Panthers bounced 3-0 at hands of Cougars

October 23rd, 2020
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers were in tough and dramatically out-gunned as the puck was set to drop just after 7:30 pm in the confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  They knew it, the visiting Victoria Cougars knew it, and every single one of the 50 fans in attendance knew it.  But when the final buzzer sounded at the end of 60 minutes of hard-fought hockey, Brad Tippett and his coaching staff could not have asked for any more from their troops.  Although young, inexperience and depleted, a group of 'Cats' from the Peninsula took another step forward in their development, albeit, a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Victoria Cougars.

"I am more excited about this Club than I have been for a number of years," explained GM Pete Zubersky.  "Last season we had a great group but we were older and were experienced and we were expected to excel.  This group is young and talented and most of them play hard all the time.  I really respect that.  I see them getting better every single game out and I mean a lot better.  We are playing a darn good Club and I could not be happier about that.  We played this game with only four defencemen, Hunter Jensen being the longest in the tooth as an 18-year-old.  The other three are raw rookies including 17-year-old Reid Fryer and a couple of 16's in Mason McNeill and Theodore St-Denis, and they played with passion all night long.  Fryer and McNeill played physical at times and I would like to see St.-Denis do a bit more of that as well.  All three probably logged 28-30 minutes of ice time.  Our forwards were in the shot lanes, although a couple of guys have to do a better job in this area.  But we had almost ten guys standing on the sidelines watching by the end of the contest and our guys who were left were still playing with heart and guts until it was over.  This group has a huge upside.  We are really developing as individuals and as a Team quickly right now and it is exciting and a pleasure to watch everything unfolding as it is."

Brayden Evans for the home side and Jonah Chambers for the Cougars made the start between the pipes and both were nothing short of outstanding on the night and were named the 'Player of the Game' for each squad.  Evans made some sensational saves and was more than steady all night long as he stopped 38 of 41 shots in picking up the loss.  Chambers was perfect blocking all 22 shots sent flying in his direction.

The game was still scoreless when at the 18:55 mark of the 2nd period, Cougars' defenceman Owen Evers gathered in the puck from the left point as Panthers' forward Ethan Ewer moved up towards him.  Evers snapped a shot past Ewer who was not in the shot lane and it went through a maze of players and past Evans on the glove side to open the scoring.  And with just 19 seconds left in the frame, it was Evers who once again found himself in the same spot with the biscuit on his stick.  This time Panthers' Captain Tanner Wort went out and did attempt to block the shot and although he got a piece of it, the puck slightly changed direction and once again beat Evans on the glove side.

Ryan Strange scored the insurance marker for the Cougars only 2:23 into the final frame and although the Panthers continued to battle, Chambers was up to the task.

Brad Tippett's thoughts on the evening:
"It was pretty obvious from the scoresheet we were out-gunned in experience and age. We proved tonight that heart and determination made up for inexperience and will still give you a chance. From the opening face off our opponents tried to engage any and all of our four young defensemen after the whistle in an effort to get them off the ice. As it was, we lost another defenceman to injury forcing us to move Riley Braun to the back end. The 3-0 final score doesn’t hurt the 13 players we had left as much as the bruises we picked up from blocking shots and taking hits to make plays. Our penalty killing was gutsy and unblemished. Brayden Evans gave us great goaltending and was vocal with the young defence.  We are battling through a tough stretch but will be a better team for it."

The Panthers will hit the road on Sunday afternoon when they will visit the Archie Browning Arena in Esquimalt for an afternoon affair.  And then the two Clubs will play the final two games of the current Cohort next Thursday in Esquimalt and then Friday night at the Panorma.  The Club is expecting that some of the walking wounded will be trickling back into the lineup starting this Sunday.