Nov. 1st vs. Oceanside Generals - Hockey Ops.

Good Evening Hockey Fans,
Well, here we go again for another Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre, tonight the visitors will be the Oceanside Generals.  The VIJHL play an unbalanced schedule and so this is the first of two times we will host the Generals in this 2013/14 season.  Oceanside currently sits in last spot in the VIJHL and have struggled through most of the early going however, they have recently replaced their Head Coach and have brought in a new General Manager and so are in the process of bringing in a lot of new players from in and outside the Province.  I do believe that they are in the process of turning around their season right now and I am pulling for them, but just not tonight!

I want to talk more about our lineup and tonight’s game but I am going to leave that for just a minute so I can discuss our latest addition to the roster, 20-year-old defenceman Matt Sheeran.  Matt called me last Friday around 12:30 pm and by the time a whole bunch of phone calls were made, I was able to obtain his release from North Battleford in the Saskatchewan Junior “A” Hockey League and have him in our lineup last Friday when we played the Victoria Cougars.  But the story started months ago in the Royal Bank in Brentwood Bay, I believe last summer sometime.  I was in the lineup and Matt and his father Jeff were also in the same lineup.  Jeff saw my Panthers coat and we talked a bit about the Panthers, he was aware who we were.  I asked Matt if he played hockey and Matt said that he was with North Battleford for the past couple of years and that was about the end of the conversation.  I wished him good luck and both Matt and Jeff wished me good luck with the team as well.  When Matt called, he mentioned that we had met in the bank and it took a little while for me to put 2+2 together but then I remembered the chance meeting.  Matt went out last Friday wearing #26 but from here he will be #77 and will be an anchor on the back end for the Panthers Hockey Club.  I have not spoken to him very much but he seems like an awesome young man and the coaching staff and the players absolutely love what he brings both on the ice and in the dressing room.  Many of you saw him last Friday, he is a player.  There was one play where the puck went to the Panthers’ bench as Matt was jumping on during a change on the fly.  He backed off the puck to avoid a “Too many men” penalty and right then I knew we had ourselves a player.  I have seen the same play happen time and time again at all levels including the National Hockey League and time and time again I see a parade to the penalty box.  We played in Kerry Park last Saturday and once again Matt looked really good.  Give this kid a couple more weeks and we are going to have something special in him.  I called Matt this afternoon and we spoke for several minutes about his goals and aspirations and several other issues.  At the end of the conversation I asked him if he is enjoying himself here.  He said that he was and then he said, “I have never had more fun playing hockey since......I have never had more fun playing hockey since......I have never had more fun playing hockey ever!”  This is the kind of stuff that makes me feel good about being in the game, about being involved with the Peninsula Panthers, it warmed my heart.  Watch this young fellow tonight, we are running with five defencemen so you should have plenty of opportunity to see him ply his trade.  And to Matt and his family from the Peninsula Panthers family, we welcome you and your leadership qualities into our group here on the Peninsula.
OK, back to what tonight’s lineup looks like.  Reece Costain took a two-minute hit to the head penalty up in Kerry Park.  Due to an accumulation of this type of offence, Reece will be out of the game tonight and tomorrow night in Comox as well, and that will be a huge loss for the Club.  Ben Meek is still out after crashing into the boards in Campbell River two weeks ago, and we are not sure when he will be back but it will most certainly not be this weekend.  We are hopeful that it will be only one more week but time will tell the tale with Ben.  His injury was very untimely for the young fellow as he was just starting to hit his stride, was banging and crashing, and was starting to find the back of the net.  You might recall last week that Brett Sjerven went down and stayed down for a protracted period of time.  He was helped off the ice by a couple team members and was done for the evening.  Brett took a shot on the foot and it has bothered him for several weeks now but he has a big heart and has battled through the pain to this point.  He will be on the shelf for one or two weeks, we want him to get right before he comes back so he can resume at 100%.  He is the type of player that you have to force out of the lineup or he would go every night.  You will see him back in a week or two, but not tonight and not this weekend.  Adam Page might be the hard luck story of the team so far in the early going.  He was out since October 11th but tweaked his back in the gym just as he was ready to come back.  He practiced with the Club on Tuesday night but tweaked his back once again and will probably be out for one or two more weeks.  And finally, Sean Buchanan was scooped up by the Grizzlies for their road trip to the Interior with stops in Trail on Friday, Salmon Arm on Saturday and Vernon on Sunday.  I know he is scratched for the Trail game tonight however, I would expect he will draw into their lineup for at least one or two of the remaining games.  We will be going with 5 D tonight and have brought in Grayden Hohl as an affiliate player with us.  Grayden is a skill Forward who has played several games with us already and he will draw into the lineup up once again tonight.

I wanted to touch a bit on the two games last weekend.  We played the Victoria Cougars here on Friday night and came out on the short end of the stick, 4-0.  I did not think we played a very good game but I also thought that the game was an even one and anybody could have won it.  The difference in the game was when the Cougars had a chance they scored, when we had chances we did not.  It came down to one word, “Finish”.  We have to finish our plays.  I believe that we have to have more players to the net so that goaltenders do not have an easy night picking cherries from unscreened attempts.  We are a big and solid team and when we play gritty we are a force to be reckoned with.  And on Saturday we went over the Malahat and played the Islanders, a team that was on a bit of a roll.  We peppered their target with 55 shots but it took overtime to drop them 3-2.  Our Head Coach Brian Passmore felt that it was the best game that this year’s group has played as a team.  All four lines and five defence were going well and Joey Karrer between the pipes made some big saves, several in the Overtime, and we eventually prevailed in the contest.  Braedan Pearce scored the eventual winner after Spencer Loverock brought the puck down the ice and it went down low to Connor Logan behind the Islanders net.  Logan fed Pearce - who was in front - and Braeden made no mistake scoring his 1st Junior goal and a big one. 

Grayson Vickers has been playing some Forward for the team and although he did not play a physical game on Friday, Saturday would be a different story.  Grayson was throwing his weight around and he had a huge impact on the game.  We  dearly want #6 to be our leader in this area and if he decides to do it, he will become one of the most important weapons on the team.  Gray is a big kid and at the flick of a switch could be the most punishing and dominant player in the VIJHL, and I am so hoping that the light comes on and he ends up being just that player.....for the Panthers but also for himself.  OK, we are just about set to go once again.  Sit back and enjoy the contest and thank you to the fans and the sponsors for your ongoing support.
Pete Zubersky