NOTE: A Special Thanks to Kevin Scott for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
| Box Score |
Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
GREAT FALLS, Mont., October 11, 2024 — The #3 Great Falls Americans (6-4-0-0, 12 pts.) and the #5 Badlands (SD) Sabres (4-3-1-1, 10 pts.) met on the ice for the first time during the 2024-25 NA3HL junior hockey season on Friday evening in Great Falls.
This year, Great Falls and Badlands will face each other four times (compared to eight during the 2023-24 season where Great Falls went 5-2-0-1 against the Sabres). In addition to this weekend’s games (October 11-12), the Americans will travel to Rapid City, South Dakota for two games in February (21-22).
After nine contests and five victories, Great Falls is led by returning forward Ty O’Bey and Easton Kennedy with seven goals apiece. Kennedy has the most points (14) for coach Greg Sears’ team and Garren Narvaez is the leader with nine assists.
The Sabres, coached by Brooks Mitzel, has Zach Vockler returning to the team and leads his South Dakota squad with eight goals and 11 points. New Jersey native Patrick Gosselin has a team-high of six assists.
Badlands started the season with two victories against the Yellowstone (WY) Quake, who are still seeking their first win. They are 2-3-1-1 since their opening weekend in September. The Sabres have 14 players back from last year’s team.
Jaden GeRosa and Kurt Mueller performed tonight’s National Anthem using their trumpets.
Easton Kennedy, Blake Komrofske, and Blayne Jusczak each put the biscuit in the basket to lead the #3 Great Falls Americans to a 3-1 win over the visiting Badlands (SD) Sabres on Friday night at the Great Falls Ice Plex. Zach Vockler tallied his eighth goal of the year for the Sabres in the third period.
After the first period concluded, the Americans and the Sabres could not get the puck in the net despite taking 16 total shots.
Despite a slow start by both clubs, Great Falls took a 1-0 advantage late in the second period as Zac Orwig and Matt Beazley found Easton Kennedy open for the goal. The short-handed tally came with 5:35 remaining in the stanza. The host team contributed 18 of the 30 shots-on-goal.
Great Falls took a 2-1 lead after the first six minutes of the third period. EJ Sanchez and Gavin Denis provided their first assists as a member of the Americans as they successfully got the puck to Blake Komrofske, who added his first goal of the season. The Sabres cut into the Americans lead three minutes later as Zack Vockler tacked on his eighth goal with helpers coming from Jonas Farmen and Laurence Lundberg. Blayne Jusczak closed out the game with his second lamplighter with 5:53 remaining off a pass from Fisher Hannesson and Sebe Perez.
Great Falls outshot Badlands 33-20 after the opening period to finish with 41 shots.
Just seven minor infractions were called in the first contest between the Montana and South Dakota opponents. Seven power play chances went unanswered.
Kaden Rhyder improves to 6-3-0-0 after nine games. He was perfect through the first two periods before giving up one in the third to finish with 27 saves. Hunter Oger, the goaltender for the Sabres, made 38 saves in his second loss this season (2-2-0-0).
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: Helena Bighorns (9-1-0-0) standout Austin Uecker prevented the game from going into an extra frame when he scored the lone goal of the contest against the #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (7-3-1-0) on Friday at Steed Arena in Helena, Montana. Uecker’s fifth goal was assisted by Caden Fenstein and Owen Gruener with 13 minutes left before the second intermission. Helena utilized their home ice advantage with 49 shots-on-goal. Malik Johnson, who appeared in the net for Helena six times this season and is now 6-0-0-0, stopped all 18 shots. John Simon’s record fell to 3-2-0-0 and gathered 48 saves for the Hawks (Box Score).
#4 Bozeman Ice Dogs (5-3-0-0) earned a 6-0 shutout road victory over the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-11-0-0) during Friday’s NA3HL action in Cody, Wyoming. Seth Hanson starred for the Ice Dogs by creating two scoring opportunities and dishing out one assist. Tyler Klingbeil scored once and added two assists in Bozeman’s fifth win in eight contests. Jack Ryan (Bozeman) has registered two wins in three games (2-1-0-0) by swatting away all 13 shots by the Quake. Matthew Neeser, who is still searching for his first win for the Quake, had a busy night dealing with Bozeman’s offensive attack. He ended the night with 67 saves (Box Score).
The #6 Gillette (WY) Wild (4-5-1-0) and the #7 Butte Irish (4-5-0-0) are idle this weekend and will return to action next weekend.
NOTES: During the last week, Coach Greg Sears and the Americans added four new players to the team including forward John Lang (Fargo, ND), defenseman Matt Beazley (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) and goaltenders Patrick Forsythe (Balmertown, Ontario, Canada) and Karanveer Kooner from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The Great Falls Americans Booster Club is raffling off “RTIC’ Coolers with three different prizes.
FIRST PRIZE: 52 Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler with freezable divider, 30 can soft pack cooler, large ultra tough tote, (4) 30 oz. tumblers, and Meat Package from Central Avenue Meats.
SECOND PRIZE: 32 Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler with freezable divider, 20 can soft pack cooler, small ultra tough tote, (2) 30 oz. tumblers, and Meat Package from Central Avenue Meats.
THIRD PRIZE: 22 Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler, 12 can soft pack cooler, small ultra tough tote, (2) 30 oz. tumblers, and 10 lbs. of burger from Central Avenue Meats.
The drawing will be held at the October 25th home game against the Butte Irish and you don’t have to be present to win. All proceeds go to the Great Falls Americans hockey team.
