With heavy hearts at the passing of former Coach Brad Tippett, the Panthers win in Overtime

Saturday, September 30, 2023
Oceanside Place Arena
Oceanside, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers had another successful weekend winning a pair of games against the Nanaimo Buccaneers at home Friday night and a heart-stopping 2-1 victory in Overtime on the road in Oceanside against the defending VIJHL Champion Oceanside Generals on Saturday night.  But the two wins paled in comparison to the devastating news the Club received as they boarded the bus Saturday afternoon, that former Bench Boss Brad Tippett had passed away Friday night.

On Friday, Ethan Lingard paced the attack by scoring twice while singles came off the sticks of Ryan Grambart, Luka Jansen van Rensburg and rookie Colton Trotter with his first goal in Junior Hockey.  Rowan Cairns, who was obtained from the Westshore Wolves earlier in the week, impressed the fan base and chipped in with two helpers on the night.  Tanner Ferrill put another notch in his belt between the pipes for the Cats and was full value for the 5-2 win.

On Saturday morning, Owner Pete Zubersky heard the news of the passing of his former Coach Brad Tippett.

"I was called by a friend of mine and Brad's and we chatted for a while.  The news came right out of left field, no doubt about that. I planned to tell the players on the way home when we just had 25 minutes left before arriving home and thought this would give them the opportunity to enjoy the game and digest the results but would also give them time to be together and be able to talk about Brad. But texts started coming in from so many people who had heard and it caught me off guard.  I decided to tell the team before we left Greater Victoria as news travels so quickly.  I told them about Brad and about how much the Peninsula Panthers meant to him.  There were quite a number of our guys who had played for Brad and they found a way to dig deeper than any game this season. We have been hit with a lot of adversity over the past several years and this group just knows how to find another level in the face of adversity.  They did it again Saturday night."

Goaltender Silas Currie got the start between the pipes and was phenomenal in the first ten minutes while the Panthers found their legs.  And then midway through the 2nd frame, sniper Ryan Grambart took a strange bounce off a stanchion in the offensive end and promptly snapped a shot past Oceanside netminder Marc Samyn to open the scoring.  It looked like the single marker would hold up but with only 34 seconds remaining and with Samyn on the bench for the extra attacker, the Generals tipped a shot through the wickets of Currie to tie the game and to send a large partisan home crowd into a fenzy.  The Panthers controlled the puck and the play for most of the overtime period and it would be Lingard who would get the winner off a wrist shot from the top of the circles.  Evan Crawford and Tristan Rosenblood were awarded assists on the play.  Lingard raced back towards his own end after notching the winner but made a hard left by the visitors bench and vanished through the gate to the dressing room.  It was a happy bus on the way home but there was also much discussion about Brad Tippett and his passing.

Head Coach and General Manager Tyler Stanton gave these comments outside the rink by the bus before all the players had an opportunity to board the Iron Lung:

"I cannot possibly shower enough credit on our entire team for their effort tonight. We had a hesitant first 12 minutes, then settled in and went to work. Grambo (Grambart) had his best game of the year, showing signs of his old self. Cairns, Lingo (Lingard) & Rosey (Rosenblood) played big defensive minutes and flexed there 200 ft game. Silas (Currie) was once again remarkable and kept the door shut. It's games like this that tell us more about our team than anything else.

This Organization, has always preached the Team and FAMILY mentality. Undoubtedly, TIP was with us there tonight and I am over the moon to be able to get this done for him tonight. Once a Panther, always a Panther."

Zubersky also shared his thoughts after the game was in the books.  "Brad moved from Regina a number of years ago and we first met over a planned 30-minute coffee that lasted for over four hours.  He was very open with me in our inital conversation and he became our Head Coach after that meeting. The Panthers were so very important to Brad and he loved his position as Head Coach. I still recall him addressing the team in the dressing room after a game and pulling out his Panthers business card and becoming emotional at how proud he was to be associated with the Organization.  I know that being with the Panthers helped Brad in more ways than most people know.  He loved his players and they loved him. This was an emotional day for quite a number of them.  Our former Captain Thomas Spink was at the game in Oceanside and came up to me to talk about Brad. A lot of the players who have moved on after aging out had been speaking to each other and to Thomas. The hockey world is a small one and today is a very sad day.  But I believe Brad has now found peace."

The Panthers will host the Lake Cowichan Kraken this Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre with the puck set to drop shortly after 7:30 pm.  Zubersky will make a short address prior to the start of the game.  Fans are asked to arrive a bit early and to be in your seats by 7:25 pm.