Cougars give Panthers an early season lesson as they skated off with a 6-1 win

October 9th, 2020
Esquimalt, British Columbia

Brett Anderson was brilliant between the pipes for the Victoria Cougars and he pretty well wrote the storyline on a convincing 6-1 win over the Peninsula Panthers on a wet Friday evening in North Saanich at the Panorama Recreation Centre.  The Panthers walked quickly from their cars to the entrance of the rink to get out of a downpour outside but there was no rest awaiting them in the confines of their home barn.  It was a disappointing evening for a youthful Club that has more than surprised in the early going of the VIJHL schedule.

"Of course there was going to be games like this," said GM Pete Zubersky.  "Our guys have really played well until tonight and this evening they learned that nothing in this League is, or will be, easy.  There are no free lunches.  Every single point will have to be earned and so although we got a bit of a spanking tonight, we also learned a lot about the game of hockey at this level.  If every game is life or death, you will die a lot.  I love our guys and I love this team.  Sometimes everything that can go wrong does and you just turn the page and tip your hat to your opponent.  Tonight was one of those nights for our Club."

Spencer Golden led the Cougars with a couple markers while singles came off the sticks of Brandon MCClintick, Simon Pollock, Nicolas Dumonceaux and Bryce Irwin.  Logan Speirs scored the only goal for the Panthers.

Anderson blocked 29 of 30 Panthers scoring attempts and picked up the well-deserved win for his efforts, while Brayden Evans was nailed for the loss as he stopped 33 of 29 shots directed his way.

Head Coach Brad Tippett on the game:
"Every coach knows there will be games like this. Not many positives and more than a few mistakes. We were coming off a big win and feeling a little too cocky - they were coming off a loss and had a thorn in their foot. Mix those together and it’s one of those games you just throw the video away.
 
There are three types of players -
1) players that make things happen
2) players that watch things happen
3) players who wonder what happened
 
We have a few guys trying to individually make too much happen.  A few guys simply watching and having little influence on the play. Thank goodness category three is empty.
 
I thought we didn’t help out Brayden (Evans) with a lot of support. We didn’t protect the house at all until the 3rd period and that made the game pretty easy for the Cougars.
 
A bigger issue is (Josh) Lingard banged his shoulder and we kept him out for precaution. Hopefully he will be ready for next week.
 
As coaches we can learn a lot about our team in a game like this. We have a good group and far and away the youngest team in the South. As long as we learn from it we will get better. The sun will come up tomorrow. We will be better tomorrow."

The two Clubs will continue their 10-game series with games five and six next Thursday in Esquimalt and then back at the Panorama next Friday.