Panthers win shoot-out heart-stopper against the visiting Kerry Park Islanders

It was September 9th and the Peninsula Panthers had just dropped a tough 1-0 decision at the hands of the Oceanside Generals in an afternoon tilt up Island.  There was not much unusual about the day, the club packed up their gear, loaded up the bus and started the trip back South.  The pizza and drinks were passed around and 30 minutes into the trip home a quiet bus began to shake off some of the disappointment of the loss.  The team made short work of the food and drinks and it was at this point that Management held an impromptu meeting.  The players were all gathered into the back and a pointed discussion followed.  The team had not played team hockey, they had not played gritty, they had not given their best efforts, there were a lot of "had nots," in fact far too many to find success against any opponent.  Play of individual players was disected and although the message was not sweet for everyone, the message was an honest one and one that was meant to improve each player and the team as a group.  The bus meandered down the Trans Canada Highway towards Victoria and once it arrived at a pre-arranged point, the players all departed and went their separate ways for the evening.  It was a scene that had been played out more times than any of these players or coaches could count.

Fast forward two weeks later prior to the Panthers home affair with the visiting Kerry Park Islanders.  The Panthers arrived at the Panorama Recreation Centre in good time around 5:30 pm and the game preparation began in earnest.  Players taped their sticks, warmed up off ice together, did the usual things that they have all done hundreds or probably thousands of times.  Yes, there was some differences, the most notable being the presence of Mark Donnelly, the voice of the Vancouver Canucks who was in the house and was going to warmup with the club prior to the singing of the National Anthem.  But for the most part the players were focused on the task at hand, and that was coming out on top in the game which was set for a 7:30 pm start.

At 7:00 pm the players lined up in the hallway leading out to the ice.  It was here that Cole Glover noticed Pete Zubersky and waved him over for a quick chat.  Glover and his play had not been addressed in the talk on the ride back home from Oceanside and Glover mentioned this to Zubersky and asked what he needed to do.  Zubersky explained that he felt Glover and some others had played well in the first two games of the season but Glover wanted more.  He wanted to know what the expectations were for him as the Club had sewn an "A" onto his uniform after the opening weekend split of games.

"I told Glover that we wanted more of the same, that we were happy with his game," explained Zubersky.  "I also told him that in our minds he was one of the go-to guys on the squad and that we expected that he would put up points, play well in both ends of the ice, play gritty and to be a leader."  The talk was not unlike many that happen in a season and Glover took his million-dollar smile and went out on the sheet only seconds later for the warmup.

But after the game began it would only take Glover 4 minutes to give the Panthers a one-goal lead on an unassisted short-handed tally.  And he would add an assist on a Dane Gibson marker in the first minute of play in the 2nd frame and add a second goal less than a minute later.  Glover was clearly the best Panther of the night and although he would not finish off the hat trick, he would have umpteen dozen chances from in close but a combination of lack of puck luck and strong Islander goaltending would be the difference.

The Panthers also had goals from Cody Breitenstein and Jonas Horvath on the night but the two teams ended regulation tied at 5 and the five-minute overtime period would solve nothing.  It would take feisty Cole Golka to score, taking the initial shot for the Panthers in the shoot-out and that would be all that was needed as Panthers netminder Stephen Heslop would block all three Kerry Park Islander attempts.  Breitenstein was stymied by Islanders goaltender Matt Zenzola but with Heslop standing tall, the miss simply did not matter.

But this night was the Cole Glover show and he was clearly the best player on the ice.  The Panthers players are all hoping that the scene on the bus two weeks ago will not have to be replayed, and Glover appears as though he will be doing everything in his power to make sure of it.

Panthers Tracks....Breitenstein - who is getting better with each passing game - was named the contest's 3rd star....Islanders Zenzola, who gave the Islanders a chance after blocking a lions share of shots, was named 2nd star.....Glover was 1st star....Golka was nailed with a blast from the point off the stick of Grayson Vickers in the 2nd period and was in obvious pain and struggled to get off the ice....he was OK and came back to score the game winner in the shoot-out....Cody Allison was out of the lineup due to having to write a test for courses he is registered in at the University of Victoria...."Whistler Will" Finlay and Jonas Horvath had a couple vehicles full of people come in from Whistler for the game....16-year-old Connor Logan played his best game of the early season and, although he did not get points, he was more of a physical presence....Power forwards Ben Meek and Reece Costain both showed signs that they could bring a lot more to the table which is what was expected when they were signed in the late Spring....Justin Samra allowed four pucks to leak past by the midway point in the 2nd period and was replaced by Heslop who only allowed one tally the rest of the way....The team was downed by the Victoria Cougars on Thursday evening, some details of this game can be found under the "Hockey Operations" portion of the website....