Tight Hockey Community out in full force Friday night in support of Lougheed Family

Friday, November 17, 2023
Panorama Recreation Centre
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers were bounced 5-3 by the visiting Kerry Park Islanders in an exciting affair Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  A huge crowd had filtered into the Barn well before the puck was set to drop at 7:30 pm and although most left with some disappointment with the loss, the real story was the Hockey Community turning out in spades in support of 11-year-old Ronan Lougheed, his parents Dave and Melanie and his older brother Connor.

Ronan plays hockey in the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association but quite recently was not feeling well and after some tests it was revealed that he had Burkitt Lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects children at an abnormally high rate. Ronan is currently in Children's Hospital in Vancouver and is expected to be there until sometime in April.  And of course the financial costs on the family are very significant.

"I heard about the youngster a number of weeks ago and was told that he is a big Peninsula Panthers fan.  We wanted to do something for Ronan and his family," explained Panthers owner Pete Zubersky.

Three Panthers players and the Head Coach headed over to Vancouver 12 days earlier and gifted Ronan a signed Panthers Jersey.  The players also put together video clips from each of them, encouraging messages to Ronan and gifted that as well.  But the Club wanted to help to defray the costs heaped on the family and decided that they would hold a 50/50 draw during Friday's game.  Zubersky went out on the ice and addressed the crowd asking them to open up their hearts and their wallets and the 400 in attendance did exactly that.  The winner of the 50/50 draw walked up to Zubersky, identified herself as Kimberlee Wade and immediately gifted the winnings back to the family.  It was announced at the rink and the crowd broke into a thunderous ovation.  There were also some donations to the Lougheed's and the total monies raised and gifted to the family at the end of the night came in at $3,129.

"It was everything that we had hoped for and more," quipped Zubersky. "It was amazing to see our community out in force supporting one of our own who is in need.  And it comes right as we are approaching the Christmas Season.  PMHA was a huge part and Ronan's mates and a couple of the dad's worked hard all night. Tanya Fletcher was a big part in putting this part of the evening together and kudos to her.  Coreen and I spoke with Dave midway through the evening and I know the family is appreciative of our entire community.  I think everyone at the game left with a good feeling in their hearts and now we are all watching and pulling for Ronan.

On the ice, the game had just about everything an evening could have and the crowd was entertained from start to finish.  Tanner Ferrill was nicked for the loss between the pipes.  Scoring for the Panthers were Malcolm Fletcher, Cam Sneek and Ryan Grambart.  It was just not enough to pull out the win but somehow the scoreboard paled in comparison to what the night was all about.

The Panthers will have a week of practice and will be back at home next Friday night when the welcome in the Westshore Wolves ...puck drops at 7:30 pm.