If your name is Mason, you might be in this blog post

How do you know you're friends with the right people?  Because at their wedding reception/party they have the hockey game broadcast on the wall instead of a sappy slideshow of their couple-dom. 

At times it was hard to follow because it was, after all, a party.  And I was busy taking pictures of cake cutting and dances, but caught bits and pieces, including the incredible game-winning heroics of Mason MF Wilgosh.

"It was a pretty darn good game from start to finish," Hiller said. "But the last five minutes showed why people pay money to watch this game."

"I think everybody in the building thought we were going to OT. It was just a nice play in the offensive zone that changed that," Hiller said. "It was a real solid effort tonight. I thought we played with a lot of poise despite giving up those two goals in the last five minutes.

While the Americans struggled on special teams, going 0-for-4 on the power play and killing off just two of its five penalties, they dominated at even strength.

"We weren't strong enough on special teams," Hiller said. "But we did a good job 5-on-5." (Examiner)

I admit, even against a strong team like Spokane, I was surprised at the lack of power play scoring, but am impressed with the 5-on-5 play.  I was glad they were able to keep the momentum going after the hard-fought game against Portland on Friday night.

As to details, I can't comment much, I'll leave that to those of you that watched/listened to the game.
----------

Bob Tory passed on an email to me about a young boy in Manitoba (should I assume Winnipeg?).  His name is Mason Carter, age 16.  He is from Teulon, Manitoba and he is handicapped.  The Rainbow Society granted his wish which was to meet Dog the Bounty Hunter.  Relevance here?  Check out the hat!

Captain Clutch

Kruise Reddick has never been a super sniper, never a 30+ goal-scoring type of guy.  He's a set-up guy, he's a defensive forward, he's versatile, he's consistent.  Admittedly, he started off this season slower than years past, he was out with conky for a while (and it's taken him a while to get his game back from that).  All that being said, he's always saved some of his best work for playoffs, including 11 goals last year in the post-season (compared to the 20 goals he got in the regular season).

So it's no surprise that since these tough divisional games, where the intensity is similar to that of the playoffs, with so much at stake, that Captain Clutch comes through.  With a hattrick.  Damn that's sexy.

As Assistant Coach Bruce Bilodeau said on the post-game show last night, other teams have figured out ways to slow down the Shinnimin-Hughesman-Ashton line so there's room for the other lines to step up and create offense.  Last night, it was Reddick-Big Mess doing work and the power play, where Reddick got 2 of his 3, was fairly effective against the strong Winterhawks.

Another interesting side story to the game was the David and Goliath matchup of Sam Grist and Brendan Leipsic.  "Lipstick", as some fan near me called him, was involved in the hit in Portland that sidelined Grist for a couple games with concussion, and Sam's not one to let that go.  Regardless of the size differential, Lipstick had no problem going after Grist, like a chihuahua going after a great dane (says Westie, and he's right).

Did you see Drew MF Owsley?  He was pretty damn good.  As much as I've watched him play, I'm still astounded that he's able to make some of the saves that he makes.  And all those "hoot hoot hoot"s from the fans--awesome.

"I like the big games," said Reddick, who had two goals the last time Tri-City played Portland. "Anytime you play a division game, it's a four-point night. Doing it against a top team, the stakes are even bigger. We played well tonight."

"I thought it was a good game," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "A bounce here, a bounce there -- two even teams going at each other."

"With a game like this, you need your top lines to be better and we weren't," said Portland forward Craig Cunningham. "It was a standard night in Tri-City -- they get that first power-play goal and we didn't push back."

"It's nice to get the first goal," Reddick said. "The fans are great, and they can take a team out it. We just kept rolling the whole game with momentum from our fans."

"Kruise is our emotional leader," Hiller said. "He does a lot of things well; it's nice to see him get rewarded."

"That save was huge for me and the team," Owsley said. "It was 2-0, and it could have made it a different game. I gritted my teeth and said, 'We are going to win this game.' "

"That was his best game in a long time," Hiller said of his goalie. "He was excellent." (Herald--emphases mine)

I thought the crowd was great.  It was supposedly sold out, but there were still some empty seats, but the place was definitely rocking.  Playoff atmosphere indeed.

Even Yahoo's Buzzing the Net gave Reddick some recognition, selecting him 2nd star of the night:

Fittingly, the Ams launched a Kruise missile during their annual Nuclear Night promotion. Reddick, the overage centre, had a hat trick in a 5-2 takedown of the conference-leading Portland Winterhawks. His two goals in the game's first 11 minutes — the latter set up by Jordan Messier, playing his first game since returning from a concussion — helped Tri-City set the tone and get a sold-out crowd behind it for the entire night. Reddick also scored in the final minute of the second period to give Tri-City a 4-0 deathgrip on the game after two periods.  (BTN)

Gahh, I just headed over to the Examiner to find out what Ferran had to say--great article he's got, I should have read it before I started typing what I had to say because it's nearly identical.  Great minds or something...

Things don't get any easier Saturday as they travel to face their Highway 395 rivals in Spokane.

"We've all got to buckle down," Owsley said. "These are all huge games, four-point games with Portland and Spokane. We've got to battle every game."

It's another chance for the Ams to carry their home success onto the road. They're only 3-4 since starting their long home win streak in late November.

"We're certainly not in that road warrior mentality like we were earlier in the season," Hiller said. "Tomorrow is a good place to get that started again." (Examiner)

Spokane is coming off 5-3 win over Kelowna Chilliwack last night, the Chiefs just keep on rolling.  They're without their #1 goalie Reid, but backup Mac Engel has done well enough, and the team in front of him has limited the number of shots he's had to face.  So the challenge tonight will to match Chief's intensity and to get some damn shots through.  It should be a darn good game, I just hope it works out in the Ams' favor, of course.

As mentioned yesterday, there will be no liveblog tonight for the game, you're on your own people. 

Nuclear Night

In case you missed it yesterday, the Americans released the auction information:

With the second annual CH2M Hill Nuclear Night set for this Friday, the Tri-City Americans have released details surrounding the game-worn jersey auction for the atomic-themed jerseys the players will be wearing to honor the occasion.

The Americans, in conjunction with One World Telecommunications, have launched a new online auction website, amshockeyauctions.com, which will serve as the official online auction site for the 2011 Nuclear Night Jersey auction.

Starting on Friday, January 28 at 10:00 p.m. (PST), all 22 player jerseys will appear on the site and will be available for bidding. In addition to the player’s jerseys, fans will also have the option to bid on Nuclear Night jerseys from the Americans’ mascot, Winger, as well as nine additional blank jerseys that do not have player names or numbers.

It will be a live auction, with fans able to see what the current high bid is on their jersey of choice. All jerseys will have a minimum bid of $200.00 (USD) with a Buy It Now option of $500.00 (USD). All bids must be in whole-dollar amounts and must be at least one dollar ($1.00) higher than a previous bid. The auction will close to all bidders on Wednesday, February 2 at 10:00 p.m. (PST) and all winning bidders will be contacted on Thursday, February 3 by 10:00 a.m. (PST).

