Playing good teams can only make you better.

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia -- Drydn Dow scored his first two WHL goals Tuesday night in helping the Tri-City Americans steamroll the Kamloops Blazers 8-3 at Interior Savings Centre.

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia -- Brendan Shinnimin scored a pair of goals and had an assist, and Brett Martyniuk posted a shutout in his first start of the season to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 4-0 Western Hockey League victory over Prince George on Saturday night.

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. -- Jordan Messier scored on a power play with 15 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Tri-City Americans a 3-2 victory over Prince George on Friday night at the CN Centre.

The Tri-City Americans saw their nine-game win streak melt away at the hands of the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday night.

CHILLIWACK, British Columbia -- For three years, a date with Chilliwack was more times than not good for two points in the standings for the Tri-City Americans.

Jim Hiller's first trip back to Chilliwack. Mitch McColm playing against his former team for the first time.

SPOKANE -- Brooks Macek and Spencer Asuchak scored 41 seconds apart late in the third period to rally the Tri-City Americans to a wild 4-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in WHL action Saturday night at Spokane Arena.

KENNEWICK -- Drew Owsley has Kelowna's number.

Seven trips. Seven losses.

Goals have been few for Kruise Reddick this season. The Tri-City Americans veteran forward went into Wednesday night's game with the Brandon Wheat Kings with one to his credit.

The Brandon Wheat Kings rolled into the Tri-Cities at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday to begin a seven-game road trip starting tonight against the Tri-City Americans at Toyota Center.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Tri-City Americans' five-game winning streak was in jeopardy for most of the night.

KENNEWICK -- The Tri-City Americans finished a three-game Western Hockey League road trip Tuesday in pretty good fashion, winning games in Portland, Seattle and Kelowna and giving the team a fresh wave of confidence in its play.

KENNEWICK — One glance at Drew Owsley and you might figure him for a rookie looking for playing time.

KELOWNA, British Columbia -- Drew Owsley finished with 30 saves and Jarrett Toll added a goal and an assist as the Tri-City Americans ran their win streak to four after beating the Kelowna Rockets 4-2 on Tuesday night before 6,064 fans at Prospera Place.

KENT -- Tri-City goalie Drew Owsley saved one shot, Seattle missed a second and Brendan Shinnimin and Johnny Lazo each connected for the Americans for a 5-4 shootout win over the Thunderbirds on Sunday.

PORTLAND -- Brendan Shinnimin continued to have a hot hand, scoring a pair of goals as the Tri-City Americans knocked off U.S. Division-leading Portland 3-1 Friday night at Memorial Coliseum.

The last time the Portland Winterhawks saw their name at the top of the U.S. Division standings was the 2001-02 season when they won the division title.

There's nothing like a game against your biggest rival to heal what ails you.

As a rookie in the Western Hockey League, Brendan Shinnimin paid his dues, skating on the fourth line, chipping in a few goals and trying to stay in the Tri-City Americans lineup on a consistent basis.

KENNEWICK -- The Tri-City Americans picked up some defensive help Sunday, getting 17-year-old defenseman Cody Castro from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2010 Western Hockey League bantam draft.

SPOKANE -- Two years ago, Kyle Beach was not a welcomed player in Spokane.

KENNEWICK -- In this new season of the Western Hockey League, one thing is already very noticeable in the U.S. Division: the Portland Winterhawks are pushovers no more.

It's hard to base an entire season on one weekend of hockey, but Tri-City coach Jim Hiller got a good vibe from his team as it dismantled Kelowna 6-1 last Saturday.

KENNEWICK -- The Tri-City Americans reassigned goaltender Joel Danyluk, 19, to the Yorkton Terriers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

There's something about presenting a banner on opening night that brings out the best in Drew Owsley.

Tyler Schmidt is not a rah-rah type of guy. When the veteran defenseman is not dishing out hits on the ice, he's pretty laid back.

Jarrett Toll has spent his entire WHL career with the Tri-City Americans.

Connor Rankin may not get to play for the Tri-City Americans this season, but the young forward gave fans a glimpse of the future Sunday afternoon.

The Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs have maintained a spirited rivalry down through the years.

KENNEWICK -- Chris Francis notched a first-period hat trick and the Portland Winterhawks (4-1) skated to a 6-4 preseason victory over the Tri-City Americans (1-3) at the Red Lion Hotels Pre-Season Tournament at Toyota Center.

KENNEWICK — The new-look Tri-City Americans will take home ice for the first time this preseason at 7:05 p.m. today against the Portland Winter Hawks at Toyota Center as part of the Red Lion Hotels Preseason Tournament.

After two weeks and three preseason games, Tri-City coach Jim Hiller is getting a better idea of what he has to work with this season.

The Tri-City Americans were unable to overcome a two-goal deficit and fell 2-1 to the Prince George Cougars on Sunday on the final day of the Everett Silvertips' Pre-Season Tournament at Comcast Arena.

EVERETT -- Johnny Lazo scored a power-play goal with 47 seconds left in regulation to lift the Tri-City Americans to a 4-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs at the Everett preseason tournament Saturday.

EVERETT -- Tri-City coach Jim Hiller lost his debut with the Americans, dropping a 4-2 game to the host Everett Silvertips at the Everett preseason tournament.

KENNEWICK — Jim Hiller showed his players he was not above taking responsibility when things go wrong.

The Tri-City Americans signed 2008 sixth-round (132nd overall) bantam draft pick Zach McPhee and list prospect Drydn Dow to standard WHL players contracts.

KENNEWICK -- The future of the Tri-City Americans has been on the ice this week at Toyota Center, and all 14 of the team's 2009 Western Hockey League bantam draft picks are in attendance at the annual rookie camp.

KENNEWICK -- The Tri-City Americans announced the team's roster for next week's main camp, which begins Monday.

The Tri-City Americans announced the team's roster for next week's main camp, which begins Monday.

You could see the excitement in Jim Hiller's eyes.

KENNEWICK -- The Tri-City Americans will open their Western Hockey League preseason calendar with a skills development camp starting at 9 a.m. Monday.

KENNEWICK -- Nearly seven years ago to the day, Jim Hiller was hired as an assistant coach for the Tri-City Americans.

Finally. The Tri-City Americans, the only team in the Western Hockey League without a coach, will fill the position today when they announce the hiring of Jim Hiller as the team's 19th coach, according to sources.

KENNEWICK — No one was more surprised than Bob Tory when he was made aware of Internet postings that had him ready to name Jim Hiller as the Tri-City Americans coach in the coming days.

Despite rumors and Internet reports, Jim Hiller has not been offered the head coaching job of the Tri-City Americans.

KENNEWICK -- The Tri-City Americans promoted assistant coach Terry Virtue to the position of associate coach for the upcoming season.

When you can land 24 weekend home dates in the Western Hockey League, scheduling is considered a success.