The Tri-City Americans Are Back On The Ice

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By Keith Leventhal

Story Published: Sep 8, 2010 at 8:26 PM PST

It seems like just yesterday that the Tri-City Americans were playing in the WHL Finals.

Well, as tough as it is to believe, the Ams were eliminated from the playoffs 4 months ago.

Now, after their shortest summer break ever, the Americans are back on the ice.

The team opened up the preseason last weekend in the Everett tournament.

And it was a solid start for the Ams as they went 2-1.

The team is spending this week trimming down their roster and getting in a little more practice time.

And in just a couple of days, they'll play their first preseason games in front of their own fans.

The Red Lion Hotels preseason tournament kicks off Thursday afternoon and the Americans will play their first game on Friday night against Lethbridge.

The Ams will be back in action Saturday night when they take on Spokane, and they'll wrap up the tournament Sunday afternoon with a game against Kootenay.

The Ams will be missing a bunch of veterans for those games.

The team has 7 players that will be leaving on Thursday to take part in NHL training camps.

Justin Feser and Jordan Messier will both be going to the Blue Jackets camp...Patrick Holland is headed up to Calgary...Spencer Humphries will be in San Jose...Brooks Macek and Brendan Shinnimin will be playing with 2 of the original 6 teams...and goalie Alexander Pechurskiy is headed back east to be with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

All of these players will miss this weekend's games and when they are sent back to the Tri-Cities is up to their NHL team.