By Kevin Scott
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BLAINE, Minn., December 17, 2024 — The #3 Great Falls Americans (17-10-1-0, 3rd in Frontier) competed against the NA3HL’s South Division, New Mexico Ice Wolves (19-4-2-1, 3rd in South) during the third and final day of the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota on Tuesday morning.
The Americans defeated the Texas RoadRunners (12-15-2-0, 5th in South) (game story) and the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings (13-13-2-1, 4th in East) (game story) by the identical score of 2-1 on Sunday and Monday, respectively at the tournament.
The Ice Wolves, who call Albuquerque, New Mexico home, started the tournament on Sunday by edging the Alexandria (MN) Blizzard 2-1. Ethan Coleman and Carson Gotelaere each scored a goal in the victory. Goaltender Ryan Wallin had 28 saves. On Monday, New Mexico downed the Northeast (MA) Generals, 4-1 with Zak Wentworth, Jake Wenner, Liam Mooney, and Dantae Hunziker all lighting up the lamp. Jaxon Washburn got the start and the win by producing 19 saves for head coach Darren Banks.
Tuesday’s contest was the first head-to-head battle for Great Falls and New Mexico.
The New Mexico Ice Wolves scored two goals in the third period to get past the Great Falls Americans, 2-1 as the final day of the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament concluded at the NSC Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota on Tuesday morning. Great Falls finished the tournament with two wins in three days.
Americans forward Cooper Clouse put the biscuit in the basket off a pass from Aiden Kennedy for the early lead midway through the first stanza. Clouse recorded his first goal in a Great Falls uniform and Kennedy created his 20th assist of the season for the only score for either team.
After 18 combined shots were made in the first period, the Americans and Ice Wolves totaled 19 in the second period despite no successful scoring chances by either team.
New Mexico’s Ethan Coleman off a pass from Issa Murakami evened the game (1-1) for the Ice Wolves within the first five minutes of the third frame. Jack Arnold broke the tie and put in the game-winning scoring drive for New Mexico with nine minutes remaining. Neither squad was able to tack on any additional goals.
The Ice Wolves took over ten shots in each of the three regulation periods to end the final game of the tournament with 34. Great Falls attempted 14 of their 21 total shots during the first two periods.
Great Falls had six minor penalties that resulted in 12 minutes spent in the sin bin while New Mexico committed seven penalties that resulted in 32 minutes spent off the ice. The Ice Wolves capitalized on one of their four power play chances. Great Falls went 0-for-4.
Ryan Wallin won for the second time in the tournament this week for the Ice Wolves. Wallin (12-3-1-0) ended the contest with 20 saves. Karanveer Kooner played in his second game for the Americans and took his first loss (0-1-0-0). The Calgary, Alberta, Canada netminder made 32 saves while allowing two goals.
Fans can view the full tournament game summaries for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at the NA3HL Showcase Tournament.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans will get a two-week holiday break before they resume the second half of their NA3HL season. The Americans will be at the Great Falls Ice Plex for a New Year’s Eve game (Tuesday, December 31) for a 6:05PM (MST) contest with the Butte Irish. They will start 2025 with a pair of road contests in Cody, Wyoming on Friday and Saturday, January 3-4 when they head to Riley Arena to challenge the Yellowstone Quake. Both road games will begin at 7:05PM (MST).
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE AT NA3HL SHOWCASE: Michal Stojka scored two goals for the Long Beach (NY) Sharks (8-16-6-0, 5th in East) for the 2-1 comeback victory over the Bozeman Ice Dogs (14-11-1-1, 5th in Frontier) during the last day of the tournament. Matthew Stamp and Preston Wight recorded assists on the goal by Ryan McCreary in the first period for the Ice Dogs. Bozeman outshot Long Beach, 38-19. Turner England got his fifth win of the season (5-6-4-0) for the Sharks by getting 37 saves. Jack Ryan (17 saves) fell to 3-5-0-0 on the season for Bozeman (Box Score).
Easton Langemo led the charge for the Butte Irish (14-13-1-0, 6th in Frontier) as he scored two of the six goals in a 6-4 win over the Atlanta Capitals (6-25-1-0, 7th in South). Brad Camp provided two goals for the Capitals in the loss. Tim Nanson improved to 7-6-1-0 on the year by accumulating 30 saves for Butte. Jackson Black made 30 saves but his record dropped to 4-14-0-0 for Atlanta (Box Score).
The Louisiana Drillers (25-1-2-1, 1st in South) and the Helena Bighorns (23-3-1-0, 1st in Frontier) battled on the ice for three periods with each team making three goals apiece. Dayton Ruppel scored the second of two goals in the extra period in the Drillers 4-3 victory. Carter Tymchak scored in the first and Roman Vitolo scored the game-tying goal in the third frame for Louisiana. Trey Pareja guided the Bighorns with two second period scoring drives. Helena fell in two of their three Showcase contests. Finn Willson (9-0-1-1) won his second game of the tournament by stopping 29 of 32 shots for the Drillers. Tyler Miller suffered his first overtime loss despite a 36 save effort (Box Score).
The Yellowstone (WY) Quake (1-29-1-0, 8th in Frontier) put together their best effort of the season as they won their first game by defeating the NA3HL Selects (0-3-0-0) squad, 8-3 on Tuesday morning. Max Goulden and Preston Mushlock combined to score half of the Quake’s goals. Adrian Dixon of the Badlands (SD) Sabres scored one of the three lamplighters for the Selects squad. Easton Delcampo of the Great Falls Americans added an assist for the Selects. Former Great Falls American Macen Heisler scored his fifth goal for the Quake. Hayden Laforet (1-5-1-0) was the winning goaltender for Yellowstone. He swatted away 17 shots. Dylan Zimmerman (0-1-0-0) had 11 saves in the loss for the Selects. Current Butte Irish goaltender Logan Hunter finished with 13 saves (Box Score).
Sheridan Hawks (19-8-2-0, 2nd in Frontier) standout Vincent Leaf tacked on three goals (hat trick) to lead the Hawks past the Norwich (CT) Sea Captains (15-11-2-0, 3rd in East), 7-3. Gavin Elliott, Vlad Zubriichuk, Josh Serino and Sean Harris all found the back of the net for the Hawks. Glen Farmer, Andrew Fischer, and Ian Buckley scored for the Sea Captains. TJ Wonnacott (6-2-2-0) added his sixth win to his resume by acquiring 28 saves for Sheridan. Presley Patrin of Norwich (18 saves) saw his record fall to 5-4-2-0 (Box Score).
The Badlands (SD) Sabres (14-12-3-2, 4th in Frontier) were blanked by the Wisconsin Woodsmen (14-6-2-3, 4th in Central) during Tuesday final day at the Showcase. Hugh Deinema, Tristen May-Robinson, and Joshua Kauppinen each scored for Wisconsin in their 3-0 victory. Steven Kelley picked up his sixth win (6-5-0-0) by redirecting all 17 shots that the Sabres sent his way. Lochlin Jackson (5-3-2-2) allowed three scoring drives in the Sabres setback. Jackson gathered 19 saves in his only appearance at the tournament (Box Score).
The Gillette (WY) Wild’s (12-16-1-0, 7th in Frontier) third period comeback attempt fell short in a 4-3 loss to the Willmar (MN) WarHawks (14-14-0-0, 4th in West) on Tuesday morning. The WarHawks led 4-2 after the second period behind the scoring efforts by Scott Woltman, Zane Irion, Jett Wheeler, and Mason Wanka. Caden Graham and Max Arlt both scored in the second stanza. Zach Lebens scored the lone goal for the Wild in the final period of regulation. The winning goaltender was Kai Girard (6-7-0-0), who accrued 24 saves for the WarHawks. Tate Cothern (4-8-0-0) distributed 39 saves in the loss (Box Score).
The Frontier Division went 2-5-1-0 on Tuesday after going 3-5 on Monday and 5-3 on Sunday.
NOTES: Garren Narvaez, a forward from Arizona, spent this past week (December 9-13) practicing with the North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) New York-based Elmira Aviators.
The Americans are selling a Special Edition Baldy Christmas ornament. Fans purchasing the ornament will be entered into a drawing to WIN a GFA Stocking Stuffer Package (value over $100). The sales end on Tuesday (Dec. 17) at 9:00PM MST and the drawing be made on Dec. 18th. For those purchasing that live in the Great Falls area, please contact Matt Leaf (MattL.GFAmericans@gmail.com) to meet up to get your ornament(s) from December 19-23 or fans can pre-pay the postage to have the ornament mailed to them. Click here to buy yours today.
Great Falls welcomed two new players recently to their lineup. Cooper Clouse of Fargo, North Dakota joined the team for their November 30th game against Sheridan. In three contests, he has two assists for Great Falls. Chase Hapka was in the middle of his second season with the Gillette (WY) Wild before he joined the Americans this week in a trade that sent Caleb Gamboa to the Wild. During this season with Gillette, he scored 12 goals and dished out 17 assists in 23 contests. Hapka is also from Fargo, North Dakota.
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.
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: The Americans will get a two-week holiday break before they resume the second half of their NA3HL season. The Americans will be at the Great Falls Ice Plex for a New Year’s Eve game (Tuesday, December 31) for a 6:05PM (MST) contest with the Butte Irish. They will start 2025 with a pair of road contests in Cody, Wyoming on Friday and Saturday, January 3-4 when they head to Riley Arena to challenge the Yellowstone Quake. Both road games will begin at 7:05PM (MST).
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.