NOTE: A Special Thanks to Great Falls Americans Facebook for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
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2023 NA3HL Showcase Official Program (PDF)
BLAINE, Minn., December 17, 2023 — For the first twenty-five games of the 2023-24 season, the Great Falls Americans played their other seven opponents in the NA3HL’s Frontier Division.
Great Falls, who are now in their tenth season in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) have 16 wins in 26 games (16-10-0-0, 32 pts.) as they participate in the 2023 NA3HL Showcase Tournament.
The #1 Gillette (WY) Wild (25-1-0-1, 51 pts.) and the #2 Helena Bighorns (22-2-0-0, 44 pts.) are currently the only teams in the Frontier Division ahead of the third-place Americans.
The New Jersey Titans is who the Americans were tested by during the first day of the NA3HL’s three-day annual December tournament. The Titans, based out of Middletown, New Jersey, have 14 wins in 27 contests (14-11-1-1) this season in the East Division, where they sit in third place in the six-team division. Only the Northeast Generals (24-2-0-0) and the Norwich Sea Captains (16-9-1-1) are ahead of them in the standings. New Jersey, under the direction of Andrey Kapranov, are led by Payton Fobes (13 goals scored) and George Hinds (27 assists and 38 overall points).
The Americans and Titans both have met on the ice at the 2021 NA3HL Showcase where Great Falls prevailed 6-2 over the New Jersey NA3HL team. Click here to see the story from that game.
Great Falls Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears has five returning players coming back from the 2022-23 season in his sixth season as the team’s head mentor. Aaron Leaf (5 goals, 8 assists), Phil Harrell (2 goals, 12 assists), Sam Duehlmeier (3 goals, 7 assists), and Noah Osiowy (1 assist). Goaltender Ryan Stowe is 7-2-0-0 in 12 games with 310 saves (336 attempts) and a save percentage of 0.923. Additionally, a pair of newcomers lead the pack for the Americans with Ty O’Bey leading with 21 assists and 38 points while Dmitri Kuleshov tops with 21 goals scored.
The Showcase tournament that runs from December 17 through December 19 at the NSC Super Rink in Blaine Minnesota is held yearly in the month of December. The event held before the league takes their winter break offers all 34 teams across five divisions (East, Frontier, Central, West and South) a chance to compete with teams outside of their normal division. Each squad plays three games that do count in the overall standings with many NCAA and ACHA college scouts in attendance. Great Falls will be the home team in their Sunday game against the New Jersey Titans and will also close out the tournament as the designated home team against the Louisiana Drillers on Tuesday. The Minnesota-based Alexandria Blizzard will serve as the home team on the scoreboard for Monday’s tilt with Great Falls.
The #3 Great Falls Americans (16-10-0-0, 3rd in Frontier) received two goals from Aiden Kennedy and Sebe Perez and that was enough to win their 16th game of the season by downing the New Jersey Titans 14-11-1-1, 3rd in East), 2-1 during the first day of action at the 2023 NA3HL Showcase Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota on Sunday evening.
George Hinds of the Titans, New Jersey’s leading assist maker and points scored, netted his eleventh goal to help his team take the early 1-0 lead after the first period. Collin Smargon earned his fifth assist for New Jersey. Both teams combined for 17 first period shots.
In the middle period, the Americans successfully put the puck in the net once. Tariq Khan and Sam Duehlmeier tacked on their sixth and seventh assists, respectively on the Aiden Kennedy lamplighter for the only goal of the middle period by either squad. Great Falls’ offense secured 27 shots while holding New Jersey to nine before the second intermission.
Great Falls’ Sebe Perez broke the tie off a pass from Aiden Kennedy, who scored in the second frame within the first three minutes of the third period. Perez’s goal proved to be the eventual game winner as the Titans offense was shut down for the final 17 minutes of regulation.
Great Falls outshot New Jersey in two of the three periods for a total of 33. The Titans took 10 of their 19 in the final frame.
The Americans, the home team on the scoreboard, had six minor infractions with half of them occurring in the second stanza. Eight minor penalties were whistled against New Jersey. Both squads converted one of their power play chances.
Ryan Stowe won his seventh game in twelve appearances (7-2-0-0) by redirecting 18 of the 19 shots he faced by the NA3HL’s East Division squad. New Jersey’s Aidan Patterson lost his second game in three appearances. The Arizona native finished with 31 saves.
Click here for more information about the tournament that will feature many college and junior scouts in attendance or see the league press release and full results from Day 1 by clicking here.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE AT NA3HL SHOWCASE: Here are the following daily game recaps from the Frontier Division teams during Day 1 action (Sunday) at the 2023 NA3HL Showcase.
