The Portage Cup's second spring minor hockey tournament starts today in Portage la Prairie.

Novice, Atom, and PeeWee aged players will be at the PCU Centre throughout the weekend for a shot to compete for the trophy. Tournament Chair Shane Moffat says it's another great weekend of hockey, with quite a number of teams in town.

"This weekend we have 24 teams coming to town, so we have teams coming from as far as Yorkton this weekend, and two or three teams from Thompson. The tournament's just getting bigger and bigger every year, and we try to put on a good product for not only the fans but the parents that bring them here."

The Portage Cup and some of the trophies handed out

Moffat says the entire city of Portage benefits from these two tournaments.

"Teams just keep coming back, and we get nothing but positive feedback about the tournament and the PCU Centre, and just as Portage as a whole hosting it. From the restaurants to the shopping, people just love to come here to Portage, and it's great to put on a tournament like this. It's really good for the economy."

The first game of the tournament is at 8 this morning, between the '08 Central Plains Jedi and the 08' Pembina Valley Panthers at the PCU Centre. The '04 Portage Junior Terriers go at 8:15 in Portage Mutual Arena.

The tournament schedule is here.