Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart
January 26, 2026
North Saanich, BC – The Peninsula Panthers came back from the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) All-Star break in tough fashion last week, dropping a pair of games to the Oceanside Generals and Westshore Wolves, both by 5-4 scores, but then rebounded last Saturday against those same Wolves, with a 5-3 win at the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre.
The win keeps the Panthers atop the VIJHL South Division and overall standings with a record of 31-5-1-0 (63 points), seven points ahead of the second-place Wolves and nine points ahead of the third-place Victoria Cougars.
Last Friday at Panorama Recreation Centre, the Wolves came out flying, exploding for three first-period goals and building a 4-0 lead after two periods of play, before the Panthers would respond with third-period goals from Brendan Williams, Luke Christensen and Paco Hodgson to pull within one. However an insurance marker by the Wolves Parker Atkinson put the game away for Westshore. Carson Harris would add another late goal for the Panthers to make it close, but that would be too little too late and the Wolves took home the 5-4 win.
On Saturday, after a tight 1-1 first period, it would be the Panthers turn to explode, scoring three goals in the second period to build a 4-2 lead after two periods of play. The teams would exchange goals in the third, and that would be all the scoring in the Panthers 5-3 win.
Goal scorers for the Panthers included Logan Barnes, Oskar Aitken-Salmons, Markus Nichols, Lucas Ananias and newcomer Koehn Obuck with his first as a Panther. Goaltender Matus Volovar stopped 24 of 27 shots to earn his 14th win of the season.
The Panthers now have 11 games remaining in the regular season, with two of those happening in back-to-back games this weekend. On Friday, the Panthers will host the Comox Valley Glacier Kings at Panorama Recreation Centre and then Saturday, head over the Malahat to visit the Kerry Park Islanders in Mill Bay.
Friday’s game against Comox is a 7:30 pm start at Panorama Recreation Centre and regular adult admission is $12, $9 for youth (ages 13-18), and $2 for kids 12 and under. Also, for every kid’s ticket sold, the Murphy Family Foundation will donate $1.00US to the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association.
Peninsula Panthers Captain Ethan Lingard (8, right) and Westshore Wolves Captain Parker Atkinson (21, left) battle for position during last Friday’s game at Panorama Recreation Centre (Photo: Justin Morash).
