Good Evening Hockey Fans,
Welcome back to the Panorama Recreation Centre for our contest tonight against the visiting Comox Valley Glacier Kings. Comox comes in tonight for the last time, in fact, this is the last time we will see the Glacier Kings unless we were to meet in the VIJHL League finals at the end of March. Due to an unbalanced schedule we play the North Division teams four times each while we play South Division opponents a total of eight times. When preparing our schedule last June, I wanted to schedule games with the North early in the season, or at least as early as possible in order that we travel while the roads were still free of ice and snow. This is the reason you have all seen many of the North teams in our barn. The 2nd reason that we will see mostly South Division opponents from moving forward from today is that these are the teams that we are in a fight for playoff positioning, consequently these are the teams which will be the most exciting to watch as each and every game becomes more meaningful. The Saanich Braves have not yet been into our barn and we welcome them in two weeks from now. We will see a lot of the Braves, Cougars, Wolves and Islanders coming up as we just start to get into the meat of our schedule after this weekend. Yes, the fun is just about to begin as we hit the halfway mark in our 48-game schedule after our game Sunday afternoon in Oceanside.
The Comox Glacier Kings are building a strong team as they host the Cyclone Taylor Cup early in April. This four-team tournament will feature teams from the three Junior “B” Leagues as well as the host. Historically, the host team attracts some of the best players around as the players want to play in the Cyclone Taylor and the Comox squad has followed exactly according to script. They currently lead the North Division of the VIJHL and are looking to put some distance between themselves and the Buccaneers who trail by 5 points. We beat Comox all three of the previous games including two shootout wins up in Comox, so undoubtedly the Glacier Kings are going to come out with some fire in their bellies tonight.
I am looking at the standings in the South Division and at game time we sit in 3rd just a point ahead of the Westshore Wolves after both teams have completed 22 games. We trail the Braves by 5 points and all teams are looking way up at the Victoria Cougars in the standings. The games are all very meaningful and in one week a team can make up ground or give away much of what has been earned over the past two months. We are keeping a close eye on Saanich and Westshore which makes for great rivalries and makes the regular season extremely interesting.
Wow, was it ever a busy week in Panthersville! We have been closely following young Nathan Looysen who had played with the Peninsula Midget “AA” squad for the past season and a bit. He has practiced a lot with our boys as well as playing with his own team and we had used him in three games as an affiliated player. Looysen got his feet wet against the Cougars on November 2nd and then the following night joined the team in Comox where he scored his first goal and added an assist. He then played his 3rd straight game on November 7th when we travelled the short distance to Bear Mountain and played the Wolves. Two weeks ago I spoke with Tony Allison, who coaches the Midget AA team, and indicated to him that I would like to sign Nathan. Tony was happy for the boy and immediately agreed that it would be the best even though it would be a huge hit to the Midgets. The Victoria Classic Midget tournament was this past weekend and I told Tony that I would just leave Nathan alone for the time being so that he could play in the Tournament and then would take him after it was over. Nathan lead the Midget “AA” team to a 3-2 win/loss record and had 4 goals and 9 assists to lead the entire Tournament in scoring. What a great way to move up a level, that is to dominate at the level you are leaving. And then to top it all off, once we had signed him I spoke to the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League and they advised me that they had placed Nathan on their 50-man protected list, a huge accomplishment. Congrats to Nathan Looysen who will be wearing #19 for our Club tonight and for the rest of the season. Keep your eyes on this young prospect - he needs to work on a lot of things but has a chance to do something very special in our great game of hockey.
OK, those of you who are Panthers supporters might be asking why Looysen is wearing #19. There are two reasons....he has always worn this number in Minor Hockey and Dane Gibson - who has been our best player over the last ten games - has been signed by the Cowichan Capitals of the BCHL! This was Dane’s 3rd season with the Panthers and he is a great young forward who was really starting to figure it out. The Caps were in need of a forward and a defenceman and they decided to grab Dane before anyone else did. We received the call early on Wednesday and then Dane practiced with our Club on Wednesday evening, was able to say his good-byes to all of the boys and then drove up to Cowichan on Thursday morning and was placed with a billet family up there. He practiced with the Caps yesterday and then again today and will be in their lineup on Saturday evening at the “Big Stick.” I have many, many fond memories of Dane Gibson and we will all miss him both on and off the ice. This situation presents opportunities for others on the Club to have expanded minutes and expanded roles and we will fill the void left with Dane’s departure, such is the cycle of hockey. One in, one out. This is exactly what our program is about and I could not be any happier for Dane. The Peninsula Panthers wish Dane Gibson the best of luck with the Cowichan Capitals and I hope and believe that this will not be the last level we will see Dane achieve in hockey.
I am not sure about who is in and who is out of the lineup tonight as we have some game-time choices to make. Big Brett Clarke practiced on Tuesday night for the first time in a month after hurting his knee in an off-ice incident but was unable to go again on Wednesday and so he is obviously out
for this evening. Cody Allison and Austin Singhera might be close for tonight or certainly this weekend but that will be a decision that will be made just before the puck drops. Justin Samra was to make the start last Friday against the Storm but pulled himself due to sickness, I would think that he will see at least one start this weekend either tonight or up in Oceanside on Sunday. Stephen Heslop will most likely get a start as well.
That is the news for a busy week as I mentioned. But now it is time to put down your program and settle in for the game this evening against the Glacier Kings. Thank you for coming out tonight and for your continued support of the Peninsula Panthers Hockey Club.....enjoy! Pete Zubersky
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