Over the course of the last two seasons, while playing Midget AAA hockey with the Calgary North Stars, Nic Porterfield got a taste of Junior “A” hockey with a pair of call-ups to the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Grand Prairie Storm.
The 18-year-old forward picked up one assist in five games during that span, but he failed to score a goal at that level. That all changed relatively quickly once he joined the Melville Millionaires. Porterfield scored once in each of his first two SJHL regular-season games last weekend and then registered a five-point night in his third outing to gain a share of the league scoring lead with seven points following the first week of action.
The 5-foot-10, 174-pound Porterfield has played a big part in the Millionaires jumping into an early lead atop the Viterra Division standings. He is one of four Melville players in the top six in individual scoring as the Millionaires lead all teams with 17 goals scored, which is a nice turnaround from the last two seasons when the club was near the bottom in that category – never getting more than 155 during a complete 58-game schedule.
Porterfield came to the Millionaires after two strong seasons at the Midget AAA level. In a total of 64 games with the Calgary North Stars, Porterfield averaged nearly a point per game collecting 30 goals and 29 assists. His first season of midget hockey was at the minor midget level and in 37 games with the Calgary Canucks he tallied 27 goals and set up 34 more.
The Millionaires missed out on making the playoffs by a single point last year and with this season’s post-season format reducing the number of teams that qualify from 10 to eight it is imperative that every team makes each and every game count. With Porterfield in the line-up it looks like the Millionaires are doing just that.
Nic Porterfield, Melville Millionaires
