ShareBrady Kelly puts up first Junior Career shutout as Panthers upend the Bucs
2022-11-11
Goaltender Brady Kelly leads his Panthers onto the ice to start the game on Friday night and is welcomed by wide-eyed young fans
The Peninsula Panthers were stingy on home ice Friday night. Combined with a special performance between the pipes on Remembrance Day, they handily downed the Nanaimo Buccaneers 4-0.Friday November 11, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia
On a clear and crisp evening on the Saanich Peninsula, it was fitting that Panthers' goaltender would post his inaugural shutout in Junior Hockey on Remembrance Day. The Panthers honoured our Canadian Military in a touching pre-game ceremony and specifically drew attention to the fact that many Canadians who have given their lives in order that we all might enjoy the freedom we have in this Country today, were the same age or even younger than many of the players who were on the ice for both the Peninsula Panthers and the Nanaimo Buccaneers Friday night.
Patrick St-Denis is an important part of the Panthers in charge of Hockey Operations. He was also a former Commander of a ship in the Canadian Navy and obviously one who takes every November 11th to heart. As a Naval Commander he would have been forced to give the command to "Batten down the hatches." Kelly might be well advised to take up a career in the Canadian Military, perhaps he received the command prior to the affair Friday night. If the netminder did, he certainly is good at taking directions.
(batten down the hatches)
DEFINITION:
1.
nautical
secure a ship's hatch-tarpaulins, especially when rough weather is expected.
Kelly has been sensational this entire season, especially when the Cats have needed a stop when the going was rough in their own end. Although the score looked to be somewhat lopsided, the veteran stopper made key saves when the game was on the line in the first 40 minutes. The Panthers opened the scoring right off the bat when only 11 seconds in, Malcolm Fletcher beat Buccaneers' goaltender Darian Feser The Panthers held a wide-shot margin in the period outpacing the Bucs 23-8 but the only shot that mattered was Fletcher's and the Clubs went to the intermission with the Cats leading 1-0.
It was Ryan Grambart who would score the only marker in the middle stanza at the 6:17 mark when he jumped on a loose puck in front of Feser and deposited it to the back of the net. Again, the action was mostly in the Buccaneers end, albeit, there were several scoring opportunities that Kelly turned aside.
Tanner Banks and Julien Phillips on the power play each scored in the final frame and Kelly was once again perfect and when the buzzer sounded, the local fans looked up at the scoreboard to see a 4-0 victory for their side. The Panthers outshot the Bucs 55-25 over the 60 minutes of action. Feser and Panthers Brad "no-reBates" Bates who chipped in with a couple of helpers on the night, were named as the respective Players of the Game for each team.
Head Coach Chris Driebergen was happy with the win and more than just a little pleased with his squad giving up just a single goal over the last two contests:
"For us to be successful we need to be a 'defence first' team, we get ourselves in trouble when we get ahead of ourselves.
I told the boys this weekend to do less, but be exceptional at it. When we try to do too much and play outside of our skill set or specific role, is when we find ourselves in trouble. Both Kelly's had bounce-back games from the previous weekend. It was great to see Brady get rewarded with a shutout. There was an energy on the bench the last few minutes, no one said anything but all the players knew to give a little extra.
Our energy line of Bates, Fletcher, Sneek had by far their best game as a unit and I felt they were our most impressive line on Friday evening. We need some grit and they were happy to oblige. Both Robson Scott and Seth Fryer had their most consistent and solid defensive efforts this week. We
have two important games this upcoming weekend vs Comox. We will need to be very specific and deliberate in practice as we plan and prepare for these games."
The Panthers should have a couple of the walking wounded back into the lineup on next Friday night when they host the Comox Valley Glacier Kings with the puck set to drop in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre at 7:30 pm.
.jpg)
Email
Print