Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers were dominant from start to finish on Thursday night as they beat the Winnipeg Freeze 7-0. The Terriers have now won three in a row for the first time this season.

With 5 games before Christmas, all on the road, the Portage Terriers headed northwest to Waywayseecapo Tuesday night and skated away with a 5-3 victory.

The Wolverines would strike first in the match but Daniel Siso would score his seventh of the season on the power play with just over 5 minutes to go in the opening frame and the game was tied after 20 minutes. The Wolverines would again open the scoring in the second frame but this time they would take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission meaning the comeback would have to be on to ensure a Terrier win.

Up until this past weekend, only three people in history had been the head coach of an MJHL team for 1000 games. Now, Terrier head coach and general manager Blake Spiller has made that list four.

As the Terriers found the net for the first time last Saturday, hundreds of teddy bears started their journey to find their home.

December 2nd's matchup between the Portage Terriers and Waywayseecappo Wolverines was the annual Salvation Army Teddy Bear Toss game. When the first goal for the Terriers was scored, fans all lobbed their stuffed animals that they wanted to donate on the ice, the same way you would see hats after a hat trick.

The Portage Terriers wrapped up a very successful weekend Sunday night by taking out the Steinbach Pistons 3-1 on home ice. It had been almost 6 weeks since the Pistons had suffered a loss.

The Terriers came out of the gate strong when Brenden Holba was sprung on a breakaway by Decker Mujcin and buried it past Steinbach goalie Cole Plowman. The Terriers kept the pressure up, and Austin McLean fired a laser under the crossbar for his first of the season midway through the first period.

The Portage Terriers have received some national love for the first time this season.

The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) top 20 rankings were updated on November 27th, with the Dogs listed as an honourable mention. To this point in the season, the Terriers are 15-6-3-2, which puts them in second place in the MJHL's East Division.

The Portage Terriers had a hard time finding the back of the net on Sunday night as they fell 5-2 to the Neepawa Titans.

Portage started the first period strong out shooting Neepawa 21-14 but Titan goalie Mason Lobreau shut the door. As the period was about to expire, Titan forward Carter McLeod opened the scoring with his 11th of the season. 1-0 Neepawa after 1.

The Portage Terriers handed the Winkler Flyers just their third loss of the season on Wednesday night 4-0.

It was a tight-checking physical affair with both teams making multiple trips to the box. From the opening whistle to the final horn, the Terriers played with a level of energy and focus that was lacking in the overtime loss on Saturday to the Winnipeg Freeze.

The Portage Terriers picked up 3 of a possible 4 points over the weekend as the team continues a five game stretch on the road.

Ryan Botterill hasn't forgotten his roots on his way to a Division 1 NCAA commitment at the University of Wisconsin.

The Portage product has been playing with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL this season following a 45-goal campaign with the Portage Terriers in the 2022-23 season.

Botterill says he wouldn't be the same hockey player or person if it wasn't for his hometown.