Tri-City Americans back on the ice Thursday against Kootenay

The Tri-City Americans took their game on the road last weekend, pouring in 22 goals in three games and posting a 2-0-1 record at the Everett Preseason Classic.

This weekend, the Americans will give their fans a taste of things to come when they host the Red Lion Hotels Preseason Tournament at Toyota Center.

Action gets under way Thursday at 3 p.m. with Spokane taking on Portland. At 7:05 p.m., the Americans will play the Kootenay Ice.

Tri-City also will play the Red Deer Rebels at 7:05 p.m. Friday, and will finish the tournament at 7:05 p.m. Saturday against the Spokane Chiefs.

“I think it was a good start,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said of the Everett weekend. “We did a lot of good things to create offense. We did a good job of getting traffic to the net, and got goals in a lot of different ways from a lot of different people — returning guys and younger guys. Now our numbers are down with guys gone to different pro camps. This will give us a chance to work with and look at some younger guys.”

One of those young players is Sasha Mutala, the Americans’ top bantam draft pick in 2016.

The 6-foot, 190-pound native of Vancouver, British Columbia, leads the Americans in preseason scoring with five goals and two assists in three games. He had a hat trick against Everett in the first game last weekend.

“He played really well,” Williamson said. “He was around the net, he worked hard in the offensive zone, got to loose pucks, got in the corners and was rewarded. He played very, very well.”

Mutala, who is bucking for a roster spot, was pleased with how the first three games played out.

“It was a great experience to put on that jersey,” said Mutala, who spent a good portion of the first three games playing on a line with Brett Leason and Connor Buchard. “It was fun. I hope for more goals in the future. I think I played pretty well and did things right, but there are things I need to work on to be consistent at this level.”

Veteran forward Nolan Yaremko also had a productive weekend with five goals in two games, including a hat trick against Everett.

“Getting back in the swing of things was good,” said Yaremko, who had eight goals and 22 points last season. “It was definitely fun. Everyone was contributing, the scoring was spread out and we played a team game. It’s good experience and a good look to see what other teams have to offer, and to see if your systems work.”

Yaremko played on a line with Michael Rasmussen and Max James for the better part of his two games last week, which he said made scoring easy.

“It’s not hard to put the puck in an open net when you play with him (Rasmussen),” Yaremko said. “He makes everyone else look good. James is a man among boys out there.”

Williamson praised Yaremko’s play over the weekend.

“He is a heart and soul player,” Williamson said. “He is the backbone of the hockey team. He does so many things that go unnoticed. This weekend he hit the score sheet quite a bit. He was in the right place, had good positioning, and his release was good. He benefited from some rally nice passes. He is veteran player whose value to our team is off the charts.”

In other games Friday, Portland will play Kootenay at 11 a.m., while Spokane plays Seattle at 3 p.m. On Saturday, Kootenay and Seattle play at 11 a.m., while Red Deer and Portland square off at 3 p.m.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Tri-City Americans back on the ice Thursday against Kootenay."