WHL Tri-City Americans

Americans Defeat Giants 5-2; Claim First Western Conference Championship

April 26, 2010 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


VANCOUVER, BC - Believe it Americans fans, your team is boldly going where no Tri-City team has gone before...the Western Hockey League Finals.

Five different skaters collected goals and Drew Owsley, who was named the Series' Most Valuable Player, stopped 30 shots to guide the Tri-City Americans (12-3-2, 24 pts) to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants (10-6-0, 20 pts) in front of 5,538 fans at Pacific Coliseum. Behind three power play goals, the Americans advanced out of the Western Conference Finals for the first time in the franchise's history, taking out the Giants 4 games to 2. Meanwhile, the Giants' season comes to an end in the Conference Finals for the second straight season.

Early penalties cost the Americans in the first period. Three straight infractions in a two and a half minute span twice put Tri-City down by two men. Despite killing off the two 5-on-3 power plays, the Americans' finally gave up a goal on the backend of the third penalty. At the 9:27 mark of the period, Kevin Connauton's shot from the midpoint was redirected between the pads of Owsley by Milan Kytnar, putting Vancouver on top 1-0.

But, the resilient Americans countered just 41 seconds later and on a power play of their own. During a scramble in front of Mark Segal following a Brendan Shinnimin shot, Johnny Lazo lifted the loose puck over Segal's glove to tie the game at 1.

The Tri-City power play struck again, 2:41 later, as some hard work in front of the net paid off. After a great feed from Brooks Macek, Justin Feser tried to slam the puck past Segal backdoor. Segal stopped the initial shot with his right pad, but some extra effort on Feser's end got the puck to trickle loose and across the goal line.

After the two teams combined for 26 shots on goal in the first period, Vancouver launched an additional 13 shots on Owsley in the second period, due in large part to three more Tri-City penalties. Finally, at the 7:35 mark and on the power play, Craig Cunningham notched his first goal of the series when his second effort shot slipped under Owsley's pads.

Tri-City, though, eventually took control of the contest after the teams headed into the final 20 minutes tied at 2. Just 26 seconds into the final period, Patrick Holland dug the puck loose from Segal after the netminder juggled a shot from Tyler Schmidt. From there, it was a near empty net for Holland, who notched his third goal of the post-season.

With a power play marker of his own, Kruise Reddick added a bit of insurance two and a half minutes later. Then, with 6:01 left to play, a cross-ice feed from Reddick allowed Mike Brown to set-up Sergei Drozd perfectly, who beat Segal and snapped his five-game pointless streak in the process.

Owsley earned MVP honors in the series, stopping 30 of 32 shots in Game 6 and finishing with a 4-1-1 record, along with a 1.98 goals against average and a 0.934 save percentage. Meanwhile, Segal stopped 27 of the 32 shots he faced in the loss. Tri-City went 3-for-7 on the power play, while Vancouver was 2-for-9 on the man-advantage.

Next up, Tri-City will take on the Scotty Munro and Eastern Conference Champion Calgary Hitmen for the rights to the Ed Chynoweth Cup, awarded the WHL champion. The winner of the best-of-seven series will then represent the Western Hockey League at the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup, set to start on May 14 in Brandon, Manitoba. The dates and times for the WHL Finals are to be determined and fans are encouraged to check the Americans' website, www.amshockey.com, for up to date Americans' playoff information.

Applebee's 3 Stars:

1, Drew Owsley, Tri-City

2, Kruise Reddick, Tri-City

3, Mark Segal, Vancouver

Check out the Tri-City Americans Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from April 26, 2010


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