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BALDY’S PUCK DROP Weekly E-Newsletter (September – August) |
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Baldy’s Puck Drop” Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Volume 61: March 6, 2025
PDF Printable Download: Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Dear Great Falls Americans Enthusiast: With this past weekend off, there is no game recap to include, so I will provide a quick update on the playoff situation. The Americans currently sit in 3rd place three points behind 2nd place Sheridan, two points ahead of 4th place Bozeman and three points ahead of 5th place Badlands. In essence, we will secure a playoff spot (and likely the 3rd seed) with one win or losses by Badlands 
or Bozeman. Badlands hosts Sheridan this weekend while Bozeman has a home and home with Helena. It is great for the division to come down to the final weekend like this to determine the two final playoff spots and seeding for 2nd through 4th place and shows the competitiveness of the division. Look for information on our website and social media channels on Sunday or Monday regarding the playoffs and our likely home game either the 14th or 15th.
Friday night we head to Butte as part of our home and home weekend and hope all of our fans plan on attending our official watch party at Buffalo Wild Wings and, hopefully, celebrate a playoff clinching win.
Saturday night is our final regular season home game, so there is a lot going on to keep track of. First, and foremost, it is “Billet Family Appreciation Night” as it will be our opportunity to honor our very special Billet Families and thank them for all they do during the first intermission. For those who may not be familiar with the billet program, I want you to know how important of a role they do play in making our players a part of our family and community. The billet families volunteer their home, their family and their hearts in hosting our players, who come from all over the world, and providing them a welcoming place to live. These folks have gone above and beyond in allowing our players to feel welcome within their homes and the community. A special thanks goes out to Kris Steichen for serving as our Billet Coordinator this season and to all our billet families. Please come on out to the game to help us show our appreciation as we honor them during the first Intermission. Thank you to Life in Bloom Floral and Gift Boutique for providing the flowers for our billet moms.
We will also celebrate “Toyota Fan Appreciation Night” with several prizes distributed to our lucky program winners throughout the game and
a 30-40% discount on all items at our merchandise store during the game. There will be a limited number of programs available and 30% will be winners, so come early and be sure to grab your game program for your chance to win. Look for the players to be available to sign items after the game, as well, and do not forget to join us at P. Gibson’s after the game for our final post-game gathering of the regular season.
Saturday night will be the last regular season home game for nine of our players and this is always a bitter- sweet moment as these 2004 birth year players have developed an unmatched passion for the game. I have highlighted these individuals in our player profile this week and we will honor them with a brief on-ice ceremony about 10-minutes before the start of the game. Just another reason to come on out to the game (a little early this time) and wish these amazing young men the best in their future endeavors. For those watching NATV at home, we do plan on broadcasting both ceremonies so plan on logging on a little early on Saturday night to honor our age-outs.
We are pleased to have two more college commitments to announce this week. Garrett Driscoll has committed to attend and play ACHA Hockey for Western Michigan University. Western Michigan, established in 1903, is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan and is home to 24,000 students and the Broncos who have a Division I Men’s Hockey Team and also participates in the ACHA Division I program. In addition, John Lang has committed to attend and play for the University of Mary located in Bismarck, North Dakota. The University of Mary, established in 1959, has just under 4000 students with the Marauders participating at the ACHA DI level and has qualified for the National Tournament in five consecutive years. Congrats to both John and Garrett on your college commitments and look for more commitments from our players in the coming weeks.
Finally, we have two special promotions taking place through our Fan Activation partner DASH. Special team signed White and Red Jerseys are currently up for auction and will run through March 10th. There is one Home (White) and Away (Red) jersey that will be signed by the 2024-25 Great Falls Americans players and staff auctioned off as part of our Toyota Fan Appreciation. In addition, there will be a limited number of Framed and Signed 8 x 10 Photos available for purchase through DASH starting on the 8th. Scan the QR code below to get activated with DASH and participate in these special promotions.