When fans visit the site, they will be asked to register with a current e-mail address and password (up to 10 characters in length). Fans will then receive an automatic e-mail reply from amshockeyauctions.com with a confirmation code that will need to be verified before bids can be accepted. No personal information from your registration will ever be made public or shared with anyone outside of amshockeyauctions.com.

Fans with any questions regarding the Nuclear Night Jersey auction should contact the Americans’ offices at 509.736.0306 or via e-mail at info@amshockey.com.

The jerseys look pretty cool, I'm hoping for neon green socks to go with them.

Bigger than jersey auction is the game.  The Portland Winterhawks are in town, bringing their 1st place standing with them.  Ams did all that road work at the beginning of the season, leaving a whole lot of division games for this 2nd half, including several matchups with Portland, and 8 games against Spokane.  Essentially playoff hockey from here on out.  I'm not sure I can handle the stress.

Hiller knows it'll be tough going, but he's got Messier and Grist back, still no Prokop for the weekend (insert sad face):

"It's a great dry run for the playoffs," Americans coach Jim Hiller said. "They will be intense games. We have to be focused and ready to play. These games will provide a great test for us."

"You build those mental muscles," Hiller said. "We are careful not to use 'must win' or "critical.' Nobody knows what the outcome will be, all we can control is our focus, details and work,"

"It's encouraging," said Hiller, who also noted that Neal Prokop's leg still is on the mend and he won't play this weekend. "No one likes to have injuries, but it's important to take the time and not rush things. It's getting to what we might look like in the end. They are big bodies and in the second half of the season, those big bodies are important."

"It took long enough," Messier said of healing from his injury. "It's hard to sit -- you feel helpless. My first practice the other day, I felt a little out of whack and I had cement hands."

"I hope it helps that I'm back," Grist said. "My job is to be the big guy and play physical." (Herald)

I'm glad Big Mess and Grist are back, hope they haven't rushed it, that concussion stuff is scary business.

So tonight will be rough, tomorrow night at Spokane will be no walk in the park either.  Programming note right now, there will not be a liveblog tomorrow night, I'm going to a wedding reception (as are most of the regular liveblog contributors).  The happy couple are Ams season ticket holders and have promised to have the game video feed showing at the reception :)

----------

Rene Ferran's latest "Meet the Ams" installment takes a closer look at Chris Driedger:

"Obviously, as a 16-year-old goalie, I knew I wouldn't get a lot of ice time to start out," Driedger said. "I'll take this first year to get used to the league, and hopefully in the future I'll get some ice time."

"He's been able to go in relief, but we'll get him a game or two to take the ball from the start," Hiller said. "I think we've seen some maturation in Chris. The work he's done with Olie (former NHL goalie and Ams part-owner Olaf Kolzig) has paid dividends with his technique. He's staying up a little more, for instance."

"Definitely, it's hard when they call on me to go in, because while you're always supposed to be ready, it's tough to go in cold, and sometimes it's hard to perform your best," he explained.

"But honestly, I'd rather be here (than playing in a lower league). I'm getting way better here, just being able to react faster to the puck. The shots I see in practice, I'm facing guys who are 19-20 years old, and it's like a step up from boys to men." (Examiner)

Photo post

The new jersey banner hanging from the rafters at the Toyota Center. Looks good, "trying to create more atmosphere in the building"--Bob Tory

Kruise Reddick in the Nuclear Night jerseys that will be auctioned off this Friday night against Portland.

 New Mason "Wrecking Ball" Wilgosh t-shirt design, you can get your own here.

 Or there is this option as well, it can be found here.

The annual Breast Cancer Awareness game is in less than a month (Feb 25) and Zazzle is notoriously slow so if you want to get your (updated) BCA shirts, you can find them here and here.  As in previous years, all proceeds from the BCA shirts will be donated to the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation.

Asuchak

Former American Spencer Asuchak was handed an 8-game suspension yesterday for violating the CHL's anti-doping policy.

"In reviewing this matter, we are completely satisfied that the player used a supplement which he had purchased over the counter at a local retail outlet and had no knowledge that it contained a prohibited stimulant under our national CHL anti-doping policy," WHL commissioner Ron Robison said in a statement.

Methylhexaneamine is not an ingredient in medications licensed by Health Canada but is in some nutritional supplements that athletes take to build muscle or to replenish themselves after a workout.

"This violation once again underscores the potential dangers of supplement use," said Paul Melia, president and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. "Athletes must exercise extreme caution when considering the use of supplements, as ultimately they are responsible for what substances are in the products they consume."  (Canadian Press via Yahoo)

From Drinnan:

Asuchak, a 19-year-old forward, told the Prince George Citizen that he used Jack3d over the summer and Razor 8 in December. According to Jason Peters of the Citizen, Asuchak “mixed them with water prior to workout sessions to give himself an energy boost.“

Asuchak is a bit of a fitness/workout guy. He takes great pride in his workouts and his physique. Yes, he has heard the whispers, that he must be on something steroidish. But when he was selected for testing on Dec. 17 he wasn’t at all concerned. Why not? Because he knew that the four or five different pre-workout supplements he was using were fine. They all had checked out against the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of prohibited substances.

In the meantime, Asuchak didn’t even know what methylhexaneamine was or what its use is. Rather, I’m told, he was using supplements for creatine, caffeine, beta alinine and arginine -- creatine for building muscle, arginine for the pump, and caffeine for the energy.

Asuchak knew what was coming when he heard on Jan. 14 that two OHL players -- Alexander Aleardi of the Plymouth Whalers and Ryan O’Connor of the Saginaw Spirit -- had tested positive after using Jack3d and had been suspended. Asuchak knew immediately that his test would be positive.  (Taking Note--click on it, it's a very interesting read)

It's obvious from the league's standpoint there was no intent on the part of Asuchak, which is the main point Drinnan makes.  At the same time, if the policy is in place, athletes have to be very sure they check what they are putting into their bodies.

Outplayed.

"They came in and were more determined than we were," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team had played four games in six nights. "Their feet were faster than ours and it was hard to make plays. Generally, it's the other way around."

"I thought when we pushed back that's when we got better," (Kelowna coach) Huska said. "If you allow them to skate like they can, you are in for a long night."

"We knew Kelowna would come in tough," Ashton said. "They came out strong. As a group we had to match that and at times we did. Four in six is no excuse. It was frustrating to hand the goals to them. We outplayed ourselves." (Herald)

----------

"The second half of the season, obviously things tighten up," said Ashton, who scored twice to give him six in six games with Tri-City since arriving from Regina in a trade. "Playing in these tight games, it comes down to guys learning to play in these one-goal games in playoff time, just sticking to the little things, playing the full 60 minutes.

"We've had some easy games lately, and we've got to learn to play in these tight games. We need to learn that in tight games, we need to stick to our systems. They scored a couple of goals tonight because of system breakdowns. We have to learn from that, correct our mistakes."

"When you come in expecting to go to Burger Ranch every time, it's not necessarily going to happen," Hiller said, referring to the team's five-goal promotion which it had met in its last nine home games. "You never want to have this type of game, but it's human nature, when you get on a roll, things come easy, and your focus wanes a bit.

