The saying “Third times the charm” proves to be true after Saturday nights Game 7 and Championship clinching win, and if you still can’t believe it I can guarantee you are not alone. For a team to be down 3-1 in a series and come back to win 3 straight games (two of which where in Grand Lake) is certainly impressive!
For those new Panther fans wondering how the Panthers got to where they are today we have got you covered. Let’s start with the NBJHL, a league that consists of 11 teams that each play 30 games. At the end of the regular season the teams finishing in the top 5 in the standings now become Jr. B and they battle it out in the playoffs to see who becomes the Jr. B champ. While the teams who finish in 6th to 9th become Jr. C and they battle it out in the playoffs to see who becomes the Jr. C champ. The remaining two teams are eliminated from playoff contention.
The Panthers finished in 6th place becoming the #1 ranked team for Jr. C. They began their road to the championship by playing the Sackville Storm in a best of five series. The Panthers made easy work of the Storm winning the series 3-1, advancing to the Jr. C Finals.
In the finals the Panthers would face the Grand Lake Moose, who finished in 7th place in the standings. Good enough to be the #2 ranked team for Jr. C. They battled the Tri-County Rivercats in round 1, winning the series 3-1.
In the best of 7 final Grand Lake took a quick 3-1 series lead. With the series set to be won on home ice in game 5 for the Moose, the Panthers spoiled the party winning game 5 & 6 in Minto to force a Game 7 in Hartland. The rest of course as you know is history.
So what now? Now, the Panthers head to Sherwood, P.E.I. to take part in the Maritime Hockey North Jr. C Championships where they will be representing New Brunswick and will face teams from P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and Nunavut (yes, Nunavut). The five team tournament features a round robin to be played on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, followed by semi finals on Saturday and the finals to be played on Sunday.
During the round robin each team will play four games against the other four teams. The semi-finals will consist of the top four teams and of course the winners will advance to the finals.
The Panthers begin their road to a Atlantic Jr. C Championship on Wednesday against the host Sherwood Falcons. The Falcons finished the regular season with a 10-15-3 record good enough to finish 4th in the PEI Jr. C standings. The Falcons lost in the semi-final round of the PEI Jr. C Hockey League playoffs to the Southside Lynx in 3 straight games in the best of 5 series.
On Thursday the Panthers will play the Nova Scotia representative, the Truro MU Rhino Renovations Rhinos. The Rhino’s finished their regular season with an impressive 24-3-1 finishing 1st overall in the regular season and went on to defeat the Spryfield Attack in the NSJHL Finals 4 games to 1.
Move onto Friday were the Panthers are to play two games. The first game is against South Side Lynx, the PEI Jr. C Hockey League champions. They also had an impressive regular season finishing 21-5-2 and cruising to the championship only losing two games in a total 9 playoff games played.
To finish off Friday the Panthers play the Baffin Blizzard of Nunavut. After a quick Google search we were unable to find any season stats from the teams regular season. Although, from the Panthers past visit to the tournament in 2013 the team representing Nunavut was the Kivalliq Canucks. The Canucks were a very fast and talented team heavily favoured to win the tournament until they were defeated by the Panthers in the semi-finals. Expect to see the same type of play from the Blizzard this year.
The road to the finals won’t be easy. Facing the best of the best in Atlantic Canada. You can watch very play from your couch in the living room at the website link below. Also, make sure to keep tabs on our Facebook and Twitter page for game scores and notes from the Island.
Game Stream: http://live.streamit.ca/?player=2238
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NBJHLPanthers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PanthersNBJHL
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