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Player Profile – 2004 Birth Year Players
| Player: #7 Zac Orwig (Assistant Captain) | Position: Forward |  |
| JR Games Played: 163 | Games with Americans: 66 | |
| Hometown: Rogers, Minnesota | School: Undecided |
| Player: #9 Sebe Perez (Captain) | Position: Forward |  |
| JR Games Played: 160 | Games with Americans: 62 | |
| Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas | School: Undecided |
| Player: #13 Chase Hapka | Position: Forward |  |
| JR Games Played: 87 | Games with Americans: 21 | |
| Hometown: West Fargo, North Dakota | School: Undecided |
| Player: #14 Matthew Beazley | Position: Defenseman |  |
| JR Games Played: 61 | Games with Americans: 40 | |
| Hometown: Thunder Bay, Ontario | School: Undecided |
| Player: #16 Masen Kerr | Position: FOR/DEF |  |
| JR Games Played: 87 | Games with Americans: 87 | |
| Hometown: Pleasant Prairie, WI | School: Illinois State University |
| Player: #22 Garrett Driscoll | Position: Defenseman |  |
| JR Games Played: 112 | Games with Americans: 55 | |
| Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado | School: Western Michigan University |
| Player: #23 John Lang | Position: Forward |  |
| JR Games Played: 95 | Games with Americans: 39 | |
| Hometown: Fargo, North Dakota | School: University of Mary |
| Player: #24 Cal Laggis | Position: Forward |  |
| JR Games Played: 87 | Games with Americans: 61 | |
| Hometown: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | School: Undecided |
| Player: #28 Jayden Rogen | Position: Forward |  |
| JR Games Played: 53 | Games with Americans: 11 | |
| Hometown: West Fargo, North Dakota | School: Undecided |
Here are the upcoming events for you to mark your calendars:
- March 7th – Road game versus Butte at 7:30 Official Watch Party at Buffalo Wild Wings.
- March 8th – Home game versus the Butte 7:05 PM Puck Drop. Billet Appreciation and Fan Appreciation Night presented by Toyota!
- March 13th–16th – First Round of Frontier Division
- March 20th-23rd – Final Round of Frontier Division
- March 26th-30th – Fraser Cup Finals in Louis, MO.
Thank you to all our existing Eagle’s Nest, Diamond and Platinum Level partners for their continued support.
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Gold, Silver and Bronze Level Partners (* new this season)
| 3D International Restaurant and Lounge | All-State Signs | Annie’s Taphouse |
| Comparion Insurance-Todd Neighbor | Automotive Machine | Beacon Ice House |
| Eagle Mount Therapeutic Recreation | Benski Towing & Recovery | Big Sky Harley Davidson* |
| Floors & More Abbey Carpets | Big Sky Laboratory | Bravera Bank |
| Hoglund’s Work & Western Wear | Cascade Electric | Central Avenue Meats |
| Havre Youth Hockey* | Havre Ford* | Independence Bank-Havre* |
| Hotel Arvon-Celtic Cowboy | Central MT Lock & Safe | Century Gaming |
| High Plains Wealth Management* | Patrick Construction* | Shanty Bar-Havre* |
| Life in Bloom Floral & Gift Boutique | Coca-Cola* | Craftmaster Cabinets |
| Montana Air National Guard* | Culligan Water | Ferrin’s Furniture |
| She Bare Wax & Sugar Boutique | Great Falls Hospital | Hampton Inn & Suites |
| Stifel |Finnicum Financial Group | Highwood Creek Outfitters | Jersey Mike’s |
| Tilleraas Landscape & Nursery | Johnson Distributing | Karma Coffee* |
| Red;s Powersports* | Tilleman Motor Co.* | Valley Furniture* |
| Murphy Law | Open Door Wellness* | Play It Again Sports |
| Purvis Chiropractic* | Scheels | STARadio |
| Stockman Bank | TDS Fiber* | Teriyaki Madness |
| Traynor Capital | Visit Great Falls* | Westgate Repair Inc* |
| Mountain Title Company* | Croxford Funeral Home and Crematory* | |
| Morse Construction* | Creative Coffee/Yogurt* |
Thank you for being a part of our hockey family!
Matt Leaf
Great Falls Americans HC Inc
MattL.GFAmericans@gmail.com