PAIR OF WEEKEND LOSSES PROVE COSTLY FOR VOYAGEURS

LAC LA BICHE & EDMONTON – The NHL standings, particularly in the Eastern Conference, are a mess this year. Win a couple of games, and you're first in your division. Lose a couple, and you're out of the playoff picture.

The ACAC hockey standings aren't much different in 2026. A three-game winning streak can vault you into a relatively secure playoff spot. A three-game losing streak can sink you to holding on to a life raft, clinging for your playoff lives. The Portage College Voyageurs found that out the hard way this past weekend.

After a pair of exhibition matches versus the Chinese National Team last weekend, the Voyageurs returned to regular season action January 30 and 31 with a home-and-away series versus NAIT. Going into the action, they knew they could ill afford to lose both games in regulation, with six valuable points up for grabs. Unfortunately for Head Coach Kevin McClelland's troops, that's exactly what they did, losing 5-4 at home on Friday night and then 7-4 in Edmonton 24 hours later. The wins allowed NAIT to jump all the way to third place in the seven-team ACAC, while the Voyageurs fell to sixth place.

"We came up short against a really good hockey team," said McClelland. "It wasn't ideal."

On home ice Friday night, the Voyageurs looked like they might salt things away early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Ezra Baer and Emrick Paradis before the game was five minutes old. The first period wasn't exactly a defensive clinic, however, and the game turned into a shootout, with the squads exchanging goals right up to the first period buzzer.

"Well, I mean we got up 2-0, we were going well and then we let them back in," said McClelland of the 4-3 Voyageur lead after the first. "We had some costly mistakes."

Even so, they still were still in front and seemed to settle down in the second period, allowing few scoring chances and holding the lead into the final frame. All it took, however, was a sloppy five-minute span in the third to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

"Going into the third period, we were up and then a couple of costly mistakes, guys not getting it deep in the offensive zone cost us. You can't keep turning it over against a team like that. They were kind of coming at us in numbers," said McClelland after the game on Friday night, who warned that his team was in tough with the rematch in Edmonton the next evening.

His words proved prophetic, with the Ooks grabbing a 6-2 lead by the end of the second period on Saturday, and then hanging on for a 7-4 win. "Hanging on" because the Voyageurs had ample time on the man advantage in the third, with NAIT players making a constant beeline to the sin bin.  

"We had so much powerplay time, 5-on-3s, a 4-on-3, a five-minute major," said the head coach after Saturday's contest, noting that going one for seven on the PP really hurt. "We should've had four or five powerplay goals, Our special teams really cost us."

Still, there were things to like over the course of the weekend. Baer and Xavier Halterman each had two-goal games and the never-say-die Voyageurs continued to battle to the final whistle in both contests.

"We've got to focus on the positive," underlined McClelland.

The good news for Portage is that, despite their now three-game losing streak, they are still two points ahead of Concordia University of Edmonton for the final playoff spot, with two games in hand. The bad news is those two games are against league powerhouse Red Deer Polytechnic this coming weekend at the Bold Centre. The aptly named three-time defending champion Kings are once again the class of the ACAC with an impressive 17-3 record. McClelland knows his troops will have to bring their A game if they expect to grab some much-needed points in the race for the playoffs.

"We've got to be strong on pucks and we have to play our game," he said. "We've just got to be ready for Red Deer and we have to play well defensively."

Players of the Game

January 30

NAIT: #11 Tyler Blocha

Portage: #24 Ezra Baer (two goals, four points over the course of the weekend)

January 31

NAIT: #21 Evan Arnold

Portage: #13 Xavier Halterman (two goals and an assist, five points over the course of the weekend)