Ready, Set, GO! Panthers Home Opener this Friday!

September 6, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia

There has been a flurry of activity behind the scenes for the Peninsula Panthers since the Cats captured the VIJHL Championship with a Game 6 win on home ice back on April 1st.  And on Friday night at home in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre in what is expected to be a large and celebratory crowd, the Club will open the 2022/23 season in hopes of doing it all over again.

The evening will open with a video presentation looking back at the season that was - a season that had the lowest of lows and the highest of highs.  It was a season that brought tears of sadness and joy.  And it was a season that will be indelibly etched into the minds and hearts of every single person involved with the Cats and every single person who supported the Team over the tumultuous and yet most gratifying season ever.  And the celebration before the game will end with the unveiling of the 2021/22 VIJHL Championship Banner.  The Panthers Management are asking that all fans arrive at the Panorama just a few minutes early.

There was also a lot of heavy lifting done in the off-season as the Club reloaded after losing a number of key players including the top two scorers in the VIJHL in Riley Braun and Logan Speirs.  And there was a permanent move made behind the bench where Chris Driebergen takes over from Interim Coach Pete Zubersky who had jumped in early December and managed the reins through the playoffs and the Cyclone Taylor Cup in Delta last April.

"It was such a crazy year," explained Zubersky.  We lost our photographer Gordon Lee in the fall and then Grant Gilbertson passed away in a traffic accident on the way to practice on January 3rd.  We held the memorial ceremony for Grant before the game that Friday against the Victoria Cougars on the 7th and it took everything for our kids to just make it through each hour.  There were several of them who I felt might not be able to carry on playing as they were so broken up.  Our players literally lived together for the next couple of weeks and with the support of each other, they managed to continue fighting the fight.  And of course the playoff run and finally raising the Championship trophy in front of our home crowd was amazing.  It was a special year."

Following the Cyclone Taylor Cup, the Club immediately began to reload.  Zubersky said it was a reload, not a rebuild.  "I think we put together a pretty good group this time around but everybody thinks that they have a pretty good team before the first puck of the season drops.  We are big, skilled and fast and I love that combination.  We have 14 returning veterans who now know what it is like to go through a grinding playoff run and that experience will be important this time around.  I love our goaltending.  We are going with Brady Kelly who is one of the returning veterans and have decided to go with his twin brother Mason as our other stopper.  Both of these kids are really good and are strong enough to win games for us when we are not kicking on all cylinders.  I believe that our defence is a real strength and I also love our group of forwards.  This will be an entertaining group to watch, I have no doubt about that.  But again, we have not played a game as yet so we will see how it all unfolds."

The Panthers closed out their Exhibition Schedule last Friday night with a convincing 8-3 win over the visiting Westshore Wolves.  Both teams were missing a number of their regulars.  Brady Kelly made the start between the pipes for the Cats but with ten minutes remaining in the game the first female to have ever played for the Cats - 16-year-old Jaelyn Davis - took over for Kelly and blocked 3 of 4 shots in her debut.  A large Exhibition Game crowd exploded when she entered the game and cheered on every Wolves shot that was directed her way.  The Wolves scored on the first shot on Davis however it was from the low slot in point blank range.  But the youngster and product of the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association was perfect the rest of the way and is unlikely to forget the experience for the rest of her life.

Panthers Tracks...Ethan Lingard and Reid Fryer have returned from the Victoria Grizzlies Main Camp...Julien Phillips has returned from the Swan Valley Manitoba Junior A Camp but unfortunately was forced to leave early due to an injury...he is doubtful for the Home Opener...last year's VIJHL Rookie of the Year Payton Braun will miss Friday's game as he is away in Virginia doing an entrance interview for a University in that State...Aleko Sdrakas is still in Weyburn, Saskatchewan in an attempt to make that Junior A squad and his status for Friday is yet unknown...the Club will make their first roadtrip on Saturday when they head to the VIJHL's most Northern location in Campbell River...Head Coach Chris Driebergen will make his debut behind the bench Friday night...the puck drops at 7:30 pm Friday.  Fans are asked to arrive early!