EARLY GAME

Boys at the Calgary Saddledome today for mid-day game.  It's at 1 pm our time so hope you're awake!  Anyways, come in to the liveblog and say hi.  Feel free to partake in the Craig West Drinking Game if you'd like, though for me personally, getting that drunk at mid-afternoon on a Sunday is probably an indication of a bigger problem, so I'll be abstaining.

Everyone knows Jimmy (WOOHOOO) and the Herald has a really fantastic article about him today (ass-pat to Spokant for sending the link).  No really, go read it.

"You block out a lot of the noise," said team captain Jarrett Toll, "but Jimmy is one of the things you can hear. ... You'll know when he's there."

 Liveblog after the jump...

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From Drinnan:

So here’s the deal on Tri-City Americans F Brendan Shinnimin from Wednesday night. He received a game misconduct following the shootout in what was a 4-3 loss to the host Red Deer Rebels. According to the online scoresheet, he received a misconduct, of the 10-minute variety, following the overtime period. The online scoresheet is in error. . . . Shinnimin’s actions after the shootout — he was penalized for making an inappropriate gesture in the direction of a referee — resulted in the game misconduct, and he later was suspended for one game by the WHL. . . . If you’re wondering, here is the rule, as supplied by the always co-operative Richard Doerksen of the WHL:
“Three (3) players from each team shall participate in the shootout and they shall proceed in such order as the Coach selects. All players are eligible to participate in the shootout unless they are serving a 10-minute misconduct or have been assessed a game misconduct or match penalty.”

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"In the third we were really aggressive," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "It was a strong period. You never count on those (short-handed goals), but they were a couple of great individual efforts."

Neal Prokop and Eric Mestery finished the scoring for the Americans, who were 2-for-6 on the man advantage and killed off four Edmonton power plays.  (Herald)

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Remember to order these sooner rather than later if you want in time for the February 12th breast cancer awareness night game!  Proceeds from these (and all other designs thru the 12th) will go to the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation.

Westy drinking game and liveblog

It came up in Wednesday's liveblog that there should be a drinking game when listening to Craig West call the away games.  Or home games for those of you who can't make it to the Toyota Center.  When I mentioned it in yesterday's post, Craig West saw it and thankfully has a great sense of humor.  He even added in the comments section, a couple of lines to have involved in the game.  What a champ!  This is a guy who's been in the hockey and broadcasting business for a very long time kids, he knows what he's talking about.

Like all my most brilliant ideas, I have the thought, then sit down to write it and all the sudden can't remember a damn thing.  So thanks to Spokant, Amanda, Zack, and Westy himself to come up with the list of things to drink to.

Alright, here goes.  First off, from Craig West himself:

"In honor of my Late "Uncle Bob" Craig (passed away Nov. 2007), two drinks every time we break one of his old bottles on the top shelf. Drink an entire bottle when I say, 'the only way this ref makes the NHL is as a ticket taker or a vendor.' Since this is rare, enjoy the best bottle you have! :). One swig for every 'Rough ride' and same for 'fires it off the window'. Two ibuprofen for each time I say 'rims the puck in'."

("Uncle Bob's bourbon bottle" topped my list of things to drink to)

Ok, also drink if you hear:

• "no doubt about it"
• "___________________ says thank you" he says this on turnovers sometimes
• "Five-hole baby!"  and the "baby!" part is the important piece of that phrase
• "That was a stinky one" or "it's no Rembrandt/Picasso/other famous artist" or "it won't hang in the Louvre"
• "The league's going to have to look at that"
• "Paratroopers are leaving the building"  this is likely in tonight's game versus Edmonton
• "Rides him down"
• If you listen to the internet feed like I do, you get to hear him talk to the engineer back at the studio so any time Westie loses his connection/talks to someone on the side ("I'll call you back.").
• Take TWO swigs when he says "nervous time".  This is usually heard in the last half of the 3rd period so you may be passed out already.  If not, you might be quickly with this provision.

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If you weren't aware, I have an amazing design team/sister.  Obviously, owls needed to be used and what better way that to Save the Hooters.

Just like the "If you don't check 'em, I will" design, profits from the sale of "Save the Hooters" will be donated to the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation.  And up through the Breast Cancer Awareness game on February 12th, proceeds from ALL shirt sales will go to the Foundation as well.

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From Drinnan this morning:

When Tri-City meets the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Friday, the Americans will be without their leading scorer. F Brendan Shinnimin, who has a team-high 64 points, has been suspended for one game for a game misconduct he incurred at the end of the Americans’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Wednesday. The WHL’s online game sheet shows the penalty as a misconduct, but it apparently was a game misconduct, and WHL vice-president Richard Doerksen, who handles discipline, deemed the discretion worthy of a one-game sentence. . . . I am checking to see just what happened here, though, because Shinnimin did take part in the shootout.

Fantastic.  And by "fantastic" I mean Oh crap.

The Herald reports on the suspension, but doesn't say what the game misconduct was for:

Shinnimin's suspension won't likely affect Tri-City (36-12-0-2, 74 points) tonight. The Oil Kings (10-30-4-7, 31 points) are 0-11-0-3 in their last 14 games. They last won Dec. 18, a 3-1 victory over Red Deer.

Tri-City coach Jim Hiller will slide Sergei Drozd up into Shinnimin's spot on the top line with Johnny Lazo and Adam Hughesman.

"We played without Shinny once already, and we won that game (against Portland on Nov. 25)," Hiller said. "It's important that one guy doesn't drive the team."

Hiller is looking for a better performance tonight than his team had Wednesday when it squandered a 3-0 lead against the Rebels and lost 4-3 in a shootout.

"We were playing quite well to start the game and into the second," Hiller said. "Then we took a penalty, made a really poor read on the penalty kill, then they took the play away from us and we weren't able to re-establish ourselves." (Herald)

It'll be great opportunity for Sergei to be on that top line, that's for sure.  Liveblog after the jump, come on in and say hi, be ready to DRINK!

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Blowing ain't as fun as it used to be...

...when talking about blowing a 3-goal lead.

Dear Tri-City Americans,

You cannot only play 25 minutes (1st period, OT) of good hockey and expect to win.  You also cannot give a team like Red Deer (or any team for that matter) 14 minutes of power play time.  You respect your coach, show it by not sitting back on a lead, listen when he's trying to motivate you.  He kinda knows what he's doing.

Sincerely,

Schultzie

Good on hometown kid Justin Feser for notching two goals right away, the cheering from all his fans in the building was great to hear.  After the 1st period however, Rebels took over the game.  Good on Mike Brown I guess for trying to get something going with an attempted tussle, but it didn't have the desired effect.

Feser said the Americans took their foot off the pedal after their third goal.

“We pressed early but Red Deer played a pretty solid game,” he said. “They played hard but we let off the gas a bit the last half of the game and just couldn’t pull through.”

“That’s the way it looked, but I thought we just ran out of gas and I’m still trying to figure it out,” said Tri-City head coach Jim Hiller. “We looked tired. We just couldn’t skate and they (Rebels) just outskated and outworked us and earned the win.”(Red Deer Advocate)

Shouldn't look tired kiddos, got to chill in Edmonton for a couple days, no reason to be tired.  Also, should not be getting outworked.  Period.

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I have been accused of being opportunistic.  Awesome.  Then let me take this opportunity to point you in the direction of these t-shirts that my amazing design team has come up with.

For each one sold I will donate the profits to the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation.  In addition, between now and the Breast Cancer Awareness game night (February 12th) I will donate all profits from all designs on my Zazzle site to the Foundation as well.

I'll be honest, the profits are not great, only $2-$3 depending on style of shirt, but that's because I have to go through Zazzle.  I cannot afford to make a bunch and hope they sell to people, so this is how it has to be done.  I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from buying shirts because of that, but wanted full disclosure that the full amount you pay for the shirt will not be donated to the Foundation.

