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Here are just a few places for you to visit while at our fair city.
TONY ROMAS
(RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED)
1400 Market Place Dr
406-727-7427
3 D INTERNATIONAL
(RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED)
1825 SMELTER AVE
406-453-6561
BORRIE'S FAMILY RESTAURANTS
(RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED)
1800 SMELTER AVE
406-761-0300
MING'S CHINESE RESTAURANT
3212 10TH AVE S
406-727-4153
NEW PEKING
1525 3RD ST NW
406-452-2828
3 D INTERNATIONAL
1825 SMELTER AVE
406-453-6561
CODY BILL'S
3801 10TH AVE S
406-452-8433
DANTE'S CREATIVE CUISINE
1325 8TH AVE N
406-453-9599
MELAQUE MEXICAN RESTAURANT
211 Northwest Bypass
406-268-0205
FUDDRUCKERS WORLD FAMOUS BURGERS
3315 10th Avenue South
406-727-6988
HALFTIME SPORTSBAR & GRILL
1101 NORTHWEST BYPASS
406-727-8053
LEGENDS SPORTS BAR & GRILL
1121 5th Street South
406-452-4900
TJ'S LOUNGE
1308 10th Avenue South
406-727-1800
THE STING SPORTS BAR & GRILL
1826 10th Ave South
406-727-7972
THE BRICK SPORTS BAR & CASINO
2401 12th Avenue South
406-452-6021
JAKER'S
(RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED)
1500 10TH AVE S
406-727-1033
APPLEBEE'S GRILL & BAR
223 River Drive South
406-452-5051
PRIME CUT RESTAURANT
3219 10TH AVE S
406-727-2141
PROSPECTOR CASINO
907 SMELTER AVE NE
406-452-5266
RYAN'S STATION
721 6TH ST SW
406-761-0057
TACO TREAT & AMIGO LOUNGE
1200 7TH ST S
406-761-1195
GOLDEN CORRAL
MARKET PLACE DRIVE
406-453-3500
DOMINO'S PIZZA
125 NORTHWEST BYP
406-771-8877
GODFATHER'S PIZZA
1300 10TH AVE S
406-761-7722
HOWARD'S PIZZA
713 1ST AVE N
406-453-1212
MACKENZIE RIVER PIZZA CO
(RESERVATIONS SUGGESTED)
1200 9TH ST S
406-761-0085
GODFATHERS PIZZA
1300 10th Avenue South
406-761-7722
PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA
1600 10TH AVE S
406-761-6161
PIZZA HUT
1819 3RD ST NW
406-727-5445
STAGELINE PIZZA
2013 8TH ST NE
406-727-9500
PICKLE BARREL
1008 20TH ST S
406-452-2100
SUBWAY SANDWICHES
1900 4TH ST NE
406-452-8708
MONTANA SUB SHOP
701 9TH ST S
406-454-0651
BARNES & NOBLE BOOK SELL
1601 MARKET PLACE DR #65
406-452-3299
HASTINGS BOOKS MUSIC & VIDEO
1017 10TH AVE S
406-727-3024
BEST OF MONTANA COMPANY
2912 10TH AVE S
406-761-1233
GREAT FALLS, MT 59405
HOLIDAY VILLAGE MALL
1200 10th AVE S
406-727-2088
OLD NAVY
5353 Great Falls Market Place
406-453-4171
PIER 1 IMPORTS
1601 Market Place Drive
406-452-8795
Great Falls Tent & Awning (SKATE SHARPENING)
615 8th Avenue North
406-453-6688
Scheels Sports (SKATE SHARPENING)
Holiday Village Mall
406-453-7666
CARMIKE THEATER
1601 Marketplace Drive, Ste 75
Great Falls, MT
(406) 452-4474
Matinee: $5.00 Adult $5.00 Child
Evening: $7.25 Adult $5.00 Child
*plus tax where applicable
GANNON RANCH GOLF COURSE
240 Sunflower Lane
406-453-4471
EMERALD GREENS GOLF COURSE
1100 American AVE
406-453-4844
GALAXY GAMES
300 Smelter Ave NW
406-455-1299
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Beavers fall just short for third
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor
The Great Falls Heritage Inn Beavers yielded only three goals in each of their three games over the weekend at the Casey Cup hockey tournament, but that wasn't quite good enough to procure third place.
The Beavers lost 3-2 to the Gillette (Wyo.) Wild Saturday afternoon in the third-place game of the AA Division. In earlier tourney games, the Beavers beat the Bow River Bruins 6-3 in the first round, then gave up three regulation goals Friday to the Swift Current (Sask.) Wild before losing in a shootout.
Unlike Friday's game — when Great Falls overcame a 3-0 deficit — the Beavers led most of the way. Doug Walter gave Great Falls an early 1-0 lead, then Cory Buford tallied early in the third period to give the Beavers a 2-1 advantage.
But Chris Floreani and Andrew Floreani scored goals for the Wyoming team in a five-minute span of the third period to gain the victory.
Freshman Dan Olinger — who played all three games in goal for the Beavers — had 28 saves. Gillette goalie Eric Geweke stopped 17 shots.
Walter, who scored six goals in the tournament, was named an all-star. Drew Baier made the all-star team from the Wild.
In the AA title game later Saturday night, the Utah Junior Wildcats knocked off the Swift Current Wild 6-2.
In the A Division, the championship game between the Trails West Slayers and the Lethbridge Bengals was still going on at Tribune presstime.
The Bow Valley Flame took third place in A Division with a 3-2 win over Prairie High.
In the A Division consolation championship, Great Falls native Kellen Triplett had two goals and an assist as the Helena Junior Big Horns whipped the Olds Mustangs 8-3.
A Division
Consolation
St. Paul Canadians 4, Utah Jr. Wildcats A 0
Utah 0 0 0 — 0
St. Paul 1 1 2 — 4
First Period—1, SP, Nathan Pundich (Brad Formanek, Dustin Oullette) 12:02.
Second Period—2, SP, Craig Dallaicy (un) 7:45.
Third Period—3, SP, Dallaicy (Stefan DeMoissat, Majd Salame) 13:39. 4, Brad Formanek (un) 2:37.