"No question, but it isn't the reason why we didn't play as well as we needed to," Hiller said. "It's a valid point, but Kelowna was playing its third game in three nights, so when you look at what they had going on, we had it easy." (Examiner)

Numbers

3

Number of Adam Hughesman goals in last night's game,

7

Penalty minutes for Tyler Schmidt, including a 5 for fighting.  It was a fight he won hands down, haven't seen him pummel a guy like that in a while.

19

Power play opportunities for the teams, 9 chances for Everett, 10 for the Americans.

4

Number of power play goals, 2 for Everett, 2 for the Americans.

1

Number of diving penalties called on Everett.

7

Times the dreaded Venga Boys goal song came on (hey, I like the song).

31

Hughesman's goal tally for the season, nearly doubling his previous season high (18 last year).

5th

Place where Shinnimin sits in league scoring, with 12 fewer games than Linden Vey (1st in scoring).

Too many

The number of times Drew wandered from his crease to play the puck.  He needs to either not do that or be more vocal in communicating with the guys what he's doing because it makes me nervous.

0

Number of jerseys the Vancouver Giants had on the bus with them on their way to Kamloops last night, had to play in Blazers practice jerseys.  How does that even happen??

12

Number of points for Carter Ashton in 5 games with the Americans so far.

5

Number of goals for David Conrad this season, including one last night.  He has 15 points this season, which is more than double his previous season high (7 in 08-09 with Spokane).

11

Points scored by the line of Ashton-Shinnimin-Hughesman last night.

----

Can't put a number on the work ethic and determination of Mason Wilgosh, every shift of every game.

1

Number of kids named Wiley who went home super ecstatic because he got the autographed stick from one of his favorite players.

3

Number of drunken idiots behind us, one of which literally fell out of his seat then later spilled beer all down sister's back.  I would love to have enough money to buy all the seats around us, JS.  People, if you want to get that drunk, go to a bar, don't ruin peoples' game experience.

"It means a lot, to be honest," Hughesman said of reaching the 30-goal plateau. "But I'm not satisfied with 31, and I know (Carter) Ashton and Shinny (Brendan Shinnimin) aren't satisfied, either. We want to keep pushing. That's what good teams do."

"We've just got to keep it simple," Hughesman said. "We got a little too fancy, but tonight we figured it out. We got to the net and banged a few in."

"You saw tonight that when they're moving, they're tough to contain," added Ams coach Jim Hiller. "There's a lot of different dynamics on that line. You've got the strength and power of Carter, Huey with his shot, and Shinny in the middle of things, making plays."

"I didn't feel comfortable until the final buzzer," Hiller said. "It was a bit of an odd game. I thought we'd put them to bed, but they kept coming back." (Examiner)

Back at it again tonight as the Kelowna Rockets are in town.  Rockets coming off a 5-3 over Spokane last night, hopefully the Chiefs wore them down real good.  Rockets have been up and down all season, going 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games, and overall playing .565 hockey.  That's good enough for them to be sitting in 5th in the Western Conference, 2nd in the BC Division.

Game Day vs. Everett and Statstravaganza

Must be mid-season, eh?  Both teams with injuries, for Everett the biggest loss is Landon Ferraro, their captain, with a sports hernia that may require surgery.  For the Americans they will go into the weekend without Prokop, Big Mess, and Sam Grist.

Am I worried?  Not one bit.  This team has depth and will be able to still ice a great team.  Sure, those guys leave big holes, but I have confidence in the other guys to step up.  With the Ams outscoring their opponents at home 69-20  in the past 12 games at home, Hiller has been able to give big minutes to guys like Max Moline, Little Mess, and Drydn Dow.  Not only will that be a benefit this weekend with guys out, but down the road towards playoffs those kids will have more experience than they might normally have because of the scoring ability of the top 3 lines.

"They have all improved," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller of his rookies. "They don't play as much as they would like, but we really rely on them. They have to help, they have to develop and we believe in them."

"Those guys deserve as much, if not more credit than the rest of us," said veteran defenseman Paul Sohor, who came over in a trade from Everett on Dec. 7. "When we need a boost or a break, they are there. Those are the guys you need to win championships." (Herald)

Since we're talking about Marcus Messier, Rene Ferran's latest installment of "Meet the Ams" gets to know Lil Mess a bit more:

Hiller praised Messier's ability "to make plays in tight spaces. He sees the ice well and has a good head for the game offensively. I think he has to improve on his shot. That's one specific part of his game he needs to work on."

This is also the first time that Messier has gotten to play with his big brother, Jordan, who is almost two years older.

"Because he's a bigger guy, he's always played up, and when I would play up, he'd be in a higher league," Marcus said. "It's cool being on a team with him. It's not every day you get to be on the bench with your brother."

And Marcus credited Jordan with helping ease the transition to the WHL.

"He's helped me in a lot of different ways," Marcus said. "Driving home from every game, he's giving me pointers on what I did well and what I need to work on. If I'm on the ice, all worked up and nervous, he settles me down. His body language, too, just watching him play, learning how he moves on the ice, how he picks his spots, has helped."

If there's any sibling rivalry between the two, it stems from Jordan mirroring their father, Mitch, a former pro hockey player who like Jordan stands 6-foot-2, while Marcus at 5-9 takes after their mother, Lisa.

"It's too bad my dad couldn't give me some of his height," Marcus said with a smile. (Examiner)

As for filling in any gaps because of injuries the Ams Twitter announced:

Americans recall 19-year-old defenseman Clinton Atkinson from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the BCHL. Will spend the weekend with Tri-City.  (@TCAmericans)
----------

Remember how I love stats, especially when someone else does the hard work in compiling them?   Once again Alan Caldwell and one of my dear readers has come through.

Over at Small At Large, Caldwell takes a look at what he calls "stretch records".  Basically, what each team needs to do to make the playoffs.  It's interesting stuff (some of the numbers may have changed a bit after last night's games).  The numbers for the Americans?

Tri-City Americans 28-12-3 (0.686)            4-24-1 (0.155)

First set of numbers is their current record, second set is what kind of hockey they would need to play down the stretch to reach 68 points (Caldwell's calculation of the minimum number of points needed in the Western Conference to reach the playoffs). I encourage you to take a look at all the numbers, it is easy to see that the Western Conference, especially the US Division is a tight race this year (as if you didn't know that already). Click here for the rest.

Some more stats arrived in my inbox from reader Marissa (aka "Riss") with the following goddamn sexy numbers:

I love numbers, and I love spreadsheets, so after seeing the post with numbers by SectionH, I made my own spreadsheet to over-analyze. 

The overall numbers from the current 12 game home winning streak:
Outscoring: 69 - 20
Outshooting: 489 - 349
Combined Goalie GAA: 1.67 - 5.83
Combined Goalie SV%: 94.3% - 85.7%

FYI - shoot out stats are recorded oddly.  I'd have to do a lot of digging to get those right.  The win streak is at the bottom. "Score %" is (1-SV%), and makes our offense look even better.  I have the numbers for Away games and all games, but those aren't as good.

Numbers by period

Home Games, All (20 games)
Goals by Period:
1st: Ams 32, Opp 8
2nd: Ams 37, Opp 15
3rd: Ams 30, Opp 17
OT: none
Total: Ams 99, Opp 410

Shots by Period:
1st: Ams 278, Opp 167
2nd: Ams 235, Opp 219
3rd: Ams 227, Opp 183
OT: Ams 4, Opp 2
Total: Ams 744, Opp 571

Score % by Period (shots/goals):
1st: Ams 11.5%, Opp 4.8%
2nd: Ams 15.7%, Opp 6.8%
3rd: Ams 13.2%, Opp 9.3%
OT:  0
Total: Ams 13.4%, Opp 7.2%

GAA by Period
1st: Ams 0.40, Opp 1.60
2nd: Ams 0.75, Opp 1.85
3rd: Ams 0.85, Opp 1.50
OT: NA
Total: Ams 2.05, Opp 5.00

SV% by Period (aka We have awesome goalies)
1st: Ams 95.2%, Opp 88.5%
2nd: Ams 93.2%, Opp 84.3%
3rd: Ams 90.7%, Opp 86.8%
OT: Ams 100%, Opp 100%
Total: Ams 92.8%, Opp 86.6%

Home Games, The Hot Win Streak (12 games)
Goals by Period:
1st: Ams 21, Opp 4
2nd: Ams 28, Opp 6
3rd: Ams 20, Opp 10
OT: none
Total: Ams 69, Opp 19

Shots by Period:
1st: Ams 178, Opp 101
2nd: Ams 155, Opp 135
3rd: Ams 154, Opp 112
OT: Ams 2, Opp 1
Total: Ams 489, Opp 349

Score % by Period (shots/goals):
1st: Ams 11.8%, Opp 4.0% <-- that's right, we score on almost 3 times as many shots
2nd: Ams 18.1%, Opp 4.4% <-- oh wait, that's 4 times
3rd: Ams 13.0%, Opp 8.9%
OT: NA
Total: Ams 14.3%, Opp 5.7%

GAA by Period
1st: Ams 0.33, Opp 1.75
2nd: Ams 0.50, Opp 2.33
3rd: Ams 0.83, Opp 1.67
Total: Ams 1.67, Opp 5.83 Ed Mulhausen, fire up the grill!

SV% by Period
1st: Ams 96.0%, Opp 88.2%
2nd: Ams 95.6%, Opp 81.9%
3rd: Ams 91.1%, Opp 87.0%
OT: NA
Total: Ams 94.3%, Opp 85.7% I believe in our goalies.

Guest post from Spokant

I, for one, never get tired of hearing our goal song. Apparently some losers from Loserville do. So how about personal goal songs like the NHL does sometimes? Here is a list of my suggestions. Most have commentary, some don't require any. A few have more than one because I'm indecisive. Some aren't so much goal songs as personality songs. Whatevs, you try coming up with 21 unique and relevant songs. :)

#3 - Sam Grist: You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC
Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas

#4 - Drydn Dow: Centerfield by John Fogerty
"Oh, put me in coach, I'm ready to play today."

#5 - Matt MacKenzie: On Point by House of Pain
"When it's time to rock a funky joint, I'm on point..." Yeah, joint. The Toyota Center is a joint.

#6 - Paul Sohor: With A Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles
Hopefully he's not getting high, but it must be nice for the kid to join a team with so many of his friends on it already.

#7 - Carter Ashton: Check It Out by Will.I.Am and Nicki Minaj
You guys, Carter Ashton is on our team. He's kind of a big deal.

#10 - Zachary Yuen: Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida
I know, right? It doesn't really fit, but I had such a hard time trying to come up with anything for Zach. I settled on this because I liked "You know I know how to make 'em stop and stare as I zone out..." I dunno about you guys, but I'm often staring in awe at how freakin good he is.

#11 - Kruise Reddick: Feel Good by Gorillaz
It's been awhile, but we like him back and conky-free and we'd like him to stay that way.

#17 - Adam Hughesman: Firework by Katy Perry
Hottest kid on the team (points-wise, people, simmer down) deserves one of the hottest songs right now. Plus, he's kind of exploded offensively this year, amirite?

#18 - Mason Wilgosh aka Milkshake: Party People by Nelly and Fergie
Hot-n-Fun by N.E.R.D. and Nelly Furtado
Two years ago I chose Party People for Mason. Sorry for the repeat, but it still fits. Kid works so hard and deserves to party when he scores. Hot-n-Fun just to give him something a little different. Plus, he's kind of a badass like Pharrell Williams.

#19 - Jordan Messier: Dynamite by Taio Cruz
"I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, sayin 'Ay-oh, gotta let go'. I wanna celebrate and live my life..."

#21 - Marcus Messier: Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better from Annie Get Your Gun

#22 - Justin Feser: Rip It Up by Elvis Presley
The Elvis look-a-like had to have an Elvis song. Fun fact: Most Elvis songs are a) depressing or b) hymns.

#23 - Tyler Schmidt: Blah Blah Blah by Ke$ha (I kid, I kid)
Hard by Rihanna

#24 - Brendan Shinnimin: Without Me by Eminem
"Now this looks like a job for me, so everybody just follow me. 'Cause we need a little controversy. 'Cause it feels so empty without me."
On To The Next One by Jay-Z
Because we know another goal is always coming.

#25 - Neal Prokop: Sexyback by Justin Timberlake
He's back. And brought the sexy with him.

#27 - Connor Rankin: Money, Honey by Lady Gaga
Kid's money.

#29 - Max Moline: Feels Like The First Time by Daughtry
Two years ago I chose the Foreigner version for Brock Zimack (I think). To be a little bit original and relevant to the time, the Daughtry version is an upgrade. Kind of.

#32 - David Conrad: Tricky by Run DMC
Weird angle goals are the hawtness.

#39 - Brock Sutherland: Bottoms Up by Trey Songz and Nicki Minaj
He's another one I had a really hard time with. I picked this one because word on the street is he likes his beverages.

#41 - Patrick Holland: Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes
"I'm gonna fight 'em off, a seven nation army couldn't hold me back." He has a thing for trying to skate through like, ten guys at once. And you know what, sometimes it works.

And for fun: #30 - Drew Owsley: Big Pimpin' by Jay-Z
Per Dave Schultz's request. Also, anything by The Who.

"It's about time they let me stay in there"

Whoo whoo who got his 3rd shutout last night?  Drew MF Owsley, that's who.

Ams came out flat in the first.  Well, maybe not flat, but the Blazers weren't either, it was actually a closer game than the score indicated.  Then Big Macs and Carter Pounders, along with Sohor, Rankin, and Hughesman put up the tallies.  Connor Rankin had one of his best games of the season, I thought. 

Rankin, who became the sixth player to reach double digits in scoring in an Ams uniform this season (Ashton notched his 19th, but only his third with Tri-City), said being reunited with captain Kruise Reddick on a line alongside Mason Wilgosh has made a difference in his game.

"Just trying to keep up with them rubs off on me," Rankin said.  (Examiner)

At one point I was going to put on the Twitter that the hardest working guy on the ice is someone whose name rhymes with Wason Milgosh.  But I didn't.

Scoring from the defense is just plain hot, good on Sohor for his 2nd of the season (and 2nd of his WHL career).  And Matt MacKenzie's slapshot makes me feel tingly in my lady bits.

