September 8, 2023
Panorama Recreation Centre
North Saanich, British Columbia
The anticipation had been building for a number of weeks and Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre the Peninsula Panthers racked up their 1st win of the 2023/24 season by knocking off the visiting Westshore Wolves by a 4-2 count. It was the cap to a perfect evening including cooperation from the weatherman who gave the Cats a a warm summer evening to host their Tailgate Party for a couple hours prior to the Home Opener. Victoria Fireman Luke Lampard backed up his pickup truck shortly before 5:00 pm and after unloading some equipment, then belted out tunes for the next two plus hours. Burgers and hot dogs were flying off the grill in the event organized by Kristy-Lynn Johnson with the help of a number of family members and friends. It was a great treat for well over 200 people who attended this portion of the evening.
Luke Lampard wows and entertains a large Tailgateparty crowd in the parking lot at the Panorama Recreation Centre.
Panthers Mascot Percy is all smiles as are some of his young admirers.
Kristy-Lynn and Erik Johnson take a moment for a photograph at a busy Tailgate party. Kristy-Lynn organized the first-ever Tailgate and it was clearly a resounding success.
Ar around 7:00 pm, fans began to filter into the Arena to watch the Panthers and the Westshore Wolves go through their 15-minute warm-up routine. And by the time the warm-up had expired, the barn was almost sold out. The big white sheet was greased and then just before 7:30 pm the lights were dimmed and the Panthers and Wolves entered the ice for the Cats Home Opener. Several videos were played in a pre-game ceremony and then the Panthers players and their sponsors were introduced on the big screen. The Ammolite Player of the Week, Camden O'Brien was introduced and he did the big skate around the rink to the delight of some 465 fans. And then it was Brendan Dawes pounding out the National Anthem to conclude the pre-game festivities.
Two excited Clubs lined up at Centre Ice and finally it was 'Game on.' It took Ryan Grambart 13:37 into the initial stanza to finally beat Wolves Goaltender Graham Brown. It was the 2nd year in a row where the sniper opened the season's scoring for the Club, with Julien Phillips and Captain Evan Crawford getting helpers on the marker. Eighteen-year-old rookie Tanner Ferrill made the start between the pipes and was nothing short of outstanding. He was stellar literally from start to finish including throughout the first 20 minutes.
It would be the Cats who jumped to a two-goal lead 13:36 into the middle frame when Reid Fryer picked up the puck behind his own net and moved it to Ethan Lingard who was lumbering out of his end. Lingard turned on the jets through the neutral zone before spotting Tristan Rosenblood streaking down the left side. Lingard put the disk right on the tape and Rosenblood wheeled to the top of the circle before letting a blast go towards Brown who was guarding the cage. It appeared as though a Wolves defenceman deflected the puck and it rocketed over the startled goaltenders shoulder and caught nothing but twine behind him. But the two-goal lead would not hold through 40 minutes when the Wolves notched a somewhat controversial goal. Zion Lavoie took a shot on Ferrill from close in, a puck that Ferrill appeared to stop. The puck dropped in front of the goal line before being quickly moved out of harm's way by a Cats' defenceman. The scoring attempt was waved off but once there was a stoppage, the officials gathered together and subsequently called the shot a goal. The two teams appeared to be heading into Intermission with the Panthers up 2-1 however with the Wolves holding some serious momentum off the Lavoie marker. But Panthers' sparkplug Carson Harris had other ideas. The Cats stormed the Wolves net with Phillips making several nice moves to get the puck low and to the blue paint where Brown was stationed. Luka Jansen van Rensburg was causing some havoc at the top of the crease and the puck squirted from his feet and onto the stick of Harris. He was stymied on the first attempt by Brown but he dogmatically rammed the puck through the netminder on the second go and the crowd erupted. The Panthers closed the period up 3-1 and the Harris marker changed everything.
Some hard work just past the midway mark of the final stanza lifted the home side to a 4-1 lead. Phillips was once again pushing the pace deep inside the Wolves' zone and he forced Brown to make another big save. The rebound popped out onto the stick of Lukas Preweda and the 17-year-old made no mistake giving what seemed to be the insurance marker. For Preweda, it would prove to be his 1st Junior A goal after coming from the Peninsula U-18 program last season. The Wolves beat Ferrill when Parker Atkinson was allowed to walk right down Mainstreet with just 4 minutes remaining to make the scoreboard read 4-2 Cats, but that would be as close as the Wolves would come on the night.
Ferrill was named the Panthers Player of the Game after he blocked 44 of 46 disks sent flying his way and picked up his 1st Junior 'A' win. Brown was tagged for the loss and was not quite as good as Ferrill knocking down 29 of 33 Panthers shots. Lavoie was named the Wolves Player of the Game.
Panthers Head Coach and General Manager Tyler Stanton was excited and all smiles after putting the first notch in what he hopes will be many in his belt after 60 minutes and a victory were fully in the books. He was spotted just outside the dressing room after addressing his troops minutes after the final buzzer and had some interesting comments:
"You always want to find a way to win your Home Opener, and we did just that. It was definitely our 1st game of the year, and at times it showed. But there were way more bright spots compared to negatives. Goalie Tanner Ferrill was phenomenal! He kept us in there, and came up massive with some big saves in situatios where it really did matter. We worked on Special Teams at practice the night before the game and thought that our power play was also good at times. JR (Julien Phillips) played big minutes, won big draws all night long and played his roll of a leader incredibly well."
Even though Stanton has a total of one game coaching at the Junior level on his resume, he already has the mindset of a grizzled veteran bench boss in putting the last game to bed and wanting to put up a W in his next one.
"Leading into our game in Lake Cowichan on Sunday with a win under our belt will go a long way. We will get better every game, every day. That is our goal at this point."
The Cats are looking to run their record to a perfect 2-0 on opening weekend on Sunday at 5:30 pm when they travel to Lake Cowichan to take on the Kraken. They will be back on home ice entertaining next Friday at 7:30 pm when they welcome in the Kerry Park Islanders for their first of three visits this season. One down and 47 to go.
Panthers tracks....Phillips was awarded a 2nd period penalty shot but failed to convert...Harris had fans in the crowd buzzing all night about his play...Lingard skated miles and will be a huge factor in any success the Club finds this year...Brown beat Jansen van Rensburg in the 2nd period on a save that might well rank right up there as one of the best this sesaon...Head Coach and General Manager Tyler Stanton picked up his first Junior win and will probably have a battle with Ferrill, who also picked up his first Junior win, as to where the puck will find a home...Seth Fryer remains with the WHL Royals but was in the crowd supporting his brother and his team...Evan Mayer is still in Saskatchewan with the Melville Millionaires...17-year-old Cameron Sneek will be out for another five weeks with a broken wrist...20-year-old defenceman Robson Scott injured his toe in practice this week when he was accidentally stepped on in the dressing room with a skate and is looking for a return to the lineup in a week...15-year-old speedster Travis Swanson jumped into the lineup as an affiliate player.
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