Saves—Utah, Cody Palmer, NA. St. Paul, NA.
Consolation championship
Helena Junior Big Horns 8, Olds Mustangs 3
Helena 4 1 3 — 8
Olds 1 2 0 — 3
First Period—1, Hel, James Wiscombe (Kellen Triplett) 12:54. 2, Olds, Nick Bojda (David Harter, Kyle Hohenwater) 7:50. 3, Hel, Blake Wheeler (Andy Greigel) 4:47. 4, Hel, Wheeler (Paul Taylor) 1:33. 5, Triplett (un) 0:37.
Second Period—6, Olds, Steve Turrett (David Lausen) 6:08. 7, Olds, Turrett (Harper, Hohenwater) 3:25. 8, Hel, Anthony Moser (Sam Wattnam, Mike Robbins) 2:39.
Third Period—9, Hel, Triplett (Michael Zook) 11:46. 10, Wheeler (Drew Younker) 10:11. 11, Taylor (Robbins) 7:37.
Saves—Helena, Troy Green 7; Marcus Ivey 17. Olds, Chris Doi 21.
Third Place
Bow Valley Flame 4, Prairie High Sabres 2
Bow Valley 2 1 1 — 3 Prairie High 0 0 2 — 2
First Period—1, BV, Jason O'Connell (Trevor Bryan) 12:25; 2. BV, Bryan (Erich Bauer) :02
Second Period—3, BV, Nicholas Johner (Sean Hyde, Behn Watson), pp, 1:36
Third Period—4, PH, James Hill (un-sh) 14:22; 5, BV, O'Connell (Daniel Reed), 12:40; 6, PH, Mike Wiens (Dustin Olson), pp, 7:34
Saves—Prairie High, Nelson Ritter, 10; Mike Bauer, 8; Bow Valley, Daniel Reed, 12; Darren Myslicai, 4
All-Stars—Bow Valley, Ryan Pierce; Prairie High, Mike Wiens
AA Division
Consolation
Claresholm Thunder 7, Idaho Falls Eagles 3
Idaho Falls 0 3 0 — 3
Claresholm 2 3 2 — 7
First Period—1, CT. Brandon Egger (Brady Egger) 3:15. 2, Brandon Egger (un) 2:24.
Second Period—3, CT, Quintin Fisher (Brandon Egger) 13:51. 4, IF, Taylor Braase (Nathan Hersley) 13:22. 5, CT, Fisher (Brandon Egger) 9:45. 6, IF, Braase (un) 7:18. 7, IF, Heath Grover (un) 3:25. 8. CT, Brandon Egger (Brady Egger) 3:09.
Third Period—9, CT, Fisher (Brandon Egger) 3:53. 10, CT, Mat Bolduc (un) 2:06.
Saves—Idaho Falls, Nathan Harvey 28. Claresholm, Jeff Dunn 24.
Consolation championship
Strathmore Storm 5, Bow River Bruins 1
Bow River 0 0 1 — 1
Strathmore 1 3 1 — 5
First Period—1, SS, Cody Gorlick (Brady Grove) 14:17.
Second Period—2, SS, Kristopher Mathieu (Michael Dobbin) 7:45. 3, SS, Dobbin (Hadley Manyheads) 7:29. 4, Alvin Calf (Dobbin) 6:05
Third Period—5, BR, Ches Evans (Tyler Lacock) 10:06. 6, SS, Jesse Rankine (Calf) 8:59.
Saves—Bow River, Joel Richardson 23; Mark Johnson 27. Scott Wegener 35.
Third place
Gillette (Wyo.) Wild 3, Heritage Inn Beavers 2
Gillette 0 1 2 — 3
Great Falls 1 0 1 — 2
First Period—1, GF, Doug Walter (Cory Buford) 11:18.
Second Period—2, GW, Drew Baier (Beau Funk) 3:51.
Third Period—3, GF, Buford (un-sh) 11:04. 4, GW, Chris Floreani (Baier) 10:56. 5, Andrew Floreani (Chris Floreani, Logan Tomer) 6:51.
Saves—Gillette, Eric Geweke 17. Great Falls, Dan Olinger 28.
AA Championship
Utah Junior Wildcats 6, Swift Current Wild 2
Utah 1 3 2 — 6 Swift Current 0 1 1 — 2
First Period—1, Utah, Beau Bertagnolli (Parker Phipps, Henry Cosgriff), 1:48
Second Period—2, Utah, Andrew Reed (Bertagnolli), 14:12; 3, Utah, Phipps (Colton Archibald), 9:47; 4, Utah, Reed (Archibald), 8:47; 5, Swift Current, Kody Orr (Matt Switzer), :51
Third Period—6, Utah, Pat Carroll (Bertagnolli, Archibald), 12:27; 7, Swift Current, NA, 10:41; 8, Utah, Archibald (Carroll), 6:49
Goalies—Swift Current, Cody Hagman, 32 saves; Utah, Tyler Distad, 14 saves
The Lethbridge vs Trails West Game was not completed at press time.
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2007 AA CONSOLATION CHAMPIONS-Great Falls Americans
AA CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP
GREAT FALLS AMERICANS 4 SHOOT-OUT
SWIFTCURRENT WILD 3
TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS
Great Falls Americans-MIKE ZOOK
Swiftcurrent Wild-DAVID KURNEY
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2007 DIVISION A A CHAMPIONS-Utah Jr. Wildcats
AA CHAMPIONS
UTAH JR. WILDCATS 3
AIRDRIE LIGHTENING 2
TOURNEY MVP-Beau Bertagnelli-Utah Jr. Wildcats
TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS
Utah Jr. Wildcats- Ian Weston
Utah Jr. Wildcats - Bryan McArthur
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2007 DIVISION A CHAMPIONS-Prairie High Sabres
A CHAMPIONS
PRAIRIE HIGH SABRES 4
LEDUC REDWINGS 0
TOURNEY MVP-Joseph Passman-Prairie High Sabres
TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS
Prairie High Sabres-Kevin Belt
Prairie High Sabres-Mike Bauer
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A CONSOLATION CHAMPIONS-Medicine Hat Cougars
A CONSOLATION CHAMPIONS
MEDICINE HAT COUGARS 5 SHOOT-OUT
MISSOULA BRUINS 4
TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS
Medicine Hat Cougars-Evan Miller
Missoula Bruins-Michael Belkowski
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Utah wins Casey Cup
HELENA — The Utah Junior Wildcats won the AA Division of the Casey Cup hockey tournament for the third straight year Saturday night, defeating the Airdrie Lightning 3-2.
