Panthers Young Guns welcome in Westshore Wolves Saturday evening

August 15, 2023
North Saanich, British Columbia

It's been a scorching week of weather in North Saanich area and certainly at the Panorama Recreation Centre, the home of the Peninsula Panthers Junior 'A' Hockey Club.  Teams in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League have had their designation raised from Junior 'B' status and there has been some intense interest by young hopefuls who are attempting to kick down the door and garner a spot on the 2023/24 roster.

Last week, Panthers Head Coach and General Manager Tyler Stanton put the hopefuls through their paces and will do much the same this week.  From all accounts, the group is a good one and on Saturday evening at 7:00 pm the group will host rookies from the Westshore Wolves in Exhibition action.

Stanton has had an up close and personal view of the would-be rookies and had some interesting thoughts to share when spoken with early Tuesday morning as he prepares for more Camp action this evening:

"Over the past few weeks, 36 young men from ages 15-19 have been working hard on and off the ice. This coming Saturday the 19th we will see seven 2008 born players in the line-up as well as a number of '07's, 06's and a few 05's.  A lot of the kids have been waiting for the opportunity to showcase their talent and Saturday will give fans their first glimpse of youngsters who will make our roster this season or in seasons to come.  Playing Junior hockey on the Peninsula with the Panthers for a lot of these boys is what they grew up dreaming about.  To be able to provide an opportunity like this is pretty cool not only for the organization, but for each and every player and his family as well."

Stanton, who has brought a ton of energy to the Organization since he was hired two months ago, was obviously excited about Saturday night when the puck will drop between his Panthers and Westshore Wolves rookies.

"There is bound to be some intensity to the game with all but a few of the boys pressing for an opportunity to move on to our Main Camp.  Our veterans will come in this Sunday in the early afternoon and after some meetings, we will get right to work on the ice.  But first I am looking forward to watching these guys give it everything they have Saturday to earn a shot at moving forward in the process."

Panthers Tracks....4-year veteran Ryan Grambart will miss the initial part of the Main Camp as he is in Switzerland skating with a professional team...Panthers Coach Hans Kossman coached professionally in Swiss leagues for the past 25 years and his contacts afforded Grambart the opportunity...Grambart hopes to follow his father's footsteps as he played professionally in Switzerland as a young man...Stanton and his staff have quietly been working behind the scenes and have signed a number of players who have yet to be introduced...detailed information on each one of the additions will begin to trickle out next week as Main Camp gets into motion...Cats game Saturday will go at 7:00 pm while two other exhibition games set for Friday, August 25 and Friday, September 1 will start at the usual 7:30 pm...the HOME OPENER is slated for Friday, September 8...the Panthers have not raised their ticket prices for the past five years and will move Adult rates to $12. for this coming season to even the playing field in terms of prices with the other South Island VIJHL Teams.