Final Open Letter

Brentwood Bay, British Columbia (Saturday, May 11, 2024) – Pete and Coreen Zubersky write the final chapter of their 25-year ownership tenure of the Peninsula Panthers.

Coreen and I woke up this past April 1st and we both felt different. We walked down to the Brentwood Lodge for breakfast and to talk about the past 25 years as owners of the Peninsula Panthers. April 1st marked the closing date of a deal we had made with Rich Murphy, and over breakfast and a lot of coffee we both discussed whether we had made a difference in our community on the Peninsula.I was sitting in the Live Casino playing poker last Tuesday afternoon in Philadelphia.  The Casino is only one block from Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies; a venue which would see the Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays go head-to-head with the first pitch set for 7:10 pm.  I like to get away on sports trips for any NFL, NBA, NHL and of course MLB games.  Over the years Coreen has not joined me in all of these trips due to her bingo card being full, and this was the case on this particular trip.  In fact, a number of years ago the Jays were playing in Pittsburg and then in Milwaukee and I asked her if she would like to join me.  I think I might have touched a funny bone as she began to laugh hysterically.

I had been playing for a while when I received a text from Coreen asking me what I was up to.  I told her I was looking to win a few bucks before the game and she could not figure out why I would be in Philidelphia playing poker.  I told her that we play poker when we go to Las Vegas and it seemed to hush the critic in her which was a good thing!  There was a young fellow playing at the table and I had watched him closely.  I like to chat when playing and at one point I asked him how old he was and he replied that he was 27.  He had a calm and quiet demeanour and really seemed like a nice fellow and I told him just that.  He had long and flowing blonde hair and had good size.  Being in hockey this long, I wondered with a frame like he had if he was an athlete.  When I asked his size he told me that he was 6’4″ and 190 pounds.  I asked him what he did and he said that he used to play professional baseball.  We continued to chat and I learned that his name was Ben Strahm and that he was taken by the San Francisco Giants in 2018 MLB draft and at one point started a game in AA for that Organization.  He kicked around in High A for a few years but never quite made it and so after playing some Independent ball last season, he had given up the game and was living in Philadelphia with his girlfriend.  His brother was a significant reliever for the Phillies, Matt Strahm. We talked for some time as the poker game rolled along but my interest in poker had waned significantly as Ben and I continued to chat. The cards continued to fall for the nine players on the table but all the players were fixated on the conversation I was having with Ben. I asked him why he had left the game and he didn’t seem to have a great answer.  I thought to myself that it was probably a huge burden for him to have his brother be so successful in the game. The were both relief pitchers. One was making 7.5 million a year while the other one was playing poker and probably trying to figure out what his next step in life was.  I asked him what was next and suggested that he should not give up on chasing his dream.  The more we talked the more I could tell he loved the game and so I said that there was an Independent Baseball Team in Victoria, the HarbourCats.  I asked him if he would be interested in playing here if there was an opportunity and his eyes lit up. The Panthers Photographer is Christian Stewart and he is also the HarbourCats GM. Jim Swanson is one of the Owners of the HarbourCats and as the hands rolled along, I texted Jim and let him know about Ben and asked if there was an opportunity for the youngster. Jim asked me to have Ben call him and so I passed along Jim’s contact information and suggested he sit out a few hands and get on it. The excitement coming from Ben was palpable and he excused himself from the game and made the call. He left a message and I expect that Jim gave him a call back that day. When Ben returned to the table I told him to take the trip to Victoria even if he has to pay for it himself. I told him I was sure his brother would pick up the expenses for the trip and he smiled and said one word, “Absolutely.” I left the table and walked over to the park to see the Jays get spanked by the Phillies. But I kept thinking about Ben and how he was like so many kids that had come through the Peninsula Panthers.