I encourage you also to buy it sooner rather than later if you want it in time for the game, shipping from Zazzle seems to take a good week, and the game is in 2 weeks.

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Apparently I am part of a "power couple".  Not sure how powerful we are, though the behbeh Baum Squad does think I own all of Twitter... Anyways, check out what the boy wrote up about the pressure former American Carey Price is facing.  You can find it on Kukla's Korner.  That's right THE Kukla's Korner.  One of the contributors, Patrick Hoffman, links to Scotty's great article, also found here.  But if Kukla's is not part of your daily hockey reading, it should be.

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It's Neal Prokop's birthday today!!  For his present, I will give him the gift of NOT making a sign that says "Let's Prokopulate!"  Nor will I make one that says "I'll Neal for Prokop."  So anyways, Happy Birthday Neal!

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Tomorrow night's liveblog will include the Craig West Drinking Game (TM).  For example, take two drinks when he says "Nervous time" and the like.  If you've got any suggestions for the game (I'll be posting it tomorrow), drop me an email or put it in the comments :)

Alberta Bound

"I've been waiting a year and a half to do this," said Feser, who has career highs of 23 goals and 22 assists. "It's exciting to go to my hometown to play and play in front of people that haven't gotten to see me play since I came here (Tri-City). I have relatives making the trip from Saskatchewan to catch the games during our swing."

"We were on the road a lot early and had success," said Americans coach Jim Hiller, whose team is 14-7-0-1 away from Toyota Center. "Part of what this league is about is playing at an elite level and seeing different parts of the world. It's a good way for a young guy to learn about life."

Feser isn't the only Tri-City player close to home this week. Goalie Drew Owsley and forward Patrick Holland are from Lethbridge, forwards Jordan Messier and Nils Moser are from Canmore, Alberta -- which is where the Americans practiced Monday -- and rookie defenseman Drydn Dow is from Calgary.

"It's always nice to play at home," Hiller said. "But sometimes you don't always get the best result -- the players tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves."  (Herald)

The Rebels' record is a bit misleading, I believe they are better than their standings would indicate, it will be a good challenge for the boys.  I assuming Drew will get the start, not only because he's close to home, but because if it's truly a tandem here, it's his turn.

To celebrate Hockey Weekend Across America (not be be confused with that one-day deal in Canada), Friday is Wear Your Jersey to Work/School Day.  That's awesome.  Now I have to decide which one to wear.  I could always wear my man's jersey, though I've worn it to work before.  I might have to go with the Owsley jersey.  Because it's awesome.  And I've never worn it to work before.  If I get anything on it I will have to punch myself in the face with a brick.  Also, Hockey Day in Canada freakin' rocks my world so hard.  I can't wait to see what Don Cherry will be wearing.

Since I've discovered this new "jump" feature on Blogger, let me just say, liveblog after the jump, can't wait to see y'all there.  I love live hockey in the Toyota Center, but I do love the gang getting together for away games.  Come on in, lurkers welcome :)

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woah

Blogger has a jump break feature now (it's about time) so I can do this...

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Game Tweets and recap

Game summary in Twitter form:

Me: FRWG starting in goal tonight.

MW: Chiefs are wanting this a little more right now, AMS need to step it up and not rely on FRWG to do it all.

Me: Way to lay down on that play Schmidtty. Literally.

MW: My next sign, this one to the fans, STFU Mestery Haters!

Me:Know who I miss the most when AMS play Spokane? The Life Partners--Hoff, Macaulay, Stoklasa.

Me: Dear AMS, the season is more than half-way over, figure out defensive zone faceoffs. Kthxbai. (immediately after I tweeted this, Chiefs scored off a defensive zone faceoff win)

Me: See? I TOLD YOU.

Spokant: How can a PP that looked so good just last night look so disorganized tonight?

Spokant: Neal Prokop is due. Kruise Reddick is due. For shit's sake, all of them are due. C'mon, boys!

McP: I wish upon Kyle Beach explosive diarrhea.

Me: Um, Pokey? Please be ok. I don't think he knows who he is right now. Not good.

McP: Also Pat Smith

Spokant: 1) Defense did a piss poor job of clearing the zone when they had the chance.

Spokant: 2) The boys did not capitalize on the chances they were given. How many wide open nets are you going to miss when you're trailing?

Spokant: 3) Time to get back to those basics. Passing 101 and winning faceoffs.

Spokant: 4) I love them win or lose, just wish they'd shown up with the same amount of passion their fans did.

MW: @Spokant: I agree...they can't show up for like the last 5 minutes and expect to win. The Chiefs just seem to be more prepared as of late.

YTMS: @Spokant: no kidding. passing was pissing me off alllll night. as it has in past nights. but tonight was NOT the night for that shit.

So there's that.

"Just because we lost doesn't mean it wasn't a good game," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team finished a seven-game homestand 6-1. "We had a lot of good chances at the end, but it didn't go our way."

"Both teams played a solid game," said Feser, who has 23 goals. "There wasn't much room to wheel around and make plays. When they had the chance, they put it in the net. These two games this weekend were a big test. Jim told us that's what the playoffs will be like and that's what we should expect the rest of the year."

Holland, who has scored nine of his 20 points in the month of January, had four assists in three games this week.

"Feser has been good for a long time, but Holly is breaking out of his shell and understanding how good he is," Hiller said. "When we needed something in the third, he took over." (Herald)

Coach went with From Russia With Glove in net (so much for a tandem, eh?). I get the conundrum, FRWG was fantastic against Giants, Chiefs haven't faced him so that would challenge them. But I gotta say, I wasn't as impressed with FRWG last night as I was Friday night (insert predatory comment here). He did make some great saves, he really did, but not like against Giants. And yes, half the reason for saying such things is I'm pissed off that Drew hasn't played in the last 3 games--it was supposed to be a tandem with all this depth in goal. Just because Alex had a great show in his NHL debut, doesn't mean the kid who worked his ass off the first half of the season should be immediately unseated. Whatever, it's done. We'll see how the rotation goes on the road trip.

Chiefs had the magic trick to shut down the power play. In addition, the AMS just looked tired. I know the mental fatigue was there after facing Giants on Friday and then having to face the rival Chiefs the next night. When they get tired like that the basics suffer--faceoffs, passing, hell, even line changes looked sloppy. Then again, when they're losing, the fan microscope on such things increases too.

About my tweet concerning defensive zone faceoffs, this has been an ongoing problem. There seems to be chaos as to whom is to line up where and that seems like something that shouldn't be a problem at this point in the season.

Coach said on the post-game show that they have to get better at games like this. The playoffs are "not going to be Burger Ranch games" where there's excessive goals and stuff, it's going to be greasy, tight, not-fancy games like this game was. Come playoffs, there's not going to be a lot of room on the ice to do fancy tic-tac-toe plays, it's going to be a grinding effort. Which is true, now it's his responsibility as a coach to get them to play better in those types of situations. If they want to make it in the playoffs, they have to figure out how to win games like last night's. If the opposition isn't giving them any room, they have to figure out ways to create room, to create plays, and for God's sake, get the power play going.

On the power play, going with 4 forwards, one D isn't that unusual, but it can be risky--as seen last night. Spokane is the type of team, especially with that feisty Tyler Johnson, who can take advantage of forwards trying to hold the blue line on the PP. Grrr, that goddamn Johnson--so good. He's the kid you hate because want him on your team so badly.

I was so glad to see Kruise come back from getting plastered into the boards, it looked bad. He bounced off the boards and immediately slumped down like a wet noodle. Scary. It didn't look like he knew who he was, so to see him come back and still be awesome was great to see. Good to see Plouffe stand up for him too.

Also, I must say I was a bit disappointed with the lack of ice-time in the 3rd for Mason Wilgosh and Neal Prokop. I get it, they're not super-snipers or anything, but they're bodies who are willing to lay the check and create chaos, giving the 1st and 2nd (even 3rd) line guys a rest. I will also say I think I'd rather see Nils Moser getting some shifts than Mike Brown. I've seen more moxie and checking from Moser this season than from Brown who was brought in to be check-finisher, in a "Cam McCaffery-style" way. Just not seeing it, sorry. Moser can do the same job Brown's been doing and get some development as a 16-year-old. But whatever, I'm not the GM or coach, just a fan so it is what it is. Back to my original point, by limiting Wilgosh and Brown, all the sudden, line combinations are mixed up, making line changes even more chaotic in a 3rd period that was filled with desperation (the second half of the 3rd period anyway).

oh hey, that was a good game

"That wasn't on Drew at all," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team has won six in a row and is a league best 22-4-0-0 on home ice. "Clearly, he was helpless. We needed to be better as a team -- we needed to change things up, and you don't have a lot of options. Alex made some key saves out there." (Herald)

It wasn't on Drew, but I did feel bad for him. That being said, there are so many things a coach can do in that early-down-by-2 situation, changing goalies is one of them. Hell, Vancouver did it too.

But what a good game. Tight. Both teams knew that if a mistake was made, the other team would capitalize on it. When two very good teams are held to less than 30 shots on goal, you know it was a tight game. It was one of those where you're watching so intensely because anything could happen at any moment. All but one of the goals were scored in the first minutes of the 1st period, the rest of the game was certainly not boring, even with no scoring.

From Russia With Glove was outstanding. That one glove save in the first (if you saw it, you know the one I'm talking about) was un-freaking-believable. I may or may not have Tweeted "FRWG just got me pregnant". It was that hot. It took me awhile because of my devotion to Owsley, but I believe in Alex. I didn't ever NOT believe in him, but yeah.

I could go on and on about the God-awful reffing, but what's the use? They're still gonna suck. I have rarely seen Captain Toll so angry as I saw him last night with some of the calls. Bouma jumping Shinny? How the hell is that not an instigator? Schmidtty's constant jawing has drawn such attention to himself that he spent a ton of time in the box, not good. Whatever, the boys prevailed.

Speaking of Captain Toll, the Herald had some good stuff on him yesterday in the pre-game piece:

"I still feel like I'm 16 and coming here for my first season," he said. "I don't know where the time has gone.

"Being a part of the first banner from where we've come since my first year, it goes to show we've gotten better," Toll said. "I looked up to Logan Stephenson -- the intensity he brought every night -- and it's cool to know you've played with guys who are playing in the NHL."

It's pretty rare that a kid plays his whole WHL career with the same team so for Toller to be at the 250-game mark is pretty outstanding. Obviously it would be more if not for all his injuries over the years.

I also need to make note that in my opinion, Kruise Reddick played his best game as an American last night. He was absolutely nails. THAT is the Reddick I expect to see every night and am usually let down. I have been quite the critic of Pokey (not as much here, but definitely in my head) but if he can keep playing like he did last night, I'll consider changing my tune. As I've said before, my biggest complaint with Kruise is his consistency, so who knows how he'll do tonight. I am hoping he'll play as balls-to-the-wall as he did last night.

Alright, the Spokane Chiefs are in town tonight, so you know it'll be another good game. The boys always (almost always) seem to bring their best against the dreaded rival, tonight shouldn't be any different.

Goalies galore

RussianHockeyFans interviewed From Russia With Glove and has the translation here (via Drinnan).

How did the team welcome you?
Pechurski: "At the beginning I was really worried, as playing in the NHL was my childhood dream. They welcomed me very well, my team mates really supported me, even if I was the youngest player of the team, but Pittsburgh isn't really an "old" team. For the whole game they encouraged me and gave advices, and I can only thank them."

If you weren't watching the Habs/Blues game last night, you missed Carey Price nearly getting in a fight. According to some on Twitter, it was a major brawl and so on, the reality isn't that exciting:



Oh look, the Herald finally has a game story about Tuesday's game up. I'll cut them some slack (this time) as it appears they have re-vamped their website.

Brendan Shinnimin has had good puck luck against the Kamloops Blazers this season.

In his previous two games, Shinnimin had one goal and four assists. On Tuesday night at Toyota Center, Shinnimin had two goals and an assist to lead the Americans to a 6-2 victory over the Blazers in front of a crowd of 3,232.

"They are just another team," said Shinnimin, who leads the Americans with 63 points. "They're good, they're fast, we just have to match what they bring. My line (Johnny Lazo and Adam Hughesman) played the system and got rewarded."

It's Thursday, so happy Friday Eve.

You ever have a conversation or even watch a TV show where the speaker has a very strong foreign accent? You spend so much time concentrating on listening to them that you don't actually hear what they are saying? Last night's game was like that for me.

I was concentrating so hard on staying out of the way and getting good shots, all while trying to avoid getting hit by sticks, pucks, and hockey players. Point is, there's large chunks of the game that didn't completely register, they might when I go through the gazillion photos I took.

That being said, I do know a couple things:

• Powerplay looked good, 3 of the 6 goals were on the PP.
• Shinny's short-handed penalty shot was damn sexy.
• The forecheck was outstanding.
  
• Pechurskiy is one feisty goalie when guys are in his crease, I freakin' love it.
• I love watching Adam Hughesman score. No really, he gets so excited, jumping super high into the goal celebration man hug.
• AMS didn't appear to have their foot on the gas from the drop of the puck, but after Blazers scored right away, that sure woke them up.
• Adam Hughesman, Enforcer? I don't think so. But gotta love the passion and energy, same with Plouffe's tilt.
• Mike Brown got more ice time last night, I'm liking his style of play more and more.
• Speaking of who is impressive, Patrick Holland continues to be solid, same with Sergei Drozd.

On a mostly unrelated note, it was the first trip for the Blazers in their road blues, and that is one impressive looking jersey. With the switch to the RBK style, they moved to a darker blue and it sure does look sharp.

From amshockey.com:

The Americans and their fans raised over $2,264 as part of 'The Herald and Hockey Help Haiti' fundraiser tonight. The initiative, which benefitted the American Red Cross' International Response Fund for Haiti, used proceeds from walk-up ticket sales, monetary donations at the game and a silent auction to help raise funds for the island nation that is still recovering from the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake that struck on January 12. For more information on how you can help, visit the American Red Cross online at www.redcross.org

game day (and some shirts)

Boys face the Kamloops Blazers tonight. Blazers have been doing pretty well since the trade deadline, actually, winning 7 of their last 10. Having Mucha in net sure doesn't hurt either. Frankly, I'm just sad they traded my Kamloops hockey boyfriend Giffen Nyren to Calgary.

I got nothing else. It's a game, should be good, I'll be between the benches snapping pics :)

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Lookit Alex, so cute next to Gonch!


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In other news, Cody Castro had 3 assists in 3 games for the Tri-City Titans this last weekend. He played defence for them the whole time (not filling in at forward like he did with AMS) and from what I hear, did quite well. Good for him!

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Mason Wilgosh shirts now available, you can get white on dark (shown) which is spendier, or black on white (or whatever light colored shirt you choose)

From Russia With Glove shirts, red on white:


Brendan Shinnimin goal shirt on white (not double sided, so only like $17)


The cool thing with Zazzle is you can re-size all of the designs, so if, for example, you think Alex's number is too big or whatever, you can shrink it for your shirt.

Shop at my Zazzle store! I could really use that $1 profit I make off the shirts--and share with the design master.

Holy Moly, we got goalies

From Ryan Lambert at Puck Daddy:

Alexandre Pechurskiy went from having played just six games in the WHL this season to actually getting 36 minutes against the Vancouver freaking Canucks, in Marc-Andre Fleury's(notes) pads (Pechurskiy's pads from juniors didn't meet NHL regulations). He made 12 saves on 13 shots and was named the No. 3 star. Not that he knew what that meant.