The Prairie High Sabres of Three Hills, Alta., won the A Division title with a 4-0 victory over Leduc Redwings.
The AA tournament MVP was Beau Bertagnelli of the Utah Wildcats, while A Division honors went to Joseph Passman of Prairie High.
Mike Zook of the Great Falls Americans was named to the AA all-star team.
AA All-Stars
AA-Utah Jr. Wildcats — Ian Weston, Bryan McArthur; Airdrie Lightening — Devin Holmes-Smith, Corey Tyrell; Great Falls Americans — Mike Zook; Swift Current Wild — David Kurney.
A All-Stars
Prairie High Sabres — Kevin Belt, Mike Bauer; Leduc Redwings — Brett Sac, Nick McDonald; Medicine Hat Cougars — Evan Miller; Missoula Bruins — Michael Belkowski.
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SUNDAYS COVERAGE
March 25, 2006 --
Beavers fall just short for third
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor
The Great Falls Heritage Inn Beavers yielded only three goals in each of their three games over the weekend at the Casey Cup hockey tournament, but that wasn't quite good enough to procure third place.
The Beavers lost 3-2 to the Gillette (Wyo.) Wild Saturday afternoon in the third-place game of the AA Division. In earlier tourney games, the Beavers beat the Bow River Bruins 6-3 in the first round, then gave up three regulation goals Friday to the Swift Current (Sask.) Wild before losing in a shootout.
Unlike Friday's game — when Great Falls overcame a 3-0 deficit — the Beavers led most of the way. Doug Walter gave Great Falls an early 1-0 lead, then Cory Buford tallied early in the third period to give the Beavers a 2-1 advantage.
But Chris Floreani and Andrew Floreani scored goals for the Wyoming team in a five-minute span of the third period to gain the victory.
Freshman Dan Olinger — who played all three games in goal for the Beavers — had 28 saves. Gillette goalie Eric Geweke stopped 17 shots.
Walter, who scored six goals in the tournament, was named an all-star. Drew Baier made the all-star team from the Wild.
In the AA title game later Saturday night, the Utah Junior Wildcats knocked off the Swift Current Wild 6-2.
In the A Division, the championship game between the Trails West Slayers and the Lethbridge Bengals was still going on at Tribune presstime.
The Bow Valley Flame took third place in A Division with a 3-2 win over Prairie High.
In the A Division consolation championship, Great Falls native Kellen Triplett had two goals and an assist as the Helena Junior Big Horns whipped the Olds Mustangs 8-3.
A Division
Consolation
St. Paul Canadians 4, Utah Jr. Wildcats A 0
Utah 0 0 0 — 0
St. Paul 1 1 2 — 4
First Period—1, SP, Nathan Pundich (Brad Formanek, Dustin Oullette) 12:02.
Second Period—2, SP, Craig Dallaicy (un) 7:45.
Third Period—3, SP, Dallaicy (Stefan DeMoissat, Majd Salame) 13:39. 4, Brad Formanek (un) 2:37.
Saves—Utah, Cody Palmer, NA. St. Paul, NA.
Consolation championship
Helena Junior Big Horns 8, Olds Mustangs 3
Helena 4 1 3 — 8
Olds 1 2 0 — 3
First Period—1, Hel, James Wiscombe (Kellen Triplett) 12:54. 2, Olds, Nick Bojda (David Harter, Kyle Hohenwater) 7:50. 3, Hel, Blake Wheeler (Andy Greigel) 4:47. 4, Hel, Wheeler (Paul Taylor) 1:33. 5, Triplett (un) 0:37.
Second Period—6, Olds, Steve Turrett (David Lausen) 6:08. 7, Olds, Turrett (Harper, Hohenwater) 3:25. 8, Hel, Anthony Moser (Sam Wattnam, Mike Robbins) 2:39.
Third Period—9, Hel, Triplett (Michael Zook) 11:46. 10, Wheeler (Drew Younker) 10:11. 11, Taylor (Robbins) 7:37.
Saves—Helena, Troy Green 7; Marcus Ivey 17. Olds, Chris Doi 21.
Third Place
Bow Valley Flame 4, Prairie High Sabres 2
Bow Valley 2 1 1 — 3 Prairie High 0 0 2 — 2
First Period—1, BV, Jason O'Connell (Trevor Bryan) 12:25; 2. BV, Bryan (Erich Bauer) :02
Second Period—3, BV, Nicholas Johner (Sean Hyde, Behn Watson), pp, 1:36
Third Period—4, PH, James Hill (un-sh) 14:22; 5, BV, O'Connell (Daniel Reed), 12:40; 6, PH, Mike Wiens (Dustin Olson), pp, 7:34
Saves—Prairie High, Nelson Ritter, 10; Mike Bauer, 8; Bow Valley, Daniel Reed, 12; Darren Myslicai, 4
All-Stars—Bow Valley, Ryan Pierce; Prairie High, Mike Wiens
AA Division
Consolation
Claresholm Thunder 7, Idaho Falls Eagles 3
Idaho Falls 0 3 0 — 3
Claresholm 2 3 2 — 7
First Period—1, CT. Brandon Egger (Brady Egger) 3:15. 2, Brandon Egger (un) 2:24.
Second Period—3, CT, Quintin Fisher (Brandon Egger) 13:51. 4, IF, Taylor Braase (Nathan Hersley) 13:22. 5, CT, Fisher (Brandon Egger) 9:45. 6, IF, Braase (un) 7:18. 7, IF, Heath Grover (un) 3:25. 8. CT, Brandon Egger (Brady Egger) 3:09.
