Oh yeah...

Neal Prokop took the ice this week

I forgot to talk about the overage situation:

(Real quick if you're behind on the times, Ams forward Neal Prokop returned to the team after season ending leg surgery in the playoffs last year. That puts the Ams at 4 overagers [20 yr olds] which means the Ams have to cut one in less than two weeks)

So Neal played two games this week and notched an assist in each before being scratched in favor of Zak Stebner on Saturday. By the way, in 13 games for the Americans, Stebner has added 7 assists. (just so the record is clear)

I had originally figured that we would see stebner released or traded, being a WHL journeymen, being traded between five teams the last several years. Prokop nrings so much to the table as far as leadership and consistency goes, I highly doubted that we would see him go. THen i got to thinking about it...We traded to get Stebner for a reason. We have a young defensive group this year. Stebner was our way to add talent and experience for a long season and hopefully postseason. Last year Stebner beat the Americans in the WHL finals as amember of the Calgary Hitmen.

The Americans were still scoring goals without Neal. Thats the rough side of it. Could the defense survive without Stebner? Maybe...Grist is getting better it seems with every game, Yuen is becoming a staple in the group, and Schmidt is...well...doing his thing.

Some are saying that Prokop got some playing time so trader Bob could work his magic with other teams, giving them an opportunity to see that he is legit coming off of the injury.

Like I said before, I dont know how its going to come down, nor would I want Bob Tory's job at this point.

If you're looking for my opinion, at this point I'd have to say to hold on to Stebner. We brought him in for a reason and we could still use him. He adds depth to a defense that needs it. I hate it because Prokop was huge for us last year and he could be productive, but I'm not seeing Tory toss away Stebner because Neal made a quick recovery.

Maybe we can get Jessicas opinion on what she thinks we should do.

Americans complete statement weekend

For those critics that have slumped the Americans to the side in recent weeks: Pay attention now.

The Americans are coming off one of their best weekends of hockey this season earning 4 out of 4 points with two big wins over Kootenay and Portland. The two teams are a combined 38-12 and hold two spots among the CHL's top 10. Easily their best game of the year on Friday night against Kootenay, they looked to at least match that with the game on Saturday. For 40 minutes they did just that, building a 2-0 lead on hard work, clean passing, and selfless play. The guys gave up their bodies to block shots (something they've done well over the last couple of weeks) and were willing to pass to set up chances. Both teams had several chances all throughout the game, posts were dinged and goals were reviewed.

The third was not a good one for the Americans. Honestly they looked tired, and they let it get to their game. Passes did not connect, and Portland took advantage spending most of the period in their offensive zone. They crawled back into it tying the game up at 2 a piece and the Americans decided they would just continue to try and hold them off. They did and to OT we went, just thankful that we'd atleast get a point. Jessica kept me optimistic through the whole thing. My initial thought as the horn sounded to signal the end of regulation was, "As if Portland needed another point..."

We had a couple of chances in OT but came up empty so we went to the shootout. Owsley has been good in shootouts this year, going 5 for 7. You just always wonder when going up against a strong individual team like Portland if you've got enough to stop them. Ty Rattie was stopped on his first attempt, and Hughesman blanked on the other end. Sven Bartschi of Portland couldnt slip under Owsleys pads. That put Brendan Shinnimin on the ice:

Click here for video of the goal (tried to embed but it didnt work)

And that would hold as your game winner folks. Hype that, wins always feel good. especially as you begin to climb back into a division race. The guys have the next couple nights off before hosting another resurgent team in the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday night at Toyota.

Three Stars:
1. T.C - 30 Drew Owsley
2. T.C - 19 Jordan Messier
3. POR - 28 Brendan Leipsic


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 Check this out for last night:

 LOSS to Kelowna 3-2

  LOSS to Medicine Hat 5-2

 LOSS to Kootenay 6-2




 Every team in the US Division lost last night except for Tri City. I like that...A lot...

