20-year-old Matt Seale appointed as Panthers Captain

May 10, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia

Matthew Seale came to the Peninsula Panthers Spring Camp a number of seasons ago as a 16-year-old defenceman and most certainly caught the eye of the Panthers brass over the weekend in April.  But BC Hockey rules only allowed for two 16-year-old players on any Junior roster and Seale was not signed at that point.  It was a year later when the Panthers had another opportunity to ink the rear guard and this time they did not miss out.  It would prove to be one of the best decisions the Club has made in the past number of years.

"I still remember that first camp when Matt was 16," explained Panthers GM Pete Zubersky.  "We really struggled with the fact that we could only have two 16's and although he was as good as the other two that made the team, there was just no room.  We offered Matt a spot the following year and wanted to affiliate him but he ended up passing on the offer and I think he had some real disappointment when he left that exit interview.  I did as well!"

After being signed the following Spring, Seale has become one of the real solid pieces on the Panthers squad and was a huge part in the VIJHL Championship run this past Spring.

The 3rd year University of Victoria majors in Engineering and has a full load with his education and hockey on the Peninsula with the Panthers.  His leadership was visible all season long and he quarterbacked the best power play the VIJHL has seen in the past two decades.  Seale led all VIJHL defenceman in scoring and not only was awarded the Panthers Top Defenceman, but was also named by the League as the best at his position.

"I knew that Matt was going to win the VIJHL Top Defenceman award, in my mind it was an easy choice," quipped Zubersky.  Our power play was amazing and the puck always went through Seale at the top.  He was so unselfish and I cannot explain how many times we asked him to shoot the puck rather than set up his mates.  He is a 'team first' guy, no doubt about it."

The General Manager clearly could not find all the right words to explain just how Seale battled through adversity over the Panthers 18 playoff and 4 Cyclone Taylor Cup post-season games, contests where the intensity was racheted up to the maximum.  But he tried.

"I could not believe how hard Matt competed over the duration of the playoffs," offered Zubersky.  "He was banged up and there were games when I wanted to scratch him and he simply refused to not be in the lineup.  There were weeks where he could just play games and needed to have all of the practices off to simply be healthy enough for the next game.  Toughness comes in a lot of forms.  People think of toughness in the game of hockey as somebody who will fight and will try and run an opponent through the boards on every occasion he can.  That is a form of toughness but there are other ways to be tough and in our playoff run, Matt showed me that he is one of the toughest players I have ever seen come through our program."

Seale was advised a week ago that he would be named the Panthers Captain for the upcoming season and had some interesting and thoughtful comments:

"The 2021-22 was one of the most difficult but amazing years of hockey I have ever had.  We faced adversity through the whole season but in the end found a way to push through and win a league championship.  Although we will lose a couple top-end guys for next season, I know that every returning player is going to come into September like a 4th-year veteran because of how intense last season was. I joined the Panthers as a 17-year-old for a rookie season with one of the best teams I had ever played on.   After a strong regular season, our year was cut short in the second round of playoffs as the pandemic took attention away from hockey.  One of the main factors for our success that year was the great team culture of sportsmanship, friendship, and dedication to the game, which was created largely by an incredible leadership group and proactive management.  That culture persisted through the COVID-19 season and into this past season, where it was an immense factor in recovering from losing Gibby and eventually winning the title.  I am excited to keep that atmosphere going next season. Our group looks great, with a strong D-core and lots of skilled forwards.  We all know the goal… why not secure a back-to-back title?"

Head Coach Chris Driebergen will be excited to get the season going and he will be just as excited to have Panthers Captain Matthew Seale ready to go to battle for him.