Good Evening Hockey Fans,
Welcome back to the Panorama Recreation Centre for tonight’s affair with the visiting Nanaimo Buccaneers. The Bucs currently sit on top of the Northern Division of the VIJHL with 8 points in 8 games. Campbell River, Comox and Oceanside all have 7 points. Our Club currently sits with 3 wins and 4 losses however a win would put us in a 3rd place tie with the Westshore Wolves. The Nanaimo team is a new entry in the VIJHL and we will travel up to see them in several weeks. Tonight’s game should be a real good one and it should be interesting as this is the first time these teams have hooked up in Exhibition or Regular Season.
Cole Glover, who is pictured in among three Victoria Cougars last night at Archie Browning, is really coming along as of late. Glover started the year quite slowly however last Friday scored a couple goals and had an assist in a 6-5 win against the visiting Kerry Park Islanders. Last night the Victoria Cougars were not very welcoming as hosts and they dropped us by a 5-2 count. Glover scored again and hopefully he can keep it going tonight against the Buccaneers. I just spoke to the Victoria Grizzlies and the Cowichan Capitals this morning and both teams have an interest in affiliating with Glover. He had gone through the Caps’ main camp in late August before being released however logistically the Grizzlies make more sense. I am sure this will all become more clear for Glover in the next several days.
And speaking of players who are starting to get noticed by some Junior A teams, Spencer Loverock, Josh Adkins, Reece Costain, Dane Gibson, Cody Breitenstein, Patrick Croome and Stephen Heslop all fall into this category. There is a long list of others who I expect will break out in the next while and so I believe that in the next week or two we will have 7-10 players AP’d in Junior A.
What does all of this mean? These players are all hoping to go to the next level and so I will look at Cody Breitenstein who hails from Los Angeles. Cody is a great kid and one that has fit in perfectly here on the Peninsula. He has a lot of talent and is a real team guy and he is a kid that is truly getting better each week. When speaking with Cody he makes it clear that he has come up to Canada to become a better hockey player. He told me quite recently that he could have stayed in the USA and played however, the level here in terms of the physical play is tougher and that is where he felt he needed to improve. I saw him at our camp in April and, although I liked him towards the final day, he is a different player now. He believes he sees more con
tact in one or two shifts than he would in an entire game last season and so there is obviously a learning curve taking place. That being said, he is not shy in this area and has all the skills to really succeed in the game and so the next step for him is to play big minutes and be an impact player on our Club and in our League. Next, he needs to practice and play some games at the Junior A level and with an affiliation this would become possible. The Grizzlies are looking at him right now and so I would like to see him get the opportunity to practice a couple times with them to show them he would not be out of place. This is what I am hoping for all of these players. Breitenstein scored our first goal on the power play last night.
A bit on the game last night with the Cougars. Breitenstein opened the scoring in the first period on the power play and Glover scored as well but the Cougars added two of their own leaving the teams tied at 2 after the 1st. The Cougars scored the only goal of the 2nd period and then added two more in the 3rd to skate away with the 5-2 win. I thought our kids competed fairly well but not even close to the level we need them to. We are a young squad however we now have played seven games and the players should all be comfortable in now knowing that they can compete. The next step is to bring intensity, hard work and grit to their game. I believe that we work hard but not every single player is playing with grit. Last night we turned off checks on quite a number of occasions. There were plenty of examples where a shot would come from the point and we
simply did not have bodies in front of the net who were willing to pay the price. That is OK for now, the first step was to work hard, now we need to add intensity and grit and this will result in the final step and that is putting wins up on the board. The players were told this after the 2nd period and I think they understood the message. I saw Will Finlay being physical for the first time this year. I saw Grayson Vickers hit a couple Cougars, something that he has to do to be an impact player. I saw others playing with more grit, with more urgency and I want and believe that we will see a whole bunch more of that this evening.
One kid that has had a slow start but is playing better as of late is 17-year-old Reece Costain. Costain laid out the biggest hit of the game last night and threw another significant check that I recall however this kid has so much more of that in him. Reece is a big kid but played Midget last season and I believe is just now adjusting a bit to the Junior game. Watch him as he moves around the sheet tonight. He can skate, has some touch and as I mentioned, has a big body and can really punish opponents with his physical attributes. Reece played Midget “AA” with Aldergrove last season and was scouted in the Provincial Midget Championship last March. He attended the Nanaimo Clippers camp and I know that they are keeping a close eye on his progress and would like to see him make the jump, perhaps as early as next season. Reece has yet to score but, if he goes in front of the net and causes problems for the Buccaneers tonight, he may just get his first Junior goal this evening.
You might have noticed that our three “A’s” at home are Glover, Logan Gibson and Cole Golka. On the road this is cha
nged up just a bit with Dane Gibson, Josh Adkins and Cody Breitenstein wearing the letters. We have not yet selected a Captain however the coaching staff are quite close to naming their selection, perhaps as early as next Friday.
We have our souvenir program out tonight - earliest we’ve ever put it out. Coreen has put some long, long hours in on getting this done and I think you will all enjoy it quite a bit. As for tonight, thank you for coming out once again to the Panorama to help support our team. This is a great League and the parity this year is better than I have ever seen. Thank you for being great fans and making all this possible. Enjoy! Pete Zubersky
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