NOTE: A Special Thanks to Michael Noel (above, https://mnoelphotography.smugmug.com) for providing the photos.
By Kevin Scott
| Box Score |
Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
GREAT FALLS, Mont., December 31, 2024 — The #3 Great Falls Americans (18-10-1-0) were looking for one last win on Tuesday evening as they hoped to close out the 2024 on a happy note when the #6 Butte Irish (14-14-1-0) made the 150-mile trip to Great Falls.
It was not as cold inside the Great Falls Ice Plex on Tuesday night as it was outside. The weather in Great Falls before the faceoff was 25 degrees above according to The Weather Channel.
Great Falls leads the season series 2-1 with both wins coming at the Great Falls Ice Plex. The first head-to-head meeting on October 25th produced a 4-2 win by the Americans inside their home arena. The Americans were down 2-0 before their offense racked up four unanswered goals for their eighth win of the season. Americans forward Ty O’Bey scored half the goals (two) and goaltender Kaden Rhyder made 24 saves (game story).
The Butte Community Ice Center was the site for their second meeting on October 26th. The game was tied at 3-3 after two periods but the Irish edged the Americans in scoring, 2-1 in the third frame for the 5-4 victory. Butte’s Loghan Weber and Great Falls’ Ty O’Bey each scored two tallies for their respective teams. Kaden Rhyder registered 41 saves in the loss for the Americans (game story).
In the third matchup on November 23rd, the Americans offense lit up the score board in front of their home fans with seven goals in a 7-1 rout over their Montana rivals. American forward Zac Orwig and John Lang led the way with six of the seven goals. Kazden Stineff added a goal in the first stanza for Butte. First-year goalie Patrick Forsythe got the start and made 20 saves for his second win of the season (game story).
After tonight’s contest, both squads will face each other four times before the regular season concludes in March. Three of the four remaining contests will be inside the Butte Community Ice Center on January 11th, January 24th, and March 7th. Great Falls will close out the 2024-25 season with a home date against the Irish on March 8th.
Through 29 games, Ty O’Bey leads Great Falls in scoring (20 goals) and points (38). Garren Narvaez is the assist leader for the Americans with 28. Kaden Ryder is the top goaltender with 16 victories in 22 appearances (16-6-0-0, 2.201 GAA, 671 saves, 0.936 save percentage).
Meanwhile, Loghan Weber leads head coach Marc Brodeur’s squad with 22 goals (53 points, 5th in the NA3HL) while Andrew Browe has 35 assists (48 points, 6thin the NA3HL). Tim Nanson is the top goaltender for the Irish with a 7-6-1-0 record.
The #3 Great Falls Americans easily defeated the #6 Butte Irish with a 7-0 shutout victory at the Great Falls Ice Plex on New Year’s Eve on Tuesday night for their 14th victory inside their home arena. Garren Narvaez finished with two goals and two assists and goaltender Kaden Rhyder stopped all 14 shots. This was Great Falls’ third shutout win of the season (October 18 vs. Yellowstone, 12-0 and November 16 vs. Helena, 1-0).
The Americans took advantage of a cross-checking penalty by Butte by capitalizing on their first scoring drive of the game midway through the first twenty minutes of action. Chase Hapka, who started the season with the Gillette (WY) Wild and has played three games with Great Falls after a December trade, scored his 13th lamplighter (first with the Americans) with Ty O’Bey and Fisher Hannesson earning the assists. Both squads combined for 18 shots with one successful score by Great Falls.
Just 29 seconds into the middle stanza, Great Falls tacked on their second goal of the night. Ty O’Bey, who assisted on the first period goal and is the team leader with 20 goals this season, put the biscuit in the basket. Newcomer Chase Hapka and Fisher Hannesson gathered the assists while the Irish were in the sin bin. The Americans led 3-0 as Cal Laggis chipped in his fifth goal of the year with 8:37 remaining on a play that was set up by Zac Orwig and Keegan Hanson. Sebe Perez capped off the scoring drives for Great Falls with his slapshot with 1:56 left. Zac Orwig collected his second assist of the game and Garren Narvaez, the team assist leader, made his 27th. Great Falls’ offense attempted 23 of the 27 total shots.
Garren Narvaez went one-on-one against Butte netminder Logan Hunter and slipped the puck into the net for the Americans fifth score seven minutes into the third period. Zac Orwig made his third assist of the contest. Garrett Driscoll assisted for the third time this season. Before the final horn, Great Falls would add two more goals. Garren Narvaez converted his second goal (tenth overall) off the stick of Blayne Jusczak with three minutes left. Great Falls product Jase Troyer accumulated his first goal in his first season with Great Falls with 2:16 left on the clock. Zac Orwig (27th assist of the season) and Garren Narvaez helped make the seventh goal possible for the Americans.
Great Falls ended their fourth meeting with Butte by acquiring 34 shots including 23 in the middle period. Butte attempted 14 shots during the sixty-minute contest.
The Americans first two goals (Chase Hapka and Ty O’Bey) in the first and second periods, respectively were scored on a power play opportunity. The home team went 2-for-5. The Irish had eight power play opportunities that were denied. The host squad had ten minor infractions while the visitors accrued nine penalties, which resulted in 47 minutes spent off the ice.
Garren Narvaez (2 goals, 2 assists), Zac Orwig made four assists, and Ty O’Bey and Chase Hapka each scored one goal and one assist apiece for coach Greg Sears’ squad.
Kaden Rhyder continues to perform at a high level in the net for the Americans. The Pennsylvania goalie has now won 16 games in 22 appearances (16-6-0-0) and played a flawless game on Tuesday by stopping all 14 shots. Logan Hunter saw action for the seventh time this season but saw his record drop to 2-2-0-0. The Colorado netminder made 27 saves in his first season with Butte.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: Great Falls and Butte were the only Frontier Division squads in action on New Years Eve.
NOTES: Great falls netminder Kaden Rhyder received the NA3HL’s Star of the Week (3rd Star) ending the week of December 17th. The Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania goalie played in two of the Americans three games at the 2024 NA3HL Showcase (December 15-17) in Blaine, Minnesota before the winter break. Rhyder defeated the South Division’s Texas RoadRunners 2-1 and the East Division’s New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings, 2-1. He totaled 51 saves while allowing two goals in two games.
Read about all the Americans hockey action in print through the Great Falls Gazette, a newspaper that is published on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday each week with game recaps written by Kevin Scott, the Great Falls Americans Public Relations/Media Coordinator. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
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, Mercer Twomey, Zac Orwig, Cal Laggis and Blayne Jusczak. Click here to learn more about Blayne Jusczak 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.
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 be in Cody, Wyoming to face the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (1-29-1-0) on Friday (January 3rd) and Saturday (January 4th) inside Wyoming’s Riley Arena with the contests starting each night at 7:05PM (MST). The next home game for the Americans will be on Friday, January 10th when #1 Helena Bighorns come to town for a 7:05PM (MST) contest. Fans can catch the games through the NA3HL’s official 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.