Logan Motz scored first for the Texas Roadrunners (16-6-3-0, 3rd in the South) early in the first period but Helena Bighorns (22-2-0-0, 2nd in the Frontier) offense showed why they are the #2 seed in the Frontier Division and one of the top clubs in the NA3HL when they outscored the #3 team in the South Division, 4-0 over three periods of play for the 4-1 win. Helena’s Camden Cunningham scored one goal and dished out two assists for the Bighorns. Jason Hammett, Joe Feamster and Finn Theriault also scored for the winning side. The winning goalie was Alex Lamont, who stopped 13 of 14 shots to improve his record to 8-1-0-0. Meanwhile, Texas netminder Jimmy Packee lost for just the second time this season (7-2-0-0). He allowed four goals but ended the game with 27 saves (Box Score).
The Wisconsin Woodsmen (10-9-1-2, 4th in the Central) scored five goals over the final two periods to blank the Badlands (SD) Sabres (9-12-2-2, 5th in Frontier), 5-0 on the opening day of the Showcase Tournament. Hunter Nelson registered two goals while Daniels Ratkevics and Landen Schwantes provided one goal and one assist apiece for the Wisconsin junior hockey team. In ten games, Dixon Ehlers has five wins for the Woodsmen (5-3-0-2) and stopped all 18 shots by the Sabres. Meanwhile Hunter Oger is still searching for his second win for Badlands. Oger (1-5-1-1) made 41 saves in the setback (Box Score).
The Austin (TX) Ice Bats (2-24-2-0, 8th in South) needed an overtime against the Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-23-2-0, 8th in Frontier) to defeat the Wyoming team, 2-1. Both teams took just 20 shots-on-goal in the first two scoreless periods. Leo Carter scored the first goal for the Quake with 6:18 left in regulation on the unassisted tally. Gavin Spears got the puck to Rex Kronick for the game-tying score for Austin that would send the contest into a five-minute extra period. Dylan Blouin scored the game winning goal in overtime to give the Ice Bats their second victory of the season. Gavin Spears added another assist and Sebastian Hale chipped in his first of the game. Bryson Frazee (1-10-2-0) needed 15 games before picking up his first win for the Ice Bats. He ended the night with 19 saves. John Hughes got the start and played the first period stopping all six shots before being replaced by John Simon, who stopped 15 of 17 shots. Simon was credited with the loss (0-6-1-0) (Box Score).
The Willmar (MN) WarHawks (7-20-1-0, 5th in West) led the Butte Irish (8-17-0-0, 7th in Frontier) 7-0 for the first 57 minutes before the Irish got on the scoreboard. Alex Ulyanov scored with three minutes remaining to prevent the shutout by the WarHawks. Corbin Breen and William Takla added the assists for Butte. The duo of Tyler Misialek and Hudson Zinda each tallied two goals in the 8-1 win for Willmar. Willmar’s Jesse Easterwood accrued 20 saves as he picked up his third win in December (3-9-0-0). Braylon Rogers of Butte played 32 minutes and saw his record fall to 4-6-0-0 overall. Rogers and Nicholas Ulyanov teamed up for 38 saves in the loss (Box Score).
The top-ranked team in the Frontier Division, the Gillette (WY) Wild (25-1-0-1) escaped with a 3-2 win in a shootout during the opening day of the Showcase Tournament over the Wausau (WI) Cyclones (19-5-0-1, 2nd in Central). Wausau’s Anderson Brien scored the lone first goal in the first period as the Cyclones led 1-0 after two periods of action. Two minutes into the third period, Wylee Gladen collected his tenth goal with helpers from Ryan Hipsag and Josef Lalli to even the score (1-1). Adam Severson gave Gillette their first lead of the game with three minutes remaining with Ryan Hipsag gathering his second assist of the night and Isaac Young also getting credit for an assist. The Wild led until the final four seconds of the game when the Cyclones scored to send it to an extra period. Gabe Randel scored the goal with assistance from John Kriz and Ricky Nelson. Neither team acquired any goals in the five-minute overtime, so a shootout was needed. Gillette’s Isaac Young was the only player to successfully score one-on-one against Wausau goalie Tanner Bonjernoor for the win. Weston Gerke is now 8-0-0-0 on the season for the Wild. He stopped 27 of 29 shots by the Cyclones. Tanner Bonjernoor (4-2-0-1) finished with 34 saves (Box Score).