NEWSFLASH:  Carter Ashton is really good.
----------

On a more serious (or inspiring) note, I came across this story the other day on Canes Country about Zach Bennett.  He's a huge hockey fan at age 11, loves his Albany River Rats.  Only they aren't the Albany River Rats anymore.  Last spring it was announced that the Carolina Hurricanes were moving their affiliate to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Young Bennett suffers from neurofibromatosis, a condition I'm all too familiar with.  Neither the article on Canes Country or on Puck Daddy yesterday indicate whether he has Type-1 or Type-2, but both are pretty serious.  In Zach's case, he has had over 20 surgeries to remove tumors, including both legs requiring amputation.

For Zach to carry on his hockey love, his family has decided to sell their house and move south, so he can watch his Charlotte Checkers.  As Leahy mentions on PD, the family's decision doesn't revolve around just hockey, there are neurofibromatosis specialists in Charlotte as well.  The Checkers team has embraced him, as they did when they were in Albany and have raised a lot of money for Zach and his family.

It's a great story and it shows the really amazing things teams do, all over the continent, for fans and charity organizations.  I was inspired to post about it, not only because it's a heartwarming story, but because in a way, it hits close to home.  I have Neurofibromatosis Type-2.  In 2003 it was discovered that I had two brain tumors, one on each side of my noggin.  The one on the left side was gigantic, doctors were surprised I could still hear and walk.  It had gotten so big it was pushing on my brainstem, left untreated I would have died.

The kind of brain tumors usually associated with NF2 are called acoustic neuromas because they sit right on the auditory nerve.  When the amazing doctors removed the thing in what took 2 surgeries in 2003, I lost my hearing on my left side.  The tumor on the right side was tiny, they left it alone for monitoring.  In 2006 it started to grow.  My amazing otolaryntologist at OHSU did extensive research on non-surgical options so that my remaining hearing could be preserved.  September of 2006 I received gamma knife radiation to zap the thing.  It worked.  Four years later I have a dead tumor and all my hearing on the right side.

I remember being in the hospital, trying to adjust to only half hearing, and listening to the Americans play the Winterhawks.  I had my parents bring me an old walkman with radio so I could hear the game.  During my recovery I huddled near the computer listening to Westie call the games.  My sister reminded me the other day that I had written to Craig West, thanking him for calling the games, making my team accessible when I was recouperating.  

When I was well enough to get back to the rink, I found myself not always watching the game, but listening to it.  The sound the skates make on the ice, the sound of the puck hitting the stick on a slick pass, the sound of men yelling at each other, cheering each other on.

I was reminded of that last night as I listened to the game being played.  It's such a beautiful sound.  I encourage you next time you're at a game to stop watching for a moment, and just listen. Especially if you sit above the glass, you can hear the in-game sounds even better.

Before Gamma Knife:

After:

White spot on before picture is live tumor, black spot with white edges on after picture is dead/dying tumor.  Huzzah!!

Open Letter to my Team

To my dearest Tri-City Americans,

I love you.  I do.  But this getting off to a slow start on the road, having to play from behind nonsense is getting old.  Inopportune penalties*?  Enough of that.  Even your coach isn't very happy:

"A poor start cost us tonight," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "The last two-thirds of the game, we were very strong, but we didn't show up very well. Against Everett (on Jan. 7), we got off to a poor start, too. I know it's more exciting to play at home, but we have to bring the same fortitude on the road."  (Examiner)

Games in hand over the 1st place team(s) don't mean anything if you don't win them.  I know you're missing Big Mess and Prokes, I am too.  But that's no excuse.

Tonight, boys, you face the Kamloops Blazers again.  You have the advantage of playing at home, but also they're without many players because of injuries.  I don't need another gazillion-to-1 game or anything, just keep doing what you've been doing at home.  But remember to carry those tactics, strategies, motivations, or whatever into road games.

If you can't figure out how to win on the road, or even how to stop playing from behind on the road, the playoffs aren't going to last as long as we all hope.

Much love, 

Me

P.S.  Good job Pokey on first multi-goal game of the season!

*I know, are there ever really opportunistic penalties?  To save a goal, maybe.  But it's not generally a good thing to put your team at a disadvantage, ever.  Even if your PK is solid like last night, killing off the 1:50 of 5-on-3.

Game Day @ Portland

The Tri-City Americans have kept things as simple as 1-2-3 in amassing their 11-game home winning streak:

1) Sling the puck at the net.
2) Send bodies crashing the net.
3) Cue the music and flip the goal light switch.

The Americans followed that formula five times Saturday night in a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants, giving them 65 goals (a 5.9 per game average) during their streak.

"We're playing as simple as you possibly can right now, throwing pucks at the net, driving the net, and it's paying off for us," said Ams associate coach Scott Beattie. "When you get on a roll, things snowball, and we're fortunate to be on the winning side right now."   (Examiner)

Obviously, the newest players are making an impact, just as they were brought in to do.  The Shinnimin-Hughesman-Ashton line might be the most dangerous in the WHL right now.  Ok, maybe not, it's only been two games, but still.  Super impressed.  Matt MacKenzie, in 3 games has 1 goal, 2 assists and is a +6.  As Ferran points out in the article linked above, Sam Grist is now the only player on the team who has a minus rating (Ashton and MacKenzie do too, but that is carry-over from their former teams, both are + with the Americans).

Drew Owsley played 45+ minutes of shutout hockey on Saturday night, then Chris Driedger came in and played well.  I'm glad to see him getting some quality time.  I did notice that even when it was 5-0 Americans, the 4th line (really just Moline & Little Mess) didn't get as much playing time as they have against other teams when the score was that lopsided.  Makes sense, the Giants certainly aren't a team that are going to just roll over and take a loss (not that other teams do) and they were pushing hard to come back in the 3rd, putting some pressure on the Ams and on Driedger.

I thought (and I wasn't alone) the holes left by Big Mess and Prokes were obvious.  I don't want either of them to rush back by any means, but they are definitely missed.

Tonight at Portland will be the first road game with the new-look team and it should be a good one.  The Ams are 3 points back in the standings with games in hand.  But those games in hand only do you good if you win them, and tonight's a chance to gain some ground.

As usual, we'll be liveblogging the action tonight, starting at 6:45.  Click on the "Read More" to join in the fun.

Read more »

Game Day vs. Vancouver

Honestly, I don't remember much after Neal went down, it  was really hard to concentrate.  But I remember thinking it was a pretty close game.  Then I looked at the scoreboard--it was 6-2, Ams were outshooting Blazers 42-20.  So not really close at all.  But it seemed closer.  Blazers sure made them work for every inch--every inch in front of Lanigan.  Still.

It was a physical game, lots of bodies banging against the boards.  It seemed Mason "Wrecking Ball" Wilgosh never left the ice.

To no one's surprise (I assume) Carter Ashton was on the Shinnimin-Hughesman line.  At first I was a little concerned, Wilgosh has had great chemistry with them and if Ashton was on different line it could spread out super scoring to other lines.  But then I saw them work their magic and hell yeah.  Good stuff.  Hughesman continues to be outstanding.  His first goal he was going down the ice, Shinny to his left, I thought for sure he'd pass...he didn't.  He friggin' nailed the back of the net with it.  HAWT.

