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Tri-City Americans
Tri-City Americans logo.svg
City Kennewick, Washington
League Western Hockey League
Conference Western
Division U.S.
Founded 1966
Home arena Toyota Center
Colors Navy blue, red, silver, white
                   
General manager Bob Tory
Head coach Stu Barnes
Championships Conference championships
1 (2009–10)
Website
chl.ca/whl-americans
Franchise history
1966–1967 Calgary Buffaloes
1967–1977 Calgary Centennials
1977–1982 Billings Bighorns
1982–1983 Nanaimo Islanders
1983–1988 New Westminster Bruins
1988–present Tri-City Americans

The Tri-City Americans are an American major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League and based in Kennewick, Washington. Founded in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes, the team settled in Kennewick in 1988 after a number of relocations. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center, which was purpose-built for the team. The team has won one Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions and have played in one league playoff final; however, the Americans have not won a playoff championship.

History

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.

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. The Americans surpassed this number on March 13, 2010, in a game against Spokane, with an attendance of 6,053.

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.

Season-by-season record

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

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
1988–89 72 33 34 5 — 300 299 71 4th West Lost West Division semifinal
1989–90 72 39 28 5 — 433 354 83 3rd West Lost West Division semifinal
1990–91 72 36 32 4 — 404 386 76 4th West Lost West Division semifinal
1991–92 72 35 35 2 — 363 376 72 2nd West Lost West Division quarterfinal
1992–93 72 28 41 3 — 245 312 59 6th West Lost West Division quarterfinal
1993–94 72 19 48 5 — 272 373 43 6th West Lost West Division quarterfinal
1994–95 72 36 31 5 — 295 279 77 4th West Lost West Division final
1995–96 72 45 25 2 — 336 255 92 3rd West Lost West Division semifinal
1996–97 72 22 43 7 — 225 288 51 7th West Did not qualify
1997–98 72 17 49 6 — 264 371 40 7th West Did not qualify
1998–99 72 43 23 6 — 311 219 92 2nd West Lost West Division final
1999–00 72 24 39 7 2 231 288 57 6th West Lost West Division quarterfinal
2000–01 72 21 36 8 7 217 284 57 7th West Did not qualify
2001–02 72 31 31 10 0 260 271 72 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2002–03 72 20 44 3 5 240 335 48 4th U.S. Did not qualify
2003–04 72 31 27 10 4 205 197 76 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2004–05 72 26 34 8 4 172 196 64 4th U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
Season GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
2005–06 72 30 35 4 3 188 221 67 4th U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2006–07 72 47 23 1 1 240 190 96 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2007–08 72 52 16 2 2 262 176 108 1st U.S. Lost Western Conference final
2008–09 72 49 20 0 3 263 184 101 1st U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2009–10 72 47 22 1 2 272 193 97 1st U.S. Lost final
2010–11 72 44 24 2 2 286 223 92 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2011–12 72 50 18 2 2 281 190 104 1st U.S. Lost Western Conference final
2012–13 72 40 27 2 3 246 227 85 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2013–14 72 29 33 4 6 178 224 68 5th U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2014–15 72 31 38 0 3 190 242 65 5th U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2015–16 72 35 34 2 1 236 253 73 5th U.S. Did not qualify
2016–17 72 41 28 3 0 272 252 85 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2017–18 72 38 25 8 1 255 249 85 4th U.S. Lost Western Conference final
2018–19 68 34 28 5 1 214 230 74 4th U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2019–20 63 17 40 4 2 157 302 40 5th U.S. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 19 7 12 0 0 47 78 14 5th U.S. No playoffs held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22 68 19 43 6 0 179 306 44 5th U.S. Did not qualify
2022–23 68 34 26 5 3 256 245 76 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2023–24 68 23 42 2 1 206 306 49 6th U.S. Did not qualify

Championship history

  • Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: 2007–08
  • Conference championships: 2009–10
  • Regular season Division titles (4): 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12

WHL Championship final

Players

NHL alumni

Alumni of the Americans who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Scott Gomez was the first former American to win the Stanley Cup.

  • Carter Ashton
  • Stu Barnes
  • Milan Bartovic
  • Jake Bean
  • Shawn Belle
  • Alexandre Boikov
  • Brian Boucher
  • Jason Bowen
  • Brandon Carlo
  • Dylan Coghlan
  • Eric Comrie
  • Kimbi Daniels
  • Chris Driedger
  • Brad Ference
  • Brett Festerling
  • Dan Focht
  • Morgan Geekie
  • Scott Gomez
  • Patrick Holland
  • Olaf Kolzig
  • Zenith Komarniski
  • Jaroslav Kristek
  • Jason Labarbera
  • Daymond Langkow
  • Brett Leason
  • Scott Levins
  • Bill Lindsay
  • Jason Marshall
  • Josef Melichar
  • Steve Passmore
  • Stephen Peat
  • Alexander Pechursky
  • Ronald Petrovicky
  • Carey Price
  • Michael Rasmussen
  • Terry Ryan
  • Terran Sandwith
  • Jesse Schultz
  • Ray Schultz
  • Brendan Shinnimin
  • Todd Simpson
  • Dan Smith
  • Sheldon Souray
  • Clayton Stoner
  • Jaroslav Svejkovsky
  • Billy Tibbetts
  • Juuso Valimaki
  • Terry Virtue
  • Vladimir Vujtek
  • Tyler Weiman
  • Parker Wotherspoon
  • B. J. Young

Retired numbers

The Americans honored Todd Klassen in 1993, months after he was killed in a car crash. The team also began awarding the Todd Klassen Humanitarian of the Year Award annually.

# Player
8 Brian Sakic
14 Stu Barnes / Todd Klassen
33 Olaf Kolzig

Awards

CHL awards

David Branch Player of the Year Award

  • Brendan Shinnimin: 2011–12

CHL Goaltender of the Year

CHL Top Scorer Award

  • Brendan Shinnimin: 2011–12

Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award

  • Jim Hiller: 2011–12


WHL awards

Four Broncos Memorial Trophy
Player of the year

  • Stu Barnes: 1988–89
  • Brendan Shinnimin: 2011–12

Del Wilson Trophy
Goaltender of the year

Bob Clarke Trophy
Top Scorer

  • Daymond Langkow: 1994–95
  • Brendan Shinnimin: 2011–12

Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy
Coach of the year

  • Don Hay: 1998–99
  • Don Nachbaur: 2007–08
  • Jim Hiller: 2011–12

Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy
Humanitarian of the year

  • Taylor Procyshen: 2008–09
  • Taylor Vickerman: 2014–15

Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy
Executive of the year

  • Don Hay: 1998–99
  • Bob Tory: 2006–07, 2007–08

WHL Plus-Minus Award
Top plus-minus

  • Brendan Shinnimin: 2011–12
  • Zach Yuen: 2011–12


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