 |
BALDY’S PUCK DROP Weekly E-Newsletter (September – August) |
 |
Baldy’s Puck Drop” Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Volume 71: August 21, 2025
PDF Printable Download: Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Dear Great Falls Americans Enthusiast: Where to start? It is such a busy and exciting time of the year. The week started with a fantastic Cornhole Event at the Beacon IceHouse on Saturday as 32 teams suited up to have some fun throwing some bags. Congrats to our competitive division champions, Cornholio, comprised of Brett Antley and Deion Hammett while the Americans’ very own Fargo connection (Cooper Clouse and Fisher Hannesson) held off Coach Sears and his father (Brian – who is also a scout for the Americans) in the finals of the Novice Division. A special thank you to the Booster Club for managing a successful raffle, Ryan Siders for serving as our MC and the Beacon for hosting this event.
Sunday afternoon saw a little under 100 of our most loyal fans stop by the Ice Plex and enjoy watching our Alumni (Photo to the right) in town lace them up with our current team for a fun and well-played scrimmage. Team Red came out on top with a 4-3 shootout win and after a great day on Saturday, we were able to cap off a successful Alumni weekend and start to our season. We look forward to expanding this special weekend and have even more alumni involved next August.
Before I get into our training camp and this year’s team, I want to make a couple of very special announcements that were finalized since our
last newsletter. I am very pleased to announce that Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom has signed on to serve as our “Official Gathering Place” after all home games. This activation is a great way for our fans to mingle with our players after a successful home game and enjoy some great food and drink with other passionate fans.
I am also delighted to announce that we have partnered with 1st Liberty Federal Credit Union to serve as the presenting sponsor of our Military Appreciation Weekend on November 21st and 22nd. Together, we have partnered with Malmstrom AFB to create a special weekend for our military personnel with a special edition military themed jersey that will be auctioned off after the weekend and other activities designed to honor those who are currently, or have, served our country.
The team officially started their training camp on Monday morning with a heavy 90-minute skate followed by a press conference and a team meeting. The entire week includes two 90-minute ice sessions each day, an afternoon spent at Ryan Dam with a tough run and some whiffle ball, off-ice testing at the Peak Health and Wellness, some off-ice training and some football at Goose Park, physicals and baseline concussion testing at Mountain View Physical Therapy, a session with our official photographer, Mike Noel, to secure head shots for the league and for our use and finishes with our Annual Blue-White game on Saturday evening. This scrimmage is free to the public and is a great way for our fans to get their first look at our new team, see our new jerseys for the first time and participate in our first Montana Air National Guard Chuck-a-Puck during the 2nd intermission.
Our fans will have the chance to come out and meet the players at Buffalo Wild Wings Thursday evening at 7:45 PM and after the game on Saturday at Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom. We have another special event with our partner Annie’s Taphouse next Tuesday at 6:00 PM as several of our players will stop by to meet our fans, promote our games and play some “Singo Bingo” with the theme being Hockey and sports stadium anthems. Stop by Annie’s for a cold craft beer and play along with some fun music.
We have three activations currently taking place that offer some very unique items and I was hoping would generate some local excitement.
The first is we have a #1 Fan” jersey auction taking place with the only bid coming from Connecticut, so far. We have one each of our new White and Blue jerseys up for auction that has the nameplate “#1 Fan”. This is your chance to be the only non-player with the new jerseys and attain the special recognition of being one of our super fans. I would love to see this stay in the area and be shown off at our rink instead of ending up in a collector’s hands from somewhere far away.
The second activation is for you want-to-be coaches out there. You mostly know who you are. The activation provides the chance to be a part of the team for pre-game activities and through the first period of the Blue-White Game on Saturday night. As I told our billet families a couple of weeks ago, this is the chance to be a coach for one night and get it out of your system so the coaching staff can do their magic the rest of the season without interference. The bottom line is if you don’t step up for this opportunity, you will lose your right to voice your opinion later during the season. Of course, I say this partly in jest – but also fully realize that human nature dictates there will always be backseat coaches out there and we want to give them their chance to experience reality.
The third activation includes two items from our Alumni weekend that have been signed by those in attendance and is now being auctioned
off. This includes an away jersey from last season and a new edition baseball hat. Both are up for auction with the only bid, so far, coming from Overland Park, Kansas. So, the challenge is to once again keep these types of items local with our die-hard fans. You can participate in these fan activations by clicking on the QR code to the right.
Here are the upcoming dates to add to your calendar:
- August 21st – Meet and greet the 2025-26 version of the Great Falls Americans at Buffalo Wild Wings – 7:45-9:00 PM.
- August 23rd – 3rd Annual Blue/White Game 7:05 Ice Plex
- August 26th – “Singo” with the Americans at Annie’s Taphouse– 6:00 PM
- September 5th – Home opener versus Helena for start of 2025-26 7:05 PM Puck Drop!
- September 6th – 3rd GFA Tailgate party presented by Bish’s RV of Great Falls prior to the game versus The Band “After Five” will be playing from 5:00-6:45 with plenty of food, drink and camaraderie. Puck drop is 7:05 PM.
- September 12th – Northwestern Energy Salute to Eagle Mount Therapeutic Recreation Sled Hockey during home game versus Badlands Sabres. 7:05 PM Puck Drop!
- September 13th – USA Hockey’s National “Try Hockey for Free” 9:15 AM at the Ice Plex
- September 13th – Home game versus Badlands Sabres featuring “Point S Tire & Auto” Tricycle Race during 1st Intermission.
Thank you to our renewing, and new, partners for their continued support.
Eagle’s Nest Level
 |
 |
Diamond Level
 |
 |
 |
|
Platinum Level
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Tammy Quintrell-Stubbs |
Gold, Silver and Bronze Level Partners (* new this season)
| All-State Signs | Beacon Ice House | Eagle Mount Therapeutic Recreation* |
| Floors & More Abbey Carpets | Central Avenue Meats | Craftmaster Cabinets |
| Havre Youth Hockey | Central MT Lock & Safe | Century Gaming |
| Life in Bloom Floral @ Gift Boutique | Hotel Arvon/Celtic Cowboy | Stifel l Finnicum Financial Group |
| Coca-Cola* | Craftmaster Cabinets | Culligan Water |
| Comparion Insurance | Play It Again Sports | Open Door Wellness |
| Big Sky Laboratory | Cascade Electric | Hampton Inn & Suites |
| Ferrin’s Furniture | Great Falls Hospital | She Bare Wax & Sugar Boutique |
| Jersey Mike’s | Karma Coffee | Murphy Law |
| Scheels | Stockman Bank | Traynor Capital |
| Voices of Hope* | Johnson Distributing | Mountain Title Company |
| Fire Pizza* | Montana Rib & Chop House* | Visit Great Falls |
| Croxford Funeral Home and Crematory | Bish’s RV of Great Falls* | StaRadio |
| Benski Towing & Recovery | Westgate Repair, Inc. | Annie’s Taphouse |
| MNoel Photography |
Thank you for being a part of our hockey family!
Matt Leaf
Great Falls Americans HC Inc
MattL.GFAmericans@gmail.com