Game Day @ Seattle

Hey, that was awesome.  I think it was just what was needed--not just the win, but the boost of confidence knowing they could win.  The Chiefs have been under their skin and a thorn in their side all season, it almost seemed like the Ams were just resigned to lose to them.  But they didn't.

Last night was all heart, soul, and grit.  It was hard work and determination.  It was also frustration--enough with the penalties already, or playoffs are going to be rough.  According to coach, Wilgosh is ready for playoffs so he was resting, but all this time he's been out, including last night, one of the largest holes left without him is on the penalty kill.  Also frustrating, it was not a good game for Paul Sohor.  :(

As for resting, I'm sure there will be some of the usual names taking it easy tonight, there's a bunch of call-ups in town so they'll probably get to play.  The Americans' place in the playoffs is set, even with the points against Kelowna for what that matters for the 2nd round.  The only unknown in the Western Conference is who the Americans will play--either Chilliwack or Vancouver.  Right now it's Chilliwack, but Vancouver has a game tonight (Bruins are done) against Everett so there's still a chance of the Giants being the 1st round matchup.

"We go back to last weekend and we had a couple of games that were OK, and Wednesday was terrible," said Americans coach Jim Hiller. "We proved a lot to ourselves Friday and tonight -- we are in this and we mean business. There were lots of goals tonight and the crowd was outstanding. It was an exciting game. Spokane is an exceptional team and they played their hearts out."

"This was huge," said Shinnimin, who has 203 career points. "This was one of the games we wanted to win most. We have played great the last couple of games, which is most important. The last six or seven games before this, we were down and it wasn't fun to play. Today, the guys were happy -- we had a blast."

"We wanted to go into the third like a playoff game -- keep it simple and get it deep in their zone," Shinnimin said. "They scored, but we made some huge blocks late. There was no quit to the end." (Herald)

Shinnimin had 2 goals, 2 assists, taking him over the 200 point mark with 203 in 197 regular season games.  Kruise MF Reddick also had 2 goals and 2 assists (hope people were able to get their hats back, though I also thought it was his goal and was stoked for Pokey to get the hattie).  Captain Clutch is ready for the playoffs.  Buzzing the Net has a different nickname for him:

No. 2 star: Kruise Reddick, Tri-City Americans (WHL)

Thanks, Mr. Spoil The Final Night Of The Regular Season. The Americans captain had two goals and two assists in Tri-City's 6-4 win over the Spokane Chiefs, which allowed the Portland Winterhawks to clinch the WHL Western Conference regular-season title. The win also gave the Ams a springboard into the playoffs. Reddick had back-to-back goals in the first period to give his team a cushy lead and chase Chiefs goalie James Reid after less than 16 minutes. The overage forward was also in on power-play goals 28 seconds apart late in the second period that gave Tri-City control of the game. (BTN)

Following the game was the year-end awards (copy and pasted from Herald):

• Scholastic Player of the Year: Chris Driedger (3.9 GPA)
• Todd Klassen Humanitarian of the Year: Adam Hughesman
• Most Sportsmanlike Player: Kruise Reddick
• Rookie of the Year: Connor Rankin
• Defenseman of the Year: Tyler Schmidt
• Top Scorer: Brendan Shinnimin (96 points)
• Three Stars Award: Brendan Shinnimin
• Co-MVPs: Brendan Shinnimin and Drew Owsley
• Volunteer of the Year: Bob Nelson, Tri-City Hockey Booster Club
• Corporate Sponsor of the Year: Wildhorse Resort and Casino

Final game of the regular season tonight, final liveblog of the regular season.  Click on the "Read More" to join in.