Yeah, Alex doesn't know what it means to be named one of the game's 3 stars, bitch please. He's been named a star in how many Americans' games now? Several. If you watch the video, he asks the guy what he's supposed to do when he goes on the ice. Obviously, in the NHL probably not going out to center ice to get your picture with Booster Club members. The kid's been thrown into his 1st ever NHL game, don't act like he's stupid. Aaaaaaaaaannnddd back to only reading PD when it's Wysh's writing.

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Don't look now, but it's now 8:30 Monday morning, the Herald still has no game story from Saturday night. Keep up the good work Herald!

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Ass-pat to Spokant to passing along this silly interview with Chet Pickard.

SUN: Since you're living in Milwaukee, have you come across Laverne and/or Shirley yet?
CP: No.
SUN: Do you know what that means?
CP: No, I don't know what that means.

Awesome Chet.

Boys in the big show and game recap

In case you missed it, Alexander Pechurskiy got called to the Pittsburgh Penguins to play last night. He was like pretty good and stuff:

NHL feature (a great read):

But for the night, Pechurski can enjoy his dream coming true. It’s an experience he won’t ever forget.

“It was tough on me because I finished the game last night and was traveling,” Pechurski said. “I didn’t sleep much so it tough physically.

“My defense helped me. We have a young team and everybody was helping me, cheering me up and supporting me.”

Gregg Drinnan at Taking Note:

Earlier Friday, Pechurskiy was on the receiving end of a phone call from Pittsburgh Penguins star centre Evgeni Malkin. The two share the same hometown and Malkin just wanted to see how Pechurskiy was doing. Little did he know that the two would be teammates come Saturday.
After Friday’s game, Pechurskiy was informed that the Penguins, who had selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2008 draft, wanted him in Vancouver for Saturday night’s game against the Canucks.

25Superstar at Hockey to the Max:

I'm pretty sure that whoever watched this game knows that Alexander Pechurski, the 19 year old backup to our backup's backup, is a freaking hero. He had just won a game for his junior team (Tri-City of the WHL) and barely slept, travelled, and arrived in Vancouver with his billet 12 hours later. He was wearing Flower's pads. He had to wear #40 because his #70 jerseys were stuck in customs. He didn't expect to play. . . And then he made 12 saves on 13 shots. He played more than half the game. That's a lot to ask of a kid barely 2 months older than me (btw,this fact blew my mind).

Fun fact: Alex made history by being the first Russian to EVER play goal for the Penguins.

He played fantastically. He got the third star and received a standing O from the fans when he came out as third star--both classy moves by Vancouver. His post-game interview was translated through Gonchar which made it that much more precious. All the players came out to congratulate him like he had won the game. THAT is why I love this team. They are amazing.

In the post game interview, Alex said: "My new friends helped me." Cue the AWWWWWs.

Puck Daddy gives From Russia With Glove Honorable Mention for 3 stars of the NHL last night:

Vancouver in their 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Stung by an injury to Marc-Andre Fleury(notes) Thursday night in Edmonton, the Penguins had to sign 19-year old Alexander Pechursky of the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League to a one-day amateur try-out contract. Thinking he was going to just work the door tonight, Pechursky was thrown into action in the second period and stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced after John Curry(notes) was pulled.

Teebz at Hockey Blog in Canada:

Pechurski's first game saw him play a total of 35:31, stopping 12 of 13 shots. The one that got by him was a Ryan Kesler powerplay goal in the second period for Vancouver's sixth goal. Fundamentally, the youngster looked fairly good. It's also interesting to not that Pechurski doesn't speak a word of English, so he had Sergei Gonchar translate for him at practice. Pechurski was a fifth-round pick in 2008 for the Penguins, so it was straight into the fire for him. And I'd say he did quite well.

and those are just a couple of the blogs in my Google Reader. Obviously, I didn't see the game (it's being replayed on NHL Network today at 11 am PST). Scotty Wazz watched it and sent me his notes (isn't he a sweetheart?):

He definitely got tested early. His first save was post-to-post, and barely getting his elbow on it to put it over the net; but it showed out his hybrid style. That impressed the CBC guys a lot, pretty much keying on his unusual style. There wasn't much fear as he was coming out to challenge at the top of his crease and really keeping himself in check. The only goal he did give up was a double-deflection that he could have had if not tipped the second time by Kesler. I guess if you don't have any expectations going into something like that, you show no fear to it all when you get the call. He was good enough to get the third star of the game (12 saves, .923 SV%) and really show that the Penguins do have quality depth on their roster chart.

So there you have it. Having not seen the game (yet) I haven't necessarily changed my opinion of FRWG. I've never said he sucked (except at playing the puck, which is fine. Again, many fine goalies aren't skilled at playing the puck, no big deal), he just makes me nervous. I don't expect that to change as it's unlikely his style of play is going to change overnight. I will say that I am quite impressed that he did so well and am really proud of him. My only issue I've had is that I didn't want him coming in here and getting handed the #1 spot after Drew worked his ass off to earn that spot. They make a nice tandem, that's for sure. It's quite a luxury to have that kind of depth in net, no question.

Speaking of NHL debuts, Drayson Bowman played in his first game as a Carolina Hurricane last night in a loss (shocking) to the Atlanta Thrashers. I am a complete idiot and forgot to tape the game before I left. DUMB. My buddy Dave from Barry Melrose Rocks sent me this screen grab.


Canes Country:

Drayson Bowman had a decent debut as he finished with one shot on goal, two missed nets, and a really good hit while on the forecheck. Rod Brind`Amour set him up for a good chance in the second period, but he missed the net with his shot. After the game, the youngster said he was pretty happy with his performance. He said needs to make adjustments for the higher speed of the game and needs more experience playing at this level. When asked if his linemate and team captain had any words of wisdom for him, he chuckled as he replied, "Yeah, he said Samson had an assist on his very first NHL shift. No pressure or anything though."

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Meanwhile, back in Kennewick...

Boys played Winterhawks last night in just an outstanding game. Well executed, well played. It didn't hurt that Ian Curtis let in 3 goals on 6 shots either, but still. I don't care, AMS still woulda won, they played that well. Crisp, solid. Johnny Lazo had a hattrick, but his play was almost overshadowed by the game Mason Wilgosh had. Willy was a scratch Friday night, not sure if he got benched or what. If so, it worked. Mason always plays with a great work ethic, but last night holy shit. It was a whole new level of awesome.

Patrick Holland continued to be outstanding. I told the girls last night that if it was up to me, if I had a vote and if I was voting today, Holland would get my vote for Rookie of the Year. It'd be close between him and Drozd, no doubt, but I'd give Patrick the nod. That being said, Sergei had another great game as well, he works his tail off.

Speaking of votes, one of the front-runners for Unsung Hero in my book (there's many so my choice will probably be different tomorrow if you ask me) is Riley McIntosh. If not Unsung Hero then definitely Most Improved. He was finally recognized by getting 3rd star last night. Take that Riley "I'm gonna jump Riley McIntosh" Boychuk!

Random bit--those atomic jerseys weren't too bad, actually. I feared they'd be atrocious, but they looked pretty good. I mean, as far as atomic-themed jerseys can.

*sigh* I would love to include some post-game quotes from players, coaches, whomever. But here it is, quarter to noon, and there's not one shred of anything on the Herald's webpage. Fantastic.

So I'll leave you with this. I've included a lot of links today, I know y'all won't click on all of them, but click on this. Ass-pat to Ams1fan for writing it, very well said.

From Russia With Glove in NHL debut

AP Photo via Yahoo!
Pittsburgh Penguins' Alex Pechurski, right, of Russia, receives the game puck from captain Sidney Crosby(notes) after playing in his first career NHL hockey game, against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. Pechurski, playing in his first career NHL game, came into the game in relief of John Curry(notes) who was pulled in the second period. Vancouver won 6-2.

3rd star, hell yeah.

