More marks return with championship

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This article was published 26/04/2011 (5270 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After an agonizing playoffs spent stuck in the stands with a broken ankle, Deloraine’s Cory More wasn’t about to miss the biggest game of his career Sunday.

The 20-year-old captain finally returned to the Portage Terriers’ lineup to help shut out the La Ronge Ice Wolves 4-0 at Portage la Prairie’s Credit Union Centre to earn a trip to the RBC Cup Canadian Junior A hockey championship. Having missed more than two months with a broken ankle he suffered on Feb. 15, More was determined to gut it out in Game 7 of the Anavet Cup series between the champions of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

"It was amazing to be in the lineup after watching the whole playoffs from the stands and wanting to be out there, it was just unreal to get into a game," More said Monday. "I had been trying to skate once in a while and I had been beginning to wonder whether I would ever make it back in or not, but I really wanted to play."

While he didn’t see his usual amount of ice time in his first game back, More’s presence provided an emotional boost for the Terriers with the season on the line.

"For sure, coming off a serious injury for Game 7, it was great to see," said Terriers teammate Shaquille Merasty, a 19-year-old forward from Minnedosa whose second-period goal stood up as the game-winner. "Even though he didn’t play that much last night, he still contributed lots and won some big draws for us."

While not 100 per cent, More was determined to play after suffering a painful Game 7 Anavet Cup loss to the Humboldt Broncos in 2009.

"Especially after what happened two years ago, it was killing me not to be playing in the series and then it was just such a relief to get in there in Game 7 and win it," More said. "Being a 20-year-old, there’s nothing better than playing in Game 7 in your last year."

Now More will chase his first national title when the Terriers head to Camrose, Alta., on Friday for the RBC Cup, which begins Sunday when Portage faces Pembroke (Ont.) in the opening game.

"It will be my first time at the RBC," said More, whose father Paul and uncle Jayson both played for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings in the 1980s, with Jayson going on to play 10 seasons in the NHL. "We’ve been close a couple of times, but never actually got to go, so it’s going to be one of the best experiences of my hockey career so far."

The Terriers also feature 16-year-old Wheat King prospects Brendan Harms — who also scored Sunday — and Brandon Midget AAA call-up Cody Nelson, as well as injured 20-year-old defenceman Cameron Canart of Elkhorn, who is out with post-concussion syndrome.

The Terriers, who last won the Anavet Cup in 2005, will attempt to win their first Canadian Junior A title since 1972.

"Winning the Royal Bank Cup would be amazing," Merasty said. "We’ve got a good bunch of guys and a resilient bunch of guys and we have a solid team this year … We know it’s going to be pretty stiff competition, we’re down to the final five in Canada here. But we’re just going to go out and play our game and hopefully we can come back with another trophy."