The Portage la Prairie area has featured some talented hockey players in recent years, with two players from the area currently holding down significant roles in the AHL.

AHL

Dean Stewart, who was born in Portage and played one and a half seasons with the Terriers, now slots into the Manitoba Moose roster for most games. Stewart has appeared in 19 of the team's 29 games so far and has recorded 2 assists. His appearance in last night's game was his 100th game in his AHL career.

Dawson Barteaux of Foxwarren moved teams this offseason to Manitoba and has gotten into 5 games with the Moose as well as 15 games with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. Barteaux is scoreless in the AHL this season but had 13 points with the Steelheads.

Ben McCartney of MacDonald also regularly plays with the Tucson Roadrunners, the AHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes. McCartney has also been added as an assistant captain this season. To date, McCartney has 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points in 16 games. He has missed some time due to injuries and also to call-ups to the NHL where he has yet to play a game this season.

PWHL

Corrinne Schroeder played her first game in the PWHL (Professional Women's Hockey League), securing the league's first-ever win and shutout on the same night. Her New York squad faces off with Montreal tomorrow night.

WHL

Looking at Major Junior, Carberry product Carson Bjarnason, the starting netminder for the Brandon Wheat Kings has improved on what was seen as a slow start after joining the Wheat Kings from Philadelphia Flyers training camp where he was selected 51st overall in the 2023 NHL draft. Bjarnason boasts a 14-8-3 record, with a 3.20 goals-against average (GAA) and .902 save percentage (SV%) on the season in 26 games.

Carter Sotheran, a WHLer out of Sanford has spent this season so far with the Portland Winterhawks, playing in 35 of 37 games and garnering 21 points, only 2 points shy of his total from last season. Sotheran also just recently passed the 100-game mark in his WHL career.

Ben Saunderson, also from Carberry, has played all 38 games this season for the Saskatoon Blades, posting a career-best 17 points with just under half of the season remaining. He has played in 163 WHL contests to date.

Headingley product Rylan Gould has been having an outstanding season with the Swift Current Broncos, scoring just over a point per game with 40 points in 39 games. Gould has played in 169 WHL games already and could reach nearly 200 by the end of the season.

NCAA

Reilly Funk of Portage la Prairie is in his third season at Northern Michigan University, he has 3 points in 7 games so far this year.

Danika Botterill is playing hockey at the University of New Hampshire and has added one goal so far this season.

U-Sports

Kian Calder, the captain of the Portage Terriers last season, has begun his first year at the University of Manitoba. So far, through 16 games, Kian has 4 assists to go along with 8 penalty minutes.

Brandon McCartney, another former Terrier is also in U-Sports, playing for the York University Lions in Toronto. McCartney has scored two goals and added two assists through 13 games this season.

Oceane Asham is playing this season with Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. She has played 17 games so far and has 12 points with a pair of goals.

ACHA

Joey Moffat has undertaken his second season with Minot State University after winning the ACHA Championship with the team last year. Moffat has scored 18 points in 20 games this season. 

Moffat is not the only Portager on the Minot State roster though, as Logan Rands joined the team part-way through last season, and now, is playing his first full season with the squad. He has played 22 games and has one goal and 6 assists.

USHL

Ryan Botterill has played a solid role for the Youngstown Phantoms in his first year in the USHL, amassing 10 goals and 12 assists in his first 25 games. Botterill has played particularly well lately, scoring 6 points in his last 6 games and he recently signed a Division 1 scholarship with the University of Wisconsin.

Related Stories