are thrilled with our additions," explained Governor Pete Zubersky.  "We picked up one 16-year-old at this point but there are a couple of others who have really caught our eye.  We have picked up some really skilled kids who are going to make us immediately better."

Sixteen-year-old Luc Pelltier is a 6'3, 170 lb. forward who played last season with the Nanaimo Silvertips Minor Midgets.  He looks to factor in at the Centre ice position, can skate, can score, and has a strong sense for the defensive side of the game.

Seventeen-year-old Defenceman Matt Seale is a mobile and puck-moving rearguard who hails from the Saanich Midget program.  He was an easy choice and had an eye-popping weekend.

The Panthers added four 18-year-old's in Defenceman Koby Bujdoso out of the Shawnigan Lake School program, and Forwards Denver Maloney who anchored the Peninsula Midget Club, and Sterling Lyons and Eric Horricks, teammates of Seale's last season.

Bujdoso has good size and a calm demeanor and is a solid and reliable defenceman who will play in all situations.  Maloney can skate and can score.  He was unavailable until Sunday but lit up the camp as soon as he arrived.  Lyons and Horricks both have speed and grit and got better as the camp moved along.  The two, along with Seale, had just returned from the Midget TIER 1 Provincial tournament in Kelowna.  Maloney was just back from the Provincials as well. 

Coach Tippett could not have been happier with the weekend and with his new additions. The Panthers bench boss and his thoughts on these commitments.

"We were the only team in the league that played without a 20-year-old last season - so went in with not a lot of holes to fill. After saying that, there is always some turnover and we ended up signing six kids that we absolutely love. Two of those players were at our camp a year ago and were kids that we had given commitments for this season.  We honoured those commitments on Sunday. There were 4 players in the camp this year who we felt were very close to playing and we just simply ran out of room on our roster. We will sign them as affiliate players - they can practice regularly and be available on a call up basis.  And we hope and plan to have them on the Club next season.
 
For three years, we have had some difficulty finding left shot forwards. Sometimes we were forced to play wingers on their off side. We fixed that issue signing four left-handed forwards.
 
Denver Maloney is one of those rare guys who can play at high skill in a high speed game. He has grown physically and is more of a presence over the past twelve months and his addition will make us much stronger down the middle.
 
Eric Horricks is a very versatile player who can line up at forward or defence. He is a strong skater with good size and a lot of grit.  With some commitment to the gym over the next few months he can be a difference-maker.
 
Sterling Lyon is a true winger and a solid two-way player with good hockey sense and is very crafty around the net.  He has a great set of wheels and he used that speed all weekend long.
 
With the number of players back, we went in with no need of signing a 16-year-old. But Luc Pelltier jumped out of the pack the first night and just got better with each shift and as the camp went along.  We arrived at a point where he left us no choice but to make room for him.   And we did.
 
Matt Seale played a number of games with us last season as an affiliate and we knew what we had going into the camp.  We made a commitment to him Saturday afternoon.  Had we been able to keep three sixteen-year-olds last year, we would have added him last April and so we feel very fortunate that we were able to bring him onto the Club this time around. He has an abundance of size, speed, skill and smarts.
 
Koby Bujdoso played most of the exhibition season last year with us before finishing up his senior year up in Shawnigan. He already has great chemistry with Matt Seale.  Koby hails from Brentwood Bay, has a few close friends on our squad, and he will fit in seamlessly.  He too would have been on the Team last season if he was not committed to finishing out his Grade 12 in Shawnigan.
 
Each year the depth chart has got better and better. Head Scout/Asst Coach Mike Cox has done an outstanding job of identifying great kids who are also great hockey players and a lot of the credit falls in his lap.
 
The positive comments from our veteran players about the prospects and the additions confirms what the coaches and Mgmt are feeling in that we have taken another big step towards making us a top contender going into next season."
 
The Panthers are expecting to make a couple other announcements over the next several days.