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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 89: December 30, 2025
PDF Printable Download: Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Dear Great Falls Americans Enthusiast: Welcome to this special final edition of the 2025 calendar year for Baldy’s Puck Drop. I’ll start by wishing everyone a prosperous and happy New Year and sharing the excitement our players and staff are to get back on the ice and see you at the rink New Year’s Eve! The New Year’s Eve game has become a tradition with the Americans as this year we will host the Butte Irish with a 6:05 puck drop. The earlier start allows fans to start their new year’s celebration with an Americans game and then still hit the popular New Year’s Eve parties well before midnight. It is always a fun night at the Ice Plex as our team starts the stretch run with roughly 1/3 of their regular season left to play. Plan on coming out and cheering for the 2nd place Americans.
We wrapped up the Great Falls Americans special 12 Days of Christmas event on Christmas Eve. The activation provided us a chance to give a little something to several of our fans who purchased a special edition “Baldy” Christmas ornament. A mystery prize winner was selected each day from the entries from December 13th-24th. Congratulations to the following winners and thanks for participating:
| 1st day of Christmas | Amber Heck | Great Falls | A GFA Knick Knack Package |
| 2nd day of Christmas | Britney Fayden | Great Falls | A Player Signed Game Puck |
| 3rd day of Christmas | Ericka Webb | Great Falls | Team Signed Banner |
| 4th day of Christmas | Brenda Zemba | Anchorage, AK | Player Signed Mini-Stick Set |
| 5th Day of Christmas | Marnee Averett | Sidney, MT | GFA Polo |
| 6th Day of Christmas | Jessica Plemons | Great Falls | GFA Baseball Hat |
| 7th Day of Christmas | Steve Schwenk | Great Falls | GFA Coffee Mug Set |
| 8th Day of Christmas | Amanda Cronk | Great Falls | GFA Hoodie |
| 9th Day of Christmas | Rex Rigor | Sand Coulee, MT | GFA Scarf |
| 10th Day of Christmas | Kaytlin Smith | Great Falls | GFA Beanie |
| 11th Day of Christmas | Ty and Britney Fayden | Great Falls | GFA Shot Glass Flight |
| 12th Day of Christmas | Jamie Eastwood | Great Falls | Team Signed Photo |
The players and staff had some time off to enjoy the holidays with friends and family – returning to Great Falls on the 26th. The Americans made their 2nd annual trip up to Havre for “Hockey Day in Havre” on Saturday the 27th. The day started with team practice at 10:00 AM followed by three age-appropriate skills sessions with the local Havre Youth Hockey Players. Our players always have fun interacting with the younger youth players and it is a great way to promote our
upcoming game in Havre on February 7th. Thanks to the Havre Youth Hockey Association for welcoming us into their facility and allowing us to work with their future hockey stars.
On Sunday, the Booster Club hosted their annual Christmas Party for the players at the Elks Club in downtown Great Falls. The players participated in a bowling tournament among other games, plus great food and camaraderie. The highlight of the day is always the “Ugly Sweater” Contest with Owen Cronk taking top honors this year. Each player went home with a gift card from the Booster Club, which is much appreciated, and the afternoon provided a great opportunity for the guys to catch up with their teammates after the Christmas break.
A quick update on our player’s health as many of you are aware of some injuries that took place right before the break. EJ Sanchez had successful surgery adding a plate and pins to his collarbone and is on the way to recovery. We hope to have EJ back by the end of February. Colton Bacon and Jaxsen Savage are both cleared to play and should be ready to go for New Year’ Eve. One injury you may not be aware of is Reid Lezubski had an emergency appendectomy during the holidays, so will be out until the latter part of January. All-in-all, we are fairly healthy this time of the year and hope to keep it that way.
Finally, I want to provide everyone with a quick heads up on the January 9th and 10th weekend as we host the division leading Sheridan Hawks and will be wearing a special edition “Rodeo” Jersey that will be auctioned off after the weekend. Just as we take pride in the military presence within our community, we also want to recognize the ranch/rodeo presence that is a huge part of Montana and the Great Falls Culture with the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals taking place in mid-January. The highlight of the jersey is the various brands of local and various Ranchers with Americans’ ties. We’ll have more information in next week’s edition but thought I would give you a sneak peek at the special jerseys so you can save up for an auction bid. The Auction will run through DASH and I can say that the players are very excited to wear these special jerseys – Baldy has never looked better!
Player Profile – #15 Fisher Hannesson (Captain) (Fargo, ND) 6’0” 180 lbs. DEF – Shoots Left DOB 10/18/2005
Favorite Team: Minnesota Wild
Favorite Player: Brad Marchand
Favorite Movie: The Dirt
Favorite Actor/Actress: Steve Carrell
Favorite Food: Whatever my mom makes.
Favorite Pre-Game Meal: Subway Sub
If you were animal: Grizzly Bear — They sleep for half the year.
Musical Group You Won’t Miss in Concert: Cody Johnson
Pre-Game Hype Music: Rock
One Person to be stuck with on a deserted island: My Dad
Hobbies other than Hockey: Motorcycle Riding
Three People you would invite to Dinner: Aaron Jones, Sidney Crosby, Tom Brady
College/University of Choice: University of Mary
Like Most About Great Falls: Cafe Rio.
How would you define a successful season: From being a team to becoming a family!
Here are the upcoming dates to add to your calendar:
- 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 Sheridan. 7:05 PM Puck drop as we wear our special edition Rodeo Jerseys.
- January 10th – Home Game versus Sheridan. 7:05 PM Puck drop as we wear our special edition Rodeo Jerseys.
- January 16th – Away game at Badlands. 7:00 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location.
- January 17th – Away game at Badlands. 7:00 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location.
- January 24th – Home Game versus Butte. 3:35 PM Puck Drop as part of a University of Providence Double Header! Toyota Night!
- February 6th – Away game at Bozeman. 7:30 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location.
- February 7th – Home game versus Butte at the Havre Ice Dome. 7:05 PM Puck drop and join our fans at Buffalo Wild Wings for our official Watch Party location for those who don’t make the trip to Havre.
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