By Kevin Scott
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Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
GREAT FALLS, Mont., November 24, 2023 — It has been about a month since the #4 Great Falls Americans (11-9-0-0) and the #6 Butte Irish (8-11-0-0) have encountered each other on the ice for their first weekend series of the 2023-24 season.
In their first matchup (October 20th), Great Falls traveled to Butte, Montana to face the Irish and took charge by downing the host squad, 5-3 at the Butte Community Ice Center. Sam Duehlmeier led coach Greg Sears’ team with two goals while former Great Falls American and current Butte Irish player, Patrick Crooks produced two scoring drives in the loss. Kaden Ryhder added his fourth career win for the Americans by accruing 50 saves. Keegan Strong got the start for Butte and finished with 37 saves (Box Score).
Great Falls and Butte played at the Great Falls Ice Plex the following evening (October 21st). The Irish offense reversed course and lit up the 
lamp six times while holding the Americans offense to three goals. Masen Kerr, Aaron Leaf and Blake Komrofske accounted for the scores for the Americans. Great Falls utilized two goaltenders (Ryan Stowe and Adler Hoagland) and they combined for 37 saves in a losing effort. Nicholas Ulyanov played the entire game as Butte’s netminder and stopped 46 of 49 shots in Butte’s 6-3 win (Box Score).
Since their October meetings, Great Falls won their lone contest with the Bozeman Ice Dogs (1-0), fell in three games to the Helena Bighorns (0-3) and won both games against the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (2-0). Meanwhile, Butte went 2-0 against the Sheridan (WY) Hawks, 2-2 with the Bozeman Ice Dogs and split their series with the Badlands (SD) Sabres.
Great Falls plays host to Butte on Thanksgiving Weekend for a two-game home series ending with Saturday’s contest.
Before the game began, there was a moment of silence for a member of the North American Hockey League (NAHL)’s Oklahoma Warriors. The Warriors team owner, Mary Ann Choi passed away on Sunday, November 19, 2023. Click here for more information about this story.
Masen Kerr, Dmitri Kuleshov, Tariq Khan, and Ty O’Bey all scored as the #4 Great Falls Americans narrowly escaped the #6 Butte Irish by posting a 4-3 win with lots of spectators cheering on the home team during Friday night action at the Great Falls Ice Plex. Kazden Stineff scored twice for Butte.
Great Falls jumped out to a 2-1 advantage after the first stanza. Noah Osiowy, playing in his first game since the 2022-23 season after joining the team earlier last week, earned his first assist on the Masen Kerr score two minutes into the game. Blake Komrofske also assisted. Butte forward Kazden Stineff recorded his fourth goal of the season midway through the period. Kyle Bates and Patrick Crooks earned the assists to even the score (1-1). The Americans retook the lead less than a minute after the visiting team scored. Dmitri Kuleshov, Great Falls’ leading scorer, connected on his 15th goal with assist leader Ty O’Bey gathering his 14th (assist) and Luke Pizzey picking up his tenth. Both teams failed to connect on their one power play chance.
Kazden Stineff made the game-tying score with 5:54 remaining in the middle period. Stineff’s second goal of the night came with assistance from Carson Streich and Patrick Crooks, one of six Montana residents on the roster for the Irish. The home team was in the sin bin when the Irish’s second goal was scored. After two periods, Great Falls created 32 shots while Butte made 22.
In the third frame, not much time was erased before the Americans reclaimed the lead back from the Irish. Tariq Khan slapshot got by Butte goaltender Keegan Strong for his second goal of the year during the first 13 seconds. Jacob James and Aaron Leaf helped set up the Americans third score. The Irish and Americans would trade goals during the middle of the period. An eighth goal by Andrew Browe off the sticks of William Takla and Weston Villers saw Butte and Great Falls tied again. Ty O’Bey and the Americans offense needed 25 seconds after Browe’s lamplighter to give Great Falls a 4-3 lead. Dmitri Kuleshov assisted for the tenth time in 18 games. Great Falls and Butte battled hard and took many shots that were missed during the final 9:42.
The NA3HL on-ice officials did not stop play much as five combined (minor) penalties between the two Montana clubs dotted the score sheet. The Irish tallied one goal (out of three attempts) while the Americans were down a man (penalty). Great Falls went 0-for-2.
The Americans, along with the #5 Badlands (SD) Sabres 5-3 loss to the #1 Gillette (WY) Wild, jumped up one spot to No. 4 and outshot the visitors in each of the three regulation periods to finish with 45. Butte took 22 of their 32 before the second intermission.
In 12 appearances, Great Falls’ Kaden Ryhder made 29 saves in his seventh victory of the season (7-3-0-0) and his second against the Irish this year. Keegan Strong (2-5-0-0) had 30 saves but allowed four goals as he is now 0-2 against the Americans.
NOTES: The Great Falls Americans hoped all their fans, business sponsors and game staff enjoyed their Thanksgiving on Thursday.
The Americans are partnering up with the Great Falls Community Food Bank for the three games this weekend. Fans who bring a non-perishable item will receive a $2.00 discount on their ticket at the door to help the GF Community Food Bank support their fight against hunger in northcentral Montana.
The Americans welcomes back Noah Osiowy this weekend. The Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan native registered five goals and ten assists last season in 43 contests.
The Great Falls Americans are raffling off “gift cards” with the drawing set for Sunday, November 26th when they host the Bozeman Ice Dogs. The Great Falls “Bests” Raffle features Great Falls area restaurants (Montana Club, Jakers, City Bar, Clark & Lewie’s, Borries, 3D International and many more), hotel stays and alcohol baskets. Tickets are $10.00 each and can be purchased at the upcoming Thanksgiving Weekend games on November 24-25.
