Tonight is the final installment of Thanksgiving hockey. The Regina Pats are in town for the only game between the teams this season. The Americans already have beaten Portland Swift Current this week.
The Pats are at the end of their U.S. Division swing and will return home after the game. They are 1-2-0-1 during their trek south of the border.
Regina is led by Jordan Weal, who has 12 goals and 25 assists (37 points). He has points in 22 of his 24 games. He had a 16-game point streak end Wednesday in Seattle. Weal, a third-round pick of the L.A. Kings in 2010, is signed by the NHL club. Weal played every game the last two seasons, and has missed one game this year (healthy scratch on opening night).
Matt Hewitt is starting in goal for the Pats, while Lane Scheidl, Dyson Stevenson, Landon Peel and Nathan Zimbaluk are scratched.
For the Americans, Eric Comrie, hot off a win Friday over Sift Current, is in goal. Scratched are Justin Hamonic, Michal Plutnar, Lucas Nickles and Tyson Dallman.
With three points Friday, Brendan Shinnimin is tied with Ben Kilgour (233 points) for 12th on the Americans' all-time scoring list.
Alumni update: Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens lost a 4-3 game to the Pittsburgh Penguins in OT. I was rooting for Price, but I have Marc-Andre Fleury on my fantasy team and all that matters is the win.
In local football playoffs, two area teams will play for state titles next week.
In the 2B ranks, Waitsburg-Prescott beat Colfax 42-13 and will play at the Tacoma Dome next weekend.
In the 1A division, Connell, behind Matt Hadley, beat Chelan 42-14 and is headed to the finals.
In 3A, Kamiakin lost a 21-10 game to Bellevue, and at 2A, Prosser dropped a 50-14 game to Archbishop Murphy.
And for those who care, Oregon beat Oregon State 49-21 in the Civil War Game.
In the Apple Cup, Washington leads WSU 31-21 early in the fourth quarter.
Here at Toyota Center, the puck is about to drop.
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Quite the first period we've had here. Tri-City leads 3-0 on just 10 shots on goal.
Adam Hughesman, Jordan Messier and Patrick Holland all have goals for the Americans, who also have killed off two Regina power plays. Eric Comrie has stopped all 6 Regina shots.
Oh, and free Chalupas for everyone with Holland's goal. Paired with last night's Burger Ranch treat and Thanksgiving, no wonder we put on 5 pounds during the holidays.
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Gregg Drinnan in Kamloops has the best tidbits: A Friday night tweet from Katie Strang of ESPN, who covers the New York hockey scene: “Asked (Islanders) GM Garth Snow if he is contemplating sending Nino Niederreiter back to junior team Portland Winterhawks of WHL; he said ‘No’.”
That's not so good for Portland, but good news for the rest of the WHL.
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The Americans lead 5-1 at the end of two.
Mason Wilgosh and Brendan Shinnimin each scored in the second, while Regina's Ricard Blidstrand ended Comrie's shutout bid at 16:38.
The Americans are facing two former teammates tonight in Nils Moser and Tanner Olstad, who were traded to the Pats last Dec. 10, along with a handful of draft picks, for forward Carter Ashton.
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It's a final, 6-1 Tri-City, with Justin Feser finishing off the scoring.
The Americans held Weal off the score sheet for the just the third time this season, and PK was a perfect 5-for-5. The PK ranks second behind Red Deer (84.6) at 83.2 percent.