Third Period—9, CT, Fisher (Brandon Egger) 3:53. 10, CT, Mat Bolduc (un) 2:06.
Saves—Idaho Falls, Nathan Harvey 28. Claresholm, Jeff Dunn 24.
Consolation championship
Strathmore Storm 5, Bow River Bruins 1
Bow River 0 0 1 — 1
Strathmore 1 3 1 — 5
First Period—1, SS, Cody Gorlick (Brady Grove) 14:17.
Second Period—2, SS, Kristopher Mathieu (Michael Dobbin) 7:45. 3, SS, Dobbin (Hadley Manyheads) 7:29. 4, Alvin Calf (Dobbin) 6:05
Third Period—5, BR, Ches Evans (Tyler Lacock) 10:06. 6, SS, Jesse Rankine (Calf) 8:59.
Saves—Bow River, Joel Richardson 23; Mark Johnson 27. Scott Wegener 35.
Third place
Gillette (Wyo.) Wild 3, Heritage Inn Beavers 2
Gillette 0 1 2 — 3
Great Falls 1 0 1 — 2
First Period—1, GF, Doug Walter (Cory Buford) 11:18.
Second Period—2, GW, Drew Baier (Beau Funk) 3:51.
Third Period—3, GF, Buford (un-sh) 11:04. 4, GW, Chris Floreani (Baier) 10:56. 5, Andrew Floreani (Chris Floreani, Logan Tomer) 6:51.
Saves—Gillette, Eric Geweke 17. Great Falls, Dan Olinger 28.
AA Championship
Utah Junior Wildcats 6, Swift Current Wild 2
Utah 1 3 2 — 6 Swift Current 0 1 1 — 2
First Period—1, Utah, Beau Bertagnolli (Parker Phipps, Henry Cosgriff), 1:48
Second Period—2, Utah, Andrew Reed (Bertagnolli), 14:12; 3, Utah, Phipps (Colton Archibald), 9:47; 4, Utah, Reed (Archibald), 8:47; 5, Swift Current, Kody Orr (Matt Switzer), :51
Third Period—6, Utah, Pat Carroll (Bertagnolli, Archibald), 12:27; 7, Swift Current, NA, 10:41; 8, Utah, Archibald (Carroll), 6:49
Goalies—Swift Current, Cody Hagman, 32 saves; Utah, Tyler Distad, 14 saves
The Lethbridge vs Trails West Game was not completed at press time.
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TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER
Great Falls American Jared Hunt, right, keeps the puck away from Brooks Storm's Colin Hicks during the Casey Cup AA Championship Game at Four Seasons Arena on Saturday night.
American beauty: Great Falls takes title behind Olinger's MVP performance
By LEE VERNOY
Tribunre Sports Writer
The Great Falls Americans took a punch in the face from the Brooks Storm early in Saturday's AA championship game of the Terry Casey Memorial Cup at Four Seasons Arena.
That was all the Americans needed. Tyler Hobbs and Jordan Van Son scored goals, and tournament MVP Dan Olinger was lights-out in the net as the Americans came back to calm the Storm 2-1, capturing the city's first Casey Cup championship since 2004.
The punch in the face was a power-play goal from the Storm's James Watt with 11:29 left in the first, a play that served as a wakeup call for the Americans. It was Olinger's only blemish in 26 shots, and he said it himself: My bad.
"I didn't play that one very well," Olinger admitted after the game. "But the team picked me up and kept the rest of the shots down."
The final two periods reflected that. Great Falls outshot Brooks 21-15 the rest of the way, getting the equalizer at 7:37 of the second when Hobbs took a pass from Jared Baker in front of the crease.
Van Son's game winner, at 6:46 of the third, came off off a Ryan D'Agostino feed.
"There was a battle in front of the net, and we had to shoot as much as possible," Van Son said of his goal.
Van Son would come up big on defense about four minutes later, reaching behind Olinger to clear a shot that got away from the goalie to help preserve the win.
"My only thought on that was, 'Don't let it in,'" Van Son said later. "Gotta save the team."
A boisterous crowd of about 1,500 erupted in jubilation as the final seconds ticked away. Brooks pulled goalie Josh Bartusek in the final minute to put a sixth skater on the ice, but the Americans' defense was equal to the task.
"It's easy to judge a team by its success," Americans head coach Brian Hendrickson said. "We got punched in the face, then came back and outshot Brooks (11-5) in the second period, and we came out in the third knowing in our hearts we were going to put them away."
Hendrickson heaped tons of praise upon Olinger, who received the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
"He leaves it out there with anything he does," Hendrickson said. "From weight training with (CMR football coach) Jack Johnson, to baseball with (Stallions' Legion baseball coach) Mike Ferradas, to overspeed training on his own at the Peak, then making hockey practice and giving 200 percent. And that's with a 3.0 GPA.
"He works out until 9:30 p.m., then to pull good grades and be a good citizen; I can't speak enough of Dan Olinger."
Americans Ryan D'Agostino of Bozeman and Mike Zook were also named to the tournament All-Star team.
The late A Championship game had the Prairie High Sabres facing the Grimshaw Stars and was not over as of press time.
The Americans will leave Tuesday to fly to Buffalo, N.Y. for the national Tier II championships.
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Twenty years later, the Legend of Terry Casey still resonates
By SCOTT MANSCH
Tribune Asst. Sports Editor
The legend of Terry Casey continues to grow in his hometown of Great Falls, where former friends recall an unpretentious superstar athlete whose prowess on ice skates was surpassed perhaps only by his humility.
They remember an easy-going, personable Great Falls High graduate whose modest size masked an intense desire to succeed no matter the sport. And they speak now of a fiercely competitive athlete nicknamed "Moose," who could execute figure skating disciplines and overwhelm hockey goalies with equal ease.
And who once was chased with a broom by the mother of the great John Misha Petkevich.
"These are all true stories," said Jeff Cunniff.
Casey, the namesake of the annual tournament that completed a successful run Saturday night at Four Seasons Arena, would have been 65 this year. It's been more than four decades since he lost his life in an automobile accident.
"When he was killed," said Cunniff, "it affected a lot of people. I mean a lot of people."
