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The Great Falls Americans were happy to be back on home ice in front of a nice crowd of 710 who witnessed the Americans skating away with a 7-0 shutout win over the Bozeman Ice Dogs Friday night at the Ice Plex.

GREAT FALLS, Mont., September 26, 2014 — After an 8-2 opening weekend victory over the Glacier Nationals last Saturday in Havre, Montana, the Americans were happy to be back on home ice in front of a nice crowd of 710 who witnessed the Americans skating away with a 7-0 shutout win over the Bozeman Ice Dogs on Friday night at the Great Falls Ice Plex.

The Great Falls Americans scored a lot of goals last year.rnrnTonight the team will put pucks in the pockets of its appreciative fans in a season-opening promotion at the IcePlex.rnrnCoach Jeff Heimel’s Americans, 1-0 in the NA3HL following an 8-2 triumph Saturday night in Havre, meet the Bozeman Ice Dogs tonight at 7:30. It’s the first of more than 20 games on home as the Americans, 36-9-3 a year ago in the regular season and ultimately 39-13-3, seek more success.rnrn“We’re still riding the high horse from last year. What a great season it was,” said team opener Jim Keough. “We really appreciate our fans and tonight the first 600 will get a puck with our schedule on it. It’s a Howards Pizza promotion. And we also have a ‘we-win, you-win’ with Big Macs from McDonald’s.”

rnHAVRE, Mont., September 20, 2014 — The Great Falls Americans opened up their first season in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) by posting a 8-2 win over the Glacier Nationals on the road at the Havre Ice Arena on Saturday night in front of 375 fans who witnessed their first junior hockey game. Great Falls’ offense lit up the Nationals defense throughout the evening including a four-goal second period. rn

By Steve Schreck, sschreck@greatfallstribune.com (hockey Sports Writer)rnrnrnrn Saturday, September 20, 2014rnrnrnrnHockey in Havre starts tonight.rnrnrnFor visiting teams, that is not a good combination.rnrnrnrnWhen people around the game of hockey talk about the happenings inside the Havre Ice Dome, it almost sounds like an urban legend.rnrn

By Steve Schreck, sschreck@greatfallstribune.com (Hockey Sports Writer)rnrnMaybe more unbelievable than the Great Falls Americans’ turnaround in recent years, the hockey season is a mere three days away.rnrn“It’s a quick offseason, I guess,” Americans head coach Jeff Heimel said. “… I was joking on Saturday, when we were playing in the preseason (game in Helena), with Blake (Page), our assistant coach, I’m like, ‘I feel like we were just here for the playoff game.’ ”rnrnThey were.

GREAT FALLS, Mont., September 12, 2014 — The Great Falls Americans opened up their 2014-15 season as a new member of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) with an exhibition game against the Helena Bighorns on Friday night in Great Falls. Great Falls picked up a 3-1 victory over rival Helena as three different players added goals.