"He's a great player and such a big body down there," Hughesman said of Ashton. "We were trying to work the puck down low, bring it to the net, and that seemed to work tonight."

Hughesman now has a team- and career-high 26 goals, and his 32 assists are second on the team to Shinnimin's 34.

He's shown no signs of letting up -- a welcome change in his 19-year-old season to the previous two, when he faded in the second half after strong starts.

"To be honest, it goes back to my conditioning," he said. "It's been as good as it's ever been, and I've been able to carry it into the third period, into back-to-back games." (Examiner)

Speaking of hot goals, Matt MacKenzie's slapshot in the 2nd was damn sexy.  He and Suds are a great pairing and both had an excellent game last night.

Tonight the Vancouver Giants are in town.  Last time they were here it was a gongshow.  They've gone 5-5-0-0 in their last 10, but those 5 wins have been in their last 6 games, including 3-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers last night.

Apparently there's some outdoor game going on.  Frankly, I'm indifferent.  Well, except I want Kootenay to spank Spokane.  So I guess that's not totally indifferent.  The same two teams played last night and the Ice walked away with the 6-2 victory.  Things apparently got pretty chippy so in that sense it could be a good game today.  Go Ice!!

Looking at the US Division, the Winterhawks lost to the Kelowna Rockets 5-3 while Seattle beat Everett 3-1.  All of that is great news for the Americans who are now 3 points behind Portland and only 1 point behind Spokane (as of this writing, but outdoor game set to start in an hour so that may change by tonight's drop of puck in Kennewick).

According to Hiller on the post-game show, Neal's ok, nothing broken but he'll be taking it easy for a bit, so Ams may be without him for a few games.  I'm just glad he's ok, I seriously had trouble focusing on last night's game after he went down.  WHEW.

Shots from the Point

I wasn't going to blog today, January is busy enough in terms of hockey, I wanted a day off from my 2nd job here.  But alas, the hockey world does not rest, so neither do I.  You're welcome.

Carter Ashton's finally in town, it's only been over a month.  Granted, his absence was for a great reason, but still.  He's finally here.

His image was found on a trading card in packs handed out last week -- all before he even laced up his skates.*

Wednesday, Ashton was in practice gear on the ice at Toyota Center, skating with the Americans for the first time since he was acquired from Regina on Dec. 10.

"What I've seen so far is great," said Ashton, who has played just one game in his WHL career at Toyota Center. "As a first sense, it's very welcoming. I'm looking forward to that first win, getting chemistry with the guys and moving forward."

"You have to move on," Ashton said of the loss to Russia. "With that being such a big game, it will always be part of my life, but coming to a new team will help put that behind me. When I got home (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), I rested a couple of days and watched a couple of games online. I wanted to be here, but I knew I needed the rest. The time off really helped."

"To add him to the lineup, he'll help even more with the scoring," MacKenzie said. "It's good to be on the same side with him."

"He's a good player (MacKenzie)," Ashton said. "When I was in Lethbridge, we saw a lot of each other. I'm looking forward to playing with him."  (Herald)

Ashton and MacKenzie the newbies will bring a lot of very valuable experience to the team.  As I overheard the other day, "Big Mac and Carter Pounders...I'm lovin' it".  Brilliant.

Speaking of Big Mac (if that wasn't already his nickname, it is now), Rene Ferran features him in his latest "Meet the Americans":

"I had an idea it would be Tri-City," he said Wednesday while relaxing at the Red Lion Hotel across Columbia Center Blvd. from his new home arena, the Toyota Center.

"I had heard that Tri was looking for one more defenseman, so I thought maybe it would Tri. (Hitmen management) didn't say anything, but I just had this feeling that some moves would be made. We lost a lot of guys from last year who were a huge part of us winning, and we had only six or seven guys from that team remaining.

"Still, we had higher expectations than what we met. We should have been better. But I knew they couldn't leave things the same."

What did he think of his new team?

"I played in the offensive zone more last night than I had all year, so that was definitely a nice change," MacKenzie said. "Obviously, I knew a lot about them from last year, how good their forwards are. You move the puck up to them, and you don't have to worry about it coming back in your face.

"It was just awesome. I'd make that first pass, and they'd get the puck, get a rush going and get a good scoring chance. I see my job as just to keep the puck out of the net and contributing offensively by getting the puck up to them." (Examiner)

Yesterday I mentioned how much I like stats, especially when someone else does the work.  Leave it to top WHL stats guru/blogger Alan Caldwell to find some answers.  Today, he focuses specifically on WHL goalies and the number of shots they face.  It's really fascinating stuff.  For instance, no one in the US Division would probably be surprised to find that Pickard faces the most shots, averaging 39.02 a game, while our Drew Owsley faces 31.95.  Everett's Siemens is towards the top at 36.35, while Simpson is only facing an average of 30.12 shots.  Portland's goalies are in the 34+ range, and Spokane's James Reid is near the bottom, averaging 25.96.

Regina goaltender Matt Hewitt recorded the best outing by a goaltender in the WHL this season last night, stopping 59 of 62 shots in backstopping the Pats to an upset 4-3 win over the Saskatoon Blades.

After seeing that, and remembering that Seattle's Calvin Pickard faced 52 shots on Tuesday against Tri-Cities, I started wondering about which goaltenders face the most shots every night on average. A few calculations later, and here we have the results: average number of shots faced per 60 minutes of play for each goaltender in the league who has played more than 300 minutes.  (Small Thoughts at Large)

I encourage you to look at the rest of the post, there's more numbers and interesting analysis.  It's really good information.  Srsly.  Yahoo's Buzzing the Net takes a look at Hewitt's performance last night as well:

Evan Mosher's unquestioned front-runner status for best netminding performance of this young annum lasted, oh, 24 hours. Regina Pats rookie 'tender Matt Hewitt might have topped it, almost singlehandedly stopping the Saskatoon Blades with 59 saves in a 4-3 shootout win.  (BTN)

And hey, look at that!  Buzzing the Net gave photo credit!  About time, needs to be doing that on a more consistent basis or there will be a strongly-worded letter coming from me.

Brooks Macek scored in the shootout to help lead Calgary to a win over Lethbridge.  He was also a +1 on the night--maybe that change of scenery is going to work out great for him.  Yay!

*dammit, I didn't grab my player trading cards grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

"Fasten Your Seatbelts"

Westie had an interview with Bob Tory in the 1st intermission last night, sister grabbed it for us, you can listen to it by clicking here.  "We'll be playing hockey for a long time"

What I Learned

It is impossible to accurately assess how fast a game hockey is until you're in the game.  Or right next to it.  Not even 1st or 2nd row seats in the stands allow people to truly get a sense of the fast pace.  It's unreal.

I have no idea how line changes are able to be made so fluidly when often times both teams are changing at the same time so there's 8-10 guys all going (at a high rate of speed) towards the benches.  It fascinates me.

Coach calls him Little Mess too.

Rob Sumner might be a little insane.  And Mitch Elliot may need anger management counseling.

Tweet of the night goes to Spokant: "Rob Sumner is going to explode and splatter all over Section Z".  I don't even know what all he was mad about (besides his team getting curbstomped once again), did he really think the Americans wouldn't retaliate for the blindside hit on Messier?