Three days earlier, I was at a game in Washington, DC between the Blue Jays and the Nationals.  My trip had started off in DC where the Blue Jays played a three-game set before they played up in Philadelphia. During the middle game on Saturday afternoon, I had amazing seats right beside the Jays’ dugout. Around the 3rd inning, an announcement and a video shot came up on the big screen welcoming to the game the Head Coach of the Washington Capitals, Spencer Carbery. Carbs played for the Peninsula Panthers in our very first year in ownership back in 1999/2000 season. That year he set the rookie record for scoring and was one of our true leaders on a very young Club. I saw where Spencer and his family were seated in a VIP section and waited for a couple innings to let all the well-wishers have their time with him.  Once the smoke had cleared I wandered over but the security would not let me through to the area.  He was close so I said out loud, “Carbs.” He looked over and our eyes locked. It took a second or two for him to figure it out and then we hugged and I sat down with him for 30-40 minutes. I met his wife, son and daughter and we caught up on his journey.  At one point I asked him how the heck he was able to do what he was able to do. It was an incredible journey to the top of the mountain and he now he holds one of 30 jobs in the world coaching in the NHL. We talked about his time with the Panthers and how I rode him hard. He was a bit cranky until around Christmas but then bought in and was the toughest competitor to ever go through our program. He didn’t have crazy skill and his skating was laboured but unquestionably he had and probably still has the heart of the biggest lion in the jungle. That is a huge part of why he is where he is. But another part is that he never forgot where he came from.

A few years ago when we won the VIJHL Championship, a number of guys had big, big years. Riley Braun broke every record ever made for the Panthers and was truly the heart and soul of the Club. Logan Speirs had over 100 points and was incredible game after game after game right up to the point where he scored the Overtime Championship winning goal in Game 6 against the Generals at home in front of a great Peninsula crowd. The left winger on that line was rookie Payton Braun. Payton had a monster year and broke Carbery’s rookie scoring record and it was awesome to watch. Payton is a quiet and unassuming fellow and he let his play do all of the talking that season. When he broke the record I reached out to Spencer through a series of texts and asked if he could call Payton in the dressing room before our practice that night. Spencer was an Assistant Coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the time and although the call would have to be made around midnight in Toronto, he never hesitated for a minute. As we sat in the dressing room, I addressed the team in the usual manner before any practice but when my phone went off in my pocket the room burst into laughter. I always tell players to put their phones away at the rink and focus on the game! I acted surprised, pulled the phone out, apologized to the Club and said that I had to take the call and then put it on speaker. Spencer said hello and I laughed to myself when he addressed me as Coach.  He is a kid who never forgot where he came from. I handed the phone to Payton and he talked to Spencer for five minutes and then I took the phone back. The room was listening in amazement. We had traded at the deadline for Kyle Brown who was the Captain of the Saanich Predators and one of the top scorers in the VIJHL. He had been struggling since his arrival on the Peninsula and simply could not put a puck in the ocean if he shot it off the dock. I explained the situation to Carbs and asked him if he would like to speak to Kyle. Kyle’s favourite team is the Maple Leafs and his favourite player is Mitch Marner and Carbs began to tell a story about when Marner struggled to score in the playoffs. Kyle’s eyes were as big as saucers and it was really quite awesome to see a 20-year-old kid so excited. We went out and practiced and I would think it was a night most of our room will not forget. Len Dawes, who was an Assistant Coach on the Club at the time, skated over to me once we were out on the ice and let me know how awesome he thought the exchange was. Len played in the WHL and was drafted early by the Chicago Blackhawks and I knew the call had hit the mark when I heard his comments. Brown got out of his scoring funk and in the playoffs scored big goal after big goal and I honestly do not think we would have won without his contribution.