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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	28	21	5	0	2	44	0.786	111	77	0-1-0-1	6-3-0-1	591
2	Tri-City Americans	26	15	9	1	1	32	0.615	95	87	3-0-0-0	4-5-0-1	397
3	Seattle Thunderbirds	24	11	6	3	4	29	0.604	70	68	0-1-0-0	5-2-1-2	424
4	Spokane Chiefs	25	12	9	2	2	28	0.560	94	73	2-0-1-1	5-1-2-2	498
5	Everett Silvertips	26	11	11	1	3	26	0.500	67	76	0-3-0-0	5-5-0-0	394

Solid effort leads to win

The Americans played a complete game against the central divisions Kootenay Ice last night. Owsley eanred a shutout in a 4-0 workman like effort for the entire team. Seriously, everyone seemed to be at their highest level last night, and those words were echoed by the coach:

"From start to finish, our most complete game all year," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "I thought we had everyone on the same page. It was a good result against a good team -- a physical team." (herald)

And physical they were. My goodness the first period was a boxing match, with a couple of fights and lots of aggresion from both teams. Sitting where we were I couldnt see who did it, but an Americans player did dump an Ice player into their own bench. All the way over. I love that, and love that our team did not back down against rough play. Wilgosh scrapped, with his porno mustache, and Sam Grist threw his body around like a 20 yr old. These guys played a great game. 

I want to point out that teams are going after Shinnimin one way or another. Its something to keep an eye on. Last night Kootenay's Kevin King was in Shinnimins ear all night and spent most of the first trying to get Shinni to fight. It was annoying because there were cheap shots taken that refs weren't bothering to help out on. Shinnimin is a threat to score (He tallied twice last night btway) and teams are going to do everything they can to keep him off the ice. He seems to be handling it well, like he expects it now. So we'll keep an eye on that. 

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

Tonight is a big one. First time taking on the league leading (and dominating) Portland Winterhawks. Their resurgence has them at the top of the US division by 13 points over the Americans. There seems to be a chink in the armor that has been found though. Portland has lost 2 of their last three, including a 7-2 loss last night to Chilliwack. They will still be without right winger Seth Swenson, who is serving his last game in a suspension handed down by the league for his role in a melee fight in kamloops.

-By far the biggest threat for Portland is standout Nino Nedeiretter, who played 9 games with the New York Islanders (scoring his first NHL goal). Since returning he has scored 7 times and assisted on 7. (14 games) 

The Americans will also be tasked to hold back Ty Rattie, number 4 on the WHL Points list (15G, 25A) 

 

Keys to the game:

1) Drew has to be on it again tonight. Hopefully the shutout momentum carries over. 

2) Spencer Humphries had what seemed to be an uncharacteristic bad night last night. Lots of turnovers, he'll need to be sharper. 

3) SCORE! Americans will have to score goals tonight to keep pressure off of Drew. Look for Hughesman and Wilgosh to get on the board tonight. 

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

Overage situation clouded again:

From Examiner.com:

"Tri-City Americans GM Bob Tory confirmed Monday that overage F Neal Prokop will make his season debut Wednesday when the teams takes on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent.

Prokop has been out since suffering a broken femur during the Americans' first-round playoff series last spring against Chilliwack.

His return is the latest lineup shuffle to a team that has been scuffling recently, losing six of its last seven games.

With Prokop returning to the lineup, that means the Americans have four 20-year-olds on the roster -- one more than the league maximum of three, but the team has an injury exemption.

After Wednesday, the Americans will have 14 days to release or trade one of their overagers -- captain Kruise Reddick, alternate captain Tyler Schmidt (about to become the franchise's all-time leader in games played by a defenseman) or recently acquired D Zak Stebner." (examiner)

I cant believe it, I'm happy, but...wow! The guy broke his femur, and broke it bad. Here's a rewind from the Tri-City Herald after it happened:

"The surgery was supposed to be 21/2 hours, but it ended up being 4," Prokop said. "The doctor said he had a hard time getting the (titanium) rod into my bone. He said I had a really hard bone. He showed me the scratches on his hand."

Prokop said he isn't sure how long the rod in his leg is, but by the incision, he estimates about 10 inches.
Americans athletic therapist Brian Cheeseman got a look at the X-rays and said the break was a transverse fracture in the upper third of the femur toward the hip.

A transverse fracture is a break across the bone, at a right angle to the long axis of the bone.
"It's a pretty significant break," Cheeseman said. "Fortunately, he didn't go into shock."

I know that i didn't expect him to be back so soon. I dont think Tory did either, otherwise I dont think he would've made the trade for Stebner earlier in the year. This is just going to make things awfully uncomfortable for the next 2 weeks because someones gotta go. There are 4 overagers on the team Reddick, Schmidt, Stebner, and now Prokop. By process of elimination im pretty sure Tory wouldnt dump his captain, so Reddick stays. Schmidt is an alternate so he's probably not gone either. That leaves Prokop and Stebner in the mix.
 

I believe Stebner has been a great addition since he got here, seems he worked his tail off to get into the system and log more and more playing time.

Prokop was such an integral part of the teams success last year all the way up to the broken leg and past it, as the team rallied around his absence to play harder.

I dont know whats going to happen nor do I want to think about what should happen. I wish we could keep everyone, wouldn't that be nice? Bob Tory makes some crazy deals and trades and we'll just have to wait it out and see. I'm excited for Neal to get back on the ice with the guys, I'm sure everyone is happy to have him back.

Ams cant find way past Simpson.

There's a reason Kent Simpson was named to Team WHL for the Subway Series. Everett's goaltender stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced in a 4-2 win over the Americans, and earned the first star. The Americans were playing their third game in as many days, and coming off a big win the night before against Spokane they were looking to continue the momentum. Instead they ran into Simpson, and couldnt find the chink in the armor they needed to get the win.

"We weren't sharp when we wanted to shoot, and when we did shoot, we didn't have traffic in front," Hiller said. (examiner)

That seemed to be the biggest problem. Simpson isn't going to give up easy goals. you wont see a shot from the point, or from an odd angle go in. There had to be someone there to put it in, and when those chances arose no one was around. There were a few chances where we'd have guys in the slot but the passes weren't connecting.

The game started with some suspect officiating as Shinnimin was called for trip just minutes into the game. Honestly, we were sitting right in front of where it happened, the dude just lost an edge and fell down. there was no trip. But thats fine...whatever. Right after Shinnimin gets out, he skates down the ice and apparently hooks a guy. I cant speak to that, it was on the other end of the ice in our blind spot so thats that. Everett would take advantage on the one

With 10 seconds left on the PP, Drew gave up a rebound in the crease and McRae got his first of the season to put the Silvertips up 1-0.

Turnovers in the offensive zone plagued the Americans as they failed to get quality chances the remainder of the period. Then there was a checking from behind call made on Drydn Dow, which looked awfully similar to a play earlier by Everett that wasnt called...just saying.

The second started and it was more of the same:


"After taking their one-goal lead into the first break, Everett extended it at the 6:20 mark of the second period.  After a nice, individual effort to dig the puck out of the corner, Josh Winquist found Tyler Maxwell in the slot, who beat Drew Owsley to make it 2-0." (Americans)

Just another issue of a man being left alone in the crease, an error by the defense in which Hiller had this to say: 

"The goals we gave up were pretty easy, weren't they?" Hiller said. "They were just standing right there. It was more mental than physical tonight. We need to play with more urgency; that's the bottom line. With the puck and without it, we need more urgency." (examiner)

Where was the urgency they showed last night?? just odd to go from such a high level to dropping off the way they did last night. Hughesman stepped up to address the issue:


"There's no excuse for that type of effort," said Ams forward Adam Hughesman, who scored his team-leading 14th goal on a second-period power play. "We're not going to blame it on anything but ourselves.
"Just because we won one game doesn't mean anything. We have to play all the way through the season. It's frustrating to go out there with no intensity, no physical play, nothing like last night."

 (examiner)

So there you have it. The Ams will have today off, (maybe the team will make some snow angels), and get a practice day before heading to Kent to take on Seattle. Standings have tightened up a bit, Spokane beat Portland to hand them just their 4th loss this year. Hell, we lost 4 in a week...


