Young Guns dropped 5-3 by Wolves but still all smiles leaving the ice

August 19, 2023
Panorama Recreation Centre
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers Young Guns collectively had wide-eyes as they arrived at the Panorama Recreation Centre shortly after 5:00 pm for their game two hours later against the visiting Westshore Wolves.  There was undoubtedly an inordinate number of butterflies circulating within the group as they prepared for their first Junior action in their lives.  Just ten minutes before Panthers were about to take the ice, the Club sat quietly in the dressing room attired in their red Panthers jerseys as quiet and as nervous as if they were about to play for a championship.  Although the youngsters did not fit the definition of a Young Gun, by the end of 60 minutes, each and every one of them most certainly did!

Young Gun: Definition The starting lineups were introduced and the National Anthem belted out over a nice crowd that had began to filter into the Panorama shortly before 6:30 pm.  And now was the time for the future Panthers to perform as they had done the past two weeks in Camp.  But on this evening they would be going against a foe rather than a friend.  Main Camp spots were up for grabs, there were now chips on the table and it was time for the Young Guns to go All-in.  And they did.  The Cats outplayed the Wolves for most of the evening but in the end, the scoreboard did not reflect their performance and effort as is often the case and it would be the visitors who had bragging rights after 60 minutes were clearly in the books.

Wolves marksmen on the evening were Thomas Hoshal, Ethan Tremblay, Jaxson Prette, Kyle Spruston and Owen Hentschel while replying for the home side were Brandon Smith, Travis Swanson and Jackson Rauh.  There were some pretty plays for this time of year and also some thundering hits, perhaps the biggest in open ice by Christiaan Jansen van Rensberg, brother of current Panthers player Luka Jansen van Rensburg.  The Panthers outshot the Wolves 38-25.

Head Coach/GM Tyler Stanton and his coaching staff of Colin Carter, Grayson Vickers and Connor McClelland might also be considered Young Guns as the four were breaking their teeth at the Junior level behind the bench for the first time.

Stanton clearly was pleased with the effort of his troops and had a few thoughts just minutes after the final buzzer sounded.

 "I like what we saw out of a number of guys. For '08's (Colten) Roberts and (Ryden) Elinsky played way above their years. They were so confident in moving the puck quick and remained composed with no panic in their game when under pressure."
 
"Our forward line of Swan-Swanson-Rauh seemed to be one that created opportunity after opportunity all night long while developing trust in one another as the game went on."
 
"Cole Adams was a major standout as well, creating multiple scoring opportunities alongside Kalum Eastman.  We invited both of them to Main Camp after the game."
 
"As a staff, we were very pleased with how the young guns played. While the score did not reflect the game, it was fun to watch them compete and take in the sites and sounds." 
 
"Main camp tomorrow otta be good. Its time to get dirty, and the real prep for Sept 8th starts with no time to take days off."

Panthers Tracks...returning veterans, newly signed players and a number of Young Guns will begin the journey together Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm for Main Camp...Stanton will address the group at 12:00 noon setting the tone for Camp and for the season...Swanson is the brother of current Panthers defenceman Evan Crawford and his goal Saturday night electrified the crowd...the diminutive centreman will move onto Main Camp and the WHL drafted youngster is full-value for the invite...almost every Panthers veteran and signed rookies were at the game in shirt and tie to show solidarity with the Young Guns who may be skating at their side this season or in the near future...the exhibition games get more meaningful as the days move by...next Friday night at 7:30 pm the Wolves will be back with more of a veteran-filled roster and the Panthers will ice the same.