December 28th vs. Saanich Braves - Hockey Ops.

Good Evening Hockey Fans,

Welcome back to the Panorama Recreation Centre for the first game in the VIJHL for 2013.  Tonight we will be going up against the visiting Saanich Braves, one of the best Junior “B” teams in the entire Province and we undoubtedly will have our hands full.  We have improved a ton since first lacing up the skates in September and going into the Christmas Break we played this same Braves squad in Saanich on December 21st.  To that point we had lost four straight games to them but I felt that we could just as easily have won any of the last three.  The first time we met in Saanich on September 12th we were a young and overmatched group but we narrowed the gap and finally came out with the win by a 5-3 count.  In that game our kids really stuck up for each other.  Ty Jones decided to take liberties with our starter Stephen Heslop and took a bit of a run at him midway through the final period with our Club holding a slim 4-3 lead.  17-year-old Austin Singhera was the closest player to the action and he grabbed the 20-year-old Jones and wrestled him to the ice.  Jones threw several punches and even though Singhera did not take off his gloves, he was issued with a fighting major and was also tagged with the aggressor in the fight.  As a result Singhera was given a 3-game suspension and was tossed from the game while Jones was simply tossed from the game and should be in action tonight.  At the same stoppage, a tussle erupted between our 17-year-old Reece Costain and Saanich Defenceman, 18-year-old Liam Sproule.  For their efforts these two will also be on the sidelines for a 3-game period.  Brett Sjerven was banged up  a month ago when we faced these same Braves in Saanich and he will also be out of the lineup this weekend at home tonight and tomorrow evening when we travel up to Kerry Park.  He will practice starting next week and will work himself back into the lineup soon giving our Club depth on the back end once again.  And 18-year-old forward Jonas Horvath will be out for this weekend as well.  Jonas was banged up just before the break and did not play in our final two games before heading back home to Whistler for some time with family and friends.  He too will most likely be back on the ice next week in practice and undoubtedly will want to get back into the lineup next Friday evening when we host the Kerry Park Islanders.  You might see 16-year-old AP Garnett Roberts up with the Club tonight helping out on Defence.  This Peninsula Minor Hockey product has played a couple of games and should be quite comfortable out there tonight.  He is currently playing for the Major Midget Royals.

We had a lot of good things happen in the win.  Cole Golka scored our first two goals and continued to show that he is ready to be a real leader with the Club.  Cole Glover had a goal and an assist but more importantly, played strong in the defensive end.  Josh Adkins, who leads all Panthers point-getters, added a couple of assists to continue on a point-a-game pace.  On the back end I thought Kyle Richardson showed some real flashes of brilliance on the evening.  He skated the puck several times, threw a couple big checks and blocked a shot in the 3rd frame that might have changed the outcome.  Yes, I believe that our young team is starting to come of age and now in the final third of the regular season, it will be time to figure out which players want to play a key role in the playoffs.

We made a move on December 24th when we added 19-year-old forward Jackson Skerratt to the roster.  Jackson has been skating with the team for the past month and even though we did not give him a commitment, he continued to show up and work his tail off.  Head Coach Brian Passmore and Assistant Coach Ben King pushed to have him carded and our Club did just that, which probably was a pretty nice Christmas present for the young fellow.  I am not too sure what Jackson will give us at this point as he did not play in the VIJHL last season and has obviously not been in the League this time around.  Jackson played some games as an affiliate player with the Braves in the past but we believe that he can help our youthful squad in the playoffs and so we wanted to get him in now so that he can get up to speed.  Jackson does have soft hands and should be able to put some points up on the board for the Club.  We are not even sure where he will slot into the lineup, on the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th line but the coaches will figure that out tonight and in future games and I am sure they will make it all work.  The Panthers welcome Jackson Skerratt onto the Club.

With the addition of Skerratt, our lineup grows to 23 bodies.  We have two cards left should we decide to use them, but we are only allowed to carry a maximum of 23 players once January 10th at midnight rolls around.  If we were not to make any additions or deletions we would lose the two cards and our lineup will be set for the balance of the year.  If we chose to make an addition we would have to release a player from our roster and obviously if we wanted to make two changes, we would have to release two players.  We really have not made many changes since we started back in September.  Justin Samra was released and we signed Josh Round to be part of our goaltending tandem.  Dane Gibson went up to Cowichan and is playing Junior “A” in the BCHL.  Big Brett Clarke injured his knee in an off-ice incident two months ago and it looks like his season is over, we have released him as a result. We signed 16-year-old Nathan Looysen a month ago and now Skerratt - both forwards - for the two departed forwards Gibson and Clarke.  This limited amount of movement is really unheard of in Junior Hockey but it is the way that we like to roll with our roster, it allows young kids to develop in a comfortable atmosphere and I believe that it will pay dividends down the stretch and into the post season.  I’ll keep you all posted!

I thought I’d take just a moment to discuss the VIJHL standings and how they impact the Panthers.  In the South the Victoria Cougars are going to finish 1st and they will play the 4th place team which looks to be the Wolves or us.  It looks like the Braves are going to coast into a 2nd place finish and they will have home-ice advantage when they play the 3rd place team, once again the Wolves or Panthers.  What is still up for grabs is 3rd place.  The Wolves have a two-point lead over us right now however we have played three (3) less games and might just have a lighter schedule coming down the stretch.  A win tonight would go a long way in helping decide 3rd.  We play the Wolves two more times this season, both at the Bear Mountain Arena and have won four of the six games between the teams so far.  I really believe that the VIJHL this year is the best I have ever seen it, especially in the tough South Division and expect that the final six weeks will be hard-fought right down to the wire.  With no end in sight in the battle with the NHL and NHLPA, fans will get a great chance to enjoy some of the best Junior B hockey in the Province.

Thanks for coming out tonight, it was just about time to shake off some of the turkey.  I hope that 2013 has much health and happiness in store for all of you,  enjoy the contest!!

Pete Zubersky