The Sheridan (WY) Hawks (9-16-1-1, 6th in Frontier) led 5-2 after the first forty minutes against the Mid Cities (TX) Jr. Stars (4-23-0-0, 7th in South). Mac Billings, Tanner Freed, Peter Bird, Caleb Murray, and Kiefer Dunham each added goals to their resume for the Hawks. Sheridan and Mid Cities each provided one additional goal in the third as the Hawks topped the Stars 6-3. Jackson Stubblefield scored for the Stars and Mac Billings secured his second goal of the contest with Tanner Freed and Elijah White setting up the sixth goal for Sheridan. Aiden Knox (30 saves) improved to 3-3-0-0 for Sheridan. Mid Cities utilized two goalies, Cole Eckert (12 saves) and Jack Elliott (19 saves). Elliott took his fourth loss of the season (0-4-0-0) (Box Score).
Five different Bozeman Ice Dogs (15-11-0-1, 4th in Frontier) lit up the lamp in their 5-2 win over the Minnesota Loons (2-22-1-1, 6th in West) on Sunday night. Joe Kline, Aidan Clements, Spencer Wilkinson, Bodie Shepardson, and Mason Czarnecki put in the goals needed for Bozeman’s victory. Minnesota’s Kyler Couture scored both goals for the Loons in the second and third periods, respectively. Isaac Weatherford has played in seven games but now has his first victory for the Ice Dogs (1-1-0-0) by getting 16 stops. Minnesota’s Alex Harden (0-5-0-0), who had 27 saves, continues to seek his first win with the Loons (Box Score).
The Frontier Division went 5-2-1-0 during the first day of action.
NOTES: Great Falls Americans coach Greg Sears is one victory shy of 300 victories in his coaching career. He could accomplish that milestone before the Christmas break by winning two of the three games at the 2023 NA3HL Showcase starting on Sunday, December 17 when the Americans will be at the prestigious tornament in Blaine, Minnesota for three days.
The Americans had two players receive Honorable Mention honors for the weekly “NA3HL Stars of the Week” for the week ending December 10, 2023. Forward Cade Bendigo and defenseman Ty Brander were the honorees for Great Falls for their play against the Yellowstone (WY) Quake on the road last week. Click here for more information.
In this week’s “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletter, Americans team owner Matt Leaf has a player profile of forward Zac Orwig, Americans travel plans to the NA3HL Showcase, sponsor information, and recognition of Cade Bendigo and Ty Brander as Honorable Mention “Stars of the Week” honors in the NA3HL from this past week. Click here to view this past week’s newsletter and all the weekly “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletters.
Check out all the Americans photos throughout the season with many of the game action photos taken by Americans photographer, Dustin Bauer. Click here to view all the photos from the 2023-24 season.
Click here to view the Americans online team store that features a variety of different souvenirs to purchase. A store is available at all home games. Fans can also buy game day tickets on the website prior to the game by clicking here.
Please check out the Americans website at www.greatfallsamericans.com for all your updated news, game summaries, rosters, photo galleries, etc.
AMERICANS NA3HL SHOWCASE WATCH PARTY: The Stadum Bar and Casino, located at 1121 5th Street South in Great Falls, hosts the “Americans Watch Party” this season when the Americans are on the road (including the Showcase Tournament). Fans are invited to get food and drinks and watch the game.
After the Christmas break, the Americans will travel to Butte, Montana for two games against the Irish on January 5-6 before Great Falls returns to the friendly confines of the Great Falls Ice Plex for two games against the Bozeman Ice Dogs on January 12-13. Click here for the 2023-24 Great Falls Americans schedule and results.
NAHLTV is the place to catch all the Great Falls Americans contests all season long. Click here to learn more about how to watch any of the Americans NA3HL junior hockey games on NAHL TV during the 2023-24 season.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will play the Minnesota-based Alexandria Blizzard (5:15PM MST or 6:15PM CST on Monday, December 18th on Day 2 of the 2023 NA3HL Showcase Tournament from the National Sports Center (NSC) Super Rink. The Blizzard, with a record of 16-5-1-1 sits in third place (out of six teams) in the West Division. The Blizzard defeated the El Paso (TX) Rhinos 7-2 with four goals coming in the middle period (box score) on Sunday.
The Americans will finish out the tournament with a 11:00AM (MST) Tuesday, December 19th contest battling the Louisiana Drillers. Click here to read the full story and schedule.
Additional Media Coverage: December 14, 2023: Baldy’s Puck Drop: Weekly Americans Newsletter by Team Owner, Matt Leaf, Volume 15. Click here to view the entire inaugural newsletter.
Story Courtesy: North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL): West and Frontier Divisions lead the way on Day 1 of Showcase (December 17, 2023)
Americans Head Coach Greg Sears talks with the NA3HL about the win on Sunday against the New Jersey Titans.
Greg Sears speaks following his club's win on day one pic.twitter.com/P47gVTAcXw
— NA3HL (@NA3HL) December 18, 2023