Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers picked up where they left off in 2024 with a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Freeze.

Near the middle of the first period, Wyatt Dreger found a puck sitting in some open ice after a scramble in front, and put away Portage's first goal in 2025.

He outlines his thoughts on scoring that marker.

"It feels really good, actually. Hopefully more will come."

That was the only shot to find the scoreboard, as Portage led Winnipeg 1-0 through 20 minutes. Portage outshot Winnipeg 12-4 in the frame.

Every year, 13 teams are in competition for the Turnbull Cup, and so far this season, the Portage Terriers are holding themselves in playoff contention with their eyes on another ring. Head Coach and General Manager Blake Spiller, along with Marketing Director Cody Buhler, presented their thoughts on the past calendar year, along with some of the plans they are looking forward to in the coming year.

Spiller notes that while the first half of 2024 didn't end how they hoped, they faced a team that deserved the chances the got.

With most hockey seasons taking breaks, that means lots of players are travelling home for the holidays, including members of the Portage Terriers.

Those who saw Dean Stewart in action with the Portage Terriers between 2014 and 2016 may not have understood at the time how far his hockey career would take him. After two seasons with the Dogs, Stewart was drafted in the seventh round by the Arizona Coyotes and would play four years in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's top division with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, including filling the captain's role in his fourth year.

An outstanding performance in goal and some timely scoring were the difference as the Portage Terriers took down the Winnipeg Freeze 3-0 in their final game before the Christmas break.

A couple of penalties were all that would hit the scoresheet in the first period, as Portage's powerplay put several good chances to the net, but were unable to capitalize. The shots were 14-3 for Portage but the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes.

The Portage Terriers will play one final game before the Christmas break will take players home for the holidays.

The Winnipeg Freeze come to town to face the Terriers for the fourth time this season, having lost all three previous contests by a combined score of 16-3.

The Dogs will look to extend the win streak against the Freeze with a sixth consecutive win over the last two seasons. Portage has only lost one game to the Freeze in their history, a 4-3 extra-time affair which saw the Terriers give up a goal late in the third period to tie it.

A wild affair at the Hockey For All Centre ended with Portage the victors by a score of 5-4.

The teams traded goals in the first ten minutes, with Evan Gradt and Decker Mujcin scoring for the Blues and Terriers respectively.

From there, the Blues would score three consecutive goals, to take a 4-1 lead early in the second period.

Nolan Nenow would start the comeback with a shot on the powerplay that beat Blues netminder Samuel Couture, making it 4-2 in Winnipeg's favour. 

The end of the first half of the season for the Portage Terriers will see most of the team leave the city for home. Will McKay and Adam Belzil will each travel significant distances by air to get home, with McKay hailing from Terrace, British Columbia, and Belzil from Lévis, Quebec.

Belzil says that travelling home by car is not feasible for getting a real break, with the trip being about 28 hours of driving.

The Portage Terriers weren't able to generate any sustained pressure on the Winkler Flyers Friday night and fell 3-0 on home ice.

Netminder Mitchell Kathler was the busiest Terrier throughout the night as Winkler outshot Portage 10-5, 15-4 and 12-9 in each period for a total of 37-18.

After a tight checking first period, Winkler opened the scoring in the second. Brady Craik tipped a Niklas Gudmundson point shot past Kathler three seconds after a Terrier penalty expired.

With only nine returning players in their lineup, the Portage Terriers may have expected a rough first half of the season. But their 20-9-0-0 record so far has shown that the team is once again competitive.

Defensive play has been a key to their success so far, with the pairings that can all be rolled out fairly comfortably.