The Portage Terriers held their annual general meeting last night and saw some youth added to the Board of Directors. President of the organization Dave Koroscil says they're happy to have their HockeyTV play-by-play announcer Jared Thiessen added to the mix.
"I think it's an issue for a lot of organizations, especially when you take COVID into account, there seems to be less and less volunteers coming out. Our board is very active. It's a working board at all the games. So, to bring on new, younger faces is encouraging," Koroscil explains. "We need to have a replacing of the guard to some degree and bring some youth into it. I'd like to see more younger people get involved, whether it be at the board level or just volunteering and maybe preparing for a board position down the road."
All things considered, Koroscil and the rest of the Terriers organization were fairly happy with how last season went, despite it being a net loss of $28,950. The president says with the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions, and the fact that they didn't make the playoffs, it was still quite a successful season.
"We headed into the fall camp (last year) with a fair bit of uncertainty, and there were still restrictions throughout the community. They increased around Christmas time when the government really clamped down and limited attendance at the facility to 250 people," Koroscil continues. "It really cut down our opportunity. You think about losing fans in attendance but there's a lot more that comes with that. There's the canteen that we run, there's the bar service, 50/50, and other sales we have. It did have an impact but we were very happy with the community and how they supported us."
The Portage Terriers have had a great start to the season as they currently have the second-best record in the MJHL. The organization anticipates a successful year this season, especially with the 2023 Centennial Cup tournament coming to Stride Place in May.
"So far this year, we're having, what Blake (Spiller) is calling, a little bit of a slow start but they've all been competitive games, and we have a pretty good record so far. As long as the team keeps building and having some close contests, that really helps," says Koroscil. "Remember back in 2015, we had the 'Dream Team' I'll call it, and they seemed to win with ease and even in that year, I believe it was a loss for the organization, even though we had such a tremendous year. So, the tighter games can be, and the more competitive the entire league is, that really helps bring people out."
Koroscil says the ultimate goal this season is the Centennial Cup trophy. He notes the tournament itself will bring in a ton of talented players and generate revenue for the entire community.
The Terriers will be back on the ice tomorrow in Neepawa at 7:30.