Panthers Plan Final Player Selections

As the summer days click along and hockey is far from the mind of most fans, Head Coach & General Manager Rob Armstrong has been busy at work trying to put together a young and energetic squad that will be ready to compete in the 2012/13 VIJHL season.  And for Armstrong, the task has been a big one but is also one that he is enjoying very much. 

"Pete Zubersky and I met for a coffee about a week after our playoff run was over, after much of the emotion had subsided and together we put in a plan for the team moving forward," explained Armstrong.  "We decided that we would get back to what the Panthers were in years gone by - talented young kids who were looking at the Panthers as a place to develop their hockey skills and hopefully vault to the next level and beyond.  It is a brave move.  It would be easy to take veteran players from various leagues and undoubtedly win with them, but we both believe we can win with the type of players that we are recruiting and I suppose the proof will be in the pudding."

The Panthers have moved quite a number of veteran type players from just after Christmas last season and into the Spring and this summer, but have also been beating the bushes for young, skilled and exciting players to fill the gaps left by the departing vets.  Armstrong has been to several Junior "A" camps as well as a week down in L.A and has found some diamonds in the rough through his travels. 

The team held a Spring Camp in April and were quite surprised by the interest shown.  Expecting thirty hopeful young players, the organization was delighted when double that number attended.  Quite a number of recruits were signed out of that camp but there are spots remaining and up for grabs at this point.  "We have signed Stephen Heslop who is a 17-year-old Goaltender coming out of the Juan de Fuca Midget program.  Stephen has such a big upside and in the playoffs last season ended up as our starter,"  said Armstrong.  "We are still looking for one more Goaltender and I believe this spot will be hotly contested.  We have several spots open on the back end and up front so I expect there will be some really interesting competition in the next several weeks."

Zubersky, who watches over the hockey end of things for the club, is quite pleased to date.  "Rob has been putting in the time and I feel we are on track for this time of year.  We will hold our Development Camp starting in early August and this stage will be the final part of the journey and will ultimately result in the club for this season being selected.  I am not into kids moving in and out at this level, but rather want them to have a level of comfort and security and this in my mind translates to better performance.  When we select kids and when they select us, it usually means they play here until they move on to another level.  Sometimes you have problems and it is better for a player to move on but this does not happen very often.  We want good players, we want even better people," opined Zubersky.

The club will move from Development ice into a series of Exhibition games in the final weekend of August and then follow this up with another two Development ice slots.  The final roster should be almost nailed down by the final day of August and then Armstrong will have his group for five or six practices before opening at home on September 7th against the visiting Westshore Wolves. 

Yes, much of the groundwork has been completed, but there is still a lot of work to get done before the puck drops in September and a brand new season of VIJHL hockey begins.  And Armstrong will continue to follow the blueprint laid out in April, even though the summer sun still burns bright.