Panthers edge Islander 4-3 on Riley Braun Jersey Retirement night

Friday October 28, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers continued with their winning ways on Friday night as they dispatched the Kerry Park Islanders 4-3 in a game that was not decided until very late in the 3rd period on a Tanner Banks winning marker.  But the result was trumped by a pre-game ceremony where the Organization retired the #10 Jersey of five-year veteran Riley Braun.  

Braun Captained and led last year's version of the Panthers to a six-game final series win which culminated last April 1 with a heart-stopping 4-3 win in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on a Logan Speirs series winner just a couple minutes into overtime.  The rugged right winger managed to capture just about every single scoring record in the Panthers history and also took claim to a number of VIJHL records for good measure.  The night was made more special when numerous previous teammates filed into the Panorama to witness the Jersey Retirement including former linemates Josh Lingard, Tanner Wort and Speirs.  The three accompanied Braun onto the ice and each passed along their thoughts to Braun and to the many fans in attendance and each was met with generous applause.  Braun was presented with a ring by Panthers General Manager and Owner Pete Zubersky which had the inscription engraved on the inside: #10 Riley Braun Panthers GOAT.  Braun addressed the Club thanking the Organization for the years he spent with the Club and then leaving a message for current Panthers players.  He turned to the bench and told them that time in Junior Hockey goes by very quickly and to embrace every moment.  Braun then dropped the puck on a Ceremonial Face-off between his younger brother and current Peninsula Panthers Assistant Captain Payton Braun and former Panthers player and current Assistant Captain of the Islanders Aleko Sdrakas.

The Cats had a pair of defencemen in Reid Fryer and Andrew Braun out on the injured list and three others including JR Phillips, Theodore St-Denis and Seth Fryer missing due to feeling ill.  They brought up affiliate player Evan Mayer who is currently the Captain of the North Island Silvertips U-18 team in order to have a full lineup for the contest.  But Zubersky was making no excuses going into the game when approached about the lineup on the night.  "I don't think we have had the same lineup anytime in the last dozen games," quipped the GM.  We have played each game significantly banged up and now when it looked for the first time this season that we would have a couple healthy scratches, the flu bug hit us hard.  I know that it is hitting a lot of the teams in the League right now so you simply play the hand you are dealt."

The Islanders opened the scoring late in the first period when Kellan Bates kept wacking away at a loose puck before virtually willing across Panthers netminder Brady Kelly and then the goal line.  The marker sent the visitors to the dressing room at the intermission with the 1-0 lead.

The Panthers outscored the Islanders 3-2 during the middle stanza on goals by Tristan Rosenblood, Ethan Lingard and Ryan Grambart while Islanders responded on tallies by Colby Robinson and Bates with his 2nd of the night.

The final stanza went back and forth and at times a Panthers squad that appeared tired were bottled up in their own end for protracted periods of time.  With under two minutes remaining and the game hanging in the balance, Grambart picked up a loose puck just inside his blueline and then raced down the right side through the neutral zone.  He found Banks heading down mainstreet towards the Islanders net and goaltender Eric Young and put the puck on Banks' tape.  The slick Panthers forward and leading scorer made a crafty move to get within 17 feet of Young and then snapped a shot to the top of the cage for what proved to be the winner.  The Islanders pulled Young with just under a minute to go in the contest for the extra attacker however the move was in vain and when the final buzzer sounded, it was Panthers by the slimmest of margins at 4-3.

Kelly picked up the win blocking 32 of 35 Islanders attempts while Young soaked up the loss after being able to handle 20 of 24 Panthers scoring attempts.  Lukas Tokic picked up a pair of helpers in the game and was the game star for the Islanders while Mayer looked good in his Junior debut and was the Panthers' selection.

"We have one or more games in hand over pretty well everyone else in the VIJHL but as I mentioned to Coach Chris Driebergen, they mean nothing if you don't win." matter of factly stated Zubersky.  "We are finding a way to do that right now.  We have the weekend off and our guys need some time to get healthy so the timing is certainly good.  We are up in Nanaimo on Thursday and then have Comox Valley Glacier Kings in on Friday and so those will be a couple really tough tests.  The Bucs are playing their best hockey right now that they have in the past two seasons and the Glacier Kings are as dangerous as any time in the Province at this point in the season.  I think some rest and some warm chicken soup will do wonders for our group and hopefully we can get back to playing hard and at 100%."

Panthers Tracks...the win kept the Panthers in 1st place in the VIJHL...six teams are within two points of each other at the top,,,Driebergen moved some of his pieces around on Friday looking for players who were not feeling the bite of the flu and those players logged a lion's share of the minutes...Cam Sneek who will not turn 16 until November 22 has picked up his game as of late and was a physical presence each time he jumped the wall...Mayer's Silvertips were slated to head to Prince George for games this weekend however his Club had to postpone the trip due to the flu going through the team...it was his first game at the Junior level and although he did not garner a point, he made several moves that displayed his offensive potential...Rosenblood's goal was one of the prettiest of the season...Lingard took a pass from Braun as they entered the zone and he moved it from the right wall to Evan Birks who was flying down the left side...Birks spotted Rosenblood and hit him with a nifty pass and the play ended with a well-placed shot past Young.,,the Panthers will take on the Glacier Kings next Friday night with the puck set to drop at 7:30 pm.