KENNEWICK -- Last year, the Western Hockey League lost both of its games to Team Russia in the Subway Super Series.
This season, a trio of Tri-City Americans will try to turn that around as Team WHL opens against the Russians tonight in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Tri-City forwards Justin Feser and Patrick Holland, and defenseman Zach Yuen will play Game 2 on Thursday in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
"It's nice to get recognized," said Feser, who has eight goals and 14 assists this season. "You work hard to get opportunities like this, but you can't do it by yourself. You have a whole team behind you. The three of us are fortunate to get picked and we have good teammates that got us there."
It is the first time the Americans have had more than one player selected to the team. In the past, goaltenders Carey Price and Chet Pickard played in the series, and Brendan Shinnimin played the last two years, but is too old this season.
The Russians opened the Subway Series with a sweep of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, 2-0 and 5-4.
The Ontario Hockey League swept the Russians 6-4 and 10-7 to improve to 18-0 in the ninth year of the event.
The Subway Series is the final opportunity for players to highlight their skills in hoping to get an invite to the final Team Canada camp and a potential spot on the World Junior Championship Team.
Holland, who has four goals, 17 assists and a plus-7 rating, attended the summer camp.
"The World Juniors is cool," said Holland, a 2010 seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames. "That would be a bonus. It's a win-win either way. To play for Team Canada or stay here. We are winning and that's what matters."
But for the next couple of days, Holland and his teammates will don WHL jerseys and test their skills against the Russians.
"It will be cool to meet all the other guys we play against," Holland said. "It's nice to be able to go with a couple of other guys."
Yuen, a 2011 fourth-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets, leads the Americans' defensemen in scoring with four goals and seven assists. He and fellow defenseman Mitch Topping lead the team with a plus-15 rating, which also ranks them seventh in the WHL.
Feser is the only one of the three Tri-City players who is undrafted, but he will get a chance to impress NHL scouts as the rinks both nights will have their share of NHL personnel.
"You don't want to change your game," Feser said. "Every guy on this team was picked for a reason. You have to go out and do your job. When you do that, then you get noticed."
NOTES: Everett's Jesse Mychan was given a 10-game suspension for a checking-to-the-head major and a game misconduct against Prince George on Saturday. The WHL discipline report notes that Mychan left his feet to deliver the blow to the head area of the opponent, resulting in an injury to the opponent. It is the second such infraction by Mychan this season, and third suspension Mychan has received this season. ... The Kamloops Blazers traded F J.T. Barnett, 19, to the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a 2013 third-round bantam pick.
