Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart
November 10, 2025
North Saanich, BC – The Peninsula Panthers continued to roll on in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) with wins last weekend over the Lake Cowichan Kraken and the Saanich Predators.
Last Friday night in Lake Cowichan, the last place (in the North) Kraken gave the Panthers all they could handle, building a 3-0 lead, before the Panthers stormed back to tie it late and then win 4-3 in a shootout.
Brendan Williams played the hero there, scoring on the power-play with 22 seconds remaining and then tallying the winning goal in a shoot-out to secure the Panthers victory.
On Saturday at Panorama Recreation Centre, in a busy first period, the Panthers built a 5-3 lead before eventually cruising to the 10-4 win. Defenceman Clayton Collier led the offence with a hat-trick, while Alex Sajan and Oskar Aitken-Salmons chipped in a pair of goals each.
With the wins, the Panthers record sits at 17-1-1 and they lead the league with a .921 win percentage. They are tops in scoring with 115 goals and seven different skaters sit in the top 20 scorers in the league, led by Carson Harris (5th), Aitken-Salmons (6th) Ethan Lingard (8th), Alex Sajan (9th), Williams (12th), Jacob Caron (15th) and Logan Barnes (18th).
They are also tops defensively, allowing just 37 goals, 19 fewer than Nanaimo who are next with 56 goals allowed, while goaltenders Matus Volovar and Caden Lentz are first and second respectively in the league with goals against averages of 1.74 and 2.17.
The Panthers are next in action this Friday, November 14th as they host the Port Alberni Bombers at Panorama Recreation Centre.
Game time is 7:30 pm 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.
Panther’s defenceman Clayton Collier (42) celebrates the second of his three goals Saturday night in the Panther’s 10-4 win over the Saanich Predators (Photo: Christian J. Stewart).
