NOTE: A Special Thanks to Michael Noel (above, https://mnoelphotography.smugmug.com) for providing the photo.
By Kevin Scott
| Box Score |
Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
BOZEMAN, Mont., February 15, 2025 — The #4 Great Falls Americans with a record of 23-14-4-2 have faced the #5 Bozeman Ice Dogs (24-15-1-1) seven times and have four victories (4-2-0-1).
Two weeks ago, the Ice Dogs and the Americans came together for a game in Bozeman, Montana on February 2nd. The home team led 5-2 after the first two periods as Tyler Klingbeil accumulated two scoring drives and John Lang added two goals for Great Falls. Great Falls’ offense took advantage of Bozeman in the third and outscored them 4-0 to take a 6-5 lead but with 18 seconds remaining, Bozeman’s Reid Wilkinson evened the score to send it to an overtime, where neither team was able to put the puck in the net. Spencer Wilkinson of Bozeman was the only player from either team to score against the opposing goaltender and the Ice Dogs escaped with a 7-6 win in the shootout. Brett DeVincent picked up the win with his 38 saves and Great Falls’ Kale Witt made 20 saves (game story).
Would Great Falls get a fifth win against their Montana rival?
The Bozeman Ice Dogs took advantage of a three-goal effort in the third period to down the visiting Great Falls Americans, 5-3 on Saturday at Haynes Pavilion. Both teams were even at 2-2 prior to the third period when Bozeman’s Brodie Shepardson netted his second goal and teammates Lex Steckelberg and Reid Wilkinson each produced one goal. Sebe Perez, Garren Narvaez and Blayne Jusczak all scored for the Americans.
Before the first intermission, Bozeman, and Great Falls each put the biscuit in the basket. Seth Hanson, a native of Billings, Montana, scored first for the host team. TJ Kelsey and Sam Trufant each assisted on the score that came with 4:17 left. Great Falls scored the game-tying goal with 15 seconds left when Sebe Perez scored for the sixth time this season. John Lang and Matt Beazley provided the assists. A total of 33 shots were taken between these two clubs.
The score remained tied but both squads each produced a goal during the middle period. Bodie Shepardson, who played the previous two seasons with the Ice Dogs, saw his first action this season and secured his first goal of the year five minutes into the period with assistance from Reid Wilkinson and Spencer Wilkinson while Great Falls was down a man (penalty). The lead lasted 41 seconds until Americans standout Garren Narvaez tacked on his 14th goal that was set up by Zac Orwig and Sebe Perez.
Bodie Shepardson scored his second goal while Reid Wilkinson and Lex Steckelberg each added one as the Ice Dogs outscored the Americans 3-1 in the final frame. Great Falls and Bozeman scored one goal apiece during the final 36 seconds. Bodie Shepardson added his second goal of the season with 36 seconds left in an empty net as earlier the Americans pulled goaltender Kaden Rhyder in favor of adding another offensive skater and Blayne Jusczak netted the final goal for either squad with eight seconds to go but the Americans fell short. Sam Trufant, TJ Kelsey and Andrew Kaunas earned the third period assists while Jase Troyer and EJ Sanchez gathered the assists on Jusczak’s goal for the visiting team.
The Ice Dogs outshot the Americans 27-9 over the final two periods to finish with 42. Great Falls had 18 of their 37 in the first stanza.
The game was light on penalties as both teams combined for four minor infractions before the third period.
Brett DeVincent was awarded his 15th win this season for Bozeman. He stopped 24 of 27 shots in 60 minutes on the ice to improve to 15-8-0-0. Great Falls’ Kaden Rhyder (19-10-2-0) tallied 37 saves as he was denied his 20th win.
As the postseason nears, the #4 Great Falls (23-14-4-2, 52 pts.) narrowly leads the #5 Bozeman Ice Dogs (24-15-1-1, 50 pts.) in the Frontier Division standings in the NA3HL. The top four after the season concludes on March 8 will be playoff bound. Helena has already clinched a spot with the #2 Sheridan (WY( Hawks (25-13-2-1, 53 pts.) and the #3 Badlands (SD) Sabres (23-13-4-3, 53 pts.) close to clinching.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: Helena netminder Branson Appelman stopped all 22 shots as the #1 Helena Bighorns (35-3-1-1) blanked the #6 Butte Irish (17-22-1-3), 3-0 on Saturday evening at the Butte Community Ice Center. All the scoring was done after the first period with Hunter Coulombe, Owen Gruener, and Ty Schell each lighting up the lamp for the Bighorns. Trey Pareja also had two assists. Tim Nanson fell to 8-9-1-0 on the season for Butte by swatting away 55 shots in the loss (Box Score).
The #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (25-13-2-1) earned the weekend split on the road against the #7 Gillette (WY) Wild (18-24-1-0) by downing the Wild 5-3 in Gillette, Wyoming on Saturday. On Friday, Gillette won 4-2 over the Hawks. Five Hawks players saw the lamp light up including Vincent Leaf, Elijah White, Daniel Shelden, Vlad Zubriichuk, and Ernest Allen. Kylo Stinson, Dante Hunziker, and Dylan Peterson added the goals for the host team. John Simon was the winning netminder for the Hawks as he redirected 38 shots to improve to 11-7-0-0. Austin Trieber (5-8-0-0) of Gillette made 38 saves in his eighth loss of the season. (Box Score)
The #2 Badlands (SD) Sabres (23-13-4-3) and the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Hawks (1-39-1-0) are idle this weekend and will return to action next week.
