Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers picked up their 7th win in a row on Saturday night coming back to beat the Neepawa Titans 3-2.

The game started slowly with a pair of penalties being handed out to the Terriers. Neepawa’s Dean Noonan then went to the box for interference and the Titans capitalized during the 4 on 4 play. Mason Hartley ended the Terriers' shutout streak at 235 minutes and 36 seconds when he beat Bailey Monteith on a partial breakaway.

The Portage Terriers have traded F Aiden Sotas (05) to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines for Future Considerations.

Sotas was drafted by the Terriers in 2020 in the first round (10th overall) and made his debut last season as a 16-year-old rookie. He put up 7 points in 34 games.

Drafted by the Portland Winterhawks (WHL) in 2020, the Birtle, MB product started the 2022-23 season with them and registered one assist in 20 games. The Winterhawks reassigned Sotas earlier this week.

The Portage Terriers added veteran experience to their roster yesterday ahead of the CJHL’s Dec.1 cutdown deadline. All teams needed to be down to a maximum of 25 players or less by 5 p.m. Teams are now limited in their ability to add and trade players until the final January 10th deadline when rosters need to be at 23 players.

The Terriers have traded D Tyler Dodgson (04) and F Brandon Funk (05) to the Winnipeg Blues along with future considerations for F Jack Kaiser (02) and D Matt McLeod (02). Other moves included:

The Portage Terriers game on Saturday night in OCN ended in overtime, but not because of a goal but due to a player injury. The Terriers and Blizzard were tied at three and halfway through overtime when Blizzard forward Drayden Kurbatoff was hurt. Due to the nature of the injury, it was decided that the remainder of the game would be finished at a later date. 

The Portage Terriers picked up their seventh straight win Friday night, beating the Swan Valley Stampeders 5-2. A hot start and a dynamic power play were key elements in the road victory. 

Brayden Kiesman made an instant impact in his Terrier debut. The 20-year-old forward was acquired earlier in the week from the Nipawin Hawks (SJHL). He scored his first goal less than two minutes into the game on the power play. The Stampeders responded with a 5-on-3 goal by Jordan Keck.

The Portage Terriers lost their first game of the season Sunday night, 5-2 to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. Special teams was a big factor for Waywayseecappo who went 3/7 on the power play. Offence was hard to come by for Portage who got outshot 41-29 and were 0/9 with the man advantage. 

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.