Ty O’Bey was the Frontier Division “Star of the Week” ending on November 19th for his play against the Sheridan (WY) Hawks. The Ashland, Wisconsin native had six points (2 goals, 4 assists) over two games. Teammate Dmitri Kuleshov received Frontier Division “Star of the Week” Honorable Mention for his four-goal performance in Friday’s 7-2 romp over the Hawks. Congrats to Ty and Dmitri. Click here for the story.
Be sure to check out Staradio’s Weekly Interview with Greg Sears hosted by Troy Mellinger. The short radio interview gives a recap of last Saturday’s game against the Helena Bighorns and previews the home series against the Sheridan Hawks. Listen live every Monday throughout the season at 12:20PM (MST) on FOX SPORTS RADIO (98.3FM/1400AM) and on Q106.1 FM on Wednesday mornings at 10:00AM (MST). To listen to this interview and the previous others from the 2023-24 season, please click here.
In this week’s “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletter, Americans team owner Matt Leaf has a player profile of team captain forward Dmitri Kuleshov, sponsor information, and upcoming Americans events. Click here to view this past week’s newsletter and all the weekly “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletters.
Check out all the Americans photos throughout the season with many of the game action photos 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.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: The #1 Gillette (WY) Wild (19-1-0-1) found themselves in a spot that they were not familiar with early in the first period. The visiting Badlands (SD) Sabres, ranked #5 now in the Frontier Division with a record of 9-6-2-2, led 3-1 as both squads went into the locker room for the first intermission. The Wild utilized the home crowd and bounced back with three second-period goals and one additional in the third for the 5-3 decision over the Sabres. Adam Severson scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season in Gillette’s 19th victory. Benjamin Larson, Ian Vannelli, and Thayne Coston scored the goals for South Dakota. Cole Wheaton (8-1-0-1) continued his dominance in the net for the Wild. Wheaton, whose only two blemishes have come at the hands of the #2 Helena Bighorns, stopped 29 of the 32 shots by the Sabres. Easton Eriksmoen fell for the third time in nine games (6-3-0-0) but not before amassing 63 saves (Box Score).
The #2 Helena Bighorns (16-2-0-0) won the battle of the second and third place teams in the NA3HL’s Frontier Division on Friday evening inside Haynes Pavilion in Bozeman, Montana. Helena raced out to a 4-1 lead before the second period and hung on to defeat the Bozeman Ice Dogs (11-9-0-1), 7-4. Braden Cunningham scored twice and netminder Malik Johnson and Alex Lamont combined for 15 saves. Most of Bozeman’s scoring came in the final period when Sam Ingram, Casey Sturm and Braden Kaliha got their names in the scoring column after Bodie Shepardson scored in the first frame. Although Malik Johnson got the start, Alex Lamont received credit for the win. Lamont’s ten saves helped improve his record to 6-1-0-0 on the season. Bozeman’s Matthew Ryynanen (35 saves) saw his record fall to 7-7-0-1 (Box Score).
The #7 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (5-14-1-1) and the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-18-1-0) each netted one goal in the first period before the Hawks exploded for four successful scoring drives in the second period for the 5-2 win against their Wyoming opponent on Friday. Tanner Freed led both teams with two goals. Elijah White had one score and two assists for the host team in the win. Yellowstone, who continues to search for their first win, saw McCaffrey Billings score in the first and Collin Goodman find success in the net in the second. Aidan Knox outdueled Ben Delisi in the net. Hudson, the first year netminder from Ohio, stopped 27 of 29 shots for his first win in three contests (1-2-0-0), Delisi (0-2-0-0), whose two appearances have all come in the month of November, gave up five goals before securing 41 saves (Box Score).
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans will face the Butte Irish in Saturday’s (November 25) contest to finish out their weekend series starting at 7:00PM (MST) live from the Great Falls Ice Plex. On Sunday, November 26th, the Americans end the month of November when the Bozeman Ice Dogs come to Great Falls for a single game with the puck dropping at 6:00PM (MST). Catch Great Falls Americans NAHL TV “Play-By-Play” broadcaster Ryan Siders for all the weekend action. NAHLTV is the place to catch all the Great Falls Americans contests all season long.
Click here to learn more about how to watch any of the Americans NA3HL junior hockey games on NAHL TV during the 2023-24 season.
Before Sunday’s contest against Bozeman, the Americans promotional night is Wine, Women and Hockey.” They will have a seminar from 4:00PM-5:30PM with hockey community members sharing their stories along with a question-and-answer opportunity from anyone in attendance. Some of the panelists include Kendall Hanley (2022 Gold Medal Olympic Official and current Manager of Officiating for the NAHL), Heather Mannix (USA Hockey’s Manager of Education/Player Development), Jenna Janshen (Miles City, MT native who worked her way up as an official at the National and International Stages), and the all-female officiating crew assigned to Sunday’s game. All ages are welcome with a game ticket. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. Please pre-register if you would like to attend by emailing Matt Leaf (MattL.GFAmericans@gmail.com).
Click here for the 2023-24 Great Falls Americans schedule and results.
Additional Media Coverage: November 23, 2023: Staradio: Weekly Radio Interview by Staradio Sports Director Troy Mellinger with Great Falls Americans Head Coach Greg Sears every week. Click here to listen to the full interviews.
Additional Media Coverage: November 23, 2023: Baldy’s Puck Drop: Weekly Americans Newsletter by Team Owner, Matt Leaf, Volume 12. Click here to view the entire inaugural newsletter.