Finally, the Best of the West ballots have been tallied and the winners determined. This is a daunting task, and in the end all I have is sheet of paper with numbers on it. By the time Sunday morning rolls around, there are pictures, winners and the next five on the list. That always makes me feel better.

The ballots are in, the votes have been counted and Everett no longer has the best fans in the Best of the West poll.

A pair of wins last week helped the Tri-City Americans move from fifth to fourth in this week's CHL poll. The Kamloops Blazers are third and the Edmonton Oil Kings are sixth.

KENNEWICK — The Tri-City Americans have the Victoria Royals at home tonight, but there’s a couple of items from last night worthy of mentioning.

Holy Mother of Pink!

Friday is the Tri-City Americans annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game. The Seattle Thunderbirds will be in town for the festivities on pink ice.

After a 1-1-1-0 record on their Central swing last week, the Tri-City Americans (35-12-1-1) dropped from third to fifth in this week's CHL poll.

The Best of the West ballots have gone out and I expect them to start trickling in any day now. At least I hope so, we are running it Feb. 12.

In working on the Jordan and Marcus Messier story, I thought I'd done my due diligence in finding other brother pairs who had played together for the Americans. I said there weren't any, but a couple of longtime and loyal fans have told me different.

Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison has opened himself up to a whole lot of headaches.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has until the end of February to decide if they are going to send Brett Connolly back to junior hockey — which means the Tri-City Americans.

It’s Western Conference showdown tonight at Toyota Center.

It's always nice to see that the players in the Western Hockey League are good young men.

For those of you brave enough to venture out in this weather, I applaud you. For those of you who stayed home to watch on ROOT Sports, you may be smarter than the rest of us.

Around the league ...

It’s got to be hard being a Seattle Thunderbird walking into Toyota Center. I’m sure the four-hour bus ride is no picnic either.

When you’ve beaten the team that goes home with the gold, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you have to settle for less. But Tri-City Americans goalie Eric Comrie prefers to think of his trip to the U-17 World Hockey Championships in a positive manner.

As promised, the Tri-City Americans calendars are available at Ranch & Home in Kennewick.

Brian Williams is a goal scorer. Or at least he was before he pulled on a Tri-City Americans jersey.

Tonight is Nuclear Night here at the Rink. I’m sure if Ams’ media man Dan Mulhausen could have worked it out, he would have made Toyota Center glow in the dark.

Friday is CH2M HILL Nuclear Night with the Tri-City Americans.

Portland may be a division rival, but this is a make-you-feel-good story.

Tonight features a matchup of two of the top teams in this week's CHL poll.

Happy New Year. It's a few hours early, but I won't be attached to this machine come midnight.

When Tri-City general manager Bob Tory needed a goalie to back up Ty Rimmer while Eric Comrie was at the U-17 Hockey Challenge, he chose a player with WHL experience.

It's that time of year, where each and every Tri-City Americans player gets a grade for his performance in the first half of the season. This year, goalie Ty Rimmer is on the hot seat. I told Ty he was the man of the hour, and he said he was fine with that.

The Seattle Thunderbirds and Mr. Pickard are in town tonight for the first game of a home-and-home series before the holiday break.

With 2 goals and 5 assists in four games last week, Americans forward Adam Hughesman moved up the ladder on the team's all-time scoring list, assists list and goals scored list.

The Portland Winterhawks are in the building tonight for their fifth meeting of the season against the Americans.

Friday, Dutch Bros. is giving the Carson Kolzig Foundation a helping hand.

To say the Everett Silvertips have had their struggles this season would be putting it nicely.

Today, I bought a bear and a lamb. Not real ones, but soft, cuddly ones to throw onto the ice when the Tri-City Americans score their first goal Saturday night against the Everett Silvertips.

The Spokane Chiefs are still winless on the road.

In three games this week, the Tri-City Americans had a combined 101 penalty minutes — 71 of those coming Friday against Swift Current.

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.

KENNEWICK We're back here at Toyota Center. It's the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful I got to spend the day with family. Even more thankful that the leftover apple pie stayed in Walla Walla, or I would have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner today.

With all the holiday hoopla, early deadlines and limited space Wednesday night, Adam Hughesman's five-point night against the Portland Winterhawks didn't the recognition it deserves.

It’s Thanksgiving Day hockey this weekend with the Tri-City Americans.

None of the Tri-City Americans players will claim to be a good bowler, but that doesn't keep them from making side bets when they hit the lanes for the Tri-City Americans Booster Club's annual Bowl with the Americans event.

November is Movember, which has been apparent in recent weeks as the Tri-City Americans players have been growing (or trying to) their facial hair in support of prostate cancer and other male cancer initiatives.

We all know Calvin Pickard is a good goalie. Tops in the WHL, if you will. After playing two game with some of the top players in the WHL against the Russians, Pickard carried that momentum into Friday’s game against the Americans — to the tune of a a 3-0 shutout.

After a couple of days of vacation, I'm back here in the office. I have a few more days of mandated vacation before Christmas, but none for the next couple of weeks.

Americans radio man Craig West called his 1,000th game Saturday night at Lethbridge. That is a lot of games, but for Craig it also has been a lot of wins, 3 U.S. Division banners, a Scott Munro trophy and a Western Conference title.

I know this is a day behind, but for some strange reason we could not log in at the office to the Herald site to post blogs and do other inter office work. So, here I am with the trusty laptop that will allow me access the the brain of the McClatchy organization.

Mackenzie Royer took to the ice Monday for the first time since suffering a concussion Sept. 30 at Portland.

Saturday night, Zach Yuen's head appeared to bounce off the wall like a rag doll after he was hit by Spokane's Blake Gal.

The Spokane Chiefs are here for your enjoyment tonight.

After picking up three wins last week, the Tri-City Americans moved back into the CHL poll — coming in at No. 5 — after tumbling out the week before.

The Chilliwack Bruins ... make that the Victoria Royals are in town tonight.

It's always impressive when a rookie posts a shutout.