Every year, 13 teams are in competition for the Turnbull Cup, and so far this season, the Portage Terriers are holding themselves in playoff contention with their eyes on another ring. Head Coach and General Manager Blake Spiller, along with Marketing Director Cody Buhler, presented their thoughts on the past calendar year, along with some of the plans they are looking forward to in the coming year.
Spiller notes that while the first half of 2024 didn't end how they hoped, they faced a team that deserved the chances the got.
"We acquired some key guys that thought of the deadline, especially on the back end with (Ashton) Fishley and (Aidan) Brook and knowing that we needed that going into the series against Winkler. And they, obviously, won the league and showed well at the at the Centennial. So, they definitely bought in and made it real hard. Obviously, we got an injury to our goaltender, and I think the third game in the series, and I thought we were we were in it and then it just seemed like we just couldn't get going back in the series. So, obviously it was disappointing to not win a round, to get to the next round, but again, I thought Winkler deserved all the credit to get through us."
Spiller adds that this year, the division is going to be tough with only four teams reaching the playoffs each year and five teams in contention.
"Everybody knows our division is so tight, you know, I think Selkirk won 14 in a row or something at the start and you know we won 11 in a row at one stretch and both teams are battling for a playoff spot. It's not very often that you have five teams in one division that are over six hundred and you know at the end of the day or at the end of the season regular season, it could be one team that has a real good record that doesn't make it."
On the business side of things, Cody Buhler says it feels a little strange to be talking about the end of the year, as opposed to the end of the season.
"it's really funny when I think of the year, I think of September to may because that's the hockey, that's our year when you're talking about the Portage Terriers. But when you look at the actual calendar year, obviously there was the playoffs in spring against Winkler, would have liked to go a little bit further, but there's maybe a little bit of a moral victory in you lost to the eventual champions. This year, I know talking to the team, there's no moral victories. They want to win the actual championship; they want to go all the way and that's a big focus for the team."
The Terriers event schedule was busy again, and Buhler outlines how the summer schedule went for the organization.
"Things have been really good. Our fundraisers have gone exceptionally well. I think all of our fundraisers are up this year. We had the golf tournament, which was a huge success; We made quite a bit of money from that and then this year, our Sportsman's Dinner went exceptionally well. We've partnered again with Central Plains Cancer Services. We had a sold-out event at CanadInns. Doug Gilmour was great. He was fun to talk to, very personable, and that was a huge success, and we actually just dropped off the cheque and we made that presentation with cancer services just last week."
Overall, the event raised $28,918 for each organization, as the proceeds are split evenly. Cody says many more events are on the way in the new year.
"We're going to do kind of the classic NHL all. Competitions the hardest shot, the fastest skater, maybe a breakaway competition, we’re maybe even going to try and split them into teams so that there's a little bit more of a rivalry and a little bit more of a head-to-head. And so, we're looking forward to that, that, February 23, mark your calendars. We've got the details already up on the Portage Terrier website. Just two bucks to get in season ticket holders. Kids Club members, they'll all get in for free," Buhler continues. "We're working on our hockey cards, I've seen some preliminary designs already, so we're just trying to finalize that, and then after the trade deadline, once we have the lineup locked in, we'll get all the pictures ready and get those hockey cards designed and made up. Then we're also hoping for our gigantic 50/50 again. We did that the last two springs we're going to be doing it again, and this year, I'm hoping, the plan is to be even bigger and better than ever. Still planning but more details will be coming in a few weeks."
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