spoke too soon:

Ahh jeez. Less than an hour after I said we didn't trade anyone the Ams announced a trade for a Calgary defenceman for Brooks Macek and Spencer humphries.

Maybe it was frustration in macek not scoring when he should have been clostle to the top, also makes making room for Carter Ashton to come in on a line..

Check out www.amshockey.com for the full story

Trade Deadline

The WHL Trade deadline has come and gone and the Americans team we last saw will be the team we have the rest of the way. I think Tory and the rest of the organization is happy with what they've been able to put together so far this year, and they should be.

The Ams are going to be battling it out in the US Division in a three horse race with Portland and Spokane. The Americans major trade acquisition came back in December when Tory traded Tanner Olstad and Nils Moser to Regina for Carter Ashton, who is still on break after taking silver with Canada in the WJC.

The Americans and their high scoring offense are going to have no problem incorporating Ashton, and should be poised for another long postseason run. Making it back to the WHL finals looks good.

The top team from the East so far this season has been the Saskatoon Blades. The Ams played once in Saskatoon, losing 5-3. It was also the game that Shinnimin committed the infamous boarding penalty that sat him out for a league suspension of 12 games.

Saskatoon also made a big move at the trade deadline;

From the WHL:

Saskatoon, SK – Head Coach and General Manager, Lorne Molleken announced today that The Saskatoon Blades Hockey Club have made a trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings to acquire centre, Brayden Schenn and a 2012 3rd Round Draft Pick. In exchange the Blades have given up four draft picks: 1st Round in 2011, 2nd Round in 2011, 1st Round in 2012 and 1st Round in 2012 Import Draft. The Blades also included in the trade two prospects: Ayrton Nikkel (Pursuit of Excellence M-AAA) and Tim McGauley (Regina M-AAA).

19-year-old Brayden Schenn is a first round draft pick for the Los Angeles Kings, where he spent the first two months of the hockey season. With the NHL’s Kings, Schenn picked up two assists. He also spent time on a two week conditioning assignment in the AHL, for the Manchester Monarchs, where he collected 3 goals, 7 points and 4 PIM in 7 games.

-So an already dangerous team just got waaaaaaaaaay more dangerous. We'll see what happens with that but look for the Blades to be pretty dang strong the rest of the way out

Have a good week everyone!


Franklin NHL Mini Hockey Goal Set

Remember When....

I said that the Ams could score a lot of points? Well, they proved me right again scoring 9 in a blowout of the visting Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Toyota Center last night. The Ams cruised to an easy victory 9-2 in front of a 4k+ crowd. Feser, Prokop, Humphries, Hughesman (2), Shinnimin (2), Wilgosh, and Jordan Messier all scored. Humphries had a biiiig game last night not only scoring but getting I.to two scraps, winning one that was a beaut, the second...well he had his jersey pulled over his head and the refs called it.

Lines worked well and Ams fans got to see Cam Gorchynski replace drew in net after he had stopped 16 of 18 shots. Cam did really well, made a bunch of big saves. Im sure it was fun for him to get some time in. The fourth goal they credited after the fact coming in the last second of the game...the guys had already started celebrating and im sure coach will have a word about that.

Im having to do all this.from my phone...which isn't totally convenient. Im breaking for now

Game Day

Tonight the Ams take on a struggling Lethbridge Hurricanes team, a night after they dropped a 6-0 tilt to the Spokane Chiefs. Everyone knows by now that the Chiefs can score a heck-uva-lot in a GD-hurry...but so can the Ams.

Dont know much about this Lethbridge team, other than they are struggling this year. This is the only meeting between the teams in the regular season. Lethbridge goalie Brandon Anderson is #24 of 28 on the top goalie list with a 3.62 GAA. The Hurricanes dont have a scorer in the top 20...or 40.....or 60...their top scorer is Cam Braes at #72 with a points total of 31.

Americans are going to have to come back from a frustrating night in Everett where 15 infractions were taken including a double minor called on Drew Owsley for spearing. frustrated much? unsure. I stopped listening to the game after Schmidts goal. By the way thats Schmidts second goal in as many nights.

Shinnimin also added the other goal for his fourth in three games.

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US DIVISION STANDINGS:

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	40	25	12	0	3	53	0.662	150	126	0-4-0-0	4-6-0-0	818
2	Spokane Chiefs	38	23	10	3	2	51	0.671	160	101	5-0-0-0	8-1-1-0	730
3	Tri-City Americans	37	23	12	1	1	48	0.649	143	110	0-1-0-0	7-3-0-0	596
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	39	17	15	3	4	41	0.526	111	130	1-0-0-0	4-6-0-0	703
5	Everett Silvertips	40	17	18	2	3	39	0.487	97	118	1-0-0-0	4-5-1-0	638

Long Week

...and not a lot of hockey, not yet at least. We had a game on Tuesday, if you can cal it that. Calvin Pickard and the Seattle Thunderbirds continued their dismal streak of 15 consecutive losses at the Toyota Center. Pickard is now 0-10 in TC, and cant find a way to win like his big brother Chet did for us.

Now, Seattle is a bit of a hot mess. I give them credit for battling back throughout the game. With the game seemingly in hand in the third at 5-2 the Americans let up and let Seattle crawl back into it, scoring twice to bring it to 5-4. Then the guys woke up and plastered a much dejected Pickard for another three to end the night at 8-4. On the seventh goal scored by Wilgosh, Pickard freaked out, much like a goalie does...(much like Chet did when he had a bad night) here he is seen laying on the ice, just after lifting his head up. He layed there during the entire goal celebrating like a pouting child. It was pretty sad. Then the last goal it was like he didnt even care. He was kicked back against the goal post swinging his leg around like he didnt care...oh well eh?


Tyler Schmidt, Justin Feser and Patrick Holland each had a goal and three assists, and the Tri-City Americans won their fourth straight with an 8-4 victory over the Thunderbirds before a crowd 3,560 at Toyota center. 

"I thought it was Schmitty's best game of the year," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "He chipped in offensively, he had big hits and played solid defense. He painted a picture tonight of what he can do with and without the puck." (herald)

I highlight Feser's name because he had a great game, one that he really needed. Hopefully this will be inspiration for him to start back to his scoring ways.

--------------------------------------


Canada’s National Junior Team has earned the silver medal at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship after losing 5-3 to Russia in Wednesday night’s gold medal game at HSBC Arena.

Carter Ashton scored a goal, but it wasn't enough...too bad, hopefully he can come here and score lots of goals. Maybe he can take up the spot that Brooks Macek is in now...I think Macek is not going to get it going this year. I hope it happens, but it just doesnt seem like its going to happen. 

----------------------------------------

Ams play in Everett tonight, as always a big test on the road. The guys have been plsaying really well lately and have pulled themselves up to within 5 points of Portland for the division lead. Speaking of which, remember earlier in the season I said the US division was going to be tough? Looking at the Western Conference standings the top three teams are: Portland, Spokane, And Tri Cities. All separated by 5 points. Prince George (BC Division) is 4th.

---------------------------------------
US DIVISION STANDINGS: 

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	40	25	12	0	3	53	0.662	150	126	0-4-0-0	4-6-0-0	818
2	Spokane Chiefs	37	22	10	3	2	49	0.662	154	101	4-0-0-0	8-1-1-0	719
3	Tri-City Americans	36	23	11	1	1	48	0.667	141	107	4-0-0-0	8-2-0-0	566
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	38	16	15	3	4	39	0.513	108	129	0-2-0-0	3-7-0-0	683
5	Everett Silvertips	39	16	18	2	3	37	0.474	94	116	0-3-0-0	4-5-1-0	620

NYE Game Rescheduled:

From the Americans website:

KENNEWICK, WA – Tri-City Americans’ Governor/General Manager Bob Tory, in conjunction with the Spokane Chiefs and Western Hockey League, announced today that the postponed December 31 game has been rescheduled.  The game will be made up on President’s Day, Monday, February 21 at the Toyota Center.  Game time is 7:05 p.m.

The WHL announced, in addition to the game date, that the game will be re-played in its entirety, with both clubs able to dress their best rosters available.  All statistical information from the December 31 postponed game will be removed from the WHL records.

This is great news, everyone involved has handled this very well. We still get the game at home, on a holiday, and we'll get a full game. There were some questions as to whether the game would resume from where it was left off or if they'd re-rack the whole thing. Im glad, that would be weird to show up to a 2 period game...so I think they made the right call.

What it does to the schedule is this:

Fri -  Feb 18 Chilliwack @ TC

Sat - Feb 19 Spokane @ TC

Mon - Feb 21 Spokane @ TC

Tues - Feb 22 Everett @ TC

Fri - Feb 25 Seattle @ TC

That's 5 games in 7 days which is a lot of hockey...4 games in 5 days O_O. Plus this is all after a bunch of road games:

Feb 11  @ Portland

Feb 12 @ Spokane

Feb 13 @ Chilliwack

Feb 15 @ Kamloops


so the schedule gets a little muddy in February, but this team has proven they play better with more consistent play. Taking too much time off in between games allows for rust, and that (compiled with injuries etc.) led to a less than superb November.
------------------------------------------

US DIVISION STANDINGS UPDATE:

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	40	25	12	0	3	53	0.662	150	126	0-4-0-0	4-6-0-0	818
2	Spokane Chiefs	37	22	10	3	2	49	0.662	155	102	4-0-0-0	8-1-1-0	723
3	Tri-City Americans	35	22	11	1	1	46	0.657	134	104	3-0-0-0	8-2-0-0	572
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	37	16	14	3	4	39	0.527	104	121	0-1-0-0	4-6-0-0	675
5	Everett Silvertips	39	16	18	2	3	37	0.474	94	116	0-3-0-0	4-5-1-0	620

Americans make it 10-12

The Americans avenged their lead blowing loss to the 'Tips from before the holiday break last night, beating Everett 3-1. Shinnimin scored twice and Schmidt finished it off with a PP goal in the third:

First, with 4:32 left to play in the first period, Sam Grist separated the puck from an Everett defender, then sent Shinnimin into the ‘Tips’ zone.  From the high slot, Shinnimin flicked a wrist shot below the stick of Kent Simpson, giving Tri-City the 1-0 lead.

Then, with 8:57 gone of the second period, Shinnimin took advantage of a fortunate bounce.  Brock Sutherland kept an Everett pass in the zone and then tried to feed Shinnimin, who was camped back door on Simpson.  But, Sutherland’s pass deflected off Shinnimin’s stick and went behind the net.  However, the puck ricocheted off the kick plate and bounced back into the slot, where it glanced off Simpson and into the net. (americans) 

The game continued at 2-1 heading into the third. We were listening to the game on the radio and it sounded like Drew was leaned on heavily throughout the third on a couple of Everett power plays. Glad to see Ows has gotten back to conference finals MVP form. He is really starting to play well. Obviously it helps when the team around you plays as good as they are playing right now as well.


Three Stars:
1. T.C - 24 Brendan Shinnimin
2. T.C - 30 Drew Owsley
3. EVT - 32 Kent Simpson 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 US DIVISION STANDINGS:

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	40	25	12	0	3	53	0.662	150	126	0-4-0-0	4-6-0-0	818
2	Spokane Chiefs	37	22	10	3	2	49	0.662	155	102	4-0-0-0	8-1-1-0	723
3	Tri-City Americans	35	22	11	1	1	46	0.657	134	104	3-0-0-0	8-2-0-0	572
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	37	16	14	3	4	39	0.527	104	121	0-1-0-0	4-6-0-0	675
5	Everett Silvertips	39	16	18	2	3	37	0.474	94	116	0-3-0-0	4-5-1-0	620

  

Dissapointed

That's what fans left the NYE game feeling, as the game was called due to poor ice conditions. Seems as though Sam Grist's hit on a Spokane player was too much for the ice to handle as a hole appeared in front of the players bench. Despite everyones best effort, the hole was un-repairable and the game was call less than 3 minutes into the second period deadlocked at a score of 1.

People came out to this game as expected. Pretty sure there was mention of a new decibel record set pre game of 108, and that continued when Reddick notched the first goal of the game, 48 seconds in. On a night where he was up for sale in bobble head form he wasted no time being noticed, gloving a fleeting puck as it planned to escape the blue line. he dropped the puck in front of himself and fired one on net, finding its way past Spokane goaltender James Reid. the place erupted and that would be about the only high point in an early ending night.

Spokane tied it up when Brassart picked off the puck from Shinnimin and skated in on his own and blew it past Owsley.

As dissapointing as it was, it happens. Not very often, but its not like they didnt try. Im sure that everyone feels really bad, including both coaches:


Tri-City coach Jim Hiller knows the atmosphere of the New Year's Eve game won't be replicated in the rescheduled game.
"This is always a special game," he said. "Everybody looks forward to this game, to playing in front of a crowd like that.
"This was a first for me (to have a game postponed). I think that was a first for a lot of people right there. But we just couldn't play. It was not safe." (examiner) 


Don Nachbaur also weighed in:

"This was unfortunate," Spokane coach Don Nachbaur said. "It was a good game. Too bad for the fans they had to leave."
 (herald)

 

So that's that. We'll all move on and the game will get rescheduled. 

New Years Eve

Raise your hand if you're ready for one of the biggest, most attended games of the year? (raises hand) Yeah, its NYE and tonight marks the 21st time the Spokane Chiefs have met the Ams at the Toyota Center for some throw down, beat down hockey. Americans are 13-5-0-1 in the series. This is one of the best games of the year and the game is already sold out:

Tickets to tonight's Tri-City Americans game with the Spokane Chiefs were gone three days ago. As of Thursday morning, there were around 150 standing-room only tickets available in the Sunset Room and Lounge, where a $15 ticket will get you a view of the game on TV. (herald)

Tha'ts right, so if you procrastinated you're dumb. But if you're someone who is reading this blog chances are you bought your ticket a long time ago.

BTW:
 Ams beat P-town 5-1 again on Wednesday night at Toyota, a much different game that saw the same result. We weren't there but the gist is this:

Americans scored early > Owsley took lots of shots (and stopped all but one) > DEFENSE came up big with 3 goals. 

Told you the defense would have to step up in that game. BOOSH!

Everybody pleeeeeeaaaaassseeeeee drive safe tonight, don't be stupid and watch out for the other stupids. If you are inclined to drink at the game, make sure someone can drive your ass home. Watch out for dumb spokane fans too, they like to bring their own goon squad to TC for the game.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

Drew Owsley: Is going to face a lot of shots tonight. Spokane has 50 more goals than what theyve given up this year, and with Tyler Johnson being the goal scoring machine he is Ows can expect an s-ton of shots his way.

Defense: They did it wednesday, came up big in front of drew and on the offensive blue line as well. they'll have to sacrifice their bodies, something they've done so much better during the teams recent success.

Coaching: Don Nachbaur is a damn good coach. There's a reason we've won three straight US Division titles, and its because of the groundwork Don laid before leaving prior to the 2009-2010 season. He's got this Spokane team working well now and it will be up to TC coach Jim Hiller to outsmart Nachbaur. Getting the right lines on at the right time is going to be key.

Sam Grist: I have a feeling this guy is going to have a big game. He has matured so much this year and on a night like tonight, where tempers always flare he will be in the middle of it. Chiefs are without big guy Jared Cowen and they will miss his toughness when Grist is throwing his weight around tonight. One fight and 10 PIM im assuming for the guy tonight. (hopefully well earned)

--------------------------------------------------------
US DIVISION STANDINGS

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	39	25	11	0	3	53	0.679	147	122	0-3-0-0	4-6-0-0	792
2	Spokane Chiefs	36	21	10	3	2	47	0.653	149	99	3-0-0-0	8-1-1-0	698
3	Tri-City Americans	34	21	11	1	1	44	0.647	130	102	2-0-0-0	8-2-0-0	560
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	35	15	13	3	4	37	0.529	98	115	0-2-0-0	4-6-0-0	652
5	Everett Silvertips	37	16	16	2	3	37	0.500	92	107	0-1-0-0	5-4-1-0	559

Americans Win 1st of Home and Home

The Americans continued their recent success last night in Portland winning 5-1. 50+ shots came in on Caruth with goals from Shinnimin, Conrad, Humphries and both Messier brothers. Marcus and Jordans goals came 45 seconds apart in the first period.

"We started out really well," said Ams coach Jim Hiller. "We had a lot of pressure on them early. We did what we wanted to do. We got on them early, and things went according to plan tonight." (examiner)


Spencer Humphries tallied his first WHL goal late in the third to drop the dagger in the Winterhawks. Kudos to him, im sure hes stoked.

But it was a player who didn't figure in the scoring whom Hiller credited with getting the Americans on track.
"Kruise (Reddick) was physical early and set the tone for us," Hiller said. "He wasn't on the scoresheet, but he was a real important player for us tonight." (examiner)


Thats how this season is going to be. Kruise isnt a high scoring kind of guy. He's a leader on the team, and thats what he should be focused on. There are plenty of guys who can bury the puck on this team, I dont think he feels pressure to score and thats a good thing.


Great job to the guys going out on the road after a long time off and competing against the best team in the league. they get to rewind and do it all over again tonight at toyota. We won;t be there, we're finally celebrating xmas with my family now that my sister and bro-in law is back from LA. I guess the Winter Classic jersey will have to wait until friday night...Awesome.

-----------------------------------------------------

Keys to the Game: 


Momentum: Is on our side right now. dont let one game slip away. that starts again by scoring early and frustrating a portland team that is aft to taking lots of "frustration" type of penalties. you want 4 points in two nights....good job getting half so far. Dont give anything Back.

Feser: one of two that didnt snag a + last night on the scoresheet. Him and Holland posted 0's while everyone else was either +1 or +2. I bet Feser wants some pointage and needs to get his season rolling. Look for a big night from him.

Defense: End of the game got chippy. We've seen what this team does when they get picked on (look at the Vancouver game) Paul Sohor was big about stepping up. Also Yuen sacrificed like a man that night. They'll have to be on their toes to protect their team tonight.

Welcome back

Welcome to the second half of the season everyone, and hopefully this week starts to calm down. Everyone has had a chance to open up their Christmas Kindles, and call Amazon about it because their grandchildren thought they could use this deg-um technology crap we use today but were solely wrong about it.

But...its back to hockey. And lets just wrap up a few things from the most recent hockey action a couple of weeks ago. That game with Vancouver was silly. Silly in so many ways. I never would have expected a Don Hay coached team to act that way. Sure - you're team is down, you're goalie is a leaky sieve and yo ustart taking stupid penalties. Take a minute, clear your head. Instead, the Giants decided to just turn into a bunch of idiots and started fighting their way through the game...literally. It was just stupid, basically all you need to know about that game is the Americans whooped Vancouvers asses. Our guys stood up for each other through several line brawls and drop-o-the puck melees.

I'd like to point out that Paul Sohor scored his first WHL goal in that game, an hour after I wrote that we should look for him to tally in this game. I love being right :)

-------------------------------------------------

The night after the team played up in Everett. Fortunes were not in our favor as the guys gave up the lead and lost 4-2. it happens....not the way they wanted to go into the break but hey its hockey, and theres a lot left to play.

Here are the standings as of today:

US DIVISION STANDINGS:

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	37	25	9	0	3	53	0.716	145	112	0-1-0-0	4-4-0-2	752
2	Spokane Chiefs	34	19	10	3	2	43	0.632	139	97	1-0-0-0	7-1-2-0	666
3	Tri-City Americans	32	19	11	1	1	40	0.625	120	100	0-1-0-0	7-3-0-0	519
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	33	15	11	3	4	37	0.561	96	105	2-0-0-0	4-6-0-0	610
5	Everett Silvertips	36	16	15	2	3	37	0.514	92	103	2-0-0-0	5-4-1-0	528

---------------------------------------------------

face palm

GAAAAAHHHHHHH I JUST WANT HOCKEY!

NO MORE YELLING CUSTOMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WANT LIFE TO RETURN TO NORMAL


:: end midweek meltdown ::

Vaaaaaancouver.

Rematch of the Conference Finals tonight at Toyota

Notes on the acquisition of Paul Sohor:

"When the overage thing unfolded, the bigger picture was to acquire a defenseman," Tory said. "It was a good fit. He knows a number of guys, and we felt it wouldn't affect the chemistry of the team.

"Zak was bigger and more experienced, but Paul has a little sandpaper to his game, which we can use a bit more of. If we wouldn't have been able to get Paul, we would have had to keep Zak."

"Everett developed me real well," Sohor said, "but I think a change in scenery was in order. Coming here was a real bonus. It's nice to get a reunion with the guys I've known my whole life and get to know the new faces. We have good chemistry out there.

"I was super relieved and happy to come to a winning organization and a team that wants to win. I like playing with these guys more than I liked playing against them."

Keyes to the game against Vancouver:

Paul Sohor:
   Look for Paul to get a point tonight. Im sure he's much more comfortable in the system now with a weeks worth of practice. I'm sure he wants to prove to his new team and fans that he can contribute.
 
Offense:
  Top lines are going to need to score, like last week scoring early will be huge. Vancouver goalie Segal has been solid recently recording 3 shutouts in his last ten, while the team has gone 7-3 over that period. Make a mess in front of the net and bang the loose change home.

Busy week Update

GIANTS BLANK SILVERTIPS –


Mark Segal turned in a 36-save performance to record his third shutout in his last 10 appearances as the visiting Vancouver Giants blanked the Everett Silvertips 3-0 in Western Hockey League action on Wednesday.
Mark Reners tallied his first goal as a member of the Giants (16-12-1-4), who scored all three of their goals in the second period as they snap a two-game losing skid.  Craig Cunningham and Matt MacKay also scored and Brendan Gallagher chipped in two assists in the win.
Kent Simpson turned aside 26 of 29 shots he faced in a losing cause for the Silvertips (14-15-2-3), who suffer their third straight setback and fall below the .500 mark.

------------------------------

Vancouver rolls into to town on friday night. Segal seems to have found a groove with the 3 shutouts in 10 games.  ... Super busy week at work, thus the lack of updates. Sorry folks

Also....Carter Ashton made team Canada so we wont see him until early January.

-------------------------

THUNDERBIRDS 5, CHIEFS 4  O/T

Travis Toomey scored 4:16 into overtime to lift the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in the back half of a home-and-home series between the teams on Wednesday night.
Burke Gallimore scored three goals and assisted Toomey’s overtime winner while Brendan Rouse also scored for the Thunderbirds (14-11-3-4), who rallied from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period to earn the split in the home-and-home series.  Calvin Pickard turned in a 40-save performance to record the win in his return to the T-Birds’ line-up after being released from Canada’s national junior team selection camp Wednesday morning.
Brenden Kichton scored twice while Mitch Holmberg – with a goal and two assists – and Dominik Uher also counted for the Chiefs (18-9-3-2), who see a six-game win streak come to an end but claim at least one point for the 10^th straight game.  James Reid made 30 saves in the loss.

------------------------------

^^ Thanks Seattle  O_o

-------------------------------
 US DIVISION STANDINGS

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	36	25	8	0	3	53	0.736	143	108	3-0-0-0	4-4-0-2	740
2	Spokane Chiefs	32	18	9	3	2	41	0.641	135	95	8-0-2-1	7-0-2-1	627
3	Tri-City Americans	30	18	10	1	1	38	0.633	109	95	2-0-0-0	7-3-0-0	450
4	Seattle Thunderbirds	32	14	11	3	4	35	0.547	92	103	1-0-0-0	4-6-0-0	592
5	Everett Silvertips	34	14	15	2	3	33	0.485	86	101	0-2-1-0	3-6-1-0	505

2 Days = 2 Wins

The Americans went 2 for 2 on the weekend in a home and home weekend series with the Seattle Thunderbirds. First up was Friday night at Toyota center for teddy bear toss night. If you recall I mentioned that the first key to the game was going to be to score early. Shinnimin took care of that check mark by netting one past Pickard on a 2 on 1 less than two minutes in. Over 2,800 stuffed animals came over the glass. A dejected Pickard made his way back to the bench during the near 10 minute clean up time:


"Everyone before the game wanted that goal," said Shinnimin, who also had two assists. "It feels good to get it going and get the team going. When it goes to a good cause, it makes it that much better." (herald)

 The rest of the night went really well. It's amazing what an early goal can do for you and there were a lot of chances around Pickard. Seattle managed to do a decent job of clogging shooting lanes, seems like we could've had 70 shots on goal. 

The Americans took a 2-0 lead at 5:06 of the second period as Brooks Macek -- using a screen by Neal Prokop -- beat Pickard from the top of the right circle on the power play for his eighth goal of the season. (herald) 

Thats right Brooks Macek actually found the score sheet!! Hopefully that will continue because he needs to be more of an offensive contributor. 

"Ten power plays to three. They are a good offensive team, you can't put them on the power play that many times," said Seattle coach Rob Sumner, whose team is 0-4 against Tri-City this season. "In the first, we were outshot -- we turned down some shots and missed some. In the second, there was a stretch where we started to get in a rhythm, then we gave up a simple goal (Hughesman's) at a critical time. That was a big goal to give up." (herald) 

That trend would continue for the T-Birds as they gave up another 14 penalties en route to a 5-1 victory for the Ams on Saturday night. Jordan Messier scored twice in 15 seconds as part of a 4 goal 1st and cruised to victory. Really just a normal game for Seattle, just undisciplined and piss-poor defense is their demise. 

Ams back in action against Vancouver on friday at home. That will be a rematch of the western conference finals that the Ams won last year.

Another big trade

From the Americans website:

Tri-City Americans Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the team has acquired 19-year-old forward Carter Ashton and a 3rd round pick in the 2012 Bantam Draft from the Regina Pats in exchange for 18-year-old forward Tanner Olstad, 17-year-old forward Nils Moser, a 1st round pick in this year’s bantam draft as well as 2nd and 5th round picks in the 2012 draft.

Obviously big news picking up a first round draft pick, one who can score goals. But the departure of Tanner Olstad sucks a little. Okay, sucks a lot. Moser's a good one too. Wish the boys a bunch of luck in Regina.

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Keys to the game tonight:

Score early!! The Americans have not scored in the first period since November 20th against Spokane. That was six games ago. Not sure whos in net, whether its Pickard (who may be gone for team Canada) or Salmon, either way scoring early gets you going. 

Is Schmidt out tonight? We'll see, went down to practice today and Schmidt was not suited, talking on his cell phone lol. Injury? i dunno we'll see. 

Win in regulation: The Seattle Thunderbirds have the most Shootout losses in the league right now with 4. pair that with 3 OT losses. We want a full two points tonight without giving one up, as the bottom four teams are separated by 2 points total.  

Deal is done

The deadline to get to three 20 year olds is today, but GM Bob Tory has made up his mind and the deal has been made. Defenseman Zak Stebner has been traded to Kelowna for  a 4th round pick in the 2011 Bantam Draft and a 8th round pick in the 2012 Bantam draft. The Americans also gave up a 7th round pick in the 2011draft. 

Now I'd like to point out that I had mentioned I didnt think Bob would trade Stebner because we had gotten him for a reason. The reason being to bolster a defensive unit with some talent and experience. 


So what did Bob do prior to trading Stebner? Traded for another defenceman:

""Tri-City Americans Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the team acquired 19-year-old defenseman Paul Sohor from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for 17-year-old forward prospect Zach McPhee." (americans)

 Initial reaction is that this is a good thing, definitely covered our bases.Got an experienced D-man while retaining a big forward in Prokop. 

still busy, Ill try and provide mopre details later. 

If you hadnt heard already, the Americans forgot to show up in Portland. Maybe thats why I forgot to update the blog for a few days...


but seriously, its because when you work in e-commerce this time of year it gets pretty busy. We've had very little time to do anything so when getting off work the last thing I want to be in front of is a computer.

Overager deadline is tomorrow. There have been no updates on the Americans website since Saturday, nothing, nothing at all.

If we have any time to write anything we will...but gotta tell ya, this time of year is pretty rough lol.

Here's something because I've got nothing today:

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US DIVISION STANDINGS

Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	32	22	7	0	3	47	0.734	124	90	0-1-0-0	4-4-0-2	669
2	Tri-City Americans	28	16	10	1	1	34	0.607	100	93	0-1-0-0	5-5-0-0	420
3	Seattle Thunderbirds	28	13	8	3	4	33	0.589	83	82	2-0-0-0	4-4-1-1	500
4	Spokane Chiefs	27	14	9	2	2	32	0.593	101	78	4-0-1-1	6-1-1-2	524
5	Everett Silvertips	29	12	13	1	3	28	0.483	74	83	0-1-0-0	4-6-0-0	446

Game Day

Ams got on the bus this morning to head down to Portland. Since its less than an hour to game time, Im just going to cover the keys to the game.

-Much like last week holding the big names in check is going to be crucial. Neiderreter, Johansen, Rattie, and Batrschi are al reeming as they sit in a four game losing streak. Expect them to come out hot on their home ice.

-Keeping space clear in front of Drew will be crucial. He;s been seeing the puck better of late, but if too much traffic gets in front its hard for any goalie to keep it out.

Possess the puck! Portland will probably go to the defensive strategy they went to in the third period of last weeks tilt, when they held the Americans in check to tie up the game. They played the forecheck really well and clogged the neutral zone making it difficult for the Ams to gain any offensive footing

It really should be a great game tonight. Hope the guys are ready to continue playing great hockey and can hopefully take a full two points from the game. That'll put us back to within 9 of the the lead in the US division.
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Pre game Hiller says: "Portland is waiting for us, first time in their building"

"Its always great when you have something to prove. Changes the mentality when you are the hunted or the chaser."

New Poll Question:

Take a look over to the right, there's a new poll question on which overager you believe will be released or traded. More info on the situation can be found below. Tell us what you think in the comments.

If you were Bob Tory, what would you do? Who would you release?