Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart
January 12, 2025
North Saanich, BC – The Peninsula Panthers are hoping that their “puck luck” returns from the Christmas break very soon.
After cruising through the first 30 games of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) season with just two regulation losses and two overtime losses prior to the break, in the five games since returning, the Panthers have already matched those loss totals, having lost four of their first five games played in 2025.
This includes a 5-2 loss to the Lake Cowichan Kraken on January 3rd, and then three more losses this past week, starting with a 4-3 loss in Nanaimo last Thursday, a 4-3 shootout loss to Westshore at home last Friday night and a 5-2 loss in Campbell River on Sunday.
On the bright side, the Panthers did grab a 6-4 win in Lake Cowichan on January 5th.
The loses have certainly not come because of lack of effort, as in those five games, the Panthers have outshot their opponents 197-118, including throwing 51 shots at the Campbell River net on Sunday evening, 41 shots against Westshore last Friday and 48 shots against Lake Cowichan on January 3rd. In all those cases, the opposing goaltenders seemed to have picked those games to have their best performances of the season.
Despite the slump, with the win over the Kraken and the single point against Westshore, the Panthers, with 57 points, still sit atop both the overall league standings – two points up on Campbell River – and the South Division standings – four points up on the Kerry Park Islanders, who have now jumped into second place in the South with a 5-3 win over Westshore on Saturday night.
That sets up a huge divisional match-up on Tuesday evening, as the Panthers will look to change their momentum when they visit the Islanders for a key game at the Kerry Park arena in Mill Bay. The Islanders have been playing well recently and are undefeated in their last five games and have lost only four times in their last 25 games, so the Panthers will be in for yet another tough battle.
They will then host the last place Saanich Predators at Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday, but will be without a number of key players, as Captain Ethan Lingard, forwards Brendan Williams, Jacob Caron, Lukas Preweda, Alex Sajan and Carson Harris, defencemen Joe Marranzino, Paco Hodgson and Clayton Collier and goaltenders Merik Grinaker and Jacob Walsh, and Head Coach Tyler Stanton will all be away at the VIJHL Prospects and All-Star games in Salmon Arm.