http://www.amshockey.com/news/article.src?ID=2679

March 20, 2008

Dan Mulhausen Tri-City Americans


KENNEWICK, WA - The Tri-City Americans are proud to announce that several Americans were honored at the 2008 WHL Playoff press conference on Thursday, March 20 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 30 and the 2007-08 WHL Awards Luncheon in Calgary, Alberta. Tri-City, with four nominations, set a franchise record for award nominations in one season.

Chet Pickard was selected as the Western Conference finalist for the Del Wilson Trophy as the League's best goaltender. It marks the second straight season that an Americans' goaltender has been nominated for the award, as Carey Price took home the honor last season. Pickard went 46-12-2-2 during the 2007-08 regular season, becoming just the sixth goaltender in WHL history to win 46 games in a season. Pickard finished the season with a 2.32 goals against average (8th in the League) and a 0.918 save percentage (4th in the League). In his first full season as the starting goaltender, Pickard moved into second on the Americans' all-time wins list (72).

T.J. Fast, the 20-year-old team captain, was selected as the Western Conference finalist for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, awarded to the League's top defenseman. The Calgary, AB native appeared in 71 games in his first full season in the WHL, collecting 17 goals and 54 points to finish fifth in the League in scoring among defensemen. He is the first Tri-City Americans player ever nominated for this award.

Also, Tri-City head coach Don Nachbaur was picked as the Western Conference finalist for the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as Coach of the Year. Since coming to Tri-City, Nachbaur is 186-136-12-6, while picking up his 350th career win earlier this season. Now in his fifth season, Nachbaur is the longest-tenured head coach in Tri-City history. Nachbaur won the award after the 1994-95 season, when his Seattle Thunderbirds team went 42-28-2.

Meanwhile, Bob Tory was selected as a finalist for the Lloyd Saunders Trophy as Executive of the Year for the second straight season. Don Hay was the only other Tri-City executive to win the award. 'Trader Bob' Tory made several key player moves throughout the 2007-08 season, as the Americans went on to set franchise-best marks for wins (52), points (108) and home wins (29) in a single season. Tory made a big trade at the start of the season to bring in forward Jason Reese in exchange for Joel Broda.

Past Americans' WHL Award winners include Stu Barnes (88-89 MVP), Daymond Langkow (94-95 Top Scorer), Brian Boucher (96-97 Goaltender), Carey Price (06-07 Goaltender), Don Hay (98-99 Coach of the Year & Executive of the Year) and Bob Tory (06-07 Executive of the Year).