Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers have announced that their captain Kian Calder has won the Joe Sponarski Playoff MVP award.

The 20-year-old played big minutes throughout the postseason. His eight points in 12 games had him tied for third among defencemen in the MJHL. He also led Terrier defencemen during the Centennial Cup with six points in six games (2G,2A).

“Kian definitely matured and improved as a player in the past couple of seasons,” says Terrier head coach and GM Blake Spiller. “He did an excellent job as captain both at the rink and in the community.”

The Virden Oil Capitals have forced a game seven. The Portage Terriers couldn’t get their offense going on Sunday night as they lost 7-1 in Virden. It was the most lopsided loss the Terriers have suffered this season. 

The game was tight in the first period with both teams staying out of the box. Virden opened the scoring midway through the period. Colton Miller tipped a shot perfectly over the shoulder of Terrier goalie Jayden Catellier. Shots were 11-11 after 1. 

The Portage Terriers bounced back from an early goal against last night to beat the Niverville Nighthawks 3-1. The Terriers have a 3-1 series lead and have a chance to advance to the second round on Friday night. 

The Portage Terriers finished strong Saturday night to pick up a 5-2 victory over the Niverville Nighthawks. They now have a 2-0 series lead heading back to Portage for game 3 on Tuesday night. 

The Terriers started the first period strong getting some early chances on former Terrier Chris Fines. Both teams had a power play but neither could score. Most of the Terriers' shots were coming from the outside. 0-0 after 1. 

The Portage Terriers closed out the regular season on the road Friday night with a 3-2 win over the Steinbach Pistons. 

Portage came out of the gate strong in the first period. Five minutes into the game Noah Wagner tipped Matt McLeod’s point shot past a sliding Cole Plowman to open the scoring. The Terriers kept up the pressure. Brandon McCartney was sprung open and he beat Plowman low glove side as he drove to the net. Portage took a few penalties to close out the period but they were able to kill them off. 2-0 Portage after 1. 

The Portage Terriers couldn’t hang on to a lead Saturday night as they fell 4-3 in a shoutout to the Dauphin Kings. The Kings sweep the season series with the Terriers 4-0. They are the only team the Terriers haven’t beaten this year. 

The Portage Terriers picked up their 7th win in a row on Saturday night coming back to beat the Neepawa Titans 3-2.

The game started slowly with a pair of penalties being handed out to the Terriers. Neepawa’s Dean Noonan then went to the box for interference and the Titans capitalized during the 4 on 4 play. Mason Hartley ended the Terriers' shutout streak at 235 minutes and 36 seconds when he beat Bailey Monteith on a partial breakaway.

The Portage Terriers have traded F Aiden Sotas (05) to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines for Future Considerations.

Sotas was drafted by the Terriers in 2020 in the first round (10th overall) and made his debut last season as a 16-year-old rookie. He put up 7 points in 34 games.

Drafted by the Portland Winterhawks (WHL) in 2020, the Birtle, MB product started the 2022-23 season with them and registered one assist in 20 games. The Winterhawks reassigned Sotas earlier this week.

The Portage Terriers added veteran experience to their roster yesterday ahead of the CJHL’s Dec.1 cutdown deadline. All teams needed to be down to a maximum of 25 players or less by 5 p.m. Teams are now limited in their ability to add and trade players until the final January 10th deadline when rosters need to be at 23 players.

The Terriers have traded D Tyler Dodgson (04) and F Brandon Funk (05) to the Winnipeg Blues along with future considerations for F Jack Kaiser (02) and D Matt McLeod (02). Other moves included:

The Portage Terriers game on Saturday night in OCN ended in overtime, but not because of a goal but due to a player injury. The Terriers and Blizzard were tied at three and halfway through overtime when Blizzard forward Drayden Kurbatoff was hurt. Due to the nature of the injury, it was decided that the remainder of the game would be finished at a later date.