News

GF Tribune: Larson, Americans set for Frontier finals against Yellowstone

By Steve Schreck, sschreck@greatfallstribune.com 

March 24, 2016

GREAT FALLS, MT -- Josh Larson and six of his Great Falls Americans teammates are beginning to see the end.

“I love playing here,” Larson said of the Great Falls IcePlex. “The crowd’s awesome. They’re always loud. I always see the same people in the stands, too. So they’re pretty loyal. It’s awesome. I love it here. It’s one of the best crowds I’ve played in front of.”

Larson is a 20-year-old southpaw from Anchorage, Alaska. As a center on the top line, he’s been a key cog in the Americans’ success the past season-plus. His 17 goals this season, including two in a series-clinching victory against Bozeman over the weekend, has catapulted Great Falls to yet another Frontier Division finals appearance.

After the season, Larson will have exhausted his eligibility at this level. Thursday night, when Great Falls begins its best-of-three series with the Yellowstone Quake at 7:30, marks his last time skating competitively at the IcePlex. The same goes for Connor Barta, Jake Stephan, Stevan Goran, Reed Link, Tyler Garcia and Austin Krantz.

“Hockey is one thing that I fell in love with really, really early, and I’ll never stop loving hockey,” said Larson, who wants to play college hockey, something he will pursue harder once the season concludes. “It’s got to come to an end sometime, junior hockey, but you just have to make the best of it and that’s what we’re going to do this weekend.”

Larson, who’s assisted on 32 goals this season and maintains a plus-37, said the task of defending the team’s Frontier title from a year ago is “extra motivation.”

“It’s fuel to the fire,” Larson, who plays alongside Tanner Congdon and Ricards Bernards, said. “It gets us going. It’s really cool to be defending it. I’ve never really defended anything before, except in high school. But it’s just exciting. We’ll be ready to go for sure.”

Fourth-year head coach Jeff Heimel said Larson has a great ability to perform his best when it matters the most.

“He’s just a playoff player,” Heimel said. “He shows up at the right times. It’s nice when guys that are old like that show up, and that’s good; that’s leadership.” Read More>