Tri-City Americans

The Tri-City Americans franchise is an original franchise of the WHL. They began in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes before being renamed the "Centennials" after one season. The franchise was also known as the "Billings Bighorns" from 1977 to 1982 before relocating to Nanaimo, British Columbia, as the Nanaimo Islanders. After one season, they moved to New Westminster, British Columbia, to become the second incarnation of the New Westminster Bruins. They moved to the Tri-Cities in 1988.

The Americans enjoyed local support until early 2000, the start of four owners in four years, all wanting to relocate the team to Canada. Between selling off team assets, lack of on-ice success, and one owner banning the local newspaper columnist from attending games, the attendance dropped considerably. Although the ownership group represented by Darryl Porter had stated upon purchasing the team that they would create a local presence, Porter had still not moved to the Tri-Cities in his third year of ownership. In 2004, Porter attempted to move the team to Chilliwack, British Columbia. However, other Western Hockey League teams voted to prevent the move, including all four other American teams as well as two Canadian teams. Shortly after this failure, the team was sold to Tri-Cities natives, including former Americans' players Olaf Kolzig, the former goalie for the Washington Capitals, and Stu Barnes of the Dallas Stars. Since the sale, the team has doubled attendance figures and won the first division championship in team history. Porter and his investment group were later granted the Chilliwack Bruins as an expansion franchise.

On November 29, 1989, Americans goaltender Olaf Kolzig became the first goalie to register a WHL goal when he successfully shot on an empty net against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The Americans annual series with the Highway 395 rival Spokane Chiefs is always intense and full of action, their biggest rival year in and year out. The competitiveness of the two team is such that an annual tradition with the Americans is to play the Chiefs at home on New Year's Eve. The only time this tradition was broken was due to a one-day strike by the Americans over the training tactics of one of the coaches.

In the 2002–03 season, sixteen-year-old goaltender Shannon Szabados became the first female player to compete in the WHL when she played one game for the Americans. In 2010, Szabados won gold in women's ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics playing for Canada.

During the 2007–08 WHL season, the Americans won the US Division regular season championship for the first time after a March 15, 2008, game against division rival Spokane Chiefs in Kennewick, Washington, at the Toyota Center. The Americans won the Western Conference regular season championship, as well as the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for the best overall regular season record in the WHL. The 2009–10 season marked the third straight year the Americans won the US Division.

At their annual New Year's Eve game against the Spokane Chiefs on December 31, 2008, the Americans set a record for attendance at a hockey game in the Toyota Center, with 6,042 attendees.[2] The Americans surpassed this number on March 13, 2010, in a game against Spokane, with an attendance of 6,053.[3]

The Americans won the Western Conference championship for the first time, in the 2010 playoffs, defeating the Chilliwack Bruins, Kelowna Rockets, and Vancouver Giants in successive series before dropping the league championship to the Calgary Hitmen in five games.

The Americans are charitably-active in the Tri-Cities area. Years ago, the Americans were one of the first teams to do the "Teddy Bear Toss", which was originally called "Toy Trick". This is where the fans would throw stuffed animals onto the rink on a selected night when the home team scores their first goal. The players collect the bears and hand them out to various organizations or the players take them along with them when they visit children in the local hospitals.

A definite first at the Tri-City rink was the breast cancer night. Brian Sandy, senior VP of business operations and chief marketing officer, thought up this event, where the ice is tinted pink and the players wear pink jerseys that are auctioned-off at the end of the night. After the game on February 2, 2008, every jersey sold for the maximum donation of $500 each, with all proceeds supporting breast cancer research.

The Americans also were active in raising start-up funds for the establishment of a local chapter of The First Tee. Players visit schools and hospitals weekly and assist the young hockey players with their practices. Links are provided on their website to other organizations like the local Humane Society, and opportunities have been provided to the Children's Developmental Center to volunteer to aid in the seating at games for a $15,000 check at the season's conclusion.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

• 2009–10: Loss, 1–4 vs Calgary

Updated September 29, 2023.[4]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Drafted
12		Nick Anisimovicz	C	R	17	2021	Calgary, Alberta	Eligible 2024
6		Merrek Arpin	D	R	17	2021	East St. Paul, Manitoba	Eligible 2024
35		Nick Avakyan	G	L	19	2021	Glendale, California	Undrafted
22		Parker Bell	LW	L	20	2018	Campbell River, British Columbia	2022, 155th Overall, CGY
28		Pascha Bocharov	D	R	19	2023	Escondido, California	Undrafted
88		Camerin Cardona	C	R	17	2021	Anaheim, California	Eligible 2024
25		Maxmilian Curran	C	L	17	2023	Prague, Czech Republic	Eligible 2024
2		Lukas Dragicevic (A)	D	R	18	2020	Richmond, British Columbia	2023, 57th Overall, SEA
11		Andrew Fan	RW	L	19	2021	Eagle River, Alaska	Undrafted
9		Drew Freer	RW	R	18	2020	Calgary, Alberta	Undrafted
13		Jordan Gavin	C	L	16	2021	Surrey, British Columbia	Eligible 2025
23		Tyson Greenway (A)	C	L	20	2018	St. Albert, Alberta	Undrafted
19		Jake Gudelj	C	L	17	2023	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Eligible 2024
18		Ivan Kedrov	LW	L	18	2021	Calgary, Alberta	Undrafted
51		Cash Koch	LW	L	16	2022	Calgary, Alberta	Eligible 2025
30		Lukas Matecha	G	L	18	2023	Czech Republic	Undrafted
24		Deagen McMillan	C	R	18	2020	Vernon, British Columbia	Undrafted
31		Adam Mechura	C	L	20	2022	Písek, Czech Republic	Undrafted
4		Ethan Peters (A)	D	R	20	2023	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan	Undrafted
5		Jackson Romeril	D	R	18	2023	Calgary, Alberta	Undrafted
21		Carter Savage	D	L	18	2020	Surrey, British Columbia	Undrafted
37		Alex Serraglio (C)	D	L	20	2021	Langley, British Columbia	Undrafted
15		Jake Sloan (A)	C	R	19	2019	Girvan, Great Britain	Undrafted
7		Jackson Smith	D	R	16	2022	Calgary, Alberta	Eligible 2025
1		Tomas Suchanek	G	L	20	2020	Přerov, Czech Republic	Undrafted
17		Thomas Tien	C	L	19	2019	Richmond, British Columbia	Undrafted
27		Brandon Whynott	LW	L	19	2023	Langley, British Columbia	Undrafted

• 8 - Brian Sakic
• 14 - Stu Barnes, Todd Klassen[5]
• 33 - Olaf Kolzig

• Tri-City Americans website
• Tri-City Herald coverage of Tri-City Americans
• Tri-City Americans flagship radio station
• Tri-City Americans celebrate 25 years | Tri-City Herald