Best of the West and more

How about THAT?!?  That game:

• had heart
• had determination from the top of the lineup on down
• had leadership
• had a 60-minute effort
• had physicality
• had a line brawl--haven't seen one of those in a while, leave it to a Nachbaur team to make it happen
• was Yuen's best game I've seen since, I dunno, last season?  It was great.
• was Nickles' best game in a while
• had hussle, lots of it
• was Troy "Too Tall" Trombley's first WHL shutout.  Kid had an excellent game, and holy crap he's tall.
• WAS AWESOME.

“The win at Portland (on Friday) gave us confidence for tonight,” Rankin said. “We wanted to have one of these games in front of our fans. We felt the love.”

Trombley, who has been with the team for a couple of weeks, won both of his starts over the weekend.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Trombley said. “It has been way too good for me. The team has put in a lot of work for me. With the big team win against Portland, that gave me confidence for today.”

The Americans (33-32-1-2, 69 points) won for the second night in a row and leapfrogged Victoria into fifth place in the Western Conference standings.

“For the guys in our room, that is the definition of a great weekend,” said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team knocked off Portland — the top-ranked team in the CHL — and their biggest rival.

The Chiefs (34-22-2-0, 70 points) held onto fourth place, but coach Don Nachbaur was not pleased with his team’s effort.

“They earned it and we got what we deserved,” Nachbaur said. “It was pretty obvious one team prepared for a war and one team came looking for an easy game. Their nine forwards outskated our 12. They wanted it more than we did.” (Herald)

The Herald also has the annual Best of the West poll results today, good showing by the Americans:
Best Fans: 2nd (Everett 1st)
Top Executive: Bob Tory 4th
Top Coach: Jim Hiller 4th
Best Overage: Justin Feser
Most Valuable to Team: Justin Feser, Comrie 4th
Top Defensive Forward: Feser 2nd
Best Stay-at-Home Defenseman: Zachary Yuen 5th
Top Rookie: Parker Bowles 5th
Best Goaltender: Eric Comrie
Best Skater: Feser 3rd, Stromwall 4th
Top Faceoff Man: Feser 2nd
Must Underrated Player: Feser
Most Accurate Shot: Feser 6th
Most Irritating Player: Brendan Leipsic HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Toughest Player: Walter 5th, Mychan 6th
Best Pro Prospect: Comrie 4th