Tri-City Americans: A look back at 30 years of hockey in the desert

The first hockey puck dropped in the desert on Nov. 20, 1988.

The Seattle Thunderbirds were the first visitors to the Tri-Cities Coliseum, and the host Tri-City Americans came away with a 4-3 overtime win before a sold-out crowd of 6,004.

It’s been 30 years since former Tri-City owner Ron Dixon moved his New Westminster Bruins from British Columbia to Kennewick, and over the years, hockey has flourished in the Mid-Columbia.

“We never got the feeling that it wasn’t going to be good there,” said Stu Barnes, a forward on the first Americans team. “The original years were so exciting. They have had a long and successful run there. We are still glad it’s part of the community.”

Dixon brought the then Bruins to the Tri-Cities over the Fourth of July holiday in 1988, and the team put on hockey demonstrations in the park.

“We got a taste of what it was all about then,” Barnes said. “It was over 100 degrees. We didn’t know what to expect. It was an adventure. Once it started, it was tremendous.”

Barnes now is a co-owner of the Americans with former Tri-City teammate Olie Kolzig, Bob Tory and Dennis Loman, who bought the team in 2005 from Darryl Porter to keep it in the community.

The Americans, who opened their 30th season last weekend with road losses to Seattle and Everett, will host the Silvertips in their home opener at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

With four NHL draft picks on this season’s roster, the Americans are projected to be at the top of the U.S. Division and Western Conference.

“It goes by so fast,” Barnes said. “I can’t believe it is the 30th season. It is amazing. I tell the young players to enjoy it because it goes by so fast. We are fortunate to have had such great fan support for so long.”

A lot has happened over the past 30 years, but here is some of the good stuff:

From yellow and black to red, white and blue

With Dixon being tight with his money, the Americans wore the yellow and black uniforms of the New Westminster Bruins, albeit with a different logo, the first two years they played in Kennewick.

The team colors have remained red, white and blue since 1990, and the team has sported four different logos in that time.

A banner day

Tri-City hung its first banner from the rafters after the Americans won their first U.S. Division title in 2008. That year, they also won the Scotty Munro trophy for the best regular-season record in the WHL.

U.S. Division titles followed in 2009 and 2010.

The Americans added a Western Conference title in 2010, beating Vancouver behind a solid series from goalie Drew Owsley, who was named the Western Conference finals MVP.

Tri-City won the U.S. Division again in 2012 — but there has been a drought since then.

Defenseman Jarrett Toll had a hand in every banner, except the one in 2012.

“I’ll never forget that first banner,” Toll said of the 2008 title. “It came down to that last game with Spokane. I have never been in an arena so loud as it was that night. We were in awe of the support.”

Toll, 28, who now is a software developer in Edmonton, Alberta, and plays professional lacrosse with the Vancouver Stealth, said the 2009-10 season was just as special.

“We had an unreal team that year,” said Toll, who was then the team captain. “The night that we beat Vancouver was amazing. We were one step away from a Memorial Cup appearance.”

That dream got cut short by the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL Finals, but the memories still are good.

“Nothing can take away from that night,” Toll said. “It was special to grab that (Western Conference) trophy and bring it to the guys.”

WHL Iron man

Of all the league records, the one for consecutive games played is the most impressive.

That record belongs to forward Justin Feser, who began his quest Jan. 7, 2009, and ended March 17, 2013, with 321 games.

Feser surpassed Dwayne Newman, who held the record for 21 years. Newman played 311 consecutive games from Feb. 2, 1988, through March 17, 1992, for the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Victoria Cougars.

“To be honest, it is very special,” said Rick Doerksen, the WHL’s vice president of hockey, in a 2013 interview. “It’s an impressive mark. I’m not sure this one will be broken.”

Giving back

The Americans as a team perform up to 2,500 hours of community service per season in the Tri-Cities. They participate in school reading programs, work with animal shelters, food banks and youth hockey teams.

“When our group got involved several years ago, we felt it was more about that than what goes on on the ice,” Barnes said. “We wanted them to be good men outside the rink. We have had wonderful guys and they have done tremendous things in the community.”

