Panthers end 10-game cohort with tough 3-1 loss at the hands of the Cougars

October 30th, 2020
North Saanich, B.C.

It was a 10-game marathon but one which held a great number of lessons for the 13 rookies on the Peninsula Panthers Hockey Club.  For the most part, the games were extremely competitive and hard-fought but many of the tight contests went the way of the Victoria Cougars including a 3-1 battle on Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  These are lessons that will hopefully pay dividends come March when the Panthers have a huge likelihood of facing the same Cougars squad in South Island Playoffs.

2020 has brought with it an extrordinary amount of twists and turns in every walk of life and this fact certainly extends to sports including Junior Hockey and more specifically, the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.  BC Health mandated that teams would be allowed to compete in Cohorts and the Cougars and Panthers opened the season playing ten straight games against each other.  Friday night saw the curtain come down on the series and it will be remembered by everyone who was even remotely involved with either squad. 

The South Division will be forced to the sidelines for a minimum of two weeks in order to alter the Cohorts.  The Panthers will move on to play the Kerry Park Islanders in a two-team Cohort while the Cougars will join with the Saanich Predators and Westshore Wolves in their three-team grouping.

"I think that playing the ten games against the Cougars was one of the best things that has happened to the Peninsula Panthers in a long time," explained GM Pete Zubersky.  "I have a new-found respect for their Organization.  We have had to work together to make this all happen and the two words 'Work together' are not exactly a catch phrase with these two squads.  Coach and I were talking after the game and we were both tipping our hats to their Coach Brody Coulter and several of their Management people.  Their group played hard and the games were honest and they won the series fair and square.  Our kids have now seen where the bar is set and although we have a lot of work to do, I believe that we have the horses here to win this season."

The game had an auspicious start when a pipe malfunction in the "B" Arena at the Panorama forced the game to be moved to the "A" side for the evening.  The game could not be streamed due to this issue, and that was a shame as it was a highly-entertaining affair that ebbed and flowed more than the waters from our Pacific Ocean.  Riley Braun and his mates seemed to like the new surroundings as the Panthers quickly pounced on the Cougars as soon as the open faceoff was conducted.  The Panthers held the early shot-advantage of 8-0 and 11-1 and it was Braun who would beat Brett Anderson with only 4:13 expired in the opening stanza.  Captain Tanner Wort and Josh Lingard were awarded helpers on the play.  The Panthers continued to press and Lingard rang a shot off the crossbar on the next shift which would have moved the lead to a couple of markers.  But at the 5:26 mark, Panthers 16-year-old rookie defenceman Mason McNeill packed the puck around his own net and then into the corner to the left of starter Brayden Evans.  McNeill was nailed with what clearly appeared to be a knee, but the play moved on to the shagrin of Panthers Head Coach Brad Tippett.  Cougars forward Jackson Estey picked up the loose puck and drilled a shot on the ice past Evans to knot the game at a tally apiece.  Brandon McClintick picked up the lone assist.

The 2nd stanza had many great scoring chances by both Clubs but Evans and Anderson were more than up to the task.  At points, the local Cats would take control and yet at other times the ice tilted the other way with the visitors peppering the Panthers netminder.  It was a game that had it all as there was no shortage of physicality and heartfelt emotion.

The Cougars decided the contest in the 3rd when at the 9:30 mark, smooth-skating defenceman John Esposito walked in from the point after intercepting a Panthers pass and snapped a shot past Evans for the 2-1 lead.  And then at the 14:54 mark, Zach Guerra added the insurance marker on a shot from the low slot that squeezed through the pads of Evans and ended up in the back of the net.  Esposito was in on the marker.

Evans blocked 34 of 37 shots in taking the loss while Anderson blocked 28 of 29 and was awarded with the win for his efforts.  The two targets were named 'Player of the Game' for the respective sides.

The Panthers will hit the practice ice for three weeks and will be back in VIJHL action on Friday, November 20th when they welcome in the visiting Kerry Park Islanders.  The two teams will play each other a total of 14 games in 31 days before going on the Christmas Break after their game at the Panorama on December 21st.  Islanders Coach Brandon Cox questioned and quipped in conversation with Zubersky when the schedule was being drawn up, "Do you think at some point the two teams should go Paint-balling as a team builder?"  The two will undoubtedly get familiar with each other soon.