Portage Terriers

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. 

The Portage Terriers escaped Waywayseecappo with their win streak intact on Friday night.

Portage entered the contest with wins in their last three games, two of which were against the Wolverines.

Goals were hard to come by in the game, as each team only found the back of the net twice, with Nolan Nenow and newcomer Dawson Madden getting on the scoresheet for Portage.

Terrier netminder Mitchell Kathler would stop 19 of the 21 shots he faced, and Dawson Madden would play the hero, scoring the winner in overtime.

The Portage Terriers held off a late comeback from the Neepawa Titans on Wednesday night coming out with a 4-3 win at Stride Place.

Prior to the action, Parker Scherr was named the Terriers' Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Player of the Month. He says getting that recognition is always nice.

The accolades continue rolling in for the Portage Terriers as Portager Koy Funk was named the MJHL's Rookie of the Month for November. Funk secured the award by scored 12 points in 12 games. He shares how he found out about the award.

"I heard when I was out skating with Crescentview School, so I had a couple guys with me. They all came over, gave me fist bumps, then saw all the guys at the rink later, and it was warm all around, it was nice to feel that."

Funk notes that the community's support has been felt by the team, and himself especially.

The Portage Terriers wrapped up their home and home series with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines Saturday night with a 4-2 victory on the road.

Slow starts had been plaguing the Terriers this season but that wasn’t the case against the Wolverines. Nolan Nenow opened the scoring for Portage in the first five minutes depositing a rebound past Waywayseecappo goalie Mariko Bercier on the power play.

The Portage Terriers put together one of their best efforts of the season into a 5-2 win over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines on Friday night.

Koy Funk would set off the Teddy Bear Toss 53 seconds into the game with a tough shot to handle from near the front of the net.

The goal sent 353 of teddy bears onto the ice, and the U13 Central Plains Capitals would help clear the ice surface so play could resume.

The Portage Terriers endured a tough night on Sunday, falling 3-1 to the Selkirk Steelers in Manitoba Junior Hockey League action. Costly turnovers and early-game struggles continued to plague the Terriers, who have now conceded the first goal in six of their last nine contests.