Sports history in Montana is fraught with tales of tragedy. The heartbreaking stories include the World War II-bound 1941 Montana State football team, the untimely passing of Montana Grizzly gridiron great Terry Dillon, and the accidental electrocution of Anaconda basketball immortal Wayne Estes.
But the death of Casey, who perished along with two other highly regarded local athletes in July, 1967, hits home for many in Great Falls. It's why Cunniff and others started the Casey Cup Memorial Tournament. And why the competition continues to thrive after nearly 20 years.
"This weekend is a meaningful thing for a lot of us who knew him," said John Borgreen.
Casey grew up at 1126 2nd Ave. S., where his mother "Muggins" still lives. She's an active nonagenarian whose daughters, Kathy and Myrna, became outstanding figure skaters.
Terry, though, preferred contact sports.
In those days Great Falls High consisted of grades 10-12, with freshmen still in middle school. At the state wrestling tournament, teams were allowed to bring ninth-graders and the Bison had an outstanding frosh prospect in the 95-pound Casey. But, Cunniff recalls, the GFH administration made a decision to save a few bucks and not bring a 95-pound freshman to the 1959 state meet.
So hockey became Casey's exclusive winter sport.
"Wrestling's loss was hockey's gain," said Cunniff.
Cunniff was a junior-high football player and remembers showing up at the GFH field when practice was over. Casey, the Bison quarterback in the early Sixties, often would stay afterward and throw spirals to the younger kids running pass routes.
"I mean, you've gotta love a guy like that," Cunniff said.
Borgreen has memories that linger of when the only indoor ice rink in Great Falls was at the Civic Center.
"We'd sneak in there," said Borgreen, then a goaltender for the local team and a cousin of Casey's girlfriend. "I had a buddy who was the rink manager and he slipped me a key. We'd sneak in there late at night and turn on only a few lights. We'd get a bucket of pucks and he'd shoot 'em at me for an hour or two.
"Terry, he was just driven to improve."
In those pre-Zamboni days, the Civic Center ice was groomed in the late afternoon so it would be just so when the figure skaters showed up to practice the next morning. But Casey and Borgreen often left the ice far from smooth.
"It'd be all chewed up, and the figure skating club was pretty upset with us," Borgreen said.
John Misha's mother, Delphine, took offense at this. And when she discovered who was messing up the ice, she took up her broom.
"She chased Terry with that broom out on the ice and then outside the rink, him running with skates on," said a laughing Borgreen. "He was something."
Of course, so was Petkevich, who became a national junior champion figure skater and U.S. Olympian. Decades later Scott Davis brought more skating glory to Great Falls with national championships and Olympic berths.
Casey might too have achieved fame among figure skaters. But the dynamo loved to shoot the puck. And pass the football. And fast-pitch the softball.
"Not very big," said Cunniff. "But a great, great all-around athlete."
Casey was but 5-8 and 150 pounds when he graduated from Great Falls High in 1962.
He became national star at the University of North Dakota, where his No. 12 is retired. Casey played 88 games in three seasons for the Fighting Sioux and amassed 118 points (57 goals, 61 assists).
He was an American Hockey Coaches Association All-American in the 1965-66, when in 30 games he had 26 goals and 28 assists. The college All-American team is divided into two regions, East and West. Casey was named to West squad in 1966. The goaltender on that team was Tony Esposito of Michigan Tech, who went on to a Hall-of-Fame career in the NHL.
Heady stuff, to be sure. But 40 years later, friends say Casey was confident but far from cocky.
"He was shy and didn't really like the limelight," Borgreen said.
But he found it all right. Casey made the national U.S. hockey team in 1967 and that February traveled to Vienna, Austra, for the world championships. He would have played hockey on Team USA in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
Always true to his roots, Casey never apparently forgot where he came from. In the summer of 1967 he came home to Great Falls, where on many weekends to played fastpitch softball with his pals.
Casey was in a carload of friends headed for a Plentywood tournament that fateful July day when a wreck on the highway changed Great Falls sports history forever.
"It was really a horrible time," said Borgreen.
For more than 40 years, no one playing hockey for Great Falls has worn Casey's No. 12. That's the way it was this weekend as the 19th annual Casey Cup took center stage at Four Seasons Arena.
And that's the way it will be in future years when the brand spanking new ice facility arena opens on Gore Hill. It's one of the highest points in Great Falls and many feel Casey's No. 12 should hang up there in the arena as close to the stars as possible.
"Terry Casey was a superb nice young man," said Borgreen. "I hope the kids today who play in this tournament all realize that."
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Short-handed goals hurt Bighorns
By JEFF WINDMUELLER IR Sports Writer 3/25/07
Powerplays hurt the Helena Jr. Bighorns more than they helped as the Lethbridge Hounds scored two short-handed goals and Andy Jaffray shut out Helena for a 3-0 loss Saturday on the final day of the Terry Casey Memorial Tournament.
The game means the end of the season for the Bighorns, who went 1-2 in their final tournament, while the Hounds received third place in the “A” division.
For the Bighorns it was still a tremendous end to a season that saw them strengthening their lines over time.
“The kids did a real good job, we had a long year,” said Bighorns coach, Dennis Palmer. “We had some real high points. We were rebuilding from the last year, we were one of the best teams last year and we started out slow (this season). By the end of the year we were certainly one of the best teams in the state.
“Casey Cup really showed that, because we were playing competition from all over the Northwest and we could play with anybody.”
On Saturday it seemed that the only group they had trouble playing with was Lethbridge’s penalty kill line. After Ryan Westerson was called for crosschecking early in the game, the Bighorns thought they would have an advantage.
But Braeden Horon caught a pass mid-ice from teammate Patrick Williams and used the breakaway to score the first goal 2:15 in.
Jared Cox mimicked the play when he broke through off a pass from Horon to score the second shorthanded goal with 4:12 left in the period.
Neither team was able to score during the second, but both began to turn up their aggressiveness. Players were checking hard and slamming their opponents into the boards or onto the ice.
