NOTE: A Special Thanks to Michael Noel (above, https://mnoelphotography.smugmug.com) for providing the photo.
By Kevin Scott
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GREAT FALLS, Mont., January 9, 2026 — The NA3HL’s top team in the Frontier Division, the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (23-8-2-1, 51 pts.) came to town to face the Great Falls Americans (20-10-1-1, 42 pts.), who entered the contest in second place in the division on Friday night in Great Falls.
Both teams each won two of their four matchups this season including a Great Falls 3-1 home victory on October 24th.
The Wyoming-based Hawks, guided by head coach JJ Santagata, is led by Vincent Leaf, a forward from Des Moines, Iowa, who leads the team in goals scored (26), assists (30) and points (56) in 31 games this season. He is one of 14 returning players from last season’ squad.
A pair of forwards, Cooper Clouse and Ethan Miller, continue to pace head coach Greg Sears’ team this season. In 31 appearances, Clouse has 40 assists resulting in 55 total points while Miller, who is second in total points (44), has registered 21 goals in 20 games after joining the Americans in October 2025.
The Americans are trying to distance themselves from their rivals, the Helena Bighorns (20-10-1-0), who trail the Americans by a single point (39) in the NA3HL Frontier Division standings with nine weeks remaining in the 2025-26 regular season. Could they get a third win over their Wyoming counterparts on home ice?
The Great Falls Americans led 2-0 after the first period and outscored the Sheridan (WY) Hawks, 2-1 over the final two periods for a 4-1 victory over the Frontier Division leaders during Friday’s NA3HL action at the Great Falls Ice Plex. Ethan Miller, Cooper Clouse, AJ Prioli and newcomer Jordan Murray all scored one goal and dished out one assist apiece for the Americans 20th win of the season and tenth on home ice.
Great Falls needed 62 seconds to get their first score of the night. Ethan Miller, the team’s leading scorer, successfully got his 21st goal of the season with Tallon Caron and Americans assist leader, Cooper Clouse adding the helpers. The Americans increased their lead (2-0) seven minutes later when newcomer Jordan Murray, who came over from the Yellowstone Quake, answered for his first goal in his first night with his new team. Fisher Hannesson and AJ Prioli gathered the assists. The Americans tallied 21 of the 34 shots-on-goal in the opening stanza.
Sheridan’s Jake Vukich got the visiting Hawks on the scoreboard in the middle period with Caden Gleason and Jeff Slivon setting up the first scoring drive for Wyoming. Vukich, who calls Rogers, Minnesota home, received his first goal with Sheridan in addtion to his two goals when he was with the Granite City (MN) Lumberjacks to start the season. Great Falls scored their third goal before the second intermission when Tallon Caron and Gordon Jennings found a way to get the puck to Cooper Clouse, who put in his 15th lamplighter of the season with 49 seconds left.
In the final frame, the host team took advantage of Sheridan being in the sin bin midway through the period and AJ Prioli, who earned the Frontier Division (3rd) Star of the Week for his play last week against the Butte Irish, sailed the puck over the Hawks netminder, Wyatt Knott for the final goal of the contest. Jordan Murray and Ethan Miller each earned an assist after scoring in the first stanza.
Sheridan attempted 13 or more shots in each of the three regulation period to finish with 48. Great Falls was held to 18 total shots in the final two periods after accruing 21 in the opening period.
Great Falls ended their fifth head-to-head meeting with Sheridan by going 1-for-2 on power play that resulted in six minutes spent off the ice. The Hawks could not convert their two power play opportunities.
Kaden Rhyder (10-4-0-1) won his third game in four opportunities against the Hawks by stopping 47 shots for his tenth overall victory of the season in the net for the Americans. Sheridan’s Wyatt Knott, playing in his first season for the Hawks, made 35 saves. The Minnesota goaltender fell for the second time to the Americans and saw his record fall to 5-4-0-0 in 11 appearances.
NOTES: Earlier this week, it was announced that the Great Falls Americans will resume their December 6th home game against the Bozeman Ice Dogs that was suspended due to an injury that occurred on the ice. The December home contest was stopped with 8:30 remaining in the third period with the Ice Dogs leading 2-1 and the Americans about to begin a five-minute power play. Fans are welcome to join us for the remainder of the game slated to begin at 2:00PM (MST) on Friday, January 23rd at the Great Falls Ice Plex that will be FREE to the public. Click here for the game update information.
The Americans wore special edition “Rodeo” jerseys to this weekend’s games against Sheridan. The Great Falls NA3HL team recognizes not
only the military but also the ranch/rodeo culture in Montana. Next weekend (January 15-17), the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals are back in town for their annual January date at Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls.
The Americans will be auctioning off the jersey through DASH (QR code) starting Friday (January 9) through Wednesday (January 14). Place your bid using the QR Code on the right. Central Avenue Meats and Hoglund’s Work and Western Wear are sponsoring the jerseys for this weekend’s game. Fans can find more information (including the rodeo brands) in this week’s “Baldy’s Puck Drop.”
Americans forward AJ Prioli was the Frontier Division Star of the Week (3rd Star) for the week ending January 4, 2026. The forward from
Weymouth, Massachusetts scored half of the Americans goals (3) and dished out one assist in their 6-2 romp over the Butte Irish on December 31st in Great Falls and then gathered an assist in their January 3rd clash in Butte, Montana in a 6-3 victory. He now has 12 goals and 16 assists in 15 games.
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).
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls and Sheridan will finish out their sixth and final regular season meeting on Saturday, January 10th when both teams square off at 7:05PM (MST) inside the Great Falls Ice Plex. Great Falls leads the season series, 3-2. NATV will provide the live coverage.
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom (1101 7th Street South) 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.
NATV 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.
For complete schedules/results, promotions, team stats, rosters and much more information, please go to our official website: www.greatfallsamericans.com