Monday, February 21, 2011

Olaf Kolzig was back in a Tri-City
Americans jersey on Saturday.

(Photo by John Allen/AridAcres.com)
Olaf Kolzig thanks the crowd for its
applause on Saturday night.

(Photo by John Allen/AridAcres.com)



 Olie the Goalie
back with Ams


The Tri-City Americans’ fans, as it turns out, did have something to cheer about on Saturday night.
While there may not have been much to cheer about as their favourite team dropped a 6-2 victory to the arch-rival Spokane Chiefs, they did greet Olaf Kolzig’s appearance with some rousing applause.
Kolzig is a former NHL goaltender who also played for the Americans and now is one of the WHL team’s owners.
On Saturday, he was on the ice between periods taking shots in a charity event.
“The fans loved it,” offered Tri-City GM Bob Tory. “Maybe the league will approve him to be our emergency backup.”
The Americans have been going with Chris Driedger, 16, as their starter, with Cam Gorchynski of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies backing him up. This is because starter Drew Owsley has been out with a knee injury.
The Americans are at home tonight to the Spokane Chiefs.
Tonight’s game originally was to have been played on New Year’s Eve. You will recall that the teams got started on Dec. 31 only to have the game postponed by a problem with the ice.
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JUST NOTES: Tri-City Americans D Sam Grist has drawn a two-game suspension for the boarding major he incurred in the second period of a 6-2 loss to the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Saturday. Grist, who hit Spokane F Steven Kuhn on the play, will sit out tonight’s game against visiting Spokane and a Tuesday night home game against the Everett Silvertips. . . . Kamloops Blazers D Josh Caron also has been suspended. He picked up a checking-from-behind major in a 4-3 OT loss to the Rebels in Red Deer. F Josh Cowen, who was on the receiving end, left the game and didn’t return. Caron has been suspended tbd — to be determined. . . .
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The WHL goes outdoors today for a game between the Calgary Hitmen and the visiting Regina Pats at McMahon Stadium, the home of the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.
The Calgary Flames blanked the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 there on Sunday, in front of 41,022 fans.
As of late Sunday, the WHL game, which begins at noon and will be televised by Rogers Sportsnet, had sold close to 21,000 tickets.
The WHL single-game attendance record of 19,305 was set in Calgary on March 16, 2008 as the Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice, 6-1.
The CHL record is 20,081 from an OHL game between the visiting Kingston Frontenacs and the Ottawa 67’s at the Corel Centre.
This will be the second outdoors game in CHL history, but the first to be played in Canada. On Jan. 15, in the Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic, the Spokane Chiefs beat visiting Kootenay 11-1 before 7,075 fans at Avista Stadium.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Medicine Hat, F Tyler Pitlick scored twice and added an assist to help the Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Pitlick has 24 goals. . . . F Wacey Hamilton gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with his 19th goal just 44 seconds into the game. . . . Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton tied it with his 20th less than a minute later. . . . F Reid Petryk got his 10th for the Tigers at 8:31 and Saskatoon F Marek Viedensky equalized, with his 28th, at 16:37 on a PP. . . . Pitlick then gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead, on a PP, at 16:37 of the first. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem got his 34th, on a PP, late in the second and Pitlick scored another in the third. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 31 shots, three fewer than Saskatoon’s Steven Stanford. . . . Medicine Hat D Alex Theriau had one assist and was plus-4. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Tigers moved into third in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Kootenay and seven behind the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The conference-leading Blades are six points ahead of Red Deer. . . . The Rebels are in Lethbridge this afternoon. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., the host Seattle Thunderbirds erased a 3-1 third-period deficit and beat the Chilliwack Bruins 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Seattle F Mitch Elliot got his fifth goal of the season at 11:40 of the third to get his side to within one. . . . F Colin Jacobs, with his 19th, tied it at 18:12 on a PP. . . . Seattle was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Bruins were 0-for-4. . . . F Burke Gallimore and Jacobs scored for Seattle in the shootout. . . . D Brenden Dillon had two assists for Seattle. . . . F Ryan Howse was the only one of three Chilliwack shooters to score in the circus. . . . Howse had two goals in regulation, giving him 44 on the season. He has scored in eight straight games, one shy of F Oscar Moller’s franchise record. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore set a franchise single-season record for saves in one game (64). The previous record (55) was set by Braden Game in a 6-3 loss to the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots. . . . Attendance was 5,319. . . . The loser point lifted the Bruins, who have lost four straight, to within three points of eighth-place Kamloops in the Western Conference. The Bruins hold three games in hand. . . . The Thunderbirds are two points behind the Bruins.
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SUNDAY’S CFB COUNT:
One minor:
Saskatoon D Teigan Zahn

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