Ams trounce Giants 9-1 in fightfest

By Annie Fowler

Christmas is a week away, but the Tri-City Americans played Santa on Friday, delivering a little holiday cheer for the 4,436 fans at Toyota Center.

Kruise Reddick had a goal and three assists and Adam Hughesman and Jordan Messier had two goals apiece as the Americans beat the Vancouver Giants 9-1 in a game that rang up 277 penalty minutes and saw both coaches get tossed.

"It's hockey, anything can happen," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, who won't know until today whether he will be able to coach tonight's game in Everett. "There a lot of passion on the ice -- that's why people come to watch."

Tri-City (19-10-1-1, 40 points) finished with 101 penalty minutes, went 5-for-9 on the power play, and newcomer Paul Sohor, who's been in the league for three years, scored his first WHL goal.

"We went toe-to-toe with them," said Sohor, who has played just three games for Tri-City after being acquired in a trade from Everett last week. "We threw pucks on net and stuck to the game plan, which is important. I'm proud of the way the guys stood up for each other. That's a big step for this team."

Vancouver (16-13-1-4, 37 points) rolled up 176 penalty minutes in a performance that was uncharacteristic for the Giants.

"Over the years, we always seem have a game like this," said Vancouver captain Craig Cunningham. "We got frustrated, and we took out those frustrations on them. It's an emotional game. We have a rule around here -- 2 hours and let it go."

The Americans led 7-0 after two periods, but the second period alone took 51 minutes to play and there was a combined 191 penalty minutes at that point. Vancouver finished the period with eight players and two goalies.

Tri-City, the least penalized team in the league with 450 minutes coming into the game, had 62 minutes after two periods, the majority coming in fights and a couple of 10-minute misconducts.

"It was a good game for our team," Hughesman said. "We scored goals and stood up for each other. We made a statement to the league tonight."

Reddick opened the scoring at 3:22 on the power play, beating Vancouver goalie Brendan Jensen with a blast from the left point.

With the goal, Reddick surpassed Johnny Lazo and Chad Cabana (76 goals) for 16th on the all-time goals list. He also moved to 12th on the all-time scoring list with 222 points.

Messier gave Tri-City a 2-0 lead at 6:08, picking up a rebound off a shot by Reddick and lifting the puck over Jensen's pads.

Just 34 seconds later, Hughesman scored his first of the night, taking a pass up the left boards from Spencer Humphries and beating Jensen glove side. Brendan Shinnimin closed out the first with a power-play goal at 15:46.

Tri-City picked up where it left off early in the second as Hughesman picked up a rebound and lifted the puck into the net at 2:01 on the man advantage for a 5-0 lead.

Sohor scored his first WHL goal -- and first point with the Americans -- on the power play at 5:39 to make it 6-0. Mason Wilgosh made it 7-0 at 12:26 before a slew of penalties had a parade of players marching to the penalty boxes.

James Henry scored Vancouver's lone goal, beating rookie Chris Driedger at 9:53 of third, but David Conrad had the last word for the Americans, scoring a short-handed goal at 10:43.

"Our power play was good tonight and we are continuing to build on positive things," said Hiller whose team has won three straight and eight of its last 10 games. "We've been good for awhile."

Driedger, who came on for starter Drew Owsley at 14:11 of the second, finished with 15 saves.

Owsley, who had 11 saves, picked up his 16th win of the season.

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/1...fightfest.html

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/1...n-the-whl.html