Terriers look to relive and rewrite history at RBC Cup

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This article was published 08/05/2015 (3798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Portage la PRAIRIE — Portage Terriers coach Blake Spiller blows his whistle once, signalling the start of what will be the last quiet practice his team will enjoy this season.

Another quick blow of the whistle and the players spring to action, skating in broad circles, snapping quick passes. The pace is brisk, the pattern familiar — breakout, head-man, dump, regroup, repeat. It’s muscle memory re-enforcement of basic skills all good teams have baked into their DNA. Skills the Terriers hope will ensure them a place in junior hockey history.

Starting today, Portage la Prairie will be invaded by four other top junior teams from across Canada to do battle in the RBC Cup national Junior A championship. Joining Portage are the Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL), the Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL), the Penticton Vees (BCHL) and the Melfort Mustangs (SJHL).

As host team, Portage was guaranteed a spot in the RBC Cup. That helped the Terriers assemble what is easily one of the best junior hockey teams to ever play in Manitoba.

Portage laid waste to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with a 53-3-4 record and swept all 12 games to win the provincial championship. Last week, the Terriers went to the final of the Western Canada Championships, losing in overtime to the Penticton Vees.

Now back in Portage la Prairie, the Terriers are focused on becoming the first MJHL team to win a national championship in 41 years. The Selkirk Steelers captured the Centennial Cup back in 1973-74. The Terriers won it the year before.

Since then, Manitoba teams have only made the final of the Centennial Cup or RBC Cup, which became the national Junior A championship in 1996, four times. In each instance, the Manitoba team came up short.

It’s a record that has caused quite a bit of debate in junior hockey circles — whether Manitoba can effectively compete with the larger provinces that boast leagues with many more teams and players.

“Some people certainly think that, but I’ve always thought the MJHL competes well on a national level,” said Spiller, head coach of the Terriers for the past decade.

Spiller knows a bit about what he talks about. He has been to the RBC Cup three times prior to this host year, but in those appearances failed to make the semis. MJHL teams have appeared in seven RBC Cups, twice losing in the final: 2002 (OCN Blizzard) and 2010 (Dauphin Kings).

Of course, the MJHL could receive no bigger endorsement than winning the national championship. Both because of the four decades that have passed since a Manitoba team captured a version of this championship, and because Portage is the host, expectations have skyrocketed.

“You can tell people this is good hockey, and they can see that, but winning the national championship would be such a boost to this league in terms of recruiting,” said Terriers’ assistant coach Paul Harland.

Junior A hockey clubs do sometimes struggle to find top players, in large part because there is such a focus on the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), the top tier of junior hockey and arguably the biggest showcase league for players trying to crack the NHL.

The CHL, or Canadian Major Junior A Hockey League as it was known, was formed in 1970 when the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association created two tiers of junior hockey. The CHL teams come from the three dominant junior hockey leagues (Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). The remaining tier II teams played for the Centennial Cup.

Over the years, the focus of promising, young players on the CHL has grown in intensity. So much so some players would rather ride a bench in the WHL than play on a top line in a provincial junior A program.

However, when a Junior A team hosts a national championship, it is given an opportunity to recruit players who would otherwise be beyond reach. The players see it as a chance to add a championship to their resumé, and to play in a tournament that draws intense scouting from the CHL, U.S. colleges and sometimes the NHL itself. That makes hosting this tournament an opportunity to attract players, including those who have played, or will be playing, at higher levels.

That is certainly what Spiller and the Terriers have done over the last two years. Portage dredged the MJHL for some of its top players, drafted well and made a series of trades that brought in key pieces, including several players from the WHL and others with scholarships to U.S. colleges who delayed that stage of their hockey development for a shot at the RBC Cup.

Junior A actually has a leg up on CHL teams when it comes to U.S. college scholarships. CHL players are considered ineligible to attend U.S. colleges; Junior A players, however, retain their full NCAA eligibility. That was the hook for players such as Tanner Jago, a smooth-skating, high-IQ defenceman who serves as the Terriers captain.

In May 2014, Jago was finishing a season with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League when he got a full-ride scholarship to Bentley University, a Division 1 school in Waltham, Mass. Already 19, he was eligible to join the Falcons for his freshman season last fall.

However, when the scholarship came through, Jago had already started thinking about returning to the MJHL for a final season to play in the RBC Cup with Portage, which he knew was already loading up for this season. Jago’s rights were held by the Winkler Flyers, which meant he would have to be traded to Portage to ensure a spot in the national championship.

Jago said his coaches in Fargo and Winkler, and at Bentley, were totally on board with the plan to play in Portage. Although it took some time to work out the details, the trade came through last summer, and he was off to Portage.

“In hockey, you only get so many years to play at this level and I wanted to make the most of the time I had,” said Jago, 20. “It was a little bit stressful, but my coaches were all supportive in helping me make this happen. And I think it’s been the right decision. I mean, the town and everyone, is so excited now. It’s just great to be a part of it.”

Of all those in Portage taking in the RBC Cup, nobody will watch more closely than the alumni of the 1972-73 Terriers who were on the first Manitoba team to win the Centennial Cup. Members of the team are gathering in Portage this week to reminisce and, they hope, witness the end of the drought for MJHL teams on the national stage.

“The alumni of our team is watching this tournament with great interest,” said Grant Farncombe, captain of the 1972-73 team. “It’s certainly bringing back some fantastic memories about our championship run.”

The 1973 Centennial Cup was played in a much different format, with provincial and regional champions playing down in seven-game series. Farncombe said it was a fairly rough and tumble brand of hockey, with lots of colourful characters and wild finishes.

None were more wild than the series played against the Humboldt Broncos, in the regional final. Portage and Humboldt split the first two games in Portage, before heading to Saskatchewan for the next three. It was there that junior hockey history, albeit of an infamous variety, was made.

In the fifth game — with the series tied — a wild brawl broke out that resulted in two Terriers players being charged by police. The brawl was so violent the Broncos refused to travel back to Portage to play either of the two remaining games. Up 3-2 in the series, Portage was declared the winner.

After defeating Penticton in the semifinal, Portage beat the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the Centennial Cup final.

“It was an amazing experience and the town celebrated like crazy,” said Farncombe, who still lives in Portage. “I don’t know if these kids realize what all this means yet. It’s all just sinking in for them. But if they can win this thing, it will become something that will stay with them for a lifetime.”

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca