Tri-Cities Americans
7100 West Guinault Arena Level
Kennewick,Washington
99336
509-736-0606
BEN KILGOUR
ERIC JOHANSSON
ERIC CLARK
Overage Graduate:
JUSTIN HANSEN
2001-2002 Season Preview
Losses to:
Overage: Joey Bastion, Justin Hansen.
Expansion Draft: Andrew DeSousa / Andrew Davidson by trade.
Goal: Tyson Motz '81 (?), Tyler Weiman '84, Chris Houle '82, Matt Boudreau '85.
No doubt Weiman will be the number one guy after playing so brilliantly last year. This guy looks like the real deal. He has excellent reflexes and plays very sound positionally. Will Motz want to play backup as an overage? Not likely, and a few teams could use a proven starter. Trade?? Look for Houle or a prospect to back up Weiman.
Defence: Dustin Barker '82, Colin Johnson '82, Sean Curry '82, Brad Zanon '83, Justin Lucyshyn '83, *Matthew Ireland '84, *Chris Stubel '84, *Shawn Belle '85.
Somebody send the Maytag repairman...this defence is in tough. Barker is stronger moving the puck up ice than in his own end. Johnson and Curry are adequate, but not as strong as some other teams' top four. What Zanon lacks in skills he makes up for in heart, but what the Ams need is a veteran as a calming influence. They are a big group, but outside of Barker not really fleet of foot. Look for new G.M. Tory to deal for help. The Ams do have a possible future star in Belle, who will likely get every opportunity to show it.
Forwards: Derrick Atkinson '81, Eric Clark '82, Eric Johannson '82, Jon Mirasty '82, Jordan Cameron '82, Pat Iannone '82, Ryan Jorde '82, Ben Kilgour '82, Tyler Dyck '83, Dylan Stanley '84, Darrell May '84, *Ian McDonald '85, *Marc Connors '85.
Eric Johannson really came into his own last season, and Ben Kilgour will work as hard as any other player in the league. But outside of Jordan Cameron there isn't much scoring in the Ams' current roster. Iannone will work as hard as Kilgour but isn't likely to score a lot, and overager Atkinson is dependable but he isn't going to set any scoring records. Toughness won't be lacking, however, as Jorde, Dyck, Mirasty and Cameron are a tough bunch. The Ams need Eric Clark to fulfill all the promise he's shown and hope for Stanley and May to score, or the only highlight at Ams' games will be watching a future star in Weiman playing goal.
Europeans: A goal scorer and a defenceman who can step in right away.
Overagers: The Ams need help on the back end by getting two 20 yr olds if they can. This may allow them to rely on Weiman and a solid d to win some close games.