Tri City Americans

Tampa cornered Russian market at 2011 Entry Draft

The team's second-round choice, right wing Nikita Kucherov (No. 58), has returned to Russia and will play in the KHL with CSKA in 2011-12. Meanwhile, fifth-round pick Nikita Nesterov (No. 148), a defenseman, awaits word on whether or not he'll join the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League for the upcoming season. Tri-City had drafted the 6-foot, 183-pound blueliner with the 16th selection of the 2010 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. "We talked to (Tampa Bay General Manager Steve Yzerman ) a month before the draft and played out this scenario happening," Murray told NHL.com. "Some people seem to be backing off Russian players, but we want the best ones. We want the ones that are NHL-caliber and we had four (including Kitchener Rangers center Alexander Khokhlachev ) on our list and ended up having three of them there when each of our picks came around. In Namestnikov, Murray feels the organization scored an exceptional two-way player with solid skating and a tremendous skill set. He also had little concern over the Russian factor. While Namestnikov was born in Russia, he learned to play hockey in Michigan and was a frequent visitor to the Red Wings locker room as a youngster, courtesy of his uncle, Vyacheslav Kozlov . "He has a lot of similarities to (Winnipeg's) Alexander Burmistrov as a player as far as size and style of play," Murray said of Namestnikov. "Vlad was chosen a little later than we expected, so we're certainly happy to get him. From (Yzerman's) point of view, there's no reason to keep players out of the lineup if they're ready. The best philosophy is let's get everyone to training camp, see how they do, see who gets invited to main camp and then let the chips fall." Kucherov represented bronze medal-winning Russia at the 2011 Under-18 World Championship, where he produced a tournament-leading 11 goals and 21 points in seven games en route to being named the event's best forward. He recorded 27 goals and 58 points in 41 games with CSKA's junior team, and then had 13 points in 10 games to help the team win its league title. "The fact he came over to the (NHL Scouting) Combine, did the interviews and took the testing leads us to believe he's very interested in the NHL," Murray said. "As a skill player, we ranked him as a first round-caliber talent.

zachary yuen selected by winnipeg jets in nhl draft | angry asian man

The Tri-City Americans are proud to announce that 18-year-old defensemen Zachary Yuen was selected in Day 2 of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, held today at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yuen represents the 56th NHL Draft pick in the franchise's history and is the first Tri-City defensemen selected since Eric Mestery was drafted in 2008 by Washington. In the 4th round, the Americans saw Yuen go to the newest member of the National Hockey League, the Winnipeg Jets, with the 119th overall pick. After a solid freshman season, Yuen continued his growth as a WHL defenseman this season, collecting eight goals and 32 points along with a team-high plus-41 rating for Tri-City in 2010-11. The 6'0 205 lb. native of Vancouver, British Columbia was one of only three Tri-City players to appear in all 72 regular season games and all 10 post-season games, while his plus/minus rating placed him inside the top-10 among all WHL skaters and 4th in the Western Conference. The Jets, which were formally the Atlanta Thrashers, made Yuen the first-ever pick from Tri-City in the franchise's history. The former Winnipeg franchise, which is now the Phoenix Coyotes, drafted former Americans' Stu Barnes (1st round, 4th overall) in 1989 and Scott Levins (4th round, 75th overall) in 1990.

Tri-City Americans Alumni, Daymond Langkow, Olaf Kolzig, Billy Tibbetts, Carey Price, Brian Boucher, Scott Gomez, Sheldon Souray, Brian Sakic

Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down

This column prompted a somewhat critical article in The Tri-City Herald, ... such as (these are direct quotes) “the winning Tri-City Americans hockey team” ...

Chasing the Dream, A Player's Guide

When he was sixteen Dylan joined the Tri-City Americans for his first season. He is now in his fourth year with the team. It has been an occasionally ...

Choose the Pacific Northwest for Retirement, 3rd, Information for Travel, Retirement, Investment, and Affordable Living

Richland even has its own 150-slip yacht club. Spectator sports include the Tri- City Chinook minor-league basketball team, the Tri-City Americans ...

Latino and African American athletes today, a biographical dictionary

Still, New Jersey's management was impressed, as Gomez posted 12 goals and 37 assists in only 45 games with the Tri-Cities Americans in 1997-1998. ...