How was there no call on that hit?  I hope the team sends tape to the league for review.  The charging call on the hit came way after the fact, probably what Sumner was so pissed about.  Ass-pat to Spokant for reminding me there was a call.  It was bad.  Anytime a player gets hit without seeing it coming and he's knocked to the ice with helmet flying, it's not good.  Just gotta hope Jordan's ok.

One of Tyler Schmidt's best games ever as an American.  Rumor is Minnesota Wild scouts were in the house.  I hope they were as impressed as I was.  He's really been playing well as of late, but last night was lights out.  And he kept his yapper shut.  Amazing how that works.

The "hoot hoot hoot" calls after Drew makes a great save are awesome. And good and loud, especially considering the small crowd in the building last night and the very few saves he had to make. Let's keep that up fans, it's fantastic.

Matt MacKenzie is good.  I mean, obviously.  That's why Bob picked him up.  He didn't look out of place at all, he was solid, communicated well with teammates and was working hard.

Drew didn't have a lot of work, Seattle only had 7 shots in the 1st, 10 shots on him before he got some rest and Chris Driedger got to play.  Chris did well, only allowing one.  He didn't get a lot of work either, only 8 shots he faced.

Meanwhile, Calvin Pickard faced 52 shots (just another day at the office), which was helped by the TEN power play opportunities the Americans had.

Ten power plays.  Seattle completely lost their shit.  Some of those poor guys looked so dejected.  Or just uncaring.  How hard would it be to go to the rink everyday knowing that the .500 hockey you're playing still isn't good enough for anything except last place in the division?  I almost feel bad for them.

The fourth line got a TON of ice time, which is great for them, srsly.  And they were working hard, got rewarded with power play time, and Conrad got a sweet goal.  RAWRRRR.

Holland's breakaway was so sick.  The F-H-P line was outstanding once again last night.  God, they all were.

"We came to play and we didn't hold back," Feser said. "We wanted them to know we were coming out strong. Everyone had a phenomenal game, not just the first, second and third lines."

"It's a pretty good recipe when the building is alive and you go out and score early on the power play," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team has scored 16 goals in the last two games. "We feed off that and it really sets a team back. We're scoring at a pretty good pace. We didn't score a lot early in the season, but it's happening a bit more now."

MacKenzie arrived in the Tri-Cities 10 minutes before warmups, but had a solid first outing for the Americans. He partnered with Brock Sutherland, saw time on the power play and the penalty kills. He had a couple of shots on goal and one from the point that missed the net by just a couple of inches.

"If I could play, I wanted to," MacKenzie said. "I got my gear on and went out on the ice. It was good to get in there. There are a lot of memories from playing here last year (in the WHL finals). The fans are great here. They sure get behind their team. It's a rink that is nice and loud when things are going well."

"We did it last year," said Schmidt of going to the net on the power play. "We changed up what we had to do to challenge their penalty kill. The team is playing well, guys are finding me and I've had a little luck on my side."

"Smitty, since Christmas, is playing as well as he did in the playoffs last year," Hiller said. "Each and every game, he's as focused and determined as in the playoffs."  (Herald)

Speaking of MacKenzie:

"We had a few noogies for him for last year when he first walked in," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, referring to MacKenzie's play in Calgary's 4-1 series win over Hiller's team in the WHL Finals. "He's a premier defenseman in this league. We knew that from last year. It's nice to have him in our colors."

It still wasn't a sure thing that they'd have him in Tri-City colors on Tuesday night.

"They left it up to me," MacKenzie said. "I was a little tired, but I pounded an energy drink and rushed into my undergear. I missed the first five or 10 minutes of warmups." (Examiner)

Noogies LOL!

I'm really grateful for all my readers.  Especially those who do stats work for me.  I got a great email from SectionH Effbomber with the following information:

I was listening to the post game show tonight on the way home from another public execution when Westie mentioned something along the lines of our boys being 14-2-0-1 at home. Here are some numbers for ya.

In 17 home games this year, we are outscoring opponents 83-36. Outshooting them 625-491. Our goalies have combined for a 2.05 goals against and a .929 save percentage. Opponents 'tenders: 4.73 GAA, .870 save percentage.

Goals by Period
1st: Ams 26, Opp 7
2nd: Ams 31, Opp 14
3rd: Ams 25, Opp 14
(and 1 shootout goal a piece)

Shots by Period
1st: Ams 229, Opp 144
2nd: Ams 203, Opp 185
3rd: Ams 188, Opp 159.
(OT & SO: Ams 5, Opp 3)

Then he mentioned the streak. 9 game home winning streak. Outscoring opponents 53-15. Outshooting 370-268. Goalies have combined for a 1.65 GAA and a .944 save percentage. Opponents 5.72 GAA, .859 save

And finally,
Goals by Period (during the streak)
1st: Ams 15, Opp 3
2nd: Ams 22, Opp 5
3rd: Ams 15, Opp 7
(1 shootout goal for Ams)

Shots by Period
1st: Ams 129, Opp 78
2nd: Ams 123, Opp 101
3rd: Ams 115, Opp 88
(OT & SO: Ams 3, Opp 1)

Add to that we are 18 of 59 (30.5%) on the power play during the win streak.

Those are some damn sexy numbers.  Huge thanks to Effbomber for doing the grunt work.   I can only imagine what else Carter Ashton is going to bring to the table (or to the ice, rather) but it'll be good stuff.

Today I'm obsessing about...

The Seattle Thunderbirds since they're in town tonight.  Again.  I hope to see another Calvin Pickard have another meltdown and lie like a babyhead in the crease again.  Ok, that's not true, necessarily.  It's tough for little Pick, being so good but on such a bad team.  But his moodiness does bring the LOLs.  See Portland?  I LOL at other teams too.  But if you want to think I'm "obsessed with all things Winterhawks", go ahead, keep flattering yourself.  I'm reminded of a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies, The Hunt for Red October--"It is wise to study the ways of one's adversary, don't you think?"

The T-Birds are sitting 4th in the division at 17-16-4-4, going 4-5-0-1 in their last 10.  They're mediocre.  But they do make teams work.  The last time they played and the Americans blew them out of the water 8-4, it was closer than the score would indicate for most of the game.  Seattle is certainly not a team that can be overlooked.  In the Americans' last 10 games, they've outscored their opponents something ridiculous like 50-10.  That's an estimate because I started screwing around with the numbers, debating if and how to take into account the two losses to Everett.  So whatever, it's still a ridiculous number.  That could be intimidating to a team coming into the Toyota Center.

As for what team will hit the ice tonight, will Ashton and MacKenzie be in the lineup?  Doesn't look like it:

MacKenzie should make his Tri-City debut Friday when the Ams host Kamloops. Ashton arrives in town Wednesday after playing in the World Junior Championships and also will be available either for Friday's game or by Saturday, when Tri-City hosts Vancouver. (Examiner)

Or maybe?

MacKenzie, 19, will fill a definite need as the Americans make a push for a fourth straight U.S. Division title, and he's excited to get to work. He will arrive in the Tri-Cities today, pull on his No. 5 sweater and face the Seattle Thunderbirds with his new teammates.