AMS/'Hawks recap coming tomorrow, this bish is tired.

Post titles are overrated

"Holly Jolly Patty Hattie"--You Took My Seat

"Hatrick Polland"--Mr. Spokant

"It was my night, I guess," Holland said. "I was just getting good chances. We hadn't been able to solve (Seattle goalie Calvin) Pickard all year."

Good chances? One shot on goal in the 3rd period (Seattle had 10) does not constitute good chances, even though the one shot was the one that counted and got the win.

"How can you be happy with that?" Hiller asked. "We don't have enough players paying the price right now -- that's two consecutive nights.

Patrick got us three goals and he's a guy that's in and out of the lineup. We believe in him and we know the difference he can make. It just comes down to consistency." (Herald)

Once again T-Birds came in a battled hard. Didn't really give the AMS a lot of room, got their speed shut down pretty effectively. The reffing was terrible (big shock) and the boys barely played good enough to overcome it. Coach is right, it's a matter of consistency.

Lines were shuffled a bit as Mason Wilgosh was a scratch. What's My Name? MIKE BROWN not playing as much as I assumed he would as a 19-year-old and someone that Bob had been going after for a long time. He skates well, I guess he just needs some more practice time to gel with some linemates. Nils Moser has got some shifts, I'm sure not as many as anyone would like, but with Seattle playing such a tight game, made it difficult to get him a lot of shifts.

I was not overly impressed with Pechurskiy last night. Granted, I'm totally biased, that's no secret. He should not handle the puck so much, he's not very good at it. Which is fine, many good goalies are not. Even Westie mentioned on the post-game show that From Russia With Glove has "a hybrid style" which makes you nervous watching him. I've mentioned before he reminds me of a Tim Thomas or Dominik Hasek, floppy and such. No clue how long the Penguins are going to keep him, we'll see. Local kid Josh Romeike will be backing up Owsley tonight, he played for Prince George when they were in town last weekend and short a goalie.

Winterhawks in town tonight. I don't know what it is, but whenever I get it in my head that I want to wear Scotty Wazz's old jersey it's when they play Portland so I can't (it's the same design, only shoulder patch different--like Chicago's). So maybe I'll wear it Tuesday. I'll rock the Owsley jersey tonight, of course. I love not having to decide what to wear to games anymore!

Portland is coming off a shootout win last night, sit 8 points behind the Americans in the US Division. Hopefully the AMS can get a solid effort together against the 'Hawks. It's a matter of consistency. They know Portland's gonna come to compete hard, their intensity better match (or exceed) the Winterhawks'.

I'm rambling, I overslept and need coffee. GO AMS.

Pechurskiy called up to Penguins

according to Westie on post-game show. MAF broke his finger so Alex will back-up the backup. Or something. He's flying up to Vancouver tomorrow morning to meet the Pens for morning skate.

I was going to write more, but there's no linkage yet that I can find. Here's the release from the Pens. Besides, in my post-game excitement, I got pulled over and got a big fat ticket. So now I'm just pissed.

My post-game analysis will come tomorrow. But YAY Holland!

YAY!!!1eleven!!1

RALEIGH, NC—Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has recalled left wing Drayson Bowman from the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League (AHL). Rutherford also announced that forward Jerome Samson has been reassigned to Albany.

This marks the first NHL recall for the 20-year-old Bowman. Born in Grand Rapids, MI, but raised in Littleton, CO, Bowman has scored eight goals, and notched seven assists (15 points) in 26 games with Albany in his first professional season. (Hurricanes)

Chad LaRose is possibly more excited than I am. (ass-pat to Wrap for the image link)


Canes' next game is tomorrow night against Atlanta. Might have to DVR that. Oh wait, I don't have a DVR. crap.

As for the Americans, tonight they face off against the Seattle Thunderbirds again.

"It's tough to beat Calvin anyhow," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, who has seen the young goalie shut out his team despite firing 57 shots. "I like the goal Shinny (Brendan Shinnimin) scored (to tie Wednesday's game). He found the puck on the ground and went upstairs. You aren't going to score too many when he has a clean look."

"We went through it and they (Seattle) played well from a tactical aspect," Hiller said. "We worked on getting the puck and winning puck battles. It doesn't matter what the other team does, if you don't win the puck and control the puck, you aren't going to be very dangerous." (Herald)

I've been sitting here staring at this screen for like 10 minutes trying to come up with something to add and I got nothing. They just played Seattle. Pickard is good. T-Birds like to shut down AMS speed. Blah blah blah.

I just hope AMS are able to generate some action, break through Seattle's game plan. I would like to see more of What's my name? MIKE BROWN tonight, he didn't really play enough the other night to form an opinion either way as to whether he'll be a good fit for the team or not. When Bob said he was a Cam McCaffrey type player, I did expect someone a little bigger, thicker. But hey, whatever.

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

The Tri-City Americans are teaming up with the Tri-City Herald to host a fundraising campaign for the American Red Cross' International Response Fund for Haiti on Tuesday, January 19th when the Americans host the Kamloops Blazers at the Toyota Center.

The Americans will be placing special ads in both Monday (Jan. 18) and Tuesday's (Jan. 19) edition of the Tri-City Herald. This ad will also be available through the Americans' website, www.amshockey.com. For every fan that brings a copy of this ad to the Toyota Center box office and purchases a ticket to Tuesday's game, the Americans will donate 25% of their walk-up ticket purchase to the American Red Cross' International Response Fund for Haiti. The American Red Cross will also have a presence on the Toyota Center concourse at Tuesday's game, where fans can learn more about how they can help those affected by the recent natural disaster in Haiti.

The initiative, which started with the Americans' Athletic Therapist Brian Cheeseman, is part of a worldwide relief effort to help one of the poorest countries in the world. The island nation of Haiti was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on January 12th. (amshockey.com)

It looks like representatives from the Red Cross will be there so fans that already have tickets can donate to the cause as well.

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Don't look now, but the Americans have jumped to #4 on the BMO CHL weekly poll. Guess what that means? It'll probably go to their heads again and it will be a weekend+ of suckitude till they fall back down on the list. I'm not trying to be negative, it just seems to be the trend. Just like the Carolina Hurricanes being awesome one season, then completely sucking for the next two or so seasons. It's their shtick.

"I was tangled up with (Jarrett) Toll and I was a bit in the net," said Owsley, who finished with 24 saves for his league-leading 28th win of the season. "I'm not sure it was in -- I'm sure they had a better view (on the replay). It was a sloppy game and not a lot of quality chances. It's one of those games where you have to stay focused and be ready."

"Give Seattle credit, they played their game plan to a T -- they played us tight defensively," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, who moved to seventh on the team's all-time coaching wins list with 32. "Also understand, our guys were as ineffective as they have been all year. Give Ows (Drew Owsley) credit, he made the saves that were necessary."

"Just a lucky bounce, I guess," said Macek of his 14th goal. "This was a good wake-up call. We got the win, but we want to improve our game. We play again Friday and they will be out to get us." (Herald)

On the video review goal--It happened right in front of me, it was a little chaotic, but it did look like it was in. The puck hit Drew or he got it with his glove or something, but he was behind the goal line, I said it to the girls as it happened. I had forgotten the league had video review this year until they were actually doing it and I knew it was going to go in Seattle's favor. Oh well, stuff happens. And really, kudos for the video replay ability, even though it didn't help the AMS, it's nice to see the league trying to get things right.

On Seattle's game plan--Obviously their goal was to shut down the AMS' speed and clog up the neutral zone because they did just that. And did it quite well, I might add. Seattle may be in last place in the Division, but they're not just going to roll over and play dead, if you want a win against them, they're gonna make you work for it. And that's before you even get to the net where Calvin Pickard is quite the amazing goalie. Westie and Coach said on the post-game show that it looked like a playoff game out there and I would certainly not disagree with that statement. I wouldn't even say the first 58 minutes were boring. Granted, it wasn't edge-of-your-seat exciting, but it was tight, and again, a solid defensive game by the T-Birds. There wasn't a lot of flow to the game, which is exactly what Seattle wanted I'm sure.

