EDMONTON & LAC LA BICHE – A new season; a new beginning; a new chapter; and, hopefully, a new and improved ending. The Portage College Voyageurs put the rest of the ACAC on notice this past weekend that the 24-25 hockey season could be bit different than previous ones. In a pair of close contests in Edmonton and Lac La Biche October 18 and 19 – games that they would've found ways to lose in previous seasons – Head Coach Kevin McClelland's troops found a way to flip the script this time. The Voyageurs gave last year's finalists all they could handle and more, besting the Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) Thunder twice in 24 hours, winning 5-4 in a shootout on Friday in Edmonton and then 4-3 at the Bold Center in Lac La Biche on Saturday night.

"Christmas comes early for them I guess, eh?" joked McClelland after the Saturday game.

The Voyageurs were magicians on Friday night at the Clareview Arena, pulling a rabbit out of a hat in a comeback for the ages. Down 4-1 with nine minutes remaining, the visitors roared back, scoring three goals in six minutes to force extra time. Mikal Chalifoux was particularly prolific in the latter part of the period, assisting on Stavros Koutsantonis' power play marker and then scoring the last two himself prior to the third period buzzer. And, if that wasn't enough, he scored the shootout winner after the two squads weren't able to break the deadlock after 10 minutes of three-on-three overtime.

McClelland joked that a dressing room mishap between periods – at his expense – might've proved to be the turning point in the game. He noted the Voyageurs started off slowly, finding themselves down 2-0 after the first 20 minutes, but really poured it on from there.

"We had lots of opportunities," he said. "Their goaltender played well but (the Voyageurs') Luke Hall played well too and in overtime, we had 10 shots on net….They found a way to win and Chalifoux put it home for us in the shootout." 

On Saturday, the Voyageurs raced out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period, on markers by Carter Yarish, Mason Beck and Tye Evans but got into a bit of penalty trouble in the latter half of the period. With the lead shrunk to one, Evans' second of the night, a last-second powerplay goal – literally at the buzzer – restored the two-goal lead heading into the third. While the Thunder scored late to make for a nail-biting finish, the Voyageurs managed to hang on for the well-deserved win. Afterwards, the players were jubilant, especially for goalie Tresor Wotton, who recorded his first-ever ACAC win in his first regular season start for Portage.

"It was a good way to start out," said McClelland. "We had a real good first period, we got up three goals, which I think could've been four or five goals. We got a little ahead of ourselves and had a costly turnover at the blueline that results in their goal to make it 3-1 and then we gave them a powerplay goal, 3-2 and it changed the complexion of the game for sure."

Despite giving up a powerplay goal, Portage's penalty killing was stellar most of the night, particularly when killing two extended two-man disadvantages late in the second and early in the third. In fact, the Voyageurs successfully killed all five powerplays against them in the final frame.

McClelland is pleased to have some positive, concrete results to build on as he prepares his players to take on NAIT in a home-and-home series November 1 and 2.

"It was a good effort from the players and a good result," he said. "It was a good way to start off the season."

Oct. 18 Players of the Game

• Portage: # Mikal Chalifoux

Oct. 19 Players of the Game

• CUE:  #17 Alex Bend

Portage: #21 Tye Evans