Contact Adam Stanczak for tickets at 406-564-6771.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Friday, October 25th: “Think Pink for the Girls” Breast Cancer Awareness Night: The Americans will be wearing special edition pink jerseys and a special figure skating exhibition by the Great Falls Figure Skating Club during the first intermission. Life in Bloom Floral and Gift Boutique and She Bare Wax and Sugar will be raffling off gift baskets with several raffle items. The Great Falls Ice Plex ice will be painted pink. The special edition jerseys (signed by the player) will then be auctioned off with all proceeds going to “Think Pink For the Girls.” The auction will start during the morning of the October 25th and run through Sunday evening, November 3rd. Be sure to register with DASH (QR Code) and be ready to place your bid on your favorite player’s pink jersey for a great cause.
The Americans will donate $1 for everyone in attendance that night (matched by City Chevrolet) and will also offer a special signed and framed 8”x10” team photo in the Pink Jerseys for sale. A very special thanks goes out to Benefis Health-Sletten Cancer Institute for making this all possible as our partner who has made this event possible. Let’s pack the Ice Plex for “Pink” Night!
Saturday, November 2nd: Sled Hockey with the Great Falls Americans and Eagle Mount: A special sled hockey exhibition with the Americans players facing off against the Eagle Mount Therapeutic Recreation athletes. The exhibition (free to the public) will take place from 4PM-5:30PM before the University of Providence Argos game against Utah State at 7:00PM. Come check out sled hockey and support these amazing athletes.
Friday and Saturday, November 22-23: Military Appreciation Weekend: The Great Falls Americans will celebrate “Military Appreciation Weekend” during Friday, November 22nd (against the Bozeman Ice Dogs) and November 23rd versus the Butte Irish.
Season Two of the “Americans Podcast with Jim Quick” premiered on September 5, 2024, with his first guest of the season, Cole Molaski, a forward from Suamico, Wisconsin, who is in his first season with Great Falls. Other players featured this season include Ty O’Bey, Easton and Aiden Kennedy, Sebe Perez and Mercer Twomey. Click here to learn more about Mercer Twomey on the official podcast of the Great Falls Americans. Each podcast will feature one American player as we get to know the team this season. Jim completed 13 episodes during his first season. Fans can listen to the full podcasts from Seasons One and Two by clicking here.
560AM KMON Weekly Radio Interview with Coach Greg Sears: Join KMON Radio Sports Director “Baker Bob” McNamee every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings during the 2024-25 season with Great Falls Americans Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears as he talks about the Americans. The Weekly Radio interview on 560AM KMON in Great Falls can be heard locally every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings during the Hourly Sports Report (6:15AM (MST), 7:15AM (MST), and 8:15AM (MST) live. Click here to listen to the current and previous radio interviews.
AMERICANS PHOTOGRAPHER: Look for game photos from all of the home games from Michael Noel, the Americans Official Photographer by clicking here.
AMERICANS E-NEWSLETTERS: The Americans have two email newsletters for fans to receive in their inbox this season. Kevin Scott, the Americans Media Coordinator, has an Americans E-Newsletter that you can get on Sunday’s during the regular season filled with game summaries, press releases, links, schedule, etc. Click here to subscribe (if you haven’t already).
Americans Owner Matt Leaf creates and sends out a weekly email called “Baldy’s Puck Drop” that features team news, player profile, sponsor information and lots of other tidbits relating to Americans hockey that is published on Thursday mornings. Click here to receive the weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already).
NA3HL MOBILE APP: If you haven’t already, download the NA3HL App available at the App Store and Google Play. Fans can set your favorite team to the Great Falls Americans today and stay up to date with the NA3HL. Click here to download from the App Store (Apple) or click here to download from the Google Play Store (Android).
2024-25 PHOTOS: Check out all the Americans photos throughout the season including some taken by Americans photographer, Michael Noel and Gentle Thug Media’s Tim Ljunggren. Click here to view all the photos from the 2024-25 season.
AMERICANS TEAM STORE: Click here to view the Americans online team store that features a variety of different souvenirs to purchase. A store is available at all home games. AMERICANS GAME TICKETS ONLINE: Fans can also buy game day tickets on the website prior to the game by clicking here.
Please check out the Americans website at www.greatfallsamericans.com for all your updated news, game summaries, rosters, photo galleries, etc.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will challenge the Sabres again on Saturday, October 12th live from the Great Falls Ice Plex at 7:05PM (MST). The game on Saturday is sponsored by Gills Point S Tire and Auto and can be seen through the NA3HL streaming service, NAHLTV.
P. Gibson’s Sports Grill and Casino (1600 Fox Farm Road) is the place to be after Friday and Saturday night home games where the Americans invite their fans and supporters to their post-game dinner.
Buffalo Wild Wings, located at 17 Northwest Bypass in Great Falls, hosts the “Americans Watch Party” this season when the Americans are on the road. Fans are invited to get food and drinks and watch the game.
NAHLTV is the NA3HL’s new streaming platform and is the place to catch all the action for fans that are unable to attend the home and away games this season. Click here to learn more about how to view any of the Americans home and away contests.
Click here for the 2024-25 Great Falls Americans schedule and results.
Additional Media Coverage: October 10, 2024: Baldy’s Puck Drop: Weekly Americans Newsletter by Team Owner, Matt Leaf, Volume 40. Click here to view the newsletter.
Additional Media Coverage: October 9, 2024: 560AM KMON: Weekly Radio Interview by KMON’s “Baker Bob” McNamee with Great Falls Americans Head Coach Greg Sears every week. Click here to listen to the full interviews.
Additional Media Coverage: October 7, 2024: Americans Podcast with Jim Quick: Americans defenseman Mercer Twomey talked hockey with Jim. Click here to listen to all episodes.