Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers’ season has come to an end as they fell 3-2 to the Dauphin Kings on Monday night. Dauphin takes the best of seven Turnbull Cup semi final 4-2 and will now move on to play the Northern Manitoba Blizzard in the final.

Students in Portage schools had a chance to meet some of their heroes and get more than just an autograph over the last several months, as members of the team immersed themselves in the community by working at the schools.

From veterans to rookies, with Terriers took part in various classes across multiple schools in the city. 

École Arthur Meighen had Tristan Gravenor and Adam Belzil working in their classes, as Belzil spent most of his time with the younger grades, and Gravenor worked largely with the Grade 8 class.

The Portage Terriers will look to extend their season tonight, by tying their second round series against the Dauphin Kings.

Portage won the last contest by a 3-0 score, with Mitchell Kathler recording his first shutout of the playoffs. 

Scoring leader Cam Bullinger led the way in the game with a pair of points, and the team will likely need more production from their top performers to knot up the series.

A win in tonight's game would see Game 7 go down at Stride Place on Wednesday, April 16 with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

The Portage Terriers staved off elimination on Saturday night, beating the Dauphin Kings 3-0 on home ice. Penalty trouble cost the Terriers early in the series, but on Saturday night they locked it down giving up four power plays to Dauphin but they killed them all off.

Portage came out firing in the first period and scored in the first three minutes. Adam Belzil was left alone in front of the net and he was able to deke past Dauphin goalie Cole Sheffield to open the scoring. The Dogs outshot the Kings 16-9 through 20 minutes.

The Portage Terriers dropped a heart breaker on Friday night 4-3 in double overtime to the Dauphin Kings.

The Terriers started the game strong until a penalty derailed their momentum. Matthew Thomas then scored on the power play to make it 1-0 Kings. Rylan Gage made it 2-0 late in the period for his second of the playoffs. After letting in 2 goals on 14 shots, Terrier goalie Ryan Velan was done for the night, and Mitchell Kathler came into the game in relief.

The Portage Terriers picked up their first win of the second round on Tuesday night, beating the Dauphin Kings 2-1 on home ice. 

Terrier goalie Ryan Velan played the hero, stopping 39 shots including a highlight reel sprawling glove save in the third period.

For Velan, it was his first start of the post-season, "It felt awesome. I feel like I was ready for it. I think I did a good job in practice, staying right for the opportunity, so I was happy to be able to capitalize on it and it was a much-needed win, so I'm happy that we were able to pull it out."

Special teams were a struggle for the Portage Terriers on Sunday night falling 4-2 to the Dauphin Kings.

Similar to game one of the series, Portage outplayed the Kings early, and Caleb Lepitre opened the scoring late in the first period on the power play. The Terriers outshot the Kings in the first, 12-1.

The Portage Terriers lost their first game on home ice so far in their run to the Turnbull Cup by a score of 3-1 to the Dauphin Kings.

Portage scored a goal at the very last second of the first period, as Caleb Lepitre notched his first of the post-season on the powerplay. There was plenty of discussion between the officials and Dauphin's coaching staff, but the goal would stand. 1-0 Portage after the first.

From Portage Terriers Marketing Director Cody Buhler

The Portage Terriers finished off their first round series with the Steinbach Pistons on Monday night picking up a close 3-2 win on home ice.

After starting slow in game five, the Terriers came out strong in the deciding game six. Dawson Madden opened the scoring for Portage, tipping in a point shot midway through the first period. The goal seemed to wake up the Pistons who got on the board two minutes later from Brayden Barnett.

The Steinbach Pistons staved off elimination with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Portage Terriers on March 29. The game saw Portage go 0/5 on the powerplay, but killing off all four penalties they were assessed.

Steinbach would score a pair of goals near the mid-way point of the first period, as the Terriers got trapped inside their defensive zone a couple of times in succession, giving the Pistons a 2-0 lead to end the first frame.