Panthers knocked off Sunday in Victoria

Sunday, January 7, 2024
Archie Browning Arena
Esquimalt, British Columbia

Peninsula Panthers Head Coach/GM Tyler Stanton is leaving no stones unturned as the impending 4:00 pm January 10th trading deadline moves ever closer with each passing minute.  Stanton has made two trades in the past several days, a smaller one with the Nanaimo Buccaneers and the blockbuster with the Saanich Predators this past Thursday.  But some indications are that he may not be finished.

"We have been having a lot of discussions over the past several days," quipped Panthers Owner Pete Zubersky.  "We spoke at 10:30 pm on Saturday night and then met for an hour over a coffee before our game Sunday in Esquimalt against the Cougars.  He has a dogmatic approach and he wants to give our group a chance to win. I think that this past weekend with the pair of games against the Cougars has shown that we are certainly in the ballpark and we believe we can compete. Another tweak might be in store, we are just not sure at this point.  But with the deadline looming, we will have those answers in the next couple of days."

After the two had a coffee, Stanton walked across the parking lot and into the Archie Browning Arena shedding his GM's hat and putting on the one that had Head Coach written on the brim.  And when the 60 minutes were in the books, his squad was able to affirm once again that they can compete, albeit, they went down 3-1 at the hands of the South Division leading Victoria Cougars. The shots on goal were almost identical and both teams competed hard, but in the end it was a couple of power play markers by the Cougars, including one with less than three minutes remaining in the game, that made the difference.

"We would have loved to get a point or two out of the game, no question," emphatically stated Zubersky. "But as importantly was the fact that the effort was there and we were tied 1-1 late in the 3rd period. Our effort and the results over the two games this weekend made me feel comfortable that we could go forward status quo or try and upgrade. It's fluid right now and Tyler will be working the phone lines. There is still a lot of water to go under the bridge."

The Panthers will have an opportunity to properly integrate the four new forwards with a week of practice and will welcome in the Westshore Wolves Friday night at 7:30 pm.  They will also determine if they can make their squad better before 4:00 pm on Wednesday.