LITTLE THINGS MATTER

November 21, 2021
North Saanich, British Columbia

There are several things that I have learned over the years.  Little things matter.  People matter.  Community matters.  Life is not always as it seems.

Coreen and I were down at the Brentwood Lodge having dinner last weekend when the Storm of the Century was ripping and roaring.  The Malahat Drive was closed to North and Southbound traffic and the lineups at the Brentwood Ferry went from the terminal right up to the traffic circle and then both ways on West Saanich Road for a long way.  The ferry was rescheduled and would sail all night long after torrential rains had wreaked havoc for those wanting to head in to and out of the Greater Victoria area.  The boat only takes approximately 22 vehicles and so many of those in line would be waiting for hours and hours on end to finally get to a point where it was their turn to board and continue their journey home.  Many of these folks were spending some of those minutes and hours in the Lodge having a coffee or a drink or a meal.  A young couple came in just around the same time that we did and as they stood behind us it was impossible to not listen in on their conversation and it became clear that they were from Campbell River.  I spoke to the Father and his two young sons while his wife smiled and remained quiet for the most part.  The two boys were probably five and two years of age.  The older son wore a Los Angeles Lakers hat, his brother had on a Boston Celtics hat and the Father had on a Brooklyn Nets hat.  Now this was a family that was severely confused when it came to who to cheer for and when I told them that I liked the Toronto Raptors, the Father and oldest son said that they did too.  We all laughed and the hostess gathered Coreen and me and put us in a table in the corner right under the Television. 

We settled in and began our conversation although I cannot recall what we were discussing.  It was probably about the weather or the Panthers or an overnight trip that we had recently taken, and just idle chatter.  I watched as the family of four were seated just down from us separated by one table which had a couple around our age having some conversation of their own while enjoying an interesting combination of dishes.  As it happened, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Lakers were just getting set for the opening tip on the Television and the five-year-old attired in his Lakers hat was fixed to the game.  Our eyes continued to meet and I made some funny faces and pretended that I was shooting or dribbling an imaginary basketball over the next number of minutes and both of us were finding it most amusing. 

My conversation with Coreen drifted to when I was a little boy around the same age and how I would watch the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadians play every Saturday night, those were the only two choices.  I would have been only five-years-old myself but I knew every single player on every single team, albeit, there were only six teams in the NHL at that time.  Trades were infrequent and players would often spend their entire careers on one Club.  I still recall when my favourite player, Chicago’s Bobby Hull, got into a fight with Montreal’s John “Dirty Fergie” Ferguson and got his nose spread across his face.  Hull was back on TV the following Saturday night against Dirty Fergie and this time he was wearing a football helmet with a single bar like a place kicker in the CFL or NFL uses.  Of course, Dirty Fergie went after him again, ripped off the helmet and filled him in once more.  I cried for my fallen hero.

The young kid I was watching had that kind of passion for the game of basketball and it made me wish that I was five once again.  My thoughts drifted to when I was that age and what I might do differently.  I came from a very, very poor family and fought for everything including food and clothing. The young kid would not have to go through that but I was sure that he would go through some hardships of his own as his life winds along.  And I thought at this time, as I have thought on too many occasions to count, how each and every one of us have our own trials and tribulations to deal with.  As I was deep in thought, the young family got their bill and left and I thought how I would most likely never cross paths with them again even though if only for a fleeting moment they were an important part of my day.  I was wrong.  Ten minutes later the same family came back into the Lodge and sat at the same table.  They clearly had moved their car as the next Ferry filled up and now they had to wait another 70 minutes for the next ferry to arrive and be loaded.  As they had already had dinner just minutes earlier the Father ordered a beer, the Mother a glass of red wine and the two kids each had a hot chocolate.  The game was getting into the latter stages and the young boy asked me who I wanted to win.  I told him that I did not like the Lakers or Lebron James but I wanted them to win because Milwaukee was in the same Conference as the Raptors.  I watched as he tried to comprehend what this meant and it followed with a deep conversation between him and his dad.  The boy then asked me who my favourite player was and I said it was a rookie on the Raptors, Scotty Barnes.  He asked why and I told him because this young rookie still looked like he was playing the game for all the right reasons, there was a clear sense of joy in his every stride.  The dad and his son began a deeper conversation and after about five minutes, the boy turned to me and smiled.  Coreen and I asked for our bill and when our server came, we asked for the bill for the family from Campbell River as well.  We paid both and simply nodded to them and wished them some luck getting on the next ferry but I knew that luck had nothing to do with when it was their turn to board. 

There will be an article coming out this Tuesday on the Panthers website on Logan Speirs and I took the opportunity to text back and forth with him a bit on Saturday after our heart-pounding overtime win on Friday night against the Westshore Wolves when Logan potted the winner only 40 seconds into the extra frame.  I told Logan that I could not get the game out of my head and he responded that he could not get it out of his head either.  I will guarantee that any fan at that game on Friday thought about that game at least one or more times on Saturday.  It was one of those games.  I asked Logan for some quotes for the story I was thinking about and quite Logan-like, he had it done in the next few minutes.  I would not have expected anything less from this fine young man in his 5^th and final year with the Club.  I know how important this season is to him and I also know that he knows that his clock is ticking on his Junior Career and he wants to make the most of this final season.  When his quotes came through it made me think long and hard about what Coreen and I love most about the Peninsula Panthers and that is contributing to our Community out here on the Peninsula.

We were playing in Victoria on Thursday night and as always, I had a good and deep conversation with their General Manager Tony Carlson.  We have spoken a lot over the years and on Thursday our conversation got deeper into our personal lives more than it ever has.  I know that Tony trusts me and I certainly trust him and he told me some tough times he had been through in years gone by, stuff that will always remain between him and me.  And we talked about what Coreen and I have built in our Community with the Panthers.  Tony let me know how significant he and everyone else views the Panthers' relationship with our Community on the Peninsula and that it was something that he envied.

On Friday night after what had to be the most exhilarating game of the year in the VIJHL after Payton Braun tied the game with .1 second left and then Logan won it in overtime I spoke with our Music and Video guys Dave Marshall and Jason King as we were cleaning up the equipment and putting it away for another week.  They said exactly the same thing as Tony had the night before and I told them that in Coreen and my mind, this is the most important aspect to both of us in owning the Panthers entity.  I think that after being with the Club for a number of years, they too are really starting to understand what makes the Organization tick.

I read Logan’s quotes and although a lot of what he said really struck a note, these two sentences made me sit back and ponder…and thus Pete’s Ponderings today.  The two sentences were, “I remember every Friday night my family would have pizza then my dad would take me to the Panthers game.  This is what we did for many years.”  His quote mirrors what Coreen and I strive for the Peninsula Panthers to truly be about.  We are a business and we have to make our business model work, however Community is everything to both of us.  Logan sits 2^nd in VIJHL scoring and has a point in every single game the Club has played this year, all 27 games to this point in the season.  But more importantly, he is a treat to be around.  When new hats, or track suits or bags come in, Logan is the first to come into the office and say that he heard some item has arrived.  He is always respectful, intelligent and has a great sense of humour.  And he is not unlike another 20 kids on this Club in this aspect.

I see that our crowds are starting to build and we are working really hard to up our game in terms of entertainment value each and every Friday night.  I watched on Friday as a lot of dads and moms and young kids and grandparents were glued to the action and then onto the replay screen to see if what they really saw is what really happened.  In fact, I joked with Riley Braun’s Grandfather Con and Logan’s dad Brad that they were watching the replays so much that we were going to charge them more next Friday.  We all had a good laugh.  Coreen told me today that a fan she had not seen for seven years showed up for the 3^rd period last night.  He had been watching from the weight room and could not believe how fast the game has become and judging from the crazy and exciting 3^rd period and overtime action that he witnessed, I have absolutely no doubt that he will most certainly be back.  Soon we will be introducing a Mascot and are in the final stages of ordering the suit.  I would think we will roll out the as of now unnamed “Panther” in February and in time for the playoffs.  We have identified a body to fill it and this will provide added value for those young kids who come out each and every Friday night on the Peninsula.  Those young kids are the next wave of future Peninsula Panthers.  They will be Players of the Week and kids who we will talk about on a weekly basis in a decade from now as they race up and down the ice as members of the Peninsula Panthers.  Their story will be the same as the Logan Speirs and the Riley Braun’s and a myriad of others who have gone through our program after watching the team for years before going out for their first Junior Tryout Camp with the Club.  Today they are the kids who on Friday’s around 6:00 pm are scarfing down their pizza and heading to the rink for the 7:30 pm game. 

The rink is a gathering place on Friday’s and a place where we can all go and enjoy community.  It’s a place where little things matter in a big way.  It’s a place where every person matters, big or small, young and old alike.  It’s a place where people in our community can joins together and enjoy each other’s company.  It’s a place where every single one of us can forget our problems, big or small for an evening.  It’s a safe place.  This is what Panthers Hockey is truly all about.
 
Pete Zubersky, Owner
Peninsula Panthers Junior Hockey Club