Driebergen named as Peninsula Panthers new Bench Boss

May 7, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia

Panthers General Manager and Owner Pete Zubersky might have been the happiest person on the Saanich Peninsula when on Thursday evening he came to terms with who will be the Club's newest Bench Boss in Chris Driebergen.  Zubersky had interviewed a couple other possible candidates but Driebergen filled all the boxes in what the Panthers were looking for.  And after the two met in Zubersky's office at the Panorama Recreation Centre for a couple of hours, all of the i's were dotted and t's were crossed.

"I am really thrilled that this part of the off-season is taken care of," quipped the Panthers General Manager when interviewed Saturday morning at his home in Brentwood Bay.  "Last season was filled with so many challenges but there were some key volunteers and some real leadership within the players that made the season such a success.  I was behind the bench for most of the 2nd half of the season and although I enjoyed it a lot, I knew that this was not the answer for our Club.  I was looking for a guy who I know would care about the Organization and most importantly, about the players and I think we have found that person.  I want our coach to be able to put his fingerprints all over the Club and to develop players alll season long.  We want to win but I have always believed that if players enjoy coming to the rink, are getting better every day, and if the coach and players care about the Peninsula Panthers as much as Coreen and I do, the outcome will be that we will win on the scoreboard.  Winning will take care of itself.  Chris has not coached before at the Junior level but every coach in Junior right now also was in the same boat before their first game.  I'm sure he will be excited to get going and to get some wins under his belt but he is coming from a real solid place in the game and in coaching experience and he should not miss a beat.  I am hoping that this is a long-term relationship and I believe Chris is feeling exactly the same way."

Driebergen was born and raised in Victoria and has owned Leftcoast painting for the past 22 years.  The 42 year old has 14 years of coaching experience all at the Minor Hockey Level and has managed to win league, playoffs and a 3rd place finish at the Provincial Under 18 Tier 1 level as an assistant coach this past season with the Victoria Admirals.  He has served at the Victoria Minor Hockey Association as Director of Player and Goalie Development for the past four seasons. Driebergen considers himself a players' coach who puts an emphasis on positive feedback and builds relationships with players to get the most out of them.  

"Hockey has to be fun, my job to make sure players are excited to come to the rink each day and enjoy the process," said Driebergen. The new Head Coach continued, "After closely following the Panthers last season and after talking with Pete, it was clearly evident to me that the culture of the Panthers organization is very important to the Zubersky's. I will look to continue and build on this tradition. I've always coached each season with the goal that our last game is our best game. In speaking with Pete and in following the Club, I believe there is a very strong core group of players returning. I look forward to getting to know each player individually and working together throughout this season. I am very excited and thankful for this opportunity to join the Panthers organization."

"We have a very strong and close knit group returning this season and I believe our leadership is off the charts," stated the General Manager.  "I have spoken at length to Chris about who best fits into the role of Captain for this coming season and we will have an announcement in that regard on Tuesday."

The Panthers will be exploring various options to assist Driebergen on the bench in the next several weeks.  "I really want to put in place some solid support around Chris for this coming season," explained Zubersky.  "He may well have some ideas as to who he would like to see join the Organization but I have yet to sit down with Spencer Loverock to see where he is at and what he feels he can commit to.  Len Dawes has expressed an interest to help out as well and I am sure that this will all fall into place now that we have named our Head Coach."

The Panthers will run some development ice in early August to identify future Panthers players and will open up Main Camp later into August.