Portage Terriers

Nearly 100 young hockey players from across the province now have the opportunity to take the next step.

The 2023 Manitoba Junior Hockey League Draft went down yesterday in Winnipeg. The Portage Terriers made seven selections in the eight-round draft. 

The Portage Terriers acquired veteran forward Bryden Kiesman a month into the 2022-23 regular season, and he fit in immediately. The Winnipegger picked up nine points in his first five games as a Terrier, scoring a hat-trick in his first appearance in the green and white. 

Kiesman was traded from the SJHL's Nipawin Hawks in exchange for forwards Alyandro De Leon and Hudson Cameron.

The Portage community showed just how much they love the sport of hockey during the 2023 Centennial Cup. 

Stride Place had a vibrant atmosphere for eleven consecutive days during the tournament. The chair of game day operations, Dave Koroscil, was extremely happy with how smoothly everything went. 

Dean Stewart was crushed when his season ended initially, but after time to reflect, he says it's hard not to think of it as a success. 

The Manitoba Moose defenceman helped his team finish the season with a top-twelve record in the American Hockey League and make the playoffs. The Portager says this was his first postseason experience at this level.

The Portage Terriers had quite an eventful 2022-23 campaign. The team finished the regular season in first place and when the postseason was all said and done, they were a semi-finalist on the provincial and national stage.

The organization says they couldn't have made that happen without the 30,000+ fans that came to the regular season and playoff games. The team recently gave credit the many volunteers, the Ladies Auxiliary, the billet host families, their sponsors and their fans for helping keep everything afloat.

The Portage Terriers have eight graduating players who are forced to move on now that the season has ended, leaving holes to be filled for next year. 

Before the Centennial Cup even ended, the organization was planning for next year as they have already filled one of those eight holes. 18-year-old defenceman Nik Jones has committed to play in Portage in 2023-24.

Less than a week removed from their semi-final loss at the Centennial Cup, members of the Portage Terriers' organization are already back to work. 

The club held their annual Spring Evaluation Prospect Camp on Friday and Saturday, which saw players from across the province compete at Stride Place in front of Terrier coaches and scouts.

Scout Angus Moar says the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Draft is on June 4th.

The Portage Terriers awarded graduating goaltender Bailey Monteith their Top Performer award for his play at the 2023 Centennial Cup. 

In the round-robin, Monteith had three games with 34+ saves and in the quarterfinal against the Yarmouth Mariners, he stopped 36 shots to help the Terriers pick up a 2-1 victory. The Kamloops native is proud to receive the recognition but he gives his teammates a ton of credit for helping him play as well as he did.

The Portage Terriers have announced that their captain Kian Calder has won the Joe Sponarski Playoff MVP award.

The 20-year-old played big minutes throughout the postseason. His eight points in 12 games had him tied for third among defencemen in the MJHL. He also led Terrier defencemen during the Centennial Cup with six points in six games (2G,2A).

“Kian definitely matured and improved as a player in the past couple of seasons,” says Terrier head coach and GM Blake Spiller. “He did an excellent job as captain both at the rink and in the community.”

In 2019, the Terriers ended Battlefords playoff run in the Anavet cup on their ice. Now, only four years later, the Stars got to return the favour.

The Portage Terriers’ season came to an end last night and with it, a chance for a third national championship.

The Battlefords North Stars dominated the Terriers from start to finish in the semi final, winning 7-1.