Americans draw familiar foe in first round of WHL playoffs

The Kelowna Rockets again? If you think the Tri-City Americans have seen them enough in the playoffs, you are not wrong.

For the seventh time since the Rockets moved to Kelowna in 1995, the teams will square off in the Western Hockey League playoffs. This will be the fifth postseason meeting since 2009, with the most recent matchup in 2015.

The best-of-7 series begins Thursday at Prospera Place in Kelowna, where the the B.C. Division champions went 26-7-1-2 and scored 57 percent of their 280 goals.

“I think the games have been close against them,” Tri-City coach Mike Williamson said. “We know they are a good team. They have a lot of experience. They have won a lot, they are going to be tough and they have a tough building to go in to. Our guys feel we can compete with anybody. We just have to make sure we are at the top of our game and playing a playoff style of hockey.”

The Americans, who finished the season winning six of their last seven games, will host Games 2 and 3 on March 28-29.

Tri-City has not won a playoff series since beating Spokane in an epic seven-game clash in 2012.

During the regular season, Tri-City finished 1-1-2-0 against Kelowna, winning 2-1 at home on Oct. 17. Every contest was one-goal game.

Tri-City, which won 38 regular-season games, struggled with injuries this season, but Williamson has been blessed this past week with a full and healthy lineup for the first time since early in the season.

“We hadn’t played very well, or at least found a way to get wins there for a stretch,” Williamson said. “We knew it was important to feel good about things and elevate our game. Over the last week or ten days, we did a good job of turning things around and playing stronger and finding a way to win some important games.”

While Michael Rasmussen and Juuso Välimäki returned to the lineup some time ago, defenseman Roman Kalinichenko missed half of January, all of February and five games in March, while forward Kyle Olson was on the shelf a few additional games.

“Roman was a big part of our team,” Williamson said. “When he got hurt, there was a big hole. We are a better team with him. He adds some grit. Roman plays a hard physical game and we expect him to play a big part for us. It’s a huge boost for us to get Kyle back. I played him sparingly the first game, and upped his minutes the last game. He looked better the second night. Much more comfortable and handled the puck well. To add a player like that this time of year is huge for us.”

Scoring hasn’t been much of an issue for the Americans this season, averaging 3.5 goals per game.

Jordan Topping led the team with 38 goals in 72 games, while Morgan Geekie led the way with 84 points (30 goals, 54 assists). Rasmussen has 31 goals — 17 on the power play — while Nolan Yaremko (22 goals, 34 assists) and Parker AuCoin (19, 21) have proven to be difference makers.

The Americans also get a big boost in scoring from their defensemen. Dylan Coghlan has 17 goals and 46 assists, while Jake Bean (12, 36) and Välimäki (14, 31) chip in their fair share of points as well.

“We have a lot of depth in that area,” Williamson said of scoring. “When Parker AuCoin gets heated up, he can be dangerous. We add a lot of offense from our back end, too. I think the guys are excited and just want to get started and play as long as possible.”

Finishing off the game plan is goalie Patrick Dea, who was named WHL and CHL goaltender of the week in the final week of the regular season. Williamson said they will go with Dea over Beck Warm in the playoffs, until he proves otherwise.

“Patrick has established himself,” Williamson said. “Beck was hurt a couple of weeks ago and Patrick stepped up and played a few games in a row. We feel both guys have played well, but Patrick is going to start for us.”

For guys like Rasmussen, Välimäki, Bean and Coghlan, this could be their final go-round in an Americans jersey. They plan on making the most of it.

“Everyone is healthy and it will be fun out there,” Rasmussen said. “I think our chances are pretty good if we play our game and work hard. They have a lot of top-end skill guys, and they are a deep team. It will be a good matchup. We are excited for it.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Americans draw familiar foe in first round of WHL playoffs."