And just like that, it was over.

Rogers Hometown Hockey drew cheers and applause from fans last night in Portage la Prairie, as the two-day long celebration wrapped up, with the Hometown Hockey broadcast of the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks live from the Stride Place parking lot.

"Everything really went great," says David Sattler, Portage Regional Recreation Authority General Manager. "The weather turned out wonderful and a lot of people came out. It was pretty close to a full house for the Portage Terriers game, and my favourite part was seeing Ron McLean come out and talk about the Terriers at the game."

Rogers Hometown Hockey hosts Tara Slone and Ron McLean make their way onto the ice at Stride Place for the ceremonial puck drop. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

"It's a phenomenal honour to come to Portage," says Ron McLean, Rogers Hometown Hockey Co-Host. "The history of the (Portage Terriers) organization speaks for itself, but just to see the guys that played here on the RBC Cup-winning team now playing for the Islanders, guys who come to town to play for the Terriers end up falling in love with the city. There's an amazing sense of community here. We're also thrilled to have Arron Asham as our honorary host here, who of course, starred in the NHL for 15 years. Very special to meet Geno Romanow, the trainer, and Blake Spiller and his staff, we couldn't be happier or more proud to tell your story."

There were a lot of great things locally to take in over the weekend like the Rotary Pancake Breakfast Saturday morning, the Recreation Opportunities for Kids' Battle of the Badges hockey game Saturday night, the Portage Minor Hockey Association food stand set up all weekend, Paz The Hockey Juggler, and of course the Terriers game Sunday afternoon. Another big highlight was former NHL'ers Laurie Boschman and Arron Asham signing autographs and meeting fans.

People really enjoyed when Paz juggled flaming goalie sticks yesterday before the broadcast. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

"It's always nice to come back and see the family and everyone," says Asham. "I was quite happy that they asked me to be a part of Hometown Hockey celebration. It was a really good time."

Asham also played for the Portage Fire Department in the Battle of the Badges hockey game. A good crowd gathered for the live pre-game broadcast of the Winnipeg Jets game, and even more attended after the Terriers game ended, which went into overtime.

"These events don't work without the volunteers and the support of the community," adds Sattler. "A huge thank you to anyone who has spent any amount of time helping us because I know we did pull in some favours to get this running smoothly and make sure we had enough people on site so it was really appreciated."