On playing the T-Birds again tomorrow night--UGH. I have a feeling that unless either goalie is off, it will be a similar style game tomorrow night.

It was great to see Shinnimin's hard work rewarded last night with a goal and a helper, same with Brooks Macek. Drew Owsley was outstanding. I freakin' love watching that kid play goal. I have no verdict on the new kid, Brown yet. But we've already got a slogan for him--"What's my name? MIKE BROWN!" Confused? Go here for the silly reference. Told ya it was silly.

Spotted: "I believe in Eric Mestery" sign. FANTASTIC. Oddly, it didn't mention how cute he is...

Craig West interview with Bob Tory from 1.12.10 Huge thanks to Craig West for getting it to me, bigger thanks to John McKay at Gap Broadcasting who got it into an mp3 for Westie to pass on to me.

"If anyone doesn't like the direction of the team the last four years, come to my office and get a taste of my personality instead of hiding behind an anonymous name and throwing darts. I don't mind people criticizing what I do or the coaches but certainly it really got us when you start criticizing 16, 17, 18-year-old kids and you don't have the guts to do it publicly or be accountable for it.

These are kids who are playing the game because they love it and are trying to chase a dream and if that doesn't work out they have the schooling to fall back on, the education program. But to be saying who should be traded or be outta here, for an adult to do that to kids to me is sick, and I'd like to have an opportunity to go into their workplace and criticize what they do. These kids give us their best, sometimes, you know what, it's not good enough, other teams have better players or whatever, but we still have to respect them as young adults. And respect them and their families and treat them with respect. They're not professionals and they aren't making tons and tons of money who are accustomed to this.

The trade deadline makes most of these kids sick, most of these guys last night got very little sleep and all week were stressed out because the better your team is, they expect trades. There's not a kid in our room that wanted to leave this place. We've got great fans, good coaches, got a good environment, these kids like it here and to be uprooted is stressful. They're young guys and it's unfortunate that they have to go through that."

I was going to do a whole point/counterpoint analysis, and it may turn into that. But there's a couple things here:

• They are kids. I work with kids everyday, young adults, and it's a stressful enough time without the added hardship of being away from family and friends, trying to chase your dream.
• That being said (counterpoint), they have chosen to chase this dream, to live this lifestyle. We've seen over the last several years, more and more players get out of junior hockey because of the stress, not really sure if their heart is still in it, and so on.
• Since they are choosing this way of life, it could also be said (point, counterpoint, who knows) that they need to develop a thicker skin. That's the nature of the beast. If they intend to pursue hockey and become professionals, the scrutiny is only going to get worse. Granted, when they're professionals, they get paid and that helps ease the pain a little bit--just ask Rick DiPietro.
• Fans are going to speculate, this is nothing new. The internet technology has changed the nature of speculation, made it much more public, more widespread. It also makes it easier for people to not be held accountable, as Bob mentioned.
• I think speculating on deals is different than questioning him or telling him how to run the team. Yes we are fans, yes we are paying good money to be fans. I personally am not one who believes that being a season ticket holder entitles me to any more than anyone else. Though a season ticket will get you into the games, it doesn't allow you the right to think you own the team and can say what you'd like. That's like saying the police don't need to hassle you because your taxes pay their salaries.
• Counterpoint being: yes we can say what we like, First Amendment, baby. But as Bob mentioned, it comes down to respect. Respecting the players and their families. And that includes billets. The billet families take in these boys as if they were their own kids. This stuff is stressful for them too.
• Sure it'd be easy to say, ok then, don't read the message boards, don't read the blogs, but c'mon. As consumers of this hockey product, we all want more information, we want to talk about our team. Readership of this site alone (which is all the stats I have, I don't run the message boards) has increased dramatically since I began two years ago (as if it had anywhere else to go but up...).
• Personally, I know that I have more than once speculated, opined, and/or prognosticated about what I think should happen. Hell, I do an overage analysis every pre-season giving reasons why I think so-and-so should stay or go, I'm not saying I have not been guilty of the very thing Bob is talking about. However, I try to take good care to make my analysis, while it's my opinion, somewhat neutral. Meaning, if I am going to look at overagers for next season, I'll look at my reasons for keeping a certain kid, but also my reasons why said kid could be traded.

On a final note, because heaven knows I could keep rambling forever, as to the comment "hiding behind an anonymous name", yes I use an alias on here, I have from the beginning. That being said, I have never once hidden who I am, in fact it's pretty easy to figure out who I am--even without someone posting it on the Spokane Chiefs message board.

In fact, I have met with Bob, he knows full-well who I am. Originally, my purpose for going with an alias is that when I started this blog, I had no idea where I wanted to go with it, what my plan was for it. Hell, it didn't even have a name to it for several months. I originally had a "dummy" email address for people to contact me but changed it to my actual email, there's a function on the side there where you can instant message me, I've mentioned where I sit. It's not like it's a big secret.

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Drinnan's got a link to a story from the London Free Press about the trade deadline as well:

Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press takes a look at major junior hockey and the trade deadline. That piece is right here. . . . The three or four weeks leading up to the trade deadline is easily the most embarrassing part of the season for major junior hockey. The leagues really have to do something to stop the have nots from selling out to the haves. But, at the same time, someone has to point out that the three major junior leagues aren’t the only guilty parties here. The way junior A teams move players around the country is at least as smelly.

Boys face off against Seattle tonight, with newly acquired Mike Brown in the lineup:

"It's a good thing for me," said Brown of the move after 2 1/2 years in Swift Current. "I'm definitely excited to be here. Just the thought of coming to a team with the chance of a long run is exciting."

Americans coach Jim Hiller said adding the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder to the roster is a big help after Todd Kennedy suffered a knee injury last weekend.

"I think any time you can add size -- and size that can play -- is important," Hiller said. "We want to make sure we have guys who can go up and down the lineup."

With Brown and the addition of Russian goalie Alex Pechurskiy after the Christmas break, Hiller sees good things ahead for his team.

"We couldn't keep Drew (Owsley) going at the pace he was," Hiller said of his top goaltender, who played 33 games before Christmas. "We are seeing Alex more comfortable and that's a position we are confident in. The nice part is that we have added pieces to be stronger. Today, we are in a much better position to do that (a long playoff run) than we have been all year."

Brown, who will wear No. 12, is not a prolific scorer, coming in with five goals and two assists.

"I'm a checking-line guy," Brown said. "I'm a role player -- a big body who is a physical presence on the ice. I just have to go out, play hard, do what I came here to do and make an impression on the coach." (Herald)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnndd that's it. That's all I got in me. Thanks to Scotty Wazz with the point/counterpoint stuff and with some wording issues I was having. Less than three.

Day(s) Late and many dollars short

With trade deadline, games, work, and life going on, I'm late with the goods sometimes.

The NHL Central Scouting Bureau released it's midterm rankings for the 2010 Entry Draft (that I'm probably going to, btw). Three Americans made the list:

• 101. Brooks Macek, C, Tri-City (WHL)
• 146. Jordan Messier, RW, Tri-City (WHL)
• 154. Justin Feser, LW, Tri-City (WHL)

Former American Jason Reese is on the move yet again, this time to Wichita to play for the Thunder, the last place team in the Central Hockey League. Drinnan noted it on Sunday, though I had received word of the move Saturday. Does that make me cooler than Drinnan? Hardly. Just means I'm lazier. If you're really paying attention, you'll see that Reese is playing alongside another former American, Steve Makway.

Lastly, speaking of being busy and lazy, I have been horrible with remembering to award waffles. Horrible. I apologize. In fact, I may remove the feature rather than making promises to be better, because I simply cannot promise that. Sorry boys :(

The longest post I've ever written about nothing.

