Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers hit the road for their first game after the Christmas break this evening. The Terriers lost a pair of games to end their schedule before the holidays, both in extra time.

The first loss came at the hands of the Selkirk Steelers 5-4 in overtime, when Rocco La Cara scored on a breakaway that gave goaltender Jayden Catellier little chance to stop.

The second was in Niverville, a shootout defeat that went 8 rounds. 

The Portage Terriers preparations for the second half of the season began Tuesday night as the team hit the ice for their first practice after the Christmas break.

A disappointing end to the first half of the season has the team motivated to achieve better results coming out of the holidays. They lost their last two games before Christmas in extra time.

Defenceman Parker Scherr gave us his insights on being home for the holidays.

The Portage Terriers and the MJHL are on a holiday break and for most players that means a fairly short trip home to have some time with their family and friends. For 19-year-old forward Owen Underhill, going home for Christmas has meant a 3150-kilometer drive to Renous, New Brunswick that Google Maps says takes about 34 hours.

Underhill left on the journey on Tuesday and is hoping to arrive on the East Coast sometime early this weekend. It's a road trip he has never made before.

The Portage Terriers head into the Christmas break on a sour note after a 2-1 shootout loss Wednesday night to the Niverville Nighthawks.

Offense was tough to come by throughout the night with both teams struggling to find quality chances. The Terriers looked tired after playing the second game in a row and league-leading 36th of the season.

Riding a four-game winning streak, the Terriers were hoping to head into the Christmas break with that number at 6. But it was not to be as the team lost 5-4 in overtime in Selkirk Tuesday night.

After a scoreless first period, the Terriers would build up a 3-0 lead in the first 8 minutes second frame but the Steelers would not go away. Thanks to a power-play goal with 20 seconds left in the period, it was 3-2 Terriers as the teams went into the dressing room.

The Portage Terriers and the rest of the hockey world along with family and friends are saddened today after news emerged yesterday about the sudden passing of Brady Grasdal.

Grasdal played 53 games over two seasons with the Terriers from 2020 to 2022 before heading to the Nipawin Hawks of the SJHL.

The Terriers released a statement today saying their thoughts and prayers were with the Grasdal family. The young player had made many connections in the community through work and hockey and his loss is being felt by many.

The Portage Terriers were dominant from start to finish on Thursday night as they beat the Winnipeg Freeze 7-0. The Terriers have now won three in a row for the first time this season.

With 5 games before Christmas, all on the road, the Portage Terriers headed northwest to Waywayseecapo Tuesday night and skated away with a 5-3 victory.

The Wolverines would strike first in the match but Daniel Siso would score his seventh of the season on the power play with just over 5 minutes to go in the opening frame and the game was tied after 20 minutes. The Wolverines would again open the scoring in the second frame but this time they would take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission meaning the comeback would have to be on to ensure a Terrier win.

Up until this past weekend, only three people in history had been the head coach of an MJHL team for 1000 games. Now, Terrier head coach and general manager Blake Spiller has made that list four.

As the Terriers found the net for the first time last Saturday, hundreds of teddy bears started their journey to find their home.

December 2nd's matchup between the Portage Terriers and Waywayseecappo Wolverines was the annual Salvation Army Teddy Bear Toss game. When the first goal for the Terriers was scored, fans all lobbed their stuffed animals that they wanted to donate on the ice, the same way you would see hats after a hat trick.