NOTES: Goaltender Kaden Rhyder and forward Ty O’Bey were selected earlier this month to represent the Great Falls Americans at the NA3HL’s annual Top Prospects Tournament that will take place at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan on Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 17-18). They will play on Team Blue with other Frontier Division standouts and will be seen by many scouts from the North American Hockey League (NAHL), NCAA and ACHA hockey teams. Team Blue will play on Monday at 12:00PM (MST) and on Tuesday at 10:00AM (MST). Click here to see the press release for more information.
Read about all the Americans hockey action in print through the Great Falls Gazette, a newspaper that is published on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday each week with game recaps written by Kevin Scott, the Great Falls Americans Public Relations/Media Coordinator. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
Season Two of the “Americans Podcast with Jim Quick” premiered on September 5, 2024, with his first guest of the season, Cole Molaski, a forward from Suamico, Wisconsin, who is in his first season with Great Falls. Other players featured this season include Ty O’Bey, Easton and Aiden Kennedy, Sebe Perez, Mercer Twomey, Zac Orwig, Cal Laggis and Blayne Jusczak. Click here to learn more about Blayne Jusczak on the official podcast of the Great Falls Americans. Each podcast will feature one American player as we get to know the team this season. Jim completed 13 episodes during his first season. Fans can listen to the full podcasts from Seasons One and Two by clicking here.
560AM KMON Weekly Radio Interview with Coach Greg Sears: Join KMON Radio Sports Director “Baker Bob” McNamee every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings during the 2024-25 season with Great Falls Americans Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears as he talks about the Americans. The Weekly Radio interview on 560AM KMON in Great Falls can be heard locally every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings during the Hourly Sports Report (6:15AM (MST), 7:15AM (MST), and 8:15AM (MST) live. Click here to listen to the current and previous radio interviews.
AMERICANS PHOTOGRAPHER: Look for game photos from all of the home games from Michael Noel, the Americans Official Photographer by clicking here.
AMERICANS E-NEWSLETTERS: The Americans have two email newsletters for fans to receive in their inbox this season. Kevin Scott, the Americans Media Coordinator, has an Americans E-Newsletter that you can get on Sunday’s during the regular season filled with game summaries, press releases, links, schedule, etc. Click here to subscribe (if you haven’t already).
Americans Owner Matt Leaf creates and sends out a weekly email called “Baldy’s Puck Drop” that features team news, player profile, sponsor information and lots of other tidbits relating to Americans hockey that is published on Thursday mornings. Click here to receive the weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already).
NA3HL MOBILE APP: If you haven’t already, download the NA3HL App available at the App Store and Google Play. Fans can set your favorite team to the Great Falls Americans today and stay up to date with the NA3HL. Click here to download from the App Store (Apple) or click here to download from the Google Play Store (Android).
2024-25 PHOTOS: Check out all the Americans photos throughout the season including some taken by Americans photographer, Michael Noel and Gentle Thug Media’s Tim Ljunggren. Click here to view all the photos from the 2024-25 season.
AMERICANS TEAM STORE: Click here to view the Americans online team store that features a variety of different souvenirs to purchase. A store is available at all home games. AMERICANS GAME TICKETS ONLINE: Fans can also buy game day tickets on the website prior to the game by clicking here.
Please check out the Americans website at www.greatfallsamericans.com for all your updated news, game summaries, rosters, photo galleries, etc.
AMERICANS TEAM STORE: Click here to view the Americans online team store that features a variety of different souvenirs to purchase. A store is available at all home games. AMERICANS GAME TICKETS ONLINE: Fans can also buy game day tickets on the website prior to the game by clicking here.
Please check out the Americans website at www.greatfallsamericans.com for all your updated news, game summaries, rosters, photo galleries, etc.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will have a busy week as Americans forward Ty O’Bey and goaltender Kaden Rhyder will suit up for Team Blue in the NA3HL’s Top Prospect Tournament (TPT) taking place on Monday and Tuesday, February 17-18 at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan (see more information about the TPT). Great Falls will then travel to the Roosevelt Park Ice Arena in Rapid City, South Dakota to challenge the Badlands (SD) Sabres on Friday and Saturday, February 21-22 as the puck drops at 7:05PM (MST) each night. The Top Prospects Tournament and the games against Badlands (SD) Sabres will be shown on NAHLTV, the NA3HL’s official streaming service.
P. Gibson’s Sports Grill and Casino (1600 Fox Farm Road) is the place to be after Friday and Saturday night home games where the Americans invite their fans and supporters to their post-game dinner.
Buffalo Wild Wings, located at 17 Northwest Bypass in Great Falls, hosts the “Americans Watch Party” this season when the Americans are on the road. Fans are invited to get food and drinks and watch the game.
NAHLTV is the NA3HL’s new streaming platform and is the place to catch all the action for fans that are unable to attend the home and away games this season. Click here to learn more about how to view any of the Americans home and away contests.
Click here for the 2024-25 Great Falls Americans schedule and results.