In our first year back in 1999/00 I coached the Club with Don Robinson and Bill Geddie. The three of us had coached the Peninsula Bantam AA team the previous season, had won the Island but came out on the short end of the stick in the Provinicals that year. But Junior Hockey was a different animal, but one I felt comfortable with. Junior “B” at that time was called affectionately known as Jungle “B” and pretty well every night turned out to be one full of fisticuffs. The League was quite old, mostly 19’s and 20’s with just a sprinkling of younger kids and only a handful of 16’s throughout the entire VIJHL. I had coached a Spring Team for years and there were some great 16’s that wanted to play Junior on that team. There were also some really good 16’s who had played on the Bantam team the year before and so I decided that we would become an Organization for kids who wanted to develop and move onto Junior A, WHL, NCAA, Minor Professional and the NHL. The number of people who told me that this was crazy is too many to count on one hand but our opening day roster that first year saw twelve 16-year-olds skating out on opening night. A typical crowd in the South back then was probably 50 fans but that first night in September of 1999 saw around 450 fans filter into the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre. We were playing the Comox Valley Glacier Kings and watching the two team warm-up, I felt a small twinge of sadness for the visitors. Our kids were way more talented and it was going to be a special night for the new brand of hockey to enter the League.  When the final buzzer sounded, I walked across the ice after being dominated and beat like a rented mule by a 7-0 count. Our kids were terrified and did not compete and as I walked on the big white sheet, I was searching for words to address the Club. I have always been totally honest with every team I have coached and told them they were terrible. I told them they were scared. I told them that as a group they sucked over 60 minutes and were embarrased in our barn. I finished off by telling them that we were going to be awesome and once we got the butterflies out of our collective stomachs, the League would be in trouble. I believed it. I met with Coreen and she felt my pain. But we at least had an awesome gate and our play would improve.  NOT so fast! Coreen said that a few people paid but we were new and did not know that we needed security and everyone just walked in from every entrance. We both had a lot to learn!

It took us around 15 games to figure it out both on and off the ice and then we started to win on the scoreboard and at the gate. We beat Kerry Park on the last game of the regular season, our only win against them all year. They were built to win a championship and we were slated to go head-to-head in the first round.  We swept them!  And then we beat the Victoria Cougars in the 2nd round only losing once to them over the series. We played the Campbell River Storm in the League finals and what a series that was. We beat them in Game 5 up in Campbell River to extend the series but  physically we were beat up as a group. On the way South to Victoria on the big Iron Lung, the players were all quiet, exhausted. They were eating their pizza, each in their own seat.  I walked up and down the dark aisle of the bus and spoke to every one individually in a soft whisper. We had to get ready as Game 6 was in less than 24 hours. Carbery had played like a man against boys and the Storm had hammered him throughout the five games. I leaned into his seat and told him how great he had been and asked him if he was OK.  He responded that he was and that this was the best time of his life.  I responded by saying that he had been great and he came back and told me he was talking about his entire life and not just the season. In Washington at the baseball game, we reminisced about this. We lost in Game 6 in a dogfight but the Peninsula Panthers were on the map and the Organization has been highly competitive for not all but for most years since. Within the next couple years the VIJHL completely changed from being a beer league to one of development for young players and Coreen and I are both very proud to have led the way for this change.

We have seen some real tragedy during our time in ownership.  Steve Simpson and Grant Gilbertson both lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents.  Steve was 20 and Grant was 18 and the loss of their lives was the two darkest periods in the history of this franchise. Our long-time photographer Gordon Lee passed away at home just weeks before the death of Grant Gilbertson. Brad Tippett who had coached the Club for five years and was coaching at the time of Grant’s death did not return to the bench and passed away at his home a number of months later. We have lost former Panthers players Derek Turnbull, Matt Gow and Sean Weaver over the past number of years and of course long time Equipment Manager Larry Orr is sharpening skates somewhere in heaven.

I had seen so many serious facial injuries in the game that I was thinking about mandating full facial protection for our players. Perhaps one of the worst was 15-20 years ago when Jeff Zukowski was screening the goaltender in a game at the Panorama Recreation Centre. The puck came to the point and a high slapshot headed towards the visitors net and towards Zukowski. It ripped into his face and busted it up significantly. I went to the hospital after the game and spoke with his mom and Jeff in Emergency at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital and to say the injury was ugly would have been a massive understatement. I got home and told Coreen that I was thinking about having the boys wear full facial but I left it as it was and I regret that to this day. More facial injuries occurred year after year but around eight years ago I pulled the trigger. We were in Camp late in August and Riley Braun was a 16-year-old whom we had signed. He was in a puck battle in a practice with Shota Yamamoto and Braun attempted to lift his stick to take the puck. Braun’s stick came up and clipped Yamamoto in the eye. Shota raced off the ice and rushed into the washroom in the lobby. He passed his family on the way and his little brother was hysterical calling Shota stupid. I went into the washroom and looked at his eye, it was full of blood. But the injury was literally along his eyelash line. There was no damage to the eye itself but if the stick had been just a whisker lower, Shota would have lost his eye.

