Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers are in search of win number three tonight.

The Dogs are returning to Stride Place tonight as they welcome the Waywayseecappo Wolverines to town. Goaltender Bailey Monteith says he is looking forward to this set of back-to-back games against the Wolverines.

"I'm really excited. I know during my time in Virden last year, it was always fun playing Wayway. So, I'm really excited to play them this weekend."

The Portage Terriers have made five different moves ahead of week two of the MJHL season.

The team acquired forward Roman Cherniak from the Sherwood Park Crusaders and defenceman Parker Scherr from the Olds Grizzlys, both in exchange for future considerations.

The Dogs also shipped defenceman Ashton Fishley to the Swan Valley Stampeders and forward Josh Lehto to the Virden Oil Capitals both in exchange for future considerations.

A Portage la Prairie native is even more confident for the 2022-23 campaign after gracing the ice with the Winnipeg Jets Young Stars Classic team. Dean Stewart was one of eight defencemen selected to the squad, and he says any time there's a chance to represent an NHL team, you have to take the opportunity. 

A former Portage Terrier is the first sports science coach in the MJHL. Rob Pambrun joined the league's newest franchise, the Niverville Nighthawks, after being a professional trainer for a number of years.

"The main focus that I'm bringing to the organization in terms of sports science and player development is, I'm an expert in perfecting game day routines," Pambrun explains. "When I say game day routines, that refers to game day nutrition for optimal performance, supplementation, and physical routine, like what the players are doing during the day."

The Portage Terriers put out a notice to the community Monday evening asking for more billet families to come forward for the current season.

The Portage Terriers are still in need of billet families! Please consider taking a player into your family for the season.

FULL DETAILS: https://t.co/LZXXmnl3nf pic.twitter.com/16ZV8lTVUk

A former Portage Terrier is preparing for his freshman season in the NCAA. Defenceman Owen Murray will be playing out this year with the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen.

The Decker, Manitoba product spent the last two seasons in the USHL with the Green Bay Gamblers, where he totalled 38 points in 97 games and was named an Assistant Captain in his final year with the club. Murray says he doesn't have many goals for this season and just wants to go with the flow.

The Portage Terriers gave the local fans an electrifying contest in their home opener. The Dogs defeated the Selkirk Steelers 5-4 in overtime in their Stride Place debut tonight.

Portage opened the scoring on their first power-play of the game. Hayden Lacquette received a cross-ice pass from Alyandro De Leon, and he skated halfway down the boards before firing a pass to Matt Wisener on the doorstep. He made no mistake and tapped the puck in, to take the 1-0 lead.

The Portage Terriers are looking for a repeat of their fate on Friday in tonight's home opener.

The Dogs kicked off the season in Selkirk two days ago with a 3-1 win over the Steelers. Now, with a rematch set for 6:30 at Stride Place, the Terriers will be doing whatever they can to remain undefeated.

Local defenceman Kian Calder says they are really starting to come together as a group.

The 2021/22 MJHL season was the first full season for the Terriers coming out of the COVID cancellations, but it was far from “normal”. Vaccine and mask mandates were in place for most of the year and attendance was restricted to 250 fans for a series of games in January. The Terriers also missed the playoffs for the first time since 1986.

A brand new MJHL season starts tonight with the Portage Terriers on the road in Selkirk at 7:30 p.m. (listen to the game here)

Their home opener is Sunday night at 6:30 also against Selkirk. A big season from local product Kian Calder would go a long way in helping the team win another championship. The veteran, who won a SJHL title with Estevan last year, is back in Portage hoping to help his hometown team do the same in the MJHL this year.