Portage Terriers

Special teams were once again the downfall of the Portage Terriers on Wednesday night as they fell 4-2 to the Virden Oil Capitals. Portage went 0/5 on the power play while the Oil Capitals scored a power play and shorthanded goal.

The Terriers started the game strong, outshooting Virden 17-7 in the first period. Alyandro De Leon netted his first the season to open the scoring for the Terriers.

“It feels great to finally get the monkey off the back. That goal was a big confidence boost,” says De Leon.

The Portage Terriers picked up their third win of the season on Sunday night beating the OCN Blizzard 3-1. The team was able to take advantage of a Blizzard club who was playing their third game in as many nights.

Terrier goalie Gavin Renwick made 29 saves in his second start as a Terrier. He was happy with the way his team played in front of him.

“Everyone was battling for a full 60 minutes. We’ve been struggling with our starts lately, but that was a good bounce back for us.”

Not even overtime was enough to settle things last night at Stride Place between the Portage Terriers and Winkler Flyers. After 65 minutes of play a shootout was needed and even that required an extra shooter for each team. In the end, it was the Flyers getting the extra point and a 4-3 victory over the hometown team.

Most of the scoring came in the second period as things opened up with both teams taking several penalties. The Terriers went 1 for 6 with the man advantage and the Flyers 1 for 5. Whenever someone scored, the other team responded with a goal within two minutes.

The Portage Terriers picked up their second win of the season on Sunday night, beating the Winnipeg Freeze 6-2.

The Terriers emphatically ended their streak of allowing the first goal of the game as Gabriel Laflamme opened the scoring 18 seconds after opening puck drop. They didn’t let off the gas throughout the first period outshooting the Freeze 12-7. Slade Stanick scored midway through the period, and then Parker Korman added one with time winding down. 3-0 Portage after 1.

The Portage Terriers let a late third period lead slip away on Friday night, losing 4-3 in overtime to the Dauphin Kings.

The team has struggled in first periods so far in this young season and have yet to score the first goal of a game. Friday night was no different, as Myles Yearwood found the back of the net 1:26 into the match.

“We need to start the game earlier,” said Terrier defenceman Brett Magarrell. “We need to keep our feet moving and play as a team and the rest will come.”

Giving up three first-period goals proved costly for the Portage Terriers as they fell 5-3 to the Steinbach Pistons Thursday night. The game was the home opener for the Pistons in their temporary arena in La Broquerie, MB. 

The captain of your 2023-24 Portage Terriers is Tayem Gislason. 

The defenceman arrived in Portage midway through last season after playing 16 games in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels and Prince Albert Raiders. Gislason had 14 points in 32 regular season games last year and put up four points in five games at the Centennial Cup.

"I was pretty excited. It's pretty cool to be the captain," Gislason continues. "There's such a history behind this team, so it's really exciting to be a part of that and be a leader on this team."

It may only be their third game of the season but the atmosphere will be a little different for the Portage Terriers this evening as they play the first ever MJHL regular season game in the community of La Broquerie.

Win number one is in the books. The Portage Terriers sent their fans home happy after a 5-4 victory over the Virden Oil Capitals tonight in their first game at Stride Place. 

While the Terriers did come out on top, it was a former Terrier who struck first. Less than three minutes into the game, Josh Lehto (Played one regular season game for Portage last season) was fed the puck along the wing in a 3-on-2 rush. He ripped a shot past Jayden Catellier to give Virden the early lead.

Finally, Junior A hockey has come back to Manitoba. The Manitoba Junior Hockey League season began last night with a five-game slate, and the action continues tonight with five more games going down. 

The Portage Terriers are making their regular season debut tonight as they travel to Neepawa to take on the Titans. Head coach Blake Spiller says the end of September is one of the best times in every season.