Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers gave the local fans an electrifying contest in their home opener. The Dogs defeated the Selkirk Steelers 5-4 in overtime in their Stride Place debut tonight.

Portage opened the scoring on their first power-play of the game. Hayden Lacquette received a cross-ice pass from Alyandro De Leon, and he skated halfway down the boards before firing a pass to Matt Wisener on the doorstep. He made no mistake and tapped the puck in, to take the 1-0 lead.

The Portage Terriers are looking for a repeat of their fate on Friday in tonight's home opener.

The Dogs kicked off the season in Selkirk two days ago with a 3-1 win over the Steelers. Now, with a rematch set for 6:30 at Stride Place, the Terriers will be doing whatever they can to remain undefeated.

Local defenceman Kian Calder says they are really starting to come together as a group.

The 2021/22 MJHL season was the first full season for the Terriers coming out of the COVID cancellations, but it was far from “normal”. Vaccine and mask mandates were in place for most of the year and attendance was restricted to 250 fans for a series of games in January. The Terriers also missed the playoffs for the first time since 1986.

A brand new MJHL season starts tonight with the Portage Terriers on the road in Selkirk at 7:30 p.m. (listen to the game here)

Their home opener is Sunday night at 6:30 also against Selkirk. A big season from local product Kian Calder would go a long way in helping the team win another championship. The veteran, who won a SJHL title with Estevan last year, is back in Portage hoping to help his hometown team do the same in the MJHL this year.

The final MJHL pre-season game was played last night and it saw the Virden Oil Caps take down the Portage Terriers 4-1 at Tundra Oil and Gas Place. The league's 13 teams now get set to play for real with the regular season starting Friday night.

The Terriers continue to be active on the trade front as we approach the start of the season. 

Monday afternoon, the Dogs announced that they have traded 2003-born Forward Riley Borody to the Dauphin Kings in exchange for the CJHL rights to 2002 Forward Cade Hayes.

Borody, a Portage product, played 37 games with his hometown Terriers last season and scored eight points. On the other hand, Cade Hayes spent parts of 3 seasons in Moose Jaw with the Warriors of the Western Hockey League before being dealt to the Spokane Chiefs last season. 

The Portage Terriers are opening their preseason schedule tonight at Stride Place and it's clear it's not just the players who are excited for hockey to come back.

Marketing Director Cody Buhler says he is ready to call some games and have some fun this season. Over the weekend, the Terriers held their training camp and Buhler says he liked what he saw.