Preweda signing adds to local flavour

Sunday, June 18
North Saanich, British Columbia

Two weeks ago the Peninsula Panthers inked several young and exciting players, one being 17-year-old Forward Lukas Preweda.  The calm and skilled forward cut his teeth last season as an affiliate player with the Club and played ten games at the Junior level including in a rugged 1st round best-of-7 tilt against the crosstown Saanich Predators.  He left no doubt in this expanded audition that he belonged in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and impressed Pete Zubersky with his composure and compete.

"I was really surprised how right from his first game with us Lukas was calm and looked like he belonged," explained Zubersky.  "The U'18's Coach Mark Hall suggested to Zubersky that the Junior B owner have him out for a look at practice and everything seemed to take off from that point.  Lukas played a number of roles in his ten games with us and most were very important games.  It was really enjoyable to see him as a 16-year-old banging and crashing with 20-year-old players and showing no fear.  He certainly did not have wide eyes and we let him know at some point last season that we would be bringing him on.  I met with Lukas and his parents on a Sunday afternoon last February right outside the Panorama and we had a good chat and both sides made the committment for this coming season."

Preweda hails from Brentwood Bay and is yet another player to have played his Minor Hockey in the PMHA and then move onto the Peninsula Panthers.  The Zubersky's trademark is to have as many local players as possible and Preweda fit right into that mould. The intelligent forward shared some of his thoughts after inking a contract:  

"I am excited to introduce myself as a new member of the Panthers. My name is Lukas, and I'm a two-way forward. I'm thrilled to be joining the Panthers this year and can't wait to start playing. Looking forward to getting to know the team even more and looking forward to showing more of my offensive abilities this year. This year I am going to establish myself as a strong player in the league. The Panthers mean a lot to me as an organization because I’ve been watching them ever since I was a kid and it just feels great to finally play with them" 

Head Coach and General Manager Tyler Stanton has had an opportunity to be up close at a two-day Camp he held in early May and had some thoughts on the youngster:

"Lukas brings a high-paced and skilled offensive piece to our team. While an affiliate player last year, Lukas played big games and playoffs with the Panthers, rolling over into him being signed for the coming year. Lukas will bring a strong, gritty piece to our offensive. We are thrilled to welcome this young man to his hometown team. Welcome Lukas! " 

The Panthers Brass will attend a VIJHL scheduling meeting set for June 27th and will release their schedule shortly after that.  And that is when Preweda and his new teammates will have to get down to business early in September when the curtain raises on the 2023/24 season.