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HAF
03-18-2007, 03:53 PM
Tri-City Americans News

Write It Down; Tri-City Sets Franchise Record for Wins
March 17, 2007

Dan Mulhausen Tri-City Americans

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KENNEWICK, WA - Home-ice advantage in the first-round of the Play-offs...70 games played. Defeating your archrival to set a franchise record for wins in a season...Priceless.

Hollywood writers could not have scripted a better finish to the Tri-City Americans (46-23-1-1, 94 pts) regular home season, as the Americans stormed back, scoring four unanswered goals to down the rival Spokane Chiefs (35-28-4-4, 78 pts) 5-3 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. The 5,164 fans in attendance witnessed history in the making as Tri-City recorded their franchise-best 46th win and 94th point of the season against the team Americans' fans loves to hate. The previous record of 45 wins was set back during the 1995-96 season and included future NHL stars Daymond Langkow and Brian Boucher.

With all remaining play-off spots decided after last night's contests, Saturday's match-up with the Chiefs was merely for bragging rights. And, the Chiefs were heard from to start the contest.

While on the power play at the 8:01 mark of the first period, Spokane's Drayson Bowman notched his 22nd goal of the season on a delayed penalty. It was Bowman's first goal since February 2 against Calgary. But, Tri-City answered back eight minutes later. With 3:47 left to play in the first period, Taylor Procyshen made it a 1-all game. Procyshen took a T.J. Fast pass and fired a slap shot from the right circle for his first of two goals on the night.

The game remained tied at one until the halfway point of the second period. In a true series of unfortunate events during a Tri-City power play, goaltender Chet Pickard attempted to clear the puck, but could not corral it. Spokane's Levko Koper hustled in to poke the puck, which deflected off a Tri-City defenseman and slide innocently into the net for a shorthanded goal. Then, four minutes later, Spokane made it 3-1 when Derek Ryan let a shot go from the mid-point and slipped between Pickard's legs.

Down, but not out, Tri-City rallied to register four unanswered goals to collect the victory.

With only 2:47 remaining in the second period, Tri-City's Aaron Boogaard was able to slip the puck between Spokane net minder Kevin Armstrong'��s left skate and the post to pull the Americans to within one at 3-2. Then, just 10 seconds later, rookie Erik Felde notched his first of two goals on the night to pull Tri-City even at 3-apiece.

In the third period, Tri-City took the lead for good. At the 5:43 point of the final period, Procyshen showed off his skating moves, maneuvering around several Spokane defenders, and then tallied his league-best sixth shorthanded goal of the season. Felde then capped the scoring with 58 seconds remaining on an empty net goal to send the fans into a frenzy. While recording his 16th win of the season, Pickard finished with 28 saves on 31 shots faced. Meanwhile, Armstrong collected 19 of the 23 shots he saw in the contest. The Chiefs were 1-for-11 on the power play, while Tri-City finished 0-for-5 on the man-advantage.

In a first-round Play-off preview, the Americans will travel to Key Arena to wrap-up the 2006-07 regular season on Sunday, March 18 and face-off against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The two teams will finalize their eight-game regular season series, before they start their best-of-seven play-off series on Friday, March 23 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. Game time is 5:05 PM for Sunday's contest. You can catch all the action this Sunday, and all season long, at the Toyota Center in Kennewick as well as live on NewsTalk 870 AM. The broadcast starts with the Budweiser Warm-Up Show, which begins 15 minutes before game time. Play-off tickets are available through all TicketsWest outlets, including Red Lion Hotels, by calling 1-800-325-SEAT (7328), or by visiting the Americans website at www.amshockey.com.

Notes:
After the game, the Tri-City Americans handed out their 2006-07 year-end player awards. The following is a list of this year's recipients:

Scholarship Award: Tyler Schmidt
Todd Klassen Memorial Award: Taylor Procyshen
Community Leader Award: Shaun Vey and Alex Aldred
Most Gentlemanly: Taylor Procyshen
Most Inspirational: Alex Aldred
Most Improved: Joel Broda and Shaun Vey
Unsung Hero: Kruise Reddick
Rookie of the Year: Juraj Valach and Tyler Schmidt
Best Defenseman: Matt Swaby
Plus/Minus Leader: Taylor Procyshen
Leading Scorer: Colton Yellow Horn
MVP Award: Colton Yellow Horn and Carey Price
Volunteer of the Year: Pete Hopkins and Bryan Bentrup
Corporate Sponsor of the Year: ConAgra Foods/Lamb Weston

Contact: Dan Mulhausen (http://66.119.213.114/contact/contact.src?Sendto=30)

Scout
03-20-2007, 07:33 PM
The 2006-07 regular season proved a successful one for the club both on and off the ice. Some highlights...

* The club's 47 wins was the most by a Tri-City Americans team; besting the 45 win mark set by the 1995-96 team. It was also the highest for the franchise since the 1971-72 Calgary Centennials won 49.

* The club's 96 point total was also the highest by a Tri-City Americans team beating the 92 point outings in 1995-96 and 1998-99.

* The 190 goals against this season was also the best by a Tri-City Americans team.

* The 14 game home winning streak the club ended the season with is also the best in team history.

* Colton Yellow Horn's 40 goal season was the first by an American since Eric Johannson scored 44 in 2001-02.

* Completing his 4th season with the team, Don Nachbaur is the only coach in team history to last 4 seasons.

* Off the ice, the team, through charity fund raising or direct charity donations from the team, put over $200K back into the Tri-Cities community.