By Kevin Scott
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BOZEMAN, Mont., January 26, 2024 — It has been two weeks since the Great Falls Americans (16-16-0-1) have played after their bye week last weekend.
The fourth-ranked Americans ran into trouble with the #3 Bozeman Ice Dogs (22-13-0-1) for their weekend series at the Great Falls Ice Plex. The Ice Dogs bested the home team, 3-2 in both contests. The difference was Friday’s (January 12) game was lost in a shootout and Saturday’s (January 13) ended in regulation.
In Friday’s shootout loss, Great Falls’ Masen Kerr and Jacob James scored in regulation for the Americans and Mason Czarnecki scored two goals for the Ice Dogs to send the contest into a five-minute overtime where neither team could score during the five-minute extra session. Kody Wallenberg and Braden Koliha scored on their one-on-one attempts against Great Falls netminder Kaden Ryhder (37 saves). Bozeman goalie Sean Smer (43 saves) denied the attempts by Great Falls’ Phil Harrell and Ty O’Bey for the Ice Dogs victory (game story).
Tyler Klingbeil’s two goals put the Ice Dogs out in front, 2-1 after two periods. Zac Orwig scored the game’s first goal in the first period for the Americans during the weekend finale between these two Montana rivals on Saturday (January 13th). Ty O’Bey evened the score (2-2) early in the third before Bozeman lit up the lamp with a Bodie Shepardson tally that was the eventual game-winner. Sean Smer had 44 saves in Bozeman’s win. Noah Van Herik had 42 saves for Great Falls in the loss (game story).
Last weekend (January 19-20), the Ice Dogs visited Cody, Wyoming and easily defeated the Yellowstone Quake, 6-3 and 5-2 and are now twelve points (45-33) ahead of Great Falls for third place in the Frontier Division.
Great Falls Americans Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears is sitting at 299 career wins at the junior level before tonight’s contest. Would he be able to reach the milestone?
The #3 Bozeman Ice Dogs overcame a 1-0 deficit in the first period to beat the #4 Great Falls Americans, 4-2 to extend the Americans losing streak to seven games during Friday’s NA3HL Frontier Division action at Haynes Pavilion in Bozeman, Montana.
Ty O’Bey scored his 20th goal of the season off the stick of Dmitri Kuleshov with 93 seconds remaining before the first intermission to lead the visiting Americans to a one-goal advantage. Kuleshov received his 13th assist in his first game back after playing for Team Australia at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championships in Serbia last week.
The Ice Dogs evened the score on a Sam Ingram goal with 5:48 remaining in the middle period. The Colorado native’s fifth goal came with a helper from teammate Magnus Lowham, who received his fourth assist. The NA3HL Frontier Division rivals collected 24 shots-on-goal apiece after the first forty minutes.
Bozeman broke open the scoring with three consecutive goals in a 4:35 span during the last period. Andrew Kaunas, Mason Czarnecki and Casey Sturm each registered a goal for the host team. Five members of the Ice Dogs received assists including Casey Sturm, Wes Innes, Bodie Shepardson, Kody Wallenberg, and Bryce Sturm. Great Falls put in one additional score before the time expired. Newcomer Garrett Driscoll, playing in his first game with Great Falls after playing 18 games with the NA3HL’s Texas Brahmas this season, put the biscuit in basket with five minutes left as Zac Orwig gathered his ninth assist.
Despite the setback, Great Falls outshot the Ice Dogs, 19-10 in the third frame for a total of 43 shots-on-goal while holding the home team to 34.
The winning team had nine minor penalties resulting in 18 minutes spent in the sin bin. Great Falls racked up nine of their twelve penalties in the final period resulting in 63 minutes spent off the ice.
Both Frontier Division teams did not commit many penalties. The NA3HL on-ice officials called six total infractions. The Ice Dogs went 1-for-3 while Great Falls went 0-for-1.
Matthew Ryynanen (14-11-0-1) picked up his third win against Great Falls this season by stopping 41 shots and allowing two goals as the netminder for Bozeman. Great Falls’ Kaden Ryhder (9-7-0-1) fell for the third time (0-2-0-1) in the month of January by acquiring 30 saves.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: Ty Moore and Gavin Barr combined for four goals as the top-ranked Helena Bighorns (33-2-0-0) stormed past the #7 Butte Irish (14-21-1-0), 7-2 inside the Butte Community Ice Center on Friday. Patrick Crooks and Weston Villers accrued the goals for Butte. Alex Lamont (19 saves) is now 11-1-0-0 on the season including three victories in January. Former Great Falls American goaltender Adler Hoagland (1-5-0-0) contributed 23 saves in his second outing with the Irish after going 0-4-0-0 to start the season with Great Falls (Box Score).
Davis Paulsen, Isaac Young, and Matt Siems combined for six goals as the #2 Gillette (WY) Wild (31-4-0-1) went on the road to earn the dominating 10-0 victory over the winless #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-33-3-0) on Friday night in Cody, Wyoming. Gillette outshot the Quake, 107-16 with 46 coming in the opening period. Domnic Hite (6-0-0-0) had an easy night preventing six shots from going into the net. John Hughes took the loss (0-11-2-0) with 94 saves. Joseph DaRosa (three saves) also saw action in the net for Yellowstone (Box Score).
The #5 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (15-19-1-1) overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the #6 Badlands (SD) Sabres (12-16-3-3) 4-3 on the road in Rapid City, South Dakota on Friday evening. Daniil Viscu (Sheridan) led all scorers with two goals. Kiefer Dunham and Caleb Murray produced one goal each in the third for Wyoming. Ole Svangstu, Zach Vockler, and Peyton Wilson all lit up the lamp for the Sabres. Zach Broxterman won his fifth game (5-10-1-1) in 18 appearances by stopping 26 shots for the Hawks. Badlands netminder Hunter Oger (1-7-1-1) contributed 52 saves in the loss (Box Score).
NOTES: Americans forward Dmitri Kuleshov got back this week from playing for Team Australia at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championships (Division II, Group B) held in Belgrade, Serbia from January 14-20. Team Australia In five contests, Kuleshov, originally from Sydney Australia, scored three goals and dished out two assists to lead his country to a 2-3-0-0 record (fourth overall finish). Congrats to Dmitri for representing his country.
In this week’s “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletter, Americans team owner Matt Leaf has a player profile of Aiden Kennedy, another “mystery box” promotion and a special Valentine’s Day auction. Check out the newsletter for more information. Click here to view this past week’s newsletter and all the weekly “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletters.
Great Falls Americans Team Owner and President Matt Leaf was the special guest during Comparion Insurance’s “In Our Neighborhood” visual podcast that was done recently at the Great Falls Ice Plex. Co-Hosts Todd Neighbor and Janet Duffy talked with Matt about a variety of topics regarding Great Falls Americans hockey and the Great Falls Ice Plex. A Special Thanks to Todd Neighbor and Janet Duffy of Comparion Insurance, one of the Americans proud supporters and sponsors this season. Be sure to check them out for any of your insurance needs!!! Click here to watch the videos.
The NA3HL released their all-new and updated App this week for the App Store and Google Play. Download and 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).
Check out all the Americans photos throughout the season including some taken by Americans photographer, Dustin Bauer. Click here to view all the photos from the 2023-24 season.
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. 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 face Bozeman for their final regular season matchup on Saturday, January 27th. Bozeman’s Haynes Pavilion will be the site for the 7:30PM (MST) game that can be seen live on NAHLTV. To learn more about how to watch the Americans in action on NAHL TV, please click here.
Great Falls will return to the Great Falls Ice Plex for a 7:00PM (MST) contest against the top-ranked Helena Bighorns on Friday, February 2nd,
Click here for the 2023-24 Great Falls Americans schedule and results.
Additional Media Coverage: January 25, 2024: Baldy’s Puck Drop: Weekly Americans Newsletter by Team Owner, Matt Leaf, Volume 20. Click here to view the entire inaugural newsletter.