NOTE: A Special Thanks to Michael Noel (above, https://mnoelphotography.smugmug.com) for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
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HELENA, Mont., February 20, 2026 — It has been 76 days since the #3 Great Falls Americans (26-14-1-1) and their Montana rivals, the #2 Helena Bighorns (30-12-1-0) have met in the same venue.
Great Falls topped Helena, 3-1 inside Steed Arena on December 5th. At that time, Great Falls was in second place behind the Sheridan (WY) Hawks and Helena was in the third position. It was “Ethan Miller Night” during the first Friday of December as he scored all three goals to help his team defeat the Bighorns. Cole Murphy made 27 saves in the win. Helena’s only goal occurred in the middle frame as Caden Feinstein found the back of the net.
Since their fifth meeting, Great Falls has topped their opponents in ten of their fifteen games. Helena has gone 14-4-0-0.
After 42 regular season games, Great Falls is led by Ethan Miller’s 34 goals and Cooper Clouse’s 59 assists. AJ Prioli is second on the team in assists with 30. The Bighorns, under head coach Damon Hanson, have played 43 games and are led by Austin Uecker’s 26 goals (51 points) and Caden Feinstein’s 27 assists.
Great Falls finishes out the regular season matchups between their Interstate-15 foes, 2-3-0-1. Although it is not official, it looks like Helena and Great Falls will meet in the first round of the NA3HL Playoffs in a few weeks.
Blake Chapman recorded a hat trick and Ty Schell had a successful scoring play and added two assists as the Helena Bighorns defeated the Great Falls Americans, 8-4 on Friday night inside Steed Arena in Helena, Montana to snap the Americans five game win streak. Great Falls was led with two goals from Ethan Miller and Cooper Clouse assisted on three of the four scoring drives.
Helena took a three-goal lead as the first period came to a close. Blake Chapman accumulated two of this three goals and teammate Ty Schell provided one. Jeffrey Hershberger, Garrett Lindsey, Warren Ryser, Kade Pareja and Caden Feinstein made the assists.
Ethan MIller scored the first two goals of the middle period to pull the visiting Americans to within one goal (3-2). Cooper Clouse assisted on both scoring plays to keep his scoring record in tact for the 31st straight game. Teammate AJ Prioli recorded his 30th assist on Miller’s second score with 5:29 remaining. Over the next two minutes, both Frontier Division squads traded goals. Blake Chapman found the back of the net for the third time with helpers coming from Chase Berg and Maddux Hale. Tallon Caron scored the Americans third goal of the contest with Wyatt Rust and EJ Sanchez collecting the assists. Before the second intermission, Helena’s offense put the home team ahead by two goals. Mason Smith answered with his fifth goal of the year off a pass from Jeffrey Hershberger, who picked up his second assist. Helena outshot Great Falls, 28-21 after two periods.
Austin Tyler and Chase Berg kept the scoring going for the second place team in the Frontier Divison. Ty Schell and Jeffrey Hershberger assisted as did goaltender Branson Appelman. Tyler’s goal within the first 37 seconds of the third frame came on a power play opportunity. Great Falls trailed 7-4 after Reid Lezubkski buried the puck in the net midway through the stanza while Helena was in the sin bin. Cooper Clouse and Fisher Hannesson, the two players that represented the Americans during Monday and Tuesday’s Top Prospects Tournament, accrued the assists. Helena’s Braden Davis netted his 14th goal in the empty net with two minutes left to ensure the Bighorns win. Ty Schell and Mason Smith were each credited with one assist each on the short-handed tally.
Great Falls created twice as many shots (18-9) in the final period to finish with 39. The Bighorns attempted 28 of their shots prior to the second intermission.
Blake Chapman was one of six different players to put the biscuit in the basket for the winning side. Chapman finished the sixth meeting between these rivals with a hat trick (three goals). Ethan Miller’s two goals and Cooper Clouse’s three assists capped off the night for the Americans.
Branson Appelman (9-3-0-0) redirected 35 shots and added one assist to his resume as the Helena netminder allowed four goals in 60 minutes. Kaden Rhyder (15-6-0-1) and backup Gunnar Bergo saw action for the visitors. Rhyder ended the contest with 28 saves while Bergo stopped both of Helena’s shot attampts that he faced in the final ten minutes.
NOTES: Americans forward AJ Prioli was the Frontier Division Star of the Week (First Star) for the week ending February 15, 2026. Prioli helped Great Falls to an 11-0 win over the Gillette Wild, 11-0 by providing a hat trick (3 goals) and two assists in Friday’s home victory. He also assisted twice in a 3-1 win over the Badlands Sabres on Saturday. In 24 games, he has scored 18 goals and dished out 30 assists.
The Americans will be having $10 DASH Day on Tuesday, February 24th with several items available to purchase will only be $10.00 and other
items at reduced prices for that day only. Please scan the QR Code (right) to get activated and participate in this activation.
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 will have their second-to-last regular season away contest against the Bozeman Ice Dogs on Saturday, February 21st starting at 7:30PM (MST) from Haynes Pavilion. The live coverage can be seen live from Bozeman, Montana on NATV.
The Great Falls Ice Plex will host the Americans and the Gillette (WY) Wild for a weekend series on February 28th and March 1st.
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