The team has helped raise more than $2 million for charities over the past seven years. They have helped raise more than $200,000 over the past 12 years for the Tri-Cities Cancer Center via their Breast Cancer Awareness Game.

“The support of the Tri-City Americans has been critical in helping us serve our community,” Foundation director Liz McLaughlin said. “We love working with them. Their efforts have not only raised money, but also awareness through their fans.”

The money raised each year helps pay for a variety of services, including mammograms, wigs and outreach services.

“It is a huge impact,” McLaughlin said. “We are very grateful to partner with such an incredible organization. Their reach is very broad. They help several organizations, not just us. They are everywhere in the community.”

Much to celebrate

Over the past three decades, the Americans have made their mark on the Western Hockey League, the National Hockey League, the Olympics, the international stage and with gender equality.

Tri-City has two Four Broncos Memorial Trophy winners in Stu Barnes (1989-90) and Brendan Shinnimin (2011-12). Barnes played two seasons for the Americans, while Shinnimin played four.

Shinnimin also won the Bob Clarke Trophy as league’s top scorer with 134 points, was the top scorer in the Canadian Hockey League and was voted CHL Player of the Year.

▪ Tri-City has had 63 players selected in the NHL draft — 15 of whom were taken in the first round. Barnes is the highest draft pick, going No. 4 to the Winnipeg Jets in 1989. Carey Price was taken fifth by the Montreal Canadiens in 2005, while Daymond Langkow was taken fifth by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1995.

The Americans had four players drafted in June — Michael Rasmussen (1st round, Detroit), Juuso Välimäki (1st, Calgary), Morgan Geekie (3rd, Carolina) and Kyle Olson (4th, Anaheim). It was the most players Tri-City had drafted in one year since 2004.

▪ The Americans have had 20 players, representing eight countries, participate in the World Junior Championship, including Barnes, Brian Boucher, Scott Gomez, Shawn Belle, Price, Chet Pickard, Brandon Carlo and Välimäki.

▪ In 2002, the Americans made history by breaking the WHL gender barrier when they invited female goalie Shannon Szabados to camp.

She played in four preseason games, then played 50 seconds of a regular-season game Sept. 22, 2002, against the Vancouver Giants. She remains the only woman to play in the WHL.

Szabados has gone on to win two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, and is training for her third Olympics.

▪ The Americans have won 40 or more games 10 times, including a streak of seven consecutive seasons (2006-13). They have reached the milestone eight times in the past 11 seasons.

In the record book

The Americans hold a few WHL records, including most consecutive 40-win seasons (7); most goals by one team in a game (19, Oct. 3, 1990 at Seattle); most goals by one team in two consecutive games (35: 16 vs. Victoria on Sept. 30, 1990; and 19 vs. Seattle on Oct. 3); and most power-play goals by one team in a game (10 (twice), Sept. 30 and Oct. 3, 1990).

Individual records include: most goals in a single season (89, Kyle Reeves, 1990-91; ranks 6th all-time); fastest to 50 goals (Kyle Reeves, 32 games, 1990-91, ranks second); most assists (122, Brian Sakic, 1990-91, ranks third); first goalie to score a goal (Olie Kolzig, Nov. 29, 1989 vs. Seattle); most game-winning goals (13, Jaroslav Svejkovsky, 1995-96, ranks third); most wins by a goalie (46, Pickard, 2007-08, ranks fourth); most short-handed goals in one game (3, Kalvin Knibbs, Jan. 31, 1990, ranks first); most assists in a single game (8, Sakic, Oct. 3, 1990, ranks first), (7, Barnes, Oct. 29, 1989, ranks second); most points in one game (10, Sakic, Oct. 3, 1990); most assists in one period (5, Daymond Langkow, Sakic, Barnes, ranks second); most career assists (405, Sakic, ranks first); most career games played (355, Brent Ascroft, ranks fourth), (351, Justin Feser, ranks seventh); most career points (591, Sakic, ranks first); most career shutouts (15, Price, ranks eighth).

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Tri-City Americans: A look back at 30 years of hockey in the desert."