By Kevin Scott
Great Falls Americans Hockey netminder, Kaden Rhyder, catches up with Britt Hart, and explains what was working for him on the ice tonight.
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Score Sheet | League Scoreboard | Americans Team Statistics |
BLAINE, Minn., December 16, 2024 — The #3 Great Falls Americans (17-9-1-0, 35 pts.) headed into the second day of competition at the prestigious NA3HL Showcase Tournament in Minnesota on Monday afternoon looking for their second win in as many days.
During Sunday’s opener at the tournament, Great Falls managed to pull out a 2-1 win over the Texas RoadRunners (11-14-2-0, 5th in South). Cal Laggis scored in the first period and Aiden Kennedy provided the game-winning tally in the third for Great Falls. Carson Spear accrued the lone scoring drive for the RoadRunners. Great Falls netminder Kaden Rhyder (14-6-0-0) stopped 24 of the 25 shots attempted by Texas (game story).
The annual league Showcase Tournament (December 15-17) occurs every December in Minnesota before the holiday break with all teams in the NA3HL playing against teams from other divisions (Central, East, Frontier, West and South( with matchups based (evenly) on their current division standings. Each team plays three games that DO count in the official NA3HL league standings with many NCAA, ACHA, and junior college scouts in attendance. Great Falls will be the designated road team in two of their three games. The Americans will be the road team for Tuesday’s tournament finale against the New Mexico Ice Wolves (8:30AM MST). Click here to see the press release about the Americans opponents.
The Americans opponent on Monday was the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings, based out of Hooksett, New Hampshire, which is 11 miles by car from Concord, the state capital. The Mountain Kings (13-12-2-1, 4th in East) were blanked in Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Jr. Blues (8-9-3-0, 5th in Central), 5-0. St. Louis’ Carter Duy scored two first period goals to lead the Blues while Alexander Rivolta redirected all 20 shots. New Hampshire netminder Charlie Donoghue fell to 5-5-1-0 on the season (Box Score).
Great Falls and New Hampshire have never met on the ice before Monday’s contest. The Junior Mountain Kings are the only team from New Hampshire competing in the NA3HL.
Coach Clint Cassavaugh’s Mountain Kings are trailing the Northeast (MA) Generals (17-9-1-0), the Binghamton (NY) Buzz (17-7-0-0) and the Norwich (CT) Sea Captains (15-10-2-0) in the NA3HL’s East Division standings. New Hampshire’s Aidan Palmeter leads the team in goals (15), assists (14) and total points (29).
Ty O’Bey lead the Americans with 19 goals (38 points) and Garren Narvaez had a team-leading 26 assists for coach Greg Sears’ Montana squad.
The Great Falls Americans scored two goals and that was enough to get past the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings, 2-1 during the second day of the three-day NA3HL Showcase Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota on Monday afternoon.
Mountain Kings forward Tommy Titone scored off a pass from teammate Jacob Landry scored 88 seconds into the first period to give his team the early advantage. Later in the stanza, Zac Orwig earned the first of his two assists when he set up Sebe Perez for his third score of the season with 5:43 remaining before the first intermission.
Cal Laggis broke the 1-1 tie midway through the second period with Orwig contributing his second assist and Americans assist leader, Garren Narvaez receiving his 26th assist.
Both teams skated out the third frame with no scoring.
The first game between these two NA3HL opponents saw just 48 total shots being taken. Great Falls attempted 13 (of their 28) in the third frame.
Cal Laggis’ third period goal came while the Mountain Kings were in the penalty box. Great Falls finished 1-for-4 on the power play while New Hampshire squandered away all four of their power play opportunities. Eleven total infractions were called in this contest.
Kaden Rhyder now has 51 saves at the 2024 NA3HL Showcase after acquiring 27 for his second win in two days. The Pennsylvania goaltender won his 15th game in 21 appearances (15-6-0-0). Charlie Donoghue (5-6-1-0) of New Hampshire had 18 saves in his second setback of the tournament.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will play the South Division’s New Mexico Ice Wolves, who sit in third place with an 18-4-2-1 record during the last day of the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament taking place at the National Sports Center (NSC) Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota on Tuesday, December 17th at 8:30AM (MST). The Ice Wolves are 2-0-0-0 at the tournament with victories over the Alexandria (MN) Blizzard (2-1) on Sunday and Monday’s 4-1 win over the Northeast (MA) Generals.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE AT NA3HL SHOWCASE: The West Bend (WI) Power (19-7-1-0, 1st in Central) scored one goal in each period to blank the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (18-8-2-0, 2nd in Frontier) 3-0 on Monday at the NA3HL Showcase. Odin Klebba, Tommy Kundinger and Trace Shumlas each put the biscuit in the basket for West Bend. Adam Prokop is undefeated in the net at 6-0-0-0. He swatted away all 23 shots for the Power. John Simon (9-5-0-0) got the start for the Hawks and produced 54 saves in the loss (Box Score).
The Peoria (IL) Mustangs (5-18-0-0, 6th in Central) scored three goals in the first and added another two in the second period to shutout the Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-29-1-0, 8th in Frontier). Wyatt Duke led the way for the Mustangs with two goals. Peoria outshot Yellowstone, 60-19. Skyler Tompkins, Rex Rhoes and Nicholas Martin also scored for Peoria. Peoria goalie Albert Ancinec (2-6-0-0) won for the second time this season by preventing all 19 shots from getting by him. Chase Ebeyer (0-2-0-0) made 55 saves in his second game with the Quake after staring the season with a 6-3-0-0 record with the Binghamton Buzz (Box Score).
Easton Langemo scored a hat trick (3 goals), and Andrew Browe added another scoring drive to help the Butte Irish (13-13-1-0, 6th in Frontier) defeat the Texas RoadRunners (11-15-2-0, 5th in South), 4-2 on Monday. Noble Cook scored in the first and Skylar Bawcom netted a goal in the second for the RoadRunners. Logan Hunter improved to 2-1-0-0 for the Irish as he finished with 36 saves. Hunter Houle (4-6-0-0) took the loss for Texas. He secured 23 saves in 60 minutes (Box Score).
The Mason City (IA) Toros (13-12-3-1, 3rd in West) and the Bozeman Ice Dogs (14-10-1-1, 5th in Frontier) did all their scoring in the first period. Luca Salak and Stone Resch each scored for the Toros while Ryan McCreary scored for Bozeman. Mason City gathered their 13th win by defeating the Ice Dogs, 2-1. Sawyer Torkelson (2-1-0-0) had 30 saves for the Toros while Jack Ryan (3-4-0-0) was busy in the net making 40 saves (Box Score).
Jack Reuss, Kelly Coldwater, Kyle Settles, and Brady Cook each found the back of the net to lift the St. Louis (MO) Jr. Blues (9-9-3-0, 5th in Central) to a 4-0 victory over the Badlands (SD) Sabres (14-11-3-2, 4th in Frontier) on Monday night. Travis Visvadra (4-6-1-0) dominated in the net for the Blues by stopping 18 shots in the win. Hunter Oger ended the game with 28 saves as his record dropped to 5-3-1-0 (Box Score).
The Granite City (MN) Lumberjacks (20-5-2-1, 1st in West) did what the Great Falls Americans have done twice this season; they defeated the Helena Bighorns (23-3-0-0, 1st in Frontier) on Monday. Helena and Granite City were tied at 1-1 going into the third period before the Lumberjacks tacked on two goals for the 3-1 victory. Thomas Gerum, Reece Gronseth, and Parker Comstock buried the puck in the net for Granite City. Austin Uecker scored the lone goal for Helena in the first period. Branson Appelman (2-1-0-0) created 29 saves for the Bighorns. Nick Hanson (12 saves) improved to 9-2-2-0 for the Lumberjacks (Box Score).
The Gillette (WY) Wild (12-15-1-0, 7th in Frontier) led the Long Beach (NY) Sharks (7-16-6-0, 7th in East) 3-1 after the first period and then outscored them 2-1 over the last two periods for the 5-2 win on Monday. Five different players scored for the Wild (Zach Lebens, Hudson Fisher, Max Arlt, Riley Schmidt, and Brady Johnson) and Spencer Nicoloff and Mason Jackson added tallies for the Sharks. Austin Trieber (3-4-0-0) accumulated 16 saves for Gillette. Kamron Ragon (3-7-1-0) and Turner England combined for 40 saves for Long Beach (Box Score).
The Frontier Division went 3-5 on Monday after going 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: Great Falls will play the South Division’s New Mexico Ice Wolves, who sit in third place with an 18-4-2-1 record during the last day of the 2024 NA3HL Showcase Tournament taking place at the National Sports Center (NSC) Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota on Tuesday, December 17th at 8:30AM (MST). The Ice Wolves are 2-0-0-0 at the tournament with victories over the Alexandria (MN) Blizzard (2-1) on Sunday and Monday’s 4-1 win over the Northeast (MA) Generals.
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.