An interim coach, unsung secondary scorer and an “angel on their shoulders” carried the Peninsula Panthers to their first Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League championship in more than a decade.
The Panthers defeated the Oceanside Generals 4-3 in overtime late Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre to win the best-of-seven VIJHL final series 4-2 for their first title since 2011.
“The amount of adversity we have overcome is off the charts,” said Panthers owner Pete Zubersky, who took over coaching and GM duties following the departure of Brad Tippett in December for medical reasons.
“That makes this all the more meaningful.”
The Panthers team photographer, Gordon Lee, died in October. That was followed by the death of Panthers forward Grant Gilbertson in a car accident as he was on his way from Sooke to a practice at Panorama in January.
“We dedicated the remainder of the season to Grant,” said Zubersky.
“Grant’s death hit us all like a ton of bricks. I was unsure at times this season if some of our guys could continue playing the game. They were all going through so much and it was just a monumental load each of them carried. But they relied on each other and came out at the other end. We had an angel riding on our collective shoulder.”
The VIJHL Jamie Benn MVP Award and Clayton Stoner Award for top defenceman, both named after NHLers, went to Panthers players Riley Braun and Matthew Seale respectively. But it was Logan Speirs who played the hero in the clinching game to tie it late in the third period and then score the overtime winner.
Braun set the VIJHL record this season with 120 points but Spiers quietly amassed 103 in his wake to make it the first time in league history two players on the same team recorded more than 100 points each.
“Logan Spiers has been our unsung hero,” said Zubersky.
The Panthers advance to represent the VIJHL against the Revelstoke Grizzlies, champions of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, the Langley Trappers, champions of the Pacific Junior Hockey League, and host Delta Ice Hawks in the 2022 Fred Cyclone Taylor Cup sa国际传媒 Junior B championship tournament beginning Thursday in Ladner. Peninsula opens against Langley.
The last Cyclone Taylor Cup was hosted by the Campbell River Storm of the VIJHL in 2019 at Rod Brind’Amour Arena, with Revelstoke of the KIJHL the defending champions. The 2020 and 2021 Cup tournaments were cancelled due to the pandemic.
“The last two years we felt we were good enough to win it all but those years were taken away by the pandemic,” said Zubersky.
“That’s what makes this all the more special.”
