The Portage Terriers open their Semi Final Series with Winnipeg tonight in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Playoffs.

The Winnipeg Blues advanced last night as they beat Virden on home ice in game 7, 2-0. The schedule for the Terriers semi final was released yesterday afternoon. Game One will be at the PCU Centre tomorrow night starting at 7:30. Game Two will move to Winnipeg on Monday at 7pm. Game 3 will be Wednesday in Portage and Game 4 will be April 1st in Winnipeg. The rest of the schedule will alternate between cities if necessary.

The Blues and Terriers played 6 times during the regular season, with Portage winning them all. They outscored the Blues 30-8. The first two games were close 2-1 and 3-1 wins for Portage, but the last two were 6-1 and 8-1. Against the Blues this season in 18 periods Portage was only kept off the score sheet in 4 of them. The Blues however were kept off the score sheet in 11. Winnipeg only had 1 goal in the third period in the 6 meetings.

The Terrier power play was 29% against the Blues during the regular season, and their penalty kill was even better, letting in just one goal on 27 chances. The Blues power play was much better against Virden in the first round, going 7 for 25. The Terrier power play struggled in the first round, going 3 for 16.

The Blues had a close first round against Virden with Reid Stefanson leading the way with 8 points in 7 games. Tyler Edwards and Taeron Lewis are right behind with 6 each. The Terriers are lead by Brad Bowles who had 9 points in 4 games, and Michael Knaub who had 8. The Blues will go with Scott Parsons in net, who has a 4-3 playoff record with a GAA of 2.51, and save percentage of .892 and 2 shutouts. Nathan Park for the Terriers is 4-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .886 save percentage.

Terriers' Assistant Coach Paul Harland expects an aggressive series.

"They like to play a little bit more physical than some of the other teams in the league. So we're going to have to be able to match that, and we just have to make sure we're doing the little things right to combat them and play the game the right way. They work hard, and they're physical so we need to be ready for that."

In the first round, the Terriers gave up the first goal in 2 of the 4 games. Harland says they need to be better out of the gate.

"For us it's just going to be to get the pace going early, and make sure we're getting pucks in their end and we're being physical. Hopefully we have a lot of jump to start Game 1."

Tonight's game goes at 7:30 with the pre-game show on CFRY and Portage Online at 7:20.