Terriers, Pistons favoured in MJHL East

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This article was published 22/03/2023 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The MJHL post-season begins Friday and only one thing is certain: the Portage Terriers, hosts of the Centennial Cup, have their spot guaranteed at the national junior A championship, slated for May 11-21 at Stride Place.

A second MJHL representative in the 10-team tournament will be determined over the course of the next six weeks and there are several contenders for that slot.

The Terriers and Steinbach Pistons, who finished the regular season 1-2 in the overall standings, are favoured to hoist the Turnbull Cup as league champs but the Winkler Flyers and Swan Valley Stampeders, after enjoying excellent regular seasons, are also primed to be factors in the title hunt.

“We were going in with the mindset of have nothing to lose,” said Winkler GM and head coach Justin Falk, whose squad was eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual league champion Dauphin Kings in 2021-22. “We got some great experience last year. We were able to win a round, we able to lose a round.

“We felt all those emotions and so the guys that are returning have a little bit of an idea what to expect. And we’re just very excited to get after it.”

Terriers GM and head coach Blake Spiller suggested the class of contenders is even bigger than four teams.

“I’m not just saying it,” said Spiller by telephone Wednesday. “Nobody knows who’s gonna win our league this year — that’s how tight it is.”

Here’s a preview of the opening round series in the East Division:

Pistons vs. Flyers

The Pistons, perennial contenders for the title, are hoping to win their first MJHL crown since 2017-18. A year ago, Steinbach lost a seven-game final to the Dauphin Kings.

Steinbach swept the five meetings between the teams, outscoring the Flyers 17-8, but Pistons head coach and general manager Paul Dyck said each game was very competitive.

The Flyers are powered by forward Mike Svenson and blue-liner Trent Sambrook, a first-team all-star who potted 52 points in 56 games.

“I don’t expect any different here come playoff time and the games are going to be a grind and it’s a good rivalry,” said Dyck. “They’re going to be physical and there’s going to be a lot of intensity.”

A top line of Travis Hensrud, Ty Paisley and Davis Fry were dominant to start the regular season but was dismantled after injuries to Paisley and Fry.

Fry, sidelined again for the last two weeks with an undisclosed ailment, could return to the lineup as soon as the weekend.

“Had they been healthy we might have kept them together here at the end but they’ve found some chemistry on some other lines,” said Dyck, noting Hensrud has found success with linemates Landon Roberts and Neo Kiemeney.

Paisley, meanwhile, is playing with centre Kirk Mullen and right-winger Dawson Milliken.

“One thing that we’ve dealt with after Christmas was some adversity, which is always difficult to go through but I think it’s been good for us to really understand how difficult it is to consistently win,” said Dyck. “And win with different different line combinations, different D pairings and maybe a little short-handed at times.”

The Flyers couldn’t escape injury woes.

Right-handed defenceman Cole Mackenzie and 28-goal scorer Trent Penner have been lost to season-ending injuries.

“What we’ve instilled here is just believing in the next-man-up mentality and we’ve kind of always got things done by committee,” said Falk. “So we’re excited to see some other guys in some different roles.”

Terriers vs. Nighthawks

A match-up between an established league powerhouse (Portage) and an expansion club (Niverville) and a 36-point difference in the regular-season standings suggests a four-game sweep for the Terriers.

“We’ve been the underdog since we started and nobody expects us to win a game, let alone win the playoffs and we think there’s a lot of people out there who think it’s gonna be easy for Portage,” said Niverville GM and head coach Kelvin Cech, whose club won two of five regular-season meetings betwee the teams. “They can think whatever they want— we’ve just got to worry about us.”

The Nighthawks have plenty going for them with forward Josh Paulhus, workhorse defenceman Evan Bordis and goaltender Chris Fines, an off-season acquisition from the Terriers, leading the way. Defenceman Desmond Johnson, an early season reinforcement, has also been excellent.

“I like their team,” said Portage head coach Spiller. “They they did a good job of recruiting and they added some veteran guys as they went along and added more veteran guys right at the at the (trade) deadline. So I think they did it the right way.”

The Terriers, who had a plus-80 goal differential during the regular season, are led by a top line comprised of Ryan Botterill, a first-team all-star who was No. 2 in league scoring, Austin Peters and trade deadline acquisition Mike Stubbs, a former OHLer.

Defenceman Hayden Lacquette, Brandon McCartney and Kian Calder were first, second and fifth, respectively, in scoring among MJHL blue-liners.

Friday: Previewing the West Division

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca