Story by River Foster and courtesy of portageonline.com
With all youth hockey seasons having ended, the Portage Terriers have an even better idea of what they have in some of the prospects the team selected in last year’s bantam draft. All players they drafted were born in 2004 and they will all be looking for a spot on the roster next year. In that draft, the Terriers protected two hometown players and were then able to make six selections – one in each of the six rounds.
Here’s how their seasons went:
Darien Schaan (protected) – Schaan is a right-handed defenceman and played out this season with Rink Hockey Academy in the CSSHL E15. In 36 regular-season games, he put up a total of 16 points (5G, 11A).
Carter Moorhouse (protected) – Moorhouse is a defenceman who played in the Zone 4 High School Hockey League with the PCI Trojans. He totaled 10 points this season scoring three goals (two of the three being game-winners) and dishing out seven assists.
Tyler Dodgson (first-round – pick 11) – Dodgson is a left-handed defenceman that played in the Manitoba U-18 AAA Hockey League with the Winnipeg Bruins this year. In 31 regular-season games he scored seven goals and picked up 12 assists for 19 points. In four playoff games he picked up a goal and an assist.
Liam Foley (second-round – pick 22) – Foley is another left-handed defenceman and he also played in the Manitoba U-18 AAA Hockey League this past season with the Interlake Lightning. He scored 11 total points (3G, 8A) in his 32 games played this year.
Cole Topham (third-round – pick 33) – Topham was the first forward taken by the Terriers and he plays in the Manitoba U-18 AAA Hockey League with the Yellowhead Chiefs. He finished the year with 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in 45 games. Topham picked up nine of his points on the power-play this year and three of his goals came as game-winners.
Matthew Kieper (fourth-round – pick 44) – Kieper is a goaltender and played out this season in the Manitoba U-18 AAA Hockey League with the Winnipeg Bruins. In his 15 starts this past season he finished with a record of 7-8 and was able to pick up a shutout as well. Kieper also was in goal for the Bruins only playoff win and had a save percentage of .942 in the postseason.
Cole Younger (sixth-round – pick 59) – Younger is a forward and was the final selection by the Terriers. He played in the Winnipeg Under 17 AAA Prep league with the Winnipeg Wild this season. Younger put up a point per game as he found the back of the net 17 times and dished out 19 assists totaling 36 points in as many games.