Some may think four days is not enough time to make a solid evaluation of your team, but with 15 returning players from last season, Tri-City Americans coach Jim Hiller said it didn't take long to get the roots back in the ground.

"We had a pretty good sense early because we return so many players," said Hiller, who led the Americans to their third straight U.S. Division title and first Western Conference title last season. "It was more an evaluation if they got bigger, stronger, more consistent and more confident. We got a good look at the guys who didn't play a lot last year and the new guys. They are all good players."

Hiller will get a better look at the whole package this weekend with three games at the Everett Tournament, starting at 3 p.m. today against Spokane and former coach Don Nachbaur.

KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City Americans' Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the team has signed 16-year-olds Justin Hamonic, Dylan Fluter and Gage Rapitta to standard WHL Players Contracts.

Hamonic (pro. