Opening Night Eve prognostications

Dylan Bumbarger over at OregonLive moved the Ams up from what he had them (#4) to #2--behind Portland of course:

Tri-City Americans. Last time I had them behind Vancouver and Everett. Looking at the rosters more close, I can't justify that. Most predictions and the CHL preseason poll agree. I see Alex Pechurskiy has been returned from Pittsburgh. The assumption is the Ams will get rid of him, which I don't understand. He and Owsley made a pretty good duo last year and I wouldn't be too quick to junk that.  (OregonLive)

Duo, yes.  But a 2-spotter is a tougher spot to be in.  From Drinnan:

The Tri-City Americans will have an interesting decision(s) on their hands now that the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins have returned Russian G Alex Pechurskiy, 20. He becomes one of four 20-year-olds on their roster, along with D Tyler Schmidt, F Mike Brown and F Kruise Reddick. . . . Pechurskiy is one of two imports on the roster, with D Nikita Kardashev, 18, being the other. However, Russian D Nikita Nesterov, another 2010 import draft selection, is still working to get clearance to play over here.  (Taking Note) 

And I do believe the plan was/is for Nesterov to play.

Russian defenseman Nikita Nesterov has his interview with Homeland Security on Oct. 16.  (Spokesman Review)

Anyways, back to prognostications, more from Drinnan:

1. TRI-CITY AMERICANS (47-22-1-2; 6-2-0-0): The Americans have finished atop the division each of the last three seasons. . . . They just might make it four in a row. . . . They are coming off their first appearance in the WHL championship series, where they fell in five games to the Calgary Hitmen. Experience like that can only help a team. . . . Drew Owsley gives them quality goaltending, although he may need more rest than he got last season. Do they dare keep Alex Pechurskiy, a two-spotter as a 20-year-old import, to pair with Owsley? . . . Their top six forwards — Brendan Shinnimin, Justin Feser, Brooks Macek, Kruise Reddick, Jordan Messier and Adam Hughesman — are as good as anyone else’s top six. . . . F Patrick Holland finished strong in his rookie season. . . . They return four defencemen, led by the ultra-reliable Tyler Schmidt, and will be looking to Russian Nikita Kardashev for some positive results.
OUTLOOK: The pieces are there for another first-place finish.  (Taking Note) 

That's right, he has them first in the division.  I like that.  Interesting he picked Portland 3rd, I think they'll be 1st or 2nd in the Division.  But, since there has only been exhibition games so far, it's anyone's guess how it'll all shake out. 

Over at the Examiner.com, Rene Ferran has his season preview:

After so many years of championship famine, the past three years have been quite the feast for the Tri-City Americans and their fans.
They never hung a championship banner at Toyota Center until 2008, but this Saturday they'll unfurl a U.S. Division banner from the rafters for the third straight year -- and add their first-ever Western Conference banner to boot.
So what do the Americans do for an encore? They've obviously gotten pretty good at the "reload, not rebuild" thing, and this season should be no exception.  (Examiner)

If you missed it, you can see what the Ams new 3rd jerseys look like over at the Herald's blog.  I like everything except the "Tri-City" along the bottom.  Might as well put a billboard around my gut.  Not flattering for many women, that's for sure.  Otherwise, they look pretty sharp.

Neate Sager over at Buzzing the Net has five WHL Storylines, an interesting read for sure.