October 19th vs. Campbell River Storm - Hockey Ops

Good Evening Hockey Fans,

Welcome back on this Friday evening for our first match-up of the year with the Campbell River Storm.  We will be off the ice tomorrow and then will travel up to Campbell River on Sunday for a 4:00 pm start against the Storm to complete the weekend home-and-home series.  I recall when making up the schedule and speaking with Storm owner Kevin Spooner about playing a back-to-back and we both thought it would be a great idea helping to promote a rivalry between the two Clubs. 

The Storm are going through a bit of a transition at this point in the season and coaching in his first game tonight for the Strom is Ryan Toporowski.  Ryan is a young fellow and this is his first shot at being a head coach and the Panthers Organization wish him the best of luck...after this weekend is over!  The Storm started out the season with a couple of early wins but have sagged a bit as of late and I expect that they will bring their best this evening under the new coaching staff.  Very often when a Club makes a change at the top there is an immediate injection of energy and so we will need to bring that same energy level to compete tonight and then again on Sunday in Campbell River.

I am going to talk about last Friday’s game as well as a game last Saturday in Comox and last night in Nanaimo against the Buccaneers, but I thought I would change it up just a bit tonight and chat first about 18-year-old Cody Allison.  He has such an interesting story and one that I wanted to share with all of you.  When we took control of the team last December, Cody was a 17-year-old Forward who was floundering.  I watched him in practice and saw that his skating was good enough but his confidence seemed to be non-existent.  I watched him do the drills and would consistently see the puck bounce off his stick, and when he did catch a pass he would just dump it out as quickly as possible so as not to make a mistake.  The other thing I immediately noticed was that he worked harder than any player - that automatically put him right to the top of my favourite list - and that he wanted to play and contribute to the team.  I watched him leave the rink after games having not played very much and saw that he quite often had a heavy heart.  We had several fireside chats about his play and I saw the fire inside.  Cody got better and better as the year went by and in the playoffs made a significant difference during our playoff run.  He was utilized on the #1 Penalty Kill unit and played on a checking line that brought energy to our Club each and every game.  Fast forward to this season.  Cody started out in basically the same role but I could see that he had more confidence.  There was a time several weeks ago where I am not sure he believed he belonged but since that time has really been one of our better players.  Last Friday night we were down 3-2 midway through the 3rd against the Generals when a shot came from the point and missed the net.  A pretty player would not have been where Cody was - right next to the goalie - and when the puck went wide and came off the end boards, he was Johnny-on-the-spot to bang in a two-foot shot.  I loved that goal.  Zack Smith scored the winner late in the period and we won the game.  Cody was named 2nd star and could just as easily been named the 1st star.  I thought it was his best game as a Junior Hockey player and I think he has turned the corner.  And on Saturday night, he scored the only goal of the game in Comox in a 1-0 win and was named 3rd star behind the two Goaltenders.  I never used to see this kid smile.  He had braces and I think that bothered him a bit but they have come off in the past several months.  Cody is a new student in the Engineering program at the University of Victoria and a Hockey Player for the Peninsula Panthers.  I could not be happier for Cody and for his family and I hope and believe that his play as of late is just a sampling of good things to come.

Alright, last Friday evening we played a solid Oceanside Generals Club and managed to win 4-3 on late goals by Allison and Smith.  Cole Golka had a 3-point night and Justin Samra made the start and picked up the win.  I was happy to win the game but not entirely happy with the way our kids played the game.  I thought the effort for a lot of kids was simply not there and that is clearly what we are NOT about.  I want kids that work hard and believe that when hard work meets talent, hard work will win more often

than not.  We have a lot of kids with great character and work ethic and one of them is our Captain, Patrick Croome.  I want kids to be accountable to each other and to the team, I want every single kid to bring his best effort every time and I don’t want to hear excuses why they didn’t.  When a group brings their best each and every game it gets to be a habit and the result will be wins on the board.  Laziness can also become a habit and the result will be losses.  If a player is lazy he will be a healthy scratch and it does not matter if he is the worst or the best player.  When every single player on our team brings their best effort, we might not win every single time but I will love our chances.

We travelled up to Comox on Saturday and changed the lineup a bit due to a lack of effort on Friday as we readied to play the Glacier Kings.  They had won eight games in a row going into this one but our kids brought an effort on the evening and edged them out 1-0 on Allison’s marker.  Stephen Heslop picked up the win and the shutout and I was thrilled for the youngster.  And we travelled to Nanaimo on Thursday night to play a tough Buccaneers squad laden with young talent and won our 3rd game in a row by a 4-2 count.  The Buccaneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the 1st period but Cole Glover scored on a power play very late in the period and it seemed to give us life.  We scored a couple more in the 2nd and then a late goal by Dane Gibson was the nail in the coffin for the home squad and once again the boys felt good on the bus ride home.  Big Brett Clarke was inserted into the lineup and played some quality minutes.  A couple guys have still not figured out that hard work is what we are looking for but Rob Armstrong and his staff will continue to pound home this message.

Alright then, tonight we have Croome and Austin Singhera on the shelf with injuries while Allison is writing a mid-term exam at UVIC and will be a healthy scratch.  Clarke will be once again inserted into the lineup and this will also give Brett Sjerven a chance to perform.  Sjerven was beat wide on a first-period goal last night but then pasted a couple Bucs later in the game and so I am sure that playing a few games in a row will help in the confidence department.  With a win tonight coupled with a loss by the Saanich Braves who host the Victoria Cougars, our Club would draw into a tie for 2nd place.  Check out the back page for updated stats.

OK, we are set..let’s get started!  Thanks for coming tonight, enjoy!  Pete Z.