So, did you guys see Mitch McColm at the game last night? Just kidding, of course you did. I got to chat with him for a bit in the 2nd period, just small talk about life and whatnot. I figured he'd been asked enough by fans how he felt about being traded to Regina, I didn't want to do that. He's a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, he'll be fine. HUGE props to him for doing 3 stars too. In Regina he'll be playing with Brett Martyniuk and alongside some guys you may have heard of, Jordan Eberle and Colton Teubert.

Speaking of Teubert, Drinnan had this tidbit:

Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that the Pats hung on to F Jordan Eberle and D Colten Teubert despite hearing from a few clubs. “The Tri-City Americans were among the leading contenders to land Teubert,” Harder writes, “while the Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades made bids for Eberle, but none of those offers included enough warm bodies to entice the Pats.”

I would guess, since Bob didn't get him, the price was simply too high. I, for one, am very grateful Tory didn't sell off young guns to get him (or anyone else).

It looked like a lot of deals were made with draft picks. I'm also glad Bob didn't give up a ton of those for anyone. That's how teams are developed, kids. And it's a crap-shoot at that, they're what, 14-15 years old when they're drafted, who the hell knows how a 14-year-old will develop? Regardless, drafting and developing players is how you build a successful program (if the scouting and development programs are in place). Constantly buying and selling is not going to equal long-term success. I've said it before, this is a small-market team so buying/selling everything for short-term success is not a good business model, and Bob is no fool. He's going to make damn sure the team is good enough to put buts in the seats, year after year.

So what did the Americans get? Mike Brown, a 19-year-old from the Swift Current Broncos. In 36 games so far this season, he has 5G, 2A, 54 PIMs and a -5 rating. It appears he doesn't have a huge offensive upside, but he's a big body--6'2", 200 lbs (WHL). If he can create room for playmakers to do their thing, awesome. At the same time, Cody Castro was re-assigned to the Tri-City Titans and remains a list player.

Other notable moves:
Memorial Cup hosts Brandon Wheatkings picked up D-man Travis Hamonic from Moose Jaw. Portland Winterhawks acquired Luca Sbisa from Lethbridge, a move that could help both teams--Portland if/when Sbisa returns from injury, 'Canes get immediate help they need with all their injuries.

If you want a full recap of the trade deadline (and you haven't got it yet?) you can check out Drinnan's Taking Note or Alan Caldwell's Small Thoughts At Large.

The other issue that comes up is now the Americans are loaded with 19-year-olds (as they should be to compete deep into the post-season). Of course, this leads to speculation as to what will happen to all nine of them next season as 20s.

• Kruise Reddick
• Sergei Drozd
• Mike Brown
• Todd Kennedy
• Riley McIntosh
• Neal Prokop
• Eric Mestery
• Tyler Schmidt
• Alex Pechurskiy

My guess? And it's only a guess in the middle of January, but I would think Schmidt will be gone, Minnesota is keen on him and could use him in their farm system. Mestery's been drafted by Washington but hasn't been signed so that's up in the air, I wouldn't mind seeing him as a veteran presence on the blueline next season. Riley's play improved and would be another one who could provide some veteran leadership. Neal Prokop has shown that he really should be on the roster as a 20. Kruise I'm up and down on (insert your own predatory comment here).

Christ, how did this turn into next season's overage analysis?

Last night's game was great, saw lots of passion from the boys, especially the scraps by Messier and Hughesman. That's the most life I've seen from Hughey in months. I like it. They just played a solid game, lots of energy and heart.

"I liked the way we moved the puck," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "We were crisp and moved with speed. I thought we did a good job in front of Alex and he made the big saves we needed."

"We weren't happy with that game (Saturday) night," Reddick said. "This was a big win for us to stay atop the league. With the (trade) deadline today, (general manager) Bob (Tory) trusted the team we have -- we all feel the same way." (Herald)

I'm not disliking From Russia With Glove, though he makes me nervous sometimes, he's like a Tim Thomas or Dominik Hasek type goalie, more luck than technical skill. Flopping around, making it look harder than it is (insert another of your own predatory comment here). "Harder than it is" says the one who has never played goal. Scotty Wazz adds: "Hasek was really reactionary, while Thomas, I think, out of position and desperation." FRWG seems to be more reactionary like Hasek than like Thomas. Like I'm glad I'm not a Boston Bruins fan or Tim Thomas would be the death of me.

Finally, I was going to give my take on the interview Bob did with Westie last night during intermission in point/counter-point fashion, but I've rambled on enough for one day. It will be another post, probably tomorrow's. I know you're on the edge of your seat waiting for it (insert your predatory comment here).

Uncle Mitch is in town

To comment much about last night's game would be unfair since I didn't really hear enough of the details of the game to form an opinion. I had a house full of awesome people and an insane amount of technical difficulties to even get to listen to the game. Overall it didn't sound like they played terrible, I was stoked when Jordan Messier tied it up, but it just wasn't quite enough.

Tonight it's the Chilliwack Bruins in town, including former American and fan-favourite, Mitch McColm. All I'm sayin' is he'd better be one of the 3 stars tonight.

Ok, that's not all I'll say. Hindsight is 20/20. When Bob traded Mitch to Chilliwack, I wasn't completely surprised. I was insanely upset, but not surprised. There were too many 20s, based on their 19-year-old play alone, Brett Plouffe deserved the AMS 20 spot over Mitch. Barely, but he did. Then there was a coaching change, for Chilliwack and for the AMS. Bruins got Marc Habsheid, AMS got the fired-from-Chilliwack Jim Hiller to replace Don Nachbaur. But this isn't a history lesson. I don't know if the the coaching change or something else that has made Plouffe regress, but it's disappointing to say the least. He's been better as of late, but still. Always gotta wonder if Mitch wouldn't have been the better choice to keep in that 20 spot.

Speaking of trades, today is trade deadline day, at 2pm PST. So far, this has been one of the most inactive trade deadlines I've ever seen. Granted, I haven't been into the WHL stuff for decades or anything, but still, it's put the "dead" in deadline. There's 6 teams in action tonight, so you know that if those teams are involved in anything, we'll know about it sooner rather than later. You can follow anything that might happen on the WHL Transactions page.

Oh hey, guess I should post something

I don't really want to talk about last night. My buddy and Leafs blogger Jared of London has decided to sum up each Leafs game this season in 10 words or less, maybe I'll try it:

That sucked, didn't deserve to win, but I'll take it.

There, 10 words. But hell, if you know me at all, you know I cannot be limited to 10 words. It seems the boys were thinking "oh, it's last place Prince George, we can just sit back and we'll get the win." Yeah, that's not gonna cut it. They can't decide which games they're gonna show up to play for, they need to show up for all of them.

Like other games that have been played like that over the season so far, there were moments that looked awesome, obviously getting 3 power play goals is great to see. Also, I can't say enough good things about the hard work of Brooks Macek.

I'm sure there were some swell post-game quotes, but it's almost noon as I write this and there is nothing posted on the Tri-City Herald's website. Fantastic.

Once again, there are some who are freaking out and thinking the whole team is going down the shitter. Let's not lose our shit, people. November sucked, December was back on track. This last week + of AMS hockey could have gone better, and it will get better. This team is loaded with too much talent to suck for a long amount of time. So chill out. Or not, whatever.

Here's to hoping the motivated, passionate AMS team shows up against the Chiefs tonight, who are going to be chippy coming off another loss last night, a shutout to Chilliwack.

Come on into the liveblog, or lurk, your call. Just don't be foolish or I'll ban your sorry ass. :)

Game day, birfdays, huzzah!!

Happy Birthday Cody Castro!



Happy (a day late) Birthday Brendan Shinnimin!!



Happy Birthday Johnny Lazo!! (I don't know what's up with the stained glass look or the pandas, I just Google searched Blue Jays cake)

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Prince George is in town tonight, including former American Spencer Asuchak. Poor PG has only won 4 of it's last 10 (which is actually an improvement) but hasn't won in Kennewick in years. I feel bad for them, but not bad enough for them to want to win.