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Rank	U.S. Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Portland Winterhawks	25	20	4	0	1	41	0.820	103	65	0-1-0-0	8-2-0-0	545
2	Seattle Thunderbirds	21	10	5	3	3	26	0.619	60	56	0-1-0-0	5-2-2-1	394
3	Tri-City Americans	23	12	9	1	1	26	0.565	83	81	0-1-0-0	3-6-0-1	372
4	Everett Silvertips	23	11	8	1	3	26	0.565	61	63	3-0-0-0	6-4-0-0	362
5	Spokane Chiefs	22	11	9	1	1	24	0.545	79	65	1-0-0-0	6-2-1-1	447

Americans Light the Lamp

And light it they did, smoking the visiting rival Spokane Chiefs 8-3 in front of a noisy crowd of nearly 6,000 on Saturday night. (of course when you hand out 1,000 cowbells that'll happen) The win snaps a 5 game losing streak, the first of its kind since the 2005-2006 season. There was a fear of bus legs as the guys had to travel from Chilliwack after a tough 4-3 loss on Friday night. The Ams dispelled that theory by coming out strong in the first, definitely showing what they had worked on the previous week. Lots of speed, aggressiveness and desperation for the puck saw great results in the 1st period, leading to four goals. It also helped that Spokanes defense seemed sluggish and got less then stellar goaltending from James Reid. The same goalie who shutout the Ams 5-0 just a week ago was a sieve giving up the four goals on just 13 shots. Normally I write up more about each goal, but the fact that there were 8 it got a little ridiculous, and you don't have an entire month to read. Here's the quick breakdown from the Americans website:


"Tri-City hit the ground running Saturday, and never looked back, using two two-goal bursts to  pull away in the first 20 minutes.  At the 6:56 mark, and on the power play, the Americans got on the scoreboard first when Patrick Holland redirected a Justin Feser shot past Spokane starter James Reid.  On the ensuing face-off, Wilgosh drove hard to the net, putting back a David Conrad rebound seven seconds later, to quickly put the Americans on top 2-0.

Spokane, however, found a response just past the midway point of the period.  With the puck loose at the near post, Mike Aviani kept banging away, eventually nudging it past Owsley to pull the Chiefs to within one.  But, it would be as close as Spokane would get in the game.

Just 30 seconds after Aviani’s goal, and back on the power play, Connor Rankin took a great, no-look pass from Adam Hughesman and beat Reid to puck Tri-City back on top by two.  Only 3:36 later, Holland found Shinnimin camped backdoor on Reid, who buried a near empty-net shot to make it a 4-1 game headed into the first break. " (Americans)

Okay, that first goal by Holland was pretty slick, backhanded redirect over the glove of Reid. I nearly missed the second goal because I was still typing in my notes. Wilgosh just proved his manliness on that one, deciding to just bust through everyone and he wouldnt be denied. 

I dont know though if I have seen a  more beautiful play than the one on Shinnimin's goal. I dont know what the heck happened to Spokane as it seemed Holland, Hughesman, and Shinni all came into the zone by themselves. They went tic-tac across the zone and I swear Reid didnt even see Shinnimin camped out on the far post cause the puck came right to him, and he had a wide open net. It seemed as though Shinniman was like, "Hey! Lookie what I got!" The Spokane fans behind us even acknowledged the plays beauty. 

Jessica was excited by Rankin's third goal of the game cause she had pretty much called that it was going to happen. 

The scoring continued in the 2nd: 

"Then, with 7:25 gone of the second period, Jordan Messier’s 13th goal of the season chased Reid from the game.

With his power play marker with 3:18 remaining in the second, Spokane’s Tyler Johnson made it a 5-2 game.  But, 42 seconds later, a seemingly innocent wrist shot by Drydn Dow from the left circle slipped past back-up Mac Engel, as Tri-City retook their four-goal lead.  Then, with 1:01 left in the frame, Feser broke out Wilgosh, who fired a backhander past Engel, making it a 7-2 game." (Americans)

What I loved most about this game is that every time (up to this point) the Chiefs had scored, the Ams took less than a minute to answer. They need to be able to do this, especially on the road. Its such a momentum buster for the other team. Just when they think they may climb back in it you shut the door on them. Do this on the road-and you frustrate and quiet the fans. 


"Spokane and Tri-City exchanged goals in the third period, as Tanner Mort scored just 49 seconds into the third before Shinnimin recorded his second goal of the game, seven minutes later, to cap the scoring." (Americans)  

 The guys really did play well, and it was a fun game. Now begins the rant part of this entry.We had a family of Chiefsf fans behind us, Husband, wife, and Im assuming their son who was probably around 22-25. All wearing chiefs jerseys, all of them super friendly. That's right, I said friendly when referring to Chiefs fans. We spent the majority of the game exchanging "playful banter", both of us laughing. Of course its easier when our team is winning, but it was a good time. 

The game came down to the waning minutes and as things started getting chippy on the ice, it got tense in the stands as well. The people sitting behind the family made some comment, something to the extent of, "Oh...I've never seen them score 8 points before", and the guy turned around and said, "Oh thats okay, I saw them score 0 last week" (referring to the shutout handed to us by Spokane) Thats pretty funny. I would've laughed. Most normal fans would. But instead of laughing, her D-bag husband decided to accidentally spill his beer on him which incidentally spilled on the little girl sitting in front of him. Clearly a line has been crossed at this point. And they start yelling back and forth. Well they take the guy out, and an Americans fan had walked up to talk to the Spokane fans about what had happened. The lady who made the stupid comment to begin with said something and the other Americans fan told her to shut up (I think) she then proceeded to tell him to "Go back to your trailer....traaaaaailer" At this point I wanted to run up to this lady and punch her. Instead I watched to make sure no one got into any fights and the Spokane people left and the game ended. 

-My problem is that now these nice Spokane fans have a bad image of what Americans fans are. What was mostly a good game went south when a stupid fan took it too far. Im sorry, if you cant control yourself when drinking, just don't bother coming. It's assholes like you that give the rest of us fans a bad name. Seriously, and to think that you're so above someone to call out "trailer trash" makes you look like an even bigger ass. and a douche. Ill just forevermore call the both of you Mr. and Mrs. Douche-Ass. I'm sorry that such a great game for us had to be ruined by the Douche-Asses. 



Applebee’s 3 Stars:
1, Brendan Shinnimin, Tri-City
2, Mason Wilgosh, Tri-City
3, Patrick Holland, Tri-City
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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	24	20	3	0	1	41	0.854	102	62	4-0-0-0	9-1-0-0	531
2	Seattle Thunderbirds	21	10	5	3	3	26	0.619	60	56	0-1-0-0	5-2-2-1	394
3	Tri-City Americans	22	12	8	1	1	26	0.591	81	77	1-0-0-0	4-5-0-1	364
4	Everett Silvertips	22	10	8	1	3	24	0.545	57	61	2-0-0-0	5-4-0-1	346
5	Spokane Chiefs	21	10	9	1	1	22	0.524	76	64	0-1-0-1	5-3-1-1	441

 

Friday Notes

As the Americans gear up for a full weekend of hockey, it seems some good is coming from their week of practice:

"I think we are going through some adversity right now," said Reddick, who missed eight games with a concussion earlier this season. "We aren't scoring and we aren't playing to our ability. It's not time to press the panic button. It's time to reflect on the positive things, grit our teeth and make things happen."(herald)

Kruise goes on to talk about playing three games in as many days:

"It's nice when you are playing every three nights and keeping in game form," Reddick said, "but it's also nice to have this much practice time to work out the kinks. The fans might be concerned; they want to see us do well. We are going to turn this around."

That's exactly what you want to hear from a team captain. A guy willing to step up and say things aren't perfect right now. Acknowledging the fact that the fans are concerned but guaranteeing that it gets fixed. Smart guy.

I've talked about the struggles of Drew Owsley, and it seems like he's getting the help he needs:

"We are trying to keep things positive and relaxed," said Tri-City starting goalie Drew Owsley. "We have a good bunch of guys, we just need to execute better. The bounces aren't going our way and guys are gripping the sticks too tight. We just need that win to get us out of this."

Owsley sought help from one of the best in the business Wednesday, working with former NHL goalie and Americans owner Olie Kolzig.

"Any time Olie can come out and help me, I appreciate it," Owsley said. "He's been through it all and I'm struggling a bit. He's helped me tune things up a bit and he's given me some advice."

-Uhhhh yeah...anytime you can get advice from one of the best, you better take advantage. Drew's going to be just fine. He's a great goalie and has a great group of guys around him. Its way too early to start panicking. Looking forward to two home games this weekend. Should be a couple of good matchups. The guys are up north in Chilliwack to try and take care of a pesky Bruins team.




Not much time to write today, we're expecting someone to come pick up our couches, if they ever show up....