As for the trades yesterday, it was a great acquisition by Bob Tory.

"I'm excited to be going to a team that has a chance to go back to the finals," MacKenzie said. "We were pretty young this year in Calgary, and we've had some growing pains. It's definitely tough leaving -- I have so many memories with the Hitmen. They drafted me, and we won the league last year."

Whereas Carter Ashton, who will arrive in Kennewick on Wednesday, is taking a break after playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, MacKenzie said it's better to dive right in.

"Honestly, you just want to get to the new city," he said. "It will be nice to jump into a game and bond with them. I'm pretty excited to play with them. We will have a superior set of forwards." (Herald)

The part that's hard to deal with is knowing Bob has added yet another 19-year-old (good) and there will only be room for 3 20s next year.  Yes, I'm quite glad he seems to be "going for it", believe you me.  But I don't want to think about the decisions to be made for next season.  Not at all.  Also hard to deal with is the drop in overall team hotness.  Not that MacKenzie is ugly, but he's no Brooks Macek and Spencer Humphries.  Srsly.

I had to LOL when I saw this (and I did):

With the move, the Ams get an upgrade on defense with MacKenzie while moving Macek will most likely mean more playing time for 16 year old Connor Rankin, which isn’t a bad thing for the Ams.  (After the Whistle)

Hilarious.  Granted, Rankin's been shuffled around going from the top line with Shinny and Hughey, to playing with Feser and Holland when Neal was still out.  He's been spending more time on the 4th line.  That's a credit to the depth of this team, that a kid with as much talent as Rankin pulling 4th line duty, and rocking it.  Like a boss.  So the movement of Macek may add a little more playing time for Rankin, but more likely creates room for Carter Ashton.  Rankin's time will increase because of the depth, that 4 lines can more consistently be rolled out.  So maybe I shouldn't have LOL'd quite so hard, but I found it to be quite funny.  Which led to the "obsessed" comment from Kemper.  I had to get in the closet and dig out my LOLler skates to go for a spin.

----------

Take note that Americans Zachary Yuen and Sam Grist are both on Central Scouting's Mid-term Rankings--Yuen at #87 and Grist at #119.  Awesome boys!  I hope to see them both drafted this summer in St. Paul.

Trade Deadline

Tri-City Americans Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the team has acquired 19-year-old defenseman Matt MacKenzie from the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for 18-year-old forward Brooks Macek, 18-year-old defenseman Spencer Humphries and a conditional 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft.

MacKenzie, the 6’2 194-pound blue liner, was a third-round (83rd overall) selection by the Buffalo Sabers in the 2010 NHL Draft.  This season, the Calgary, Alberta-native has appeared in 40 games and registered two goals, 23 points and 50 penalty minutes.  For his WHL career, MacKenzie has appeared in 192 games, all with the Hitmen, totaling 13 goals, 83 points and 144 penalty minutes.  The Hitmen’s 2nd round (41st overall) pick in the 2006 Bantam Draft, MacKenzie was a pivotal piece of Calgary’s Memorial Cup run last season, appearing in 23 playoff games while recording six goals, 16 points and 31 penalty minutes en route to the WHL Championship.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to get a defenseman of MacKenzie’s ability and experience, you have to take a serious look at it,” Tory explained. “We have added a premier defensive player in MacKenzie to our lineup and look forward to seeing Matt in an Americans’ jersey.”  (Tri-City Americans)

I hope the change of scenery does good for Macek, seriously.  I know he's a better player than what we've seen this season.  I'm going to miss Humphries, that's for sure.  He'd really been playing well as of late.  

Also, the team hotness just dropped by a factor of a gazillion.

Additionally, Dow still on the team.  I didn't want to see him go.  Now, if I can just get him some more playing time.  Time to bust out the posterboard and markers for my new "I Believe in Drydn Dow" poster.

9-4

That last Lethbridge goal at the buzzer did count so final damage not *quite* so bad. Still pretty bad. I love it when my team wins. Like really a lot. But I do feel bad when a team is perpetually terrible and loses night in and night out. I felt bad for Portland for several years, look where that got me now. Guess I should put on my big girl britches and take the win with no after thought.

It was Spencer Humphries best game of the season, by far. His one-timer from the point...oh man. That made me feel tingly in my lady bits. Goals like that is why I have a thing for defensemen. It's why when I gather up random hockey news bits I call it "shots from the point". Because it's damn sexy. Humps is playing with an edge that he didn't have at the beginning of the season and it's working. After his 2nd fight I tweeted that's why he's playing way more games than Dow.

Cam Gorchyski went into the game in the 3rd in relief of Drew Owsley, who passed American Brian Boucher for 4th in all-time wins.  Gorchyski did pretty good, he's big.  Two went in on him, including the one right at the buzzer when the Ams, up 9-3, were sorta standing around the last few seconds.

Another fantastic showing by the boys from Winnipeg. I know, that doesn't narrow it down, but specifically Hughesman, Shinnimin, and Wilgosh. There was some confusion over the 8th goal, it was officially changed to Willy's, so no hatty for Adam. :(

"I don't want to take credit for a goal I didn't score," Hughesman said. "That's bad karma."

"Jim (Hiller) and the coaches have always told us we have to take care of business at home," said Hughesman, whose 24 goals rank seventh in the Western Hockey League. "Losing at home is like giving away two points. We've got to take care of business at home and just do better on the road."

"We worked pretty hard tonight and deserved what we got," Hughesman said. "Me, Shinny and Wils have pretty good chemistry right now. We're finding each other on the ice, and this was one of those nights where everything was finding the net."

"I think I've just been working hard every night, doing the little things like crashing the net, and I'm finding a lot of pucks that way," Shinnimin said.

"We're playing our game right now and making teams adjust to us instead of us to them. We know that especially now, with us in a close stretch with Portland and Spokane, that these are must-win games at home. We have these opportunities, and we have to take advantage."

"I think it's important that Feser's line sets the tone," Hiller said. "They typically play against the other team's best line, and when they score, it allows our other lines to open things up offensively. We're getting back into that rhythm from last year."

"Obviously, this is a nerve-wracking time (trade deadline is tomorrow)," Shinnimin said. "You never know who's safe. That's part of the business. Quite frankly, though, I think the team has done fairly well."

Hughesman added, "I just hope we showed that we're good enough players here and we're willing to do what it takes to win a championship. But it's over now. There are no more games to show that. We'll see what happens." (Examiner)

Yep, trade deadline is tomorrow, closing at 3 pm Calgary time (2 our time).  No clue if Bob has something up his sleeve.  Who knows, "Trader Bob" might be done for the season.  I hate trade deadline time.

----------

Keeping up on the Drinnan/Blazers fiasco?  Caldwell weighs in.  Many very good links there about the situation, and the bottom line is it's not looking good for the league and the Blazers.  And it still won't be resolved, or even discussed, for two more days.  Stupid.

----------

Portland thinks they should get a parade for tweeting a lot. Newsflash, Twitter doesn't give two shits how much you, or anyone else, tweets. I've sent 8,085. Where's my parade? Maybe a nice cake?

 

 photo from Mariana Pugliese