Portage Terriers

In a likely preview of the first round of the playoffs, the Portage Terriers beat the Winkler Flyers 2-1 on Friday night.

A tight checking defensive battle saw momentum swing back and forth throughout the game. Portage got some great scoring chances early in the first and then finally broke the deadlock. Parker Scherr scored on a point shot ten seconds into the first Terrier power play of the night. Winkler responded a few minutes later when the MJHL’s leading scorer, Dalton Andrew, blasted home a power play goal past Gavin Renwick. 1-1 after 1.

The Portage Terriers are back on the road tonight to face off with the Winkler Flyers after Wednesday night's game was postponed. 

The two teams have faced off with the Flyers four times to this point, with the Terriers winning three of the four contests.

Adler Johnston says these are the type of games players get excited for.

UPDATE: Tonight's game has been postponed due to weather conditions. A make-up game will be rescheduled soon.

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The Portage Terriers look to add to their win total tonight when they take on the Neepawa Titans at Stride Place.

The Terriers escaped Swan Valley with a victory after losing their previous contest to the OCN Blizzard.

Portage has won three of their last five, while Neepawa has won four in the same stretch. 

An exciting back and forth affair ended in the Portage Terriers’ favour Saturday night as they beat the Swan Valley Stampeders 6-5 in overtime.

The Terriers dominated the chances and time of attack but it wasn’t reflected in the close score. It was due in large part to solid goaltending from Stampeder goalie Kyle Abrahamson. The Terriers out shot Swan Valley 60-29.

The Portage Terriers are making the trip to The Pas today to take on the OCN Blizzard. The Terriers have won 2 of the 3 contests so far this season, and look for a third win tonight.

Both teams are locked into playoff spots, with playoff action under a month away.

So far this season, Portage sits in the third playoff spot in the MGEU East Division, currently 9 points back of Winkler and 15 points behind Steinbach. OCN sits second in the MGEU West Division, separated by 6 points from the Virden Oil Capitals in first place.

In the end, it doesn't really mean much but it is nice nonetheless. The National Junior A Hockey Rankings are released each week and it is a list that is always open to debate. For the most part, the teams on the list do not play against each other until the Centennial Cup and it is extremely tough to gauge the strength of one league compared to another in any given year. Plus, a high national ranking means absolutely nothing when the puck is dropped at playoff time. It's wins on the ice that tell the real story.

The Portage Terriers have visited many schools in the Portage la Prairie area for the annual "I Love To Read" month. Two Terriers visited École Arthur Meighen to read in French on Monday and had a great reception there.

Goaltender Jayden Catellier and forward Gabriel Laflamme shared some time with a Grade 1 class, reading two books each to the kids. Laflamme shared how it felt to return to his mother tongue for a few minutes.

"It was fun giving back to the French community. I felt like I was back home for ten minutes, it was nice."

It's hard to win without hitting the scoreboard. The Portage Terriers allowed just one goal that had the goaltender in the net, and an inability to answer it back was their undoing as they fell 2-0 to the Dauphin Kings.

The Portage Terriers face off with the Dauphin Kings tonight at Stride Place. The Dogs have won three games in a row, as have their opponents.

Both teams sit in third place in their respective divisions. Portage has clinched their spot in the playoffs, and Dauphin is definitely in reach. A loss for Neepawa tonight would make it nearly impossible for Dauphin to fall out of a playoff spot.

The Portage Terriers had a big game where 4 players put up multiple points, including 3 points for former Niverville Nighthawk Mighton Johnson.

An offensive explosion would give the Terriers a great start to the game, as the team would score four goals in the first. Nolan Nenow, Rhett Perrin, Mighton Johnson and Matthew Biros all scored in the opening frame to give the Terriers a 4-0 lead through 17 minutes of play. However, Nathan Brown would score one for Niverville, and scoring the final goal of the period, making it 4-1 after 20 minutes.