With just under five minutes left in the period, Blake Wheeler and Jared Hunt riddled Jaffray with shots, but after a save was made Lethbridge’s Troy Turner came rushing in to defend the crease and was called for a high-sticking penalty.
The Bighorns used the opportunity well, having patience and getting a few shots on net, but they couldn’t get past the goalie.
At 3:33 Taylor Dedman took a slapshot that Hunt redirected. The puck bounced between Jaffray’s legs, but the goalie was able to close his five-hole before giving up a powerplay goal.
Jaffray made 26 saves in the game to Bighorns goalie Troy Green’s 27 and kept the Hounds alive even when they looked down.
With both teams increasing the penalty minutes, the Bighorns got a 5-on-3 opportunity in the third, but once again Jaffray proved to be too much. After a number of shots, Hunt was once again denied when the goalie stretched across an open net to block a shot.
With 2:36 left in the game, Horon scored one more goal to put the Bighorns’ hopes away.
“We ran up against a very hot goaltender, he made some big saves,” Palmer said. “We didn’t slow down on them at all, we kept trying to hold on, so I wasn’t disappointed at all.”
“We played our third and four lines. Those kids worked hard the last four or five months of practice and they deserved to be out on the ice.”
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SATURDAYS COVERAGE
March 24, 2006 --
Swift Current nips Beavers
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor
The Heritage Inn Beavers were comeback specialists Friday night, but they lost their touch in the shootout.
The Swift Current (Sask.) Wild outscored the Great Falls prep squad 2-0 in the skater-vs.-goalie session to advance to the championships game of the AA Division at the 20th annual Casey Cup hockey tournament at Four Seasons Arena.
The Wild will meet the defending champions from Utah, the Junior Wildcats, in the AA finals tonight at 7:30. The Junior Wildcats got a hat trick from Tommy Champi on their way to a 6-3 victory over the Gillette (Wyo.) Wild in the other semifinal game.
The Beavers, coached by Gary Ritter and Ed Hobbs, will try to salvage the third-place trophy when they meet Gillette at 3:30 this afternoon.
Swift Current broke open a scoreless game with three goals in a four-minute span in the second period.
Great Falls forward Doug Walter finally got the home team on the board with 2:07 left in the second period, giving about 500 fans reason to hang around for another 15-minute period.
The Beavers seized momentum in the final period as Thomas Fairall and Walter tallied goals to tie the score at 3-3 and force the shootout.
Swift Current goaltender Nick Menzies stopped the first four Heritage Inn shooters cold, and when Shawn Reid and Kody Orr fired shots past Dan Olinger, the verdict was decided.
Olinger, just a freshman, had a superb night in the nets — espEcially in the first period when Swift Current dominated play. His defense didn't give him much help in the crucial second period when Kyle Mackay, Marcus Holmes and Reid blistered shots into the net in rapid succession.
In the A Division finals tonight at 9:30, the Lethbridge Bengals will play the winner of Friday's late semifinal game between the Trails West Slayers and the Prairie High Sabres. The Bengals needed to go six shooters deep in a shootout to edge the Bow Valley Flames 7-6 in Friday's longest game. Grant Gauthier had two goals and an assist for the Lethbridge squad.
Great Falls natives Kellen Triplett and Mike Zook combined for four goals and two assists to help the Helena Junior Big Horns to an 11-0 romp over Utah's A Division squad. Zook, a high school freshman, had three goals and an assist.
Originally published March 25, 2006
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FRIDAYS COVERAGE
Beavers skate into Casey semifinals
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor
The Great Falls Heritage Inn Beavers overcame a string of penalties to defeat the Bow River (Alta.) Bruins 6-3 Thursday night in an exciting AA Division hockey game at the 20th annual Casey Cup.
The Beavers scored their first three goals while skating short-handed, but it didn't matter as they battled into tonight's semifinals at 7:30 at Four Seasons Arena against the Swift Current (Sask.) Wild.
In the other AA semifinal at 1:30, the defending champion Utah Junior Wildcats will face the Gillete (Wyo.) Wild.
The penalty box was full the first two periods in the Great Falls-Bow River clash as the first five goals were scored by teams that were either short-handed or on the power play.
The Beavers led 1-0 after one period on Dayton Jackson's goal.
The teams really heated up in the second period, combining for six goals— four of them by the Beavers. Doug Walter scored two goals, Thomas Fairall and Corey Buford had the others.
Bow River had tied the score at 2-2 on goals by Tyler Lacock and Kelin Hrycuik before Fairall scored a shorthanded goal with 4:53 left in the period to give Great Falls a 3-2 lead. Walter followed with his second goal at the 3:11 mark and Buford nailed a close shot with 32 seconds remaining to give the Beavers a three-goal advantage heading into the final 15 minutes.
Walter completed a hat trick early in the third period as the Beavers went up 6-2.
Freshman Dan Olinger was in goal for Great Falls and recorded 29 saves.
In other AA Division action, Swift Current had no trouble with the Idaho Falls Eagles, skating to an 8-0 victory as Matt Switzer tallied four goals and Kyle Mackay added two. Cody Hagman had to stop only five shots for the shutout.
Gillete edged the Strathmore (Alta.) Storm 3-2 behind a pair of goals by Chris Floreani. Taylor Jones scored the game-winner with 3:53 left in the game.
Utah opened with an 8-3 romp over the Claresholm (Alta.) Thunder as Pat Carroll had a hat trick.
In A Division play, the Lethbridge Bengals scored three times in the first period against the Helena Junior Big Horns and held on for a 3-1 victory. Great Falls natives Kellen Triplett and Mike Zook, who play AAA Junior hockey in Utah, played for the Junior Big Horns but didn't score.
The Bow Valley Flames trounced the Utah Junior Wildcats A squad 7-1 as Sean Hyde scored twice and five teammates added one goal apiece. Paul Hiebert had a goal and two assists for the winners.
In the third A Division clash, The Prairie High Sabres (Alta.) edged the St. Paul (Alta.) Canadians 3-1 behind stellar goaltending from Nelson Ritter. The late A Division game was being played at press time.
Originally published March 24, 2006
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Slow start sinks Bighorns in Casey Cup
By JEFF WINDMUELLER IR Sports Writer 3/24/07
The Helena Jr. Bighorns got off to a slow start again Friday night, but this time they couldn’t fight their way back as they dropped their semifinal matchup 5-3 to the Leduc Redwings in the Terry Casey tournament
After dropping 4-1 heading into the third period, the Bighorns got powerplay goals from Paul Taylor and and Blake Wheeler to make the game a little more interesting.
But Leduc’s Bret Sach rebounded the puck over Bighorns goalie Troy Green with 2:50 left in the game to end any chance of Helena making a comeback.
The Redwings took the early lead off goals by Will Adam and Jesse Gavin, both within five minutes of the start.
Then Nick MacDonald scored off the first faceoff of the second period when he took off at the drop, burned the lone defender on a penalty kill and put the puck away.
The Bighorns finally got their first goal at the 12:57 mark of the second period when Taylor waltzed the puck around a defender and shot it high for a powerplay goal.
Leduc will head to the “A” division championship of the tournament at 1 p.m. while the Bighorns head to a consolation game at 9 a.m.
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THURSDAY COVERAGE
Pucks drop here today
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor
A year ago at this time, local hockey advocates strongly believed that the 19th annual Casey Cup would be the final high school hockey tournament held at Four Seasons Arena.
SMG, which manages the county-owned arena, no longer wanted to operate ice skating events at the building, which had been the city's primary hockey and figure skating facility for nearly 30 years.
Local ice supporters were confident that a new privately funded rink would be constructed in time for the 20th annual Casey Cup, and several Canadian teams even reached into their own pockets to contribute to a fund for that purpose.
Twelve months later, however, Four Seasons is still the city's only ice facility, and the latest version of the Casey Cup is set to be played there Thursday through Friday with 16 teams playing from dawn to midnight.
Once again, this is expected to be the final Casey Cup at Four Seasons. There are firm plans in place to build a new ice arena on an eight-acre parcel of land on Gore Hill, which was donated by the Flying J company. A steel building has been ordered, ice-making equipment is set to be purchased from an arena in Washington, and bleachers already have been procured from Carroll College in Helena.
The Great Falls Community Ice Foundation is awaiting approval from Cascade County for a low-interest loan to pay for essential equipment.
"The financing has been tentatively approved," said Ed Stahler, an officer with the Great Falls Ice Foundation. "We're moving along per schedule, and looking really good."
Stahler said the loan could be approved as early as Tuesday, and when the permitting paperwork is completed, construction may begin in June. The foundation hopes to erect two sheets of ice, but may have to settle for one, depending on financing.
This weekend's tournament will attract at least 13 scouts and college coaches, said Russ McKinney, the team coordinator for the event. Most of those will be coaches of Junior B teams, along with some college club team coaches.
Perhaps the most well-known scout here will be Rikard Gronborg, who formerly coached the Great falls Americans Junior A team to a Borne Cup title. Gronborg currently coaches AAA junior hockey in Salt Lake City.
Action starts this morning at 7, and continues until about 11 p.m. The only local team, the state-champion Heritage Inn Beavers, play at 7:30 tonight.
The Casey Cup is named after Terry Casey, one of Great Falls' top all-time athletes who was the captain of the 1968 U.S. Olympic hockey team before he died in a car accident.
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2007 TERRY CASEY MEMORIAL CUP TEAMS
A TEAMS
LEDUC REDWINGS,AB
MISSOULA BRUINS, MT
PRAIRIE HIGH SABRES,AB
MEDICINE HAT COUGARS,AB
UTAH JR. WILDCATS,UT
LETHBRIDGE HOUNDS,AB
COALDALE COBRAS,AB
HELENA BIG HORNS, MT
AA TEAMS
UTAH JR. WILDCATS, UT
CROWFOOT SAINTS, AB
STRATHMORE STORM, AB
GREAT FALLS AMERICANS,MT
JACKSON HOLE, WY
AIRDRIE LIGHTENING,AB
SEATTLE JR. THUNDERBIRDS,WA
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Americans drop Casey Cup opener
By Tribune Staff
TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS
HELENA — The Great Falls Americans won 28 road games this season, but the local high school hockey team couldn't win its first "home" game — maybe because it was played 90 miles from home.
The Crowfoot Saints of Calgary downed the Americans 5-2 Thursday night at the Helena Ice Arena in the AA Division of the 18th annual Terry Casey Memorial Cup.
The loss dropped Great Falls' record to 28-5-6 — with all games played on the road because there wasn't any ice available in the Electric City this winter. The Americans recently won their third straight Montana state high school championship.
Coach Brian Hendrickson's team, which never led Thursday, plays a consolation-round game this afternoon at 3 against the Jackson (Wyo.) Beavers, who lost 3-2 to the Airdrie Lightning.
Tommy Lindstrom, a AAA Midget player picked up from Utah for the tournament, had a goal and assist for Great Falls. Goalie Dan Olinger had 25 saves and gave up four goals — the last score was an empty-netter.
Lane Dixon had a goal and an assist for Croowfoot, and Brandon Bibby stopped 23 of 25 shots.
In other AA Division action, the Utah Junior Wildcats trounced the Swarthmore (Alta.) Storm 7-3 as Jeremy Madigan scored three times for the two-time defending champions. Mathew Hendricks tallied two goals for the Storm. Ian Weston stopped 42 shots for Utah.
The Seattle Junior Thunderbirds also advanced in the winners' bracket with a 5-2 victory over the Swift Current (Sask.) Wild. James Burris had a goal and an assist for Seattle, which got solid goaltending from Miles Klingenberg. Bard Kurney stopped 29 shots for the Wild.
Malcolm Gordan stopped 26 shots for Airdrie.
In A Division play, the Prairie High Sabres downed the Missoula Bruins 4-1 in the opener at 7 a.m. Missoula was a replacement for a Canadian squad. Weston Corbin scored three goals for the Sabres, while Cory Lunhan had the Bruins' lone goal.
Andy Jaffray and Scott Hitchcock combined for a shutout in net as the Lethbridge Hounds downed the Utah Junior Wildcats A squad 4-0. Braeden Horon had two assists for the winners.
