Terriers prove they're the MJHL's top dogs

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Portage Terriers' Tyler Moore (No. 9) celebrates with his team after winning the Turnbull Memorial Trophy after defeating the Selkirk Steelers at the PCU Arena in Portage La Prairie Saturday night.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — Once again, the Portage Terriers are best in show in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Goals by Tyler Moore and Tanner Harms in the first 45 seconds of the game proved to be the difference as the Terriers used that early edge to beat the Selkirk Steelers 5-2 in front of a near sell-out crowd at the Portage Credit Union Centre Saturday night.

Portage wins the best-of-seven MJHL championship series 4-1.

Moore, the playoff's leading scorer with 20 points and the post-season MVP, figured the series was won 24 hours before, when the Sher-Wood Division champs put together a dominant performance in a 3-0 win in Selkirk Friday night.

"The quick turnaround helped us -- without question," the 20-year-old said as friends and family took pictures with the Turnbull Trophy after the game.

"We played so strong (Friday) and we could sense they were starting to get tired. Give them credit, they battled hard, but this feels pretty good right now."

For the record, this MJHL title is Moore's third in his four years with Portage, the others coming in 2008 and 2009. As an organization, the Terriers celebrate their seventh provincial junior hockey crown.

The Terriers got on the board 18 seconds into the game, before many of the 2,004 in attendance could stake out a decent vantage point, when Moore directed an innocent-looking shot at Selkirk netminder Joey Rewucki. The puck grazed off the netminder's glove and trickled into the net, setting the tone for a night that was not going to be cast in Red and Black.

The goal was Moore's third of the series and, in a way, underlined what the difference in the series was.

Despite the fact five separate players scored Saturday -- showing the depth the Portage side has at its disposal -- the Terriers' best players rose to the occasion when the spotlight was at its brightest. Moore finished the final with five points and Brent Wold and Kajon McKay -- two other big guns in the Portage armory -- collected six and five points, respectively, in the championship.

Lifting the hardware is a nice way to end a rookie season, Wold said.

"I can't put this feeling into words. I lost last year in the midget AAA championship with Eastman, so this really means a lot to me right now," the 18-year-old said. "I just want to spend every second with these guys and enjoy this. Nothing compares."

While the Terriers found their way as the series went on, production on the other side went ice cold.

The league's top point-getter heading into the series, Kyle Mulder, could only manage one assist in his four games (he didn't play Saturday due to an injury) , and Jory Geddes was the only Steeler forward to find the back of the net more than once in the series.

Throw out the Steelers' 4-3 win in the opener and Portage outscored the Addison Division champs by a 16-6 margin the rest of the way. Geddes and Travis Cech had the only goals for Selkirk in the deciding game. Kyle Turgeon, Cody Kostecki and Shaq Merasty scored the other markers for the Terriers.

Kirk Croswell made 18 saves in the Portage net, and Rewucki, who kept the game within reach despite giving up goals on the first two shots, finished with 25 saves.

The Terriers now wait for the winner of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for the ANAVET Cup. The La Ronge Ice Wolves, the 2010 SJHL champions, lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 over the Yorkton Terriers. The clubs play in Yorkton tonight. Should a seventh game be necessary in Saskatchewan, it will go Tuesday in La Ronge.

The ANAVET Cup starts Friday in Portage.

adam.wazny@gmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 10, 2011 B2