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Stay-Puft
02-03-2006, 02:31 PM
By Annie Fowler, Herald staff writer

You'll have to forgive the Tri-City Americans for being a little behind the times. But as we all know, it's the thought the counts.

Breast Cancer Awareness month was in October, but the Americans are teaming with Kennewick General Hospital for Breast Cancer Awareness Night tonight when they play host to the Everett Silvertips.

Game time is 7:05 p.m., and fans are encouraged to wear pink.

In honor of the event, the ice at Toyota Center has been tinted pink. The players also will wear pink laces, use pink tape and the first 1,000 fans will receive a pink Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon, courtesy of the Tri-Cities Cancer Center.

Also, a portion of group ticket sales will be donated to the Tri-Cities Cancer Center for breast cancer screening and education. Group tickets still are available through the Americans office.

The pink ice was the brainchild of Brian Sandy, the Americans' chief marketing officer. The ice crew at Toyota Center began the process at 4 a.m. Thursday and was putting the finishing touches on the ice at 4 p.m.

"It's a visual impact for a good cause," Sandy said. "It's a promotion that if it's as good as we hope, it could be an annual promotion. It's a substantial investment for the team (mostly labor costs), but it's not about the cost, but the benefits."

Changing out the ice can be a lengthy and costly endeavor, but the ice was going to be removed after tonight's game for Larry the Cable Guy on Sunday and for the annual meeting and trade show for the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers on Wednesday.

The Americans had to get approval from the Western Hockey League to change the ice, which it was happy to give.

"We have had retro jerseys and stuff like that, but I think this is the first time something has been done to this extreme," said Leroy McKinnon, the WHL's director of communication. "We thought it was a great idea for a great cause. I truly see more teams jumping on this down the road. Kudos to the Americans for being first."

The Americans (21-22-3-3, 48 points) are in third place in the U.S. Division. Everett (29-18-2-1) leads the division with 61 points.

-- Tri-Cities' penalty kill has been flawless the last three games, negating 18 power plays, but one two-minute stretch Wednesday night was spectacular. As Seattle tried to close the gap late in the third on their eighth power play, the Americans' penalty kill unit of forwards Taylor Procyshen and Alex Aldred and defensemen Matt Swaby and Cole Butterfield worked all but 4 seconds of the shift.

It's a shift Butterfield and Swaby won't soon forget.

"That's the longest shift I've ever had," said the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Butterfield. "But I'd do it again any day of the week. That's where I shine. I don't score goals and I don't work the power play."

"We take pride in killing penalties," Swaby said. "You know you are tired, but there's only one job in your mind and that's killing the penalty. We're recharged and looking forward to doing it again."

-- Americans C Donnie Glennie, who was slammed into the boards by Seattle's Clayton Barthel on Wednesday, suffered a concussion and is expected to miss at least a week.

"I feel fine," Glennie said at Thursday's practice. "But I feel pretty bad. I've been playing well and getting more ice time, then I get hurt."

-- Chet Pickard won't be the Americans' lone goalie tonight. General manager Bob Tory was able to borrow Sam Huston from Lethbridge for the weekend while Carey Price allows the stitches on his left knee to heal. Huston, who's been playing for the Port Coquitlam Buckeroos of the Pacific International Junior (B) Hockey League, will wear No. 30. In 26 games, Huston is 5-18-3 with a 4.65 goals against average.

-- Americans RW Juraj Gracik and LW Igor Bacek got a visit from home when their parents traveled from Slovakia and spent 10 days in the Tri-Cities. Bacek's mom Ivana was able to help her son celebrate his 20th birthday Jan. 30. Gracik's parents, Vera and Jozef, got to be with their son Monday when he had his appendix removed. Ivana, Vera and Jozef returned to Slovakia on Thursday.

scamperdog
02-04-2006, 03:15 PM
javascript:ol('http://www.amshockey.com/article.src?ID=1363');

Stay-Puft
02-04-2006, 03:23 PM
The pink ice was a great idea and was for a great cause. They did have problems with the quality of the ice, however. Between periods, they had to add time onto the intermissions for the ice to freeze. During the second intermission, the Zamboni basically just scraped the ice, not much water put down. I don't know if it was the process, or they just didn't give it enough time to set up. There was just a game played on it 48 hours before. The ice was just awful. A lot of players were losing their footing and pucks were coming to a complete halt while in players' possesion. Hopefully they can get the process down better because I think this event will become an annual one.

Brad
02-04-2006, 07:02 PM
Might have been the temp in the building. Seemed pretty warm in the building to me.

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