The Helena Big Horns, playing on their "real" home ice, defeated the Medicine Hat Cougars 5-2 as Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist. Justin Martinuk scored twice for Medicine Hat.
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Jr. Bighorns rally for win at Casey Cup
By JEFF WINDMUELLER, IR Sports Writer - 03/23/07
Jared Hunt scored 11 seconds into the second period to tie up the game as the Helena Jr. Bighorns rallied back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Medicine Hat Cougars 5-2 Thursday in their first game of the 18th annual Terry Casey Cup hockey tournament.
Five different players scored for Helena as they blanked the Cougars in the final two periods, advancing in the “A” division bracket at the Helena Ice Arena.
The Bighorns will face the winner of Thursday’s late night game between the Coaldale Cobras and Leduc Redwings today at 5 p.m.
It took a little while for Helena to break out Thursday. Justin Martinuk controlled the play, scoring both of Medicine Hat’s goals in the first period while Blake Wheeler added the lone goal for Helena.
“We came out a little slow to start,” said Bighorns coach Bob Richards.
He said that the team was still getting their feet under them after losing to the Great Falls Americans in a shootout for the state championship last weekend.
This tournament, “while we want to win, we’re making sure these guys have fun and work hard.”
They definitely started to do a little more of both after Hunt’s goal.
The tying shot came off the forechecking effort of teammate Justin Darlington. Darlington barrelled into the Cougars’ zone, pinning a defender along the boards and shuffling a pass out front of the net. Hunt met the puck in the crease and popped it over the goalie Jayden Schell’s left shoulder for the tie.
That opened the gates as Trenton Sobeck scored the go-ahead goal with 7:57 left in the period when he dove for a loose puck in the crease, forcing it in.
The Bighorns defense was able to hold off any Cougars’ advances from then on while Paul Taylor and J.R. Gustafson added goals in the final period. Gustafson got his on an assist by Cody Campbell.
Troy Green led the effort for the Bighorns in net. He had 23 saves in the game while Schell ended with 36.
Great Falls has hosted the tournament every year of its existence, but with the city transitioning to a new arena still under construction the options included moving it temporarily or cutting it altogether.
With 16 high school-aged teams from across Canada and the western United States in “A” and “AA” divisions playing — and a few more left on a waiting list — organizers decided to host it in the Capital City instead.
Notes: Also a tradition, the Great Falls hockey team selects a senior player each year who most exemplifies hockey as a leader and role model on and off the ice to be awarded the Mark Walker Memorial Award.
This year, organizers also awarded a Helena player the Brandon Briceno Award, named after a former Helena and Great Falls hockey player who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2005 and whose number has been retired in the Helena Ice Arena.
This year, Great Falls’ Drew Garton was awarded the Walker Trophy while Helena’s Blake Wheeler was named the recipient of the Briceno Trophy.
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Skaters take Casey quest to Helena
March 22, 2007 --
By GEORGE GEISE
Tribune Sports Editor
It won't be easy for the Great Falls Americans to win the Terry Casey Memorial Cup this week.
It never is, not when the local high school team faces top Canadian prep talent, as well as regional squads that can load up and bring all-star teams.
But the challenge is much tougher this week because the Americans no longer have a home-ice advantage or the crowd support that goes with it.
Because the SMG management firm banned ice activities from the county-owned Four Seasons Arena this winter, the Americans had no practice skating time, and were forced to play all 38 games out of town. And they'll be playing the Casey Cup on the road at the Helena Ice Arena, 90 miles to the south.
But at least the Casey Cup will survive the tough winter, which is a major victory in itself.
"It's better than nothing at all," said Tyler Hobbs, a 16-year-old junior at C.M. Russell High and a starting defenseman. "It's always the biggest event of the year. And at least we'll bring a bus down (for Thursday's game)."
The Americans begin action tonight at 7:30 against the Crowfoot Saints of Alberta. It will be the seventh of eight games played today.
Great Falls, coached by Brian Hendrickson and Ed Hobbs, brings a 28-4-6 record into tonight's contest. And at least the Americans are familiar with the Helena rink, having played four games there this season.
"It would mean more if we were playing at home," said Sean Doran, a 17-year-old Great Falls High junior who has scored 10 goals and has 10 assists this season. "We kind of have a chance (to win). There will be some tough teams down there."
Among the favorites in the AA (upper) division is the two-time defending champions, the Utah Wildcats, who probably will add some Junior talent to the roster. Hendrickson also is adding one "ringer" to the local squad, 18-year-old Swede Tommy Lindstrom, who has been playing AAA Midget hockey in Salt Lake City for Rikard Gronborg, the former coach of the Great Falls Junior A franchise.
Top scorers for the Americans include Brent Thielen (59 points), Thomas Fairall (46), Mike Zook (37), Josh French (30) and Colter Schilling (28). Thielen lives in Coots, Alberta and drives about 120 miles to join the Americans for weekend games. Zook, a 16-year-old athlete, has tallied 20 goals in 21 games since joining the Americans from Bozeman's Junior B club.
Hedrickson thinks he has the state's best young goaltender in CMR sophomore Dan Olinger, who has stopped 93 percent of the 945 shots he has faced this season. Olinger had seven shutouts including a 3-0 victory over Havre for the state title last Sunday.
The Great Falls Youth Hockey Association, which sponsors the Casey Cup, usually makes a lot of money on the 16-team, three-day event. This week, organizers expect to at least break even.
"We'll finish a little on the plus side," said Ed Hobbs, a local hockey advocate who helps coach the Americans, and will serve as Casey Cup director.
Hobbs said his organization has a $14,000 budget for the tournament, including $6,375 for ice rental. That figures out to $150 an hour, slightly higher than SMG charged the association for ice time at the Casey Cup a year ago.
Programs advertising and ticket sales should cover the rest.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students per day, or $25 for a full tournament pass (24 games).
The only other Montana team in the field is the Helena Bighorns, which will compete in the A Division. There are 10 Canadian teams, two from Utah, plus one each from Washington and Wyoming.
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Congratulations to the Great Falls Americans for capturing there third straight High School State Championship!
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