Friday night, Americans rookie D-man Sam Grist played the best game I have seen him play all season.

Sam's puck control has improved immensely since the start of the season, and he's learned how to level a hit without taking a trip to the penalty box.

I think the 6-4, 210-pounder from Vancouver has finally gotten the gist of the WHL, and Friday the Seattle Thunderbirds got a taste of the new and improved Grist.

At 7:06 of the second, Sam laid a hard hit on Seattle's Jake Doty, putting him on his butt. Chance Lund tried to teach Sam a lesson for taking out his teammate, but Sam knocked him to the ice, too. Lund went to the penalty box.

"I saw that his (Doty) head was down and I went for it," Sam said. "It was a good hit."

It certainly was.