The Herald's game-day article starts with a little blurb about how awesome Brooks Macek has been this season (which is what I've been saying all along):

Brooks Macek makes things happen.

The second-year forward for the Tri-City Americans has 13 goals this season and is second on the team in scoring with 50 points. When you do the math, it comes out to 37 assists -- tied for third-best in the Western Hockey League.

"Assists have to do with who you play with," said Macek, who skates with Jordan Messier and Kruise Reddick. "They are just as good as a goal."

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has more than twice as many points as he had last season as a rookie, when he had eight goals and 16 assists.

"I had a year to adjust to the league, and I know what to expect," Macek said. "(Coach) Jim (Hiller) has faith in me on the power play and that helps. It's a lot more fun than being a rookie and not getting as much time. Everyone here is a pretty good player, and it's easy to gel with each other."

Macek's line has produced 39 goals this season for the U.S. Division-leading Americans (29-10-0-1, 59 points), who will try to add to their lead this weekend with three games, starting tonight against the visiting Prince George Cougars (9-30-1-1, 20 points). (Herald)

I'm just hoping to just be able to get to the game and home again as the weather seems to pay attention to the game schedule and keep screwing with me--snow and freezing rain predicted this evening. Fantastic.

If you missed it (you probably did, I understand) Kelowna Rockets play-by-play/blogger Regan Bartel did a great interview with AMS play-by-play guy Craig West. You can check it out here, it's good stuff.

It's trade deadline week.

Rumor has it that there's not going to be the volume of trading that has occurred in years past. And by rumor I mean there's been little activity or speculation going around on the message boards. After the World Juniors the price for Jordan Eberle has skyrocketed I'm sure, while the price for Luca Sbisa has dropped. Ok, maybe not dropped, but I'm sure there's fewer teams willing to take a chance on him for the price they would have to pay.

What's Bob going to do? I have no idea. I never do, he's a sneaky one. Predicting what Bob is going to do is like thinking a quick-pick lotto ticket will be the road to success. I don't know that the team NEEDS anything, at least not for the price that would need to be paid. A Fadden or YellowHorn type scorer would be nice, but expensive and not vital. Just have to make sure they keep up with the scoring by committee stuff.

I think the defence is very deep, I can't see wanting to tweak that. Yes, Plouffe could be better, especially as a 20, but whatever. I can see Bob maybe trying to shop him, but doubtful any team would pick him up. He's a slightly-more-than-mediocre (at this point) defenceman. My hope is that he'll get his shit together come playoff time, he's got a ton of playoff experience. If he can get back on his game, the AMS will be golden.

Nick Patterson up in Everett has an excellent piece about why trading volume will likely be down this year:

* The lack of sellers: As of now there appear to be just three teams that are lost causes when it comes to the playoffs, those being Prince George, Edmonton and Lethbridge. Edmonton and Lethbridge have already sold off many of their top assets, so there isn’t much talent left to mine from those teams.

Also, declining attendance league wide means teams are more dependent upon playoff revenue to turn a profit. Therefore, it’s possible mid-level teams that would have been willing to give up an impact player for the right deal will be less inclined to do so this season. (Emphasis mine)

*High prices: Recent trades suggest the price for top players is sky high this season. Not only is there a scarcity of available talent, the Brandon Wheat Kings have propped up the prices. Brandon is hosting the Memorial Cup and has shown the willingness to meet any price to build a team capable of winning it. Those prices may be too high for anyone else.

*International injuries: The most-coveted position on the market is defense, and the two best defensemen who are thought to be available are Lethbridge’s Luca Sbisa and Moose Jaw’s Travis Hamonic. However, both suffered injuries at the World Junior Hockey Championships that will sideline them for a substantial period, Sbisa to his hip and Hamonic to his shoulder. In addition, Sbisa was also named to Switzerland’s team for the Olympics, making him unavailable for most of February. Will teams be willing to deal for players whose availability will be limited?

Despite those issues, there’s still expected to be some activity which will shift the balance of power in the league. Just perhaps not as much as in seasons past. (Nick Patterson at Everett's HeraldNet)

mine.

sexy, isn't it? Hard to see the autograph, but it's there.

I admit I overreacted (shocking, I know) the other day. I was caught up in the excitement of the Spokane game and the NYE party (we were gonna take a group pic of all The Bishes in our jerseys) and I flipped out over the jersey being forgotten. Hell, I forget stuff all the time.

Anyways, thanks to the AMS organization for making it happen. There's a ton of volunteers who do tons of stuff for the team on their own time, it gets overlooked sometimes.

Speaking of thanks, huge kudos to Brian Sandy and the rink crew, much appreciated.

Biggest thanks to the sweet Scotty Wazz who knew how happy this jersey would make me, which is almost as happy as the Wazz makes me :) I believe part of the reason he got it was so that every time I say "I'm gonna wear my Owsley jersey to the game" he can ask, "whoo?" just to see if I'll fall for it.

Back to work

So what happens when the top team in the East and top team in the West meet and only one of them shows up to play the full 60 minutes? That's right, a Saskatoon win.

"It wasn't very clean tonight," said Americans coach Jim Hiller, whose team played its fifth game in eight days. "We were fighting the puck and we weren't very good in our own end -- that's a bad combination."

"I thought it was a good game," said Blades coach Lorne Molleken, whose team has won five straight and all four against the U.S. Division. "Both teams generated some good opportunities. On this trip we have found ways to win. Our power play was good tonight and everyone contributed."

"The guys were wearing down, but Saskatoon is in the same boat," Reddick said of the schedule. "No excuses, we should have been at our best and we weren't. We waited too long to try and get back in it. It would have been nice to get all 10 points. It shows we have stuff to work on." (Herald)

The boys had moments, but just not as much intensity for the entire game as what Saskatoon had. Post-game convo:

RL: I think we (AMS) are the better team, if that's their (Blades') A-game.
me: I agree, but if the boys can't figure out how to bring their A-game against a team like that, then maybe they aren't the better team.

I may be paraphrasing, but it was close to that.

Kruise had a good game, with two goals and a helper. Blades were targeting Shinnimin, nice to see him really battling hard to get those guys off of him. Holy crap, they're a big team too. Then again, our team is small, so it's all relative. Brooks Macek continued to play balls-to-the wall. The Blades dominated the 2nd period, AMS just didn't respond. At least it wasn't one of those 7-1 blowouts. It was just sloppy and sometimes lazy. Ok, not necessarily lazy, but not matching the intensity that Saskatoon had.

In other news, Clayton Stoner continues to wow the Wild organization:

"You talk about kicking the door down and announcing that you're here; well, he's done that," Richards said.

When Stoner arrived, he wasn't exactly a wide-eyed kid, but the smile gave away his feelings.

"It's been a bit of a long road to get up here, but it's exciting to be here," he said.

Stoner has hit a few opponents pretty hard with the Wild and made an impression as someone who is willing to mix things up. Despite his two early assists, including one on an 80-foot pass that sent Martin Havlat in for a breakaway goal against Colorado, Stoner isn't with the Wild for his scoring, Richards said.

"He competes," the coach said, "and for the most part, he keeps it simple. Which is what he has to do."

Wild defenseman Greg Zanon played against Stoner in the AHL and remembered him as a big, strong kid. But with the Wild, Stoner has shown more than that.

"He's come in and done a real good job for us," Zanon said. "He's played a solid role. I know he spent some time in the minors, and it's nice to see him get a chance and do so well with it. (TwinCities.com)

"He's just doing what he needs to do to stick around and make a good impression. He's been a good addition for us."

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WHL trade deadline is this week (I want to say the 10th?), I have no idea what Bob is going to do, I have no inside information, I would not suggest looking here for breaking news. Jussayin.