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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 88: December 18, 2025
PDF Printable Download: Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Dear Great Falls Americans Enthusiast: A well-earned break has officially arrived. The majority of Americans’ players left for home directly from Minneapolis after the last game of the Showcase, which left us with our bus driver Rex, staff and two players arriving back in Great Falls about 3:30 PM yesterday. Overall, the trip was relatively uneventful as we got out in front of the weather when we left last Thursday AM and only had to deal with the wind for the return trip.
Along the way, our team had a chance to skate in West Fargo, enjoy a great team meal hosted by the Clouse family, attend a NCAA DI College
game between Denver University and St Cloud State University and then skate at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud (Below). The Team arrived in Minneapolis early afternoon on Saturday and had some free time – many with families that were in town for the Showcase – before getting back to work with their game prep on Sunday afternoon.
The Showcase started off on a high note as the Americans collected a late 4-3 win versus the Austin Ice Bats late on Sunday. Jase Troyer tied the game at three late in the 3rd period during a delayed penalty and with an extra attacker while Tallen Caron collected the shorthanded game winner with an assist from Cooper Clouse as time expired.
Monday’s game was a different type of battle versus the Alexandria Blizzard from the West Division. The West Division teams tend to be a
little older and play a more physical brand of hockey with the Americans taking the 4-1 loss (with an empty net goal). For those watching, there was another gut-wrenching injury as
Jaxen Savage took a check to the head and suffered a concussion and a significant pressure cut from the force that was applied through his helmet. This led to another 15-minute delay early in the 2nd period and, quite frankly, the emotional toll it took on our team to watch another teammate be injured like that was tough to recover from and definitely impacted their ability to take advantage of a 5-minute power play to even the game and change the momentum. For those wondering, Jaxen is doing fine and will take the Christmas break to be able to get some rest and take care of his mind and body.
Tuesday’s tilt saw the Americans face another West Division Team in the Mason City Toros and were a little unlucky in a 4-2 loss that really could have gone either way. It was good to see the team compete when they could have checked out for the break and all three games at the Showcase provided the team with valuable experience that will provide an opportunity to have success and make a serious playoff run. They also maintained their place in the Frontier Division standings as the other top teams in the division also came away with two losses at the Showcase.
Congratulations to the first 6 winners of the Great Falls Americans special 12 Days of Christmas event where we are drawing a
mystery prize winner each day from December 13th-24th. It is not too late to enter for your chance to win days 7-12 through DASH (QR Code to the left) from the Great Falls Americans “12 days of Christmas” by purchasing a special edition Baldy Christmas Ornament. Get your Baldy ornament and follow our social media to see if you are a winner! The winners so far are:
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1st day of Christmas |
Amber Heck |
Great Falls |
A GFA Knick Knack Package |
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2nd day of Christmas |
Ty and Britney Fayden |
Great Falls |
A Player Signed Game Puck |
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3rd day of Christmas |
Ericka Webb |
Great Falls |
Team Signed Banner |
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4th day of Christmas |
Brenda Zemba |
Anchorage, AK |
Player Signed Mini-Stick Set |
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5th Day of Christmas |
Marnee Averett |
Sidney, MT |
GFA Polo |
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6th Day of Christmas |
Jessica Plemons |
Great Falls |
GFA Baseball Hat |
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all friends and family of the Americans a very safe and Happy Holiday Season. We will take a break next week for Christmas but will be back with a special edition prior to our New Year’s Eve game and look forward to seeing everyone back at the Ice Plex on the 31st as we take on the Butte Irish.
Player Profile – #29 Colton Bacon (Billings, MT) 6’0” 170 lbs. FOR – Shoots Left DOB 05/13/2008
Favorite Team: Edmonton Oilers
Favorite Player: Connor McDavid
Favorite Movie: South Paw
Favorite Actor/Actress: Jake Gyllenhaal
Favorite Food: Lasagna
Favorite Pre-Game Meal: Any type of Pasta
If you were animal: Alligator — always liked them and would be cool.
Musical Group You Won’t Miss in Concert: Treaty Oak Revival
Pre-Game Hype Music: Rock, Rap
One Person to be stuck with on a deserted island: Luke from Outdoor Boys TV
Hobbies other than Hockey: Golf, Pickleball
Three People you would invite to Dinner: Drake, Gavin Adcock, Macklin Celebrini
College/University of Choice: Arizona State University
Like Most About Great Falls: Nice community that is easy to get around.
How would you define a successful season: Making it to the Fraser Cup!
Here are the upcoming dates to add to your calendar:
- December 17th -26th – Christmas Break for all Americans players and
- December 27th – Hockey Day in Americans Practice and youth hockey clinics.
- December 31st – New Years Eve Home game versus 6:05 PM Puck drop.
- January 3rd – Away game at 7:30 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location.
- January 9th – Home Game versus 7:05 PM Puck drop as we wear our special edition Rodeo Jerseys.
- January 10th – Home Game versus 7:05 PM Puck drop as we wear our special edition Rodeo Jerseys.
- January 16th – Away game at 7:00 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location.
- January 17th – Away game at 7:00 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location.
Thank you to our corporate partners for their continued support.
Eagle’s Nest Level
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Diamond Level
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Platinum Level
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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 | MNoel Photography |
| 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 |
| Sip-N-Dip Lounge* | Special Olympics of Montana* | TDS Fiber |
Thank you for being a part of our hockey family!
Matt Leaf
Great Falls Americans HC Inc
MattL.GFAmericans@gmail.com