I stopped practice and called the players over and told them that starting at practice the next day they would not be allowed on the ice without full facial protection. I told them that if any of them wanted a trade because of this, I would move them to a spot where they would like to go. I knew that this was going to get National attention and in Junior Hockey most of it was going to be negative. Trevor Owens was our Captain, a 20 in his final year of Junior and a great kid and he asked to get traded to the Saanich Predators and I obliged and sent him there. I know his mom and dad were disappointed as the Owens family were really a big part of the Panthers family. When the games started, the opposing players began to really chirp our boys.  It was unrelenting. I told them to say that they did not want this but it was forced upon them by me and that was the blueprint we all followed. The following summer, BC Hockey mandated full facial for all Junior B in British Columbia and all the other 41 Junior B teams sued BC Hockey and took the matter to court. We were the only ones not involved in this legal action. And I heard it from probably 15 other owners through phone calls, emails, etc. BC Hockey won the case and a few years later Hockey Canada mandated full facial to all Junior Hockey in Canada. For the past eight years there have been almost no facial injuries on the Club.  I recall Jack McMillan taking a brutal hit to the face just after we implemented full facial and although he had a small injury, I cannot imagine how bad it could have been. There were so many incidents like the McMillan one and I would not turn back the clock on this decision.  There are a lot of young men who are now out of the game who have a complete set of chicklets, a nose that is straight, and for the vast majority of our players, a concussion-free Junior career.  And how can that not be a good thing!

In a strange way Coreen and I believe that we played a part in the huge renovation to the “B” Arena at the Panorama Recreation Centre, let me explain. It was in February the year before North Saanich won Hockeyville and the deadline for applications closed on the Sunday night. We had received an email from a resident Kevin Fry and he let us know that he wanted the Panthers to apply for the Hockeyville contest and sent us the information which needed to be addressed. Coreen being a rule-follower told me that she wanted me to write this up and put it in before the Sunday deadline passed.  I told her that it was an absolute waste of time but she was like a dog on a bone and would not give it up. We played a game Friday night and as we have done every Friday after games for the past 25 years, Coreen and I and the volunteers headed to the Prairie Inn for some nachos and a refreshment to go over the game. It’s a time that we all cherish and there is a lot of banter back and forth and all in good humour. But “Dog on Bone” had other ideas for this particular Friday and she brought up the Hockeyville application to the group. She once again said that I should fill out the paperwork but I blew it off saying it was a bad look if I did it and we won the contest. Never in my wildest dreams did I think a win could possibly be in the cards. Long-time volunteer Jason Fletcher told Coreen that he would write up the application, I think it had to be under 200 words. Coreen told him that she would like Larry Orr and his contribution to the community as part of the application, among other things.  I let those two figure out the details while I moved my attention to other conversations around the table. The application was put in on time the following day just 24 hours before the deadline and at least we had one resident who was happy, that being Kevin Fry. Now most of the other applicants had been working on this for a year or more while we were in just under the gun, again less that 24 hours before the deadline. I forgot about the whole thing but several weeks later I was watching an NHL game on TV and they were going to go to a commercial break. The announcer said that they were going to name the 10 finalists for Hockeyville when they came back after the commercials and I thought nothing about it. I was watching another game as well and so flicked over to that one but about a minute later I thought I would flick back to see who the 10 finalists were.  They announced that there would be five from Eastern Canada, five from Western Canada and they would go across the country naming the winners starting in the West.  OK, whatever. The fellow then announces the first finalist as North Saanich, British Columbia.  Which, what, huh, what!! Each of the 10 finalists would receive $25,000. The winner from the West would face the winner from the East and both would receive $100,000 with the winner also awarded an NHL Exhibition Game. What! Now it was time to get busy. I called Jason Fletcher and told him the news. I recall that he was having dinner, I think with family and he was shocked. I called the Panorama and got the home phone for Martine King and let her know that we needed to have a meeting with Management and the Recreation Commission the next night on Sunday. The following night Lorraine Brewster who had just taken over as Senior Manager at Panorama, Wayne Ruffle who was the Recreation Commission Chair, Jason Fletcher, myself and a couple others showed up for the meeting on Hockeyville. Pretty well everyone at the meeting had no idea what Hockeyville was. Long story short, the entire community on the Peninsula and the Greater Victoria wholeheartedly got behind this after we initiated a media blitz. Panorama Management and the Peninsula Recreation Commission were awesome and through a voting process, we eventually were named the winner of Kraft Hockeyville. We purchased the big screen in the Arena, some storage for PMHA and Panthers and everyone was happy. I believe it was in April when representitives from the NHL, NHL Players Association and Kraft Hockeyville decended upon the Saanich Peninsula for three days and fairly quickly determined that the Panorama Facility was not suitable to host the NHL Exhibition Game which would be between the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks. The boards did not have enough flex, players benches were too small, the list was extensive. They provided the Panorama and Peninsula Recreation Commission with an exhaustive report detailing each and every one of the shortcomings and the game was scheduled and did take place at the Q-Centre in Colwood. When the world gives you a lemon, make lemonade. The year was 2017 and it was Canada’s 150th birthday. The Federal Government had grants available from $1-$500,000 for projects in communities and the Panorama Staff used the report provided from the NHL to apply for the $500,000 grant. They got it and thus a significant renovation to the “B” Arena was undertaken for well over $1,200,000 to make this rink one of the best on the Island for Hockey at this level. Incredible to think about how it all started with an email from Kevin Fry and some hard work by our amazing community!

After I left the Saturday afternoon ball game at National Park in Washington DC and after the chance meeting with Spencer Carbery, I went for a bite to eat and a soda. The restaurant was right outside the gates of the ball park and the atmosphere was electric. I phoned Coreen and told her about the game and about meeting Spencer. As we spoke, I received a text from Spencer with a picture his wife had taken of the two of us.  The text read, “Amazing seeing you and chatting! Thanks for believing in me and giving me a chance! Will never forget it.”  I responded, “That was a crazy chance meeting! You are as solid as a rock and I’m luck to have known you. Cheers and best to you and your family!”

As Coreen and I sat at the Brentwood Lodge having seemingly our 10th cup of coffee, not wanting to leave and not wanting to stop the conversation about the Panthers, we asked each other one last time if we had made a difference. I thought a lot about this question when I was away in DC and Philadelphia for eight days. I thought a lot about the players, about the families, our fans, our volunteers, sponsors, staff at the Panorama, about the VIJHL and the people in the League. I do think that we have made a difference. I watched Coreen interact with people for over two decades. She brought a special touch to Friday nights. I would love the emotion and competitiveness of the game, especially on Friday nights and more so, in the playoffs and at home. I would bark from the stands and if it was late in the game, Coreen would be standing beside me and give me the look. I would think that I will never do that again but it is ‘an emotional game for emotional people’ and I would bark again all at the risk of hearing about it at the Prairie Inn shortly after 10:00 pm.  I will greatly miss all of it. We both will.

Rich and his wife Annie and their two children Madelyn and Ryan have purchased the Peninsula Panthers and are in full control of the Club even as I type this note. Part of the sale agreement was that Coreen and I would stay on for a bit to ensure a smooth transition. You will see us both at the games and we will do just as we agreed to. We have sold the Panthers but we still both care very much about the Club. It is an important part of the fabric of our Community here on the Saanich Peninsula and moving forward, the Murphy’s want it to be exactly that same way. We are really thrilled to have their family take over the reins and are very excited to see where they can take the  Panthers. We believe we have built the Club up from a meager start when we took over in 1999, but we also know that this can be an even better Organization and will be excited to attend games on Friday’s to witness the growth over the coming years. We know we could not have found a better family in the Murphy’s to carry on the Panthers legacy.

The past 25 years has taught Coreen and me the true definition of community. Our hope is that in moving forward with new owners, the support from our Community remains as strong or stronger as it was while we were in Ownership.  We believe that the Peninsula Panthers are an integral part of this community – providing an avenue for people to gather in a social atmosphere while at the same time fostering a healthy and safe environment for the development of our youth.

We want to take this opportunity to thank every single supporter of our Club …many of whom have been there by our side on this journey since day one of our inaugural year!  Without the tremendous community support you all so generously provide, it would not be possible for the Club to operate in the successful manner in which it has for over two decades.  Thank you for your enduring, unwavering and continued support!!  We’ll see you all at the rink.

Sincerely,
Pete and Coreen Zubersky