Former CHL goalie of the week award winner, current Vernon Vipers star Porter Jr. joins Griffins
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – When the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team next takes to the ice, the battle for the crease will have a significant new addition.
Vernon Vipers goaltender James Porter Jr. has committed to the Griffins for the 2021-22 Canada West season, head coach Michael Ringrose announced Monday.
The 5-foot-10 native of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, has spent parts of the last two seasons with the BCHL juggernaut – posting a 2.59 GAA and .922 save percentage in nine games for the Vipers last season. His resume also notably includes 88 Western Hockey League starts split between Kelowna and Spokane since 2017.
Ringrose said Porter Jr. will have every opportunity to earn the starting job for the Griffins next season as the program moves into the U SPORTS ranks.
"He's very athletic as a goaltender and extremely competitive," said Ringrose. "We were looking for someone to come in and be able to start for us right away. We think he has the ability to do that job and will be given that opportunity. We'll see what he does with it."
James Porter Jr. had a .922 save percentage for the Vernon Vipers last season, but also had strong numbers in the Western Hockey League in 2019-20 - a 1.94 GAA and .923 save percentage with Spokane (Lisa Mazurek Photography).
Porter Jr., a product of Calgary's Edge School in the CSSHL, was drafted by Kelowna in the seventh round of the 2015 WHL draft.
In his rookie WHL season, he earned the prestigious Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the week award (Jan. 3, 2018) after stopping 74 of 75 shots in a pair of Rockets victories over the Kamloops Blazers.
Perhaps his best WHL run, though, came in a 10-game stint with the Spokane Chiefs in 2019-20 when he rocked a 1.94 GAA and .923 save percentage.
"If you look at Porter Jr.'s career, he played on a couple of different teams in the WHL and bounced up and down a bit, but really found his game as a 19-year-old last year both in the BCHL with Vernon, but also in Spokane where he posted very good numbers," said Ringrose. "His best hockey is still in front of him, in my opinion, if you look at what he's been able to do in his 19- and 20-year-old seasons. It's impressive."
Porter Jr. is the fourth recruit announcement in Ringrose's 2021-22 class, joining defenceman Sean Comrie, and forwards Ryley Appelt and Tyler Smithies as they bolster the Griffins with 430 combined games of WHL experience.
"It's really exciting for the program because it shows we're getting traction as a place athletes really want to come play," said Ringrose. "We knew it was going to take time, but if you look at the interest we're generating and the guys we're recruiting now, it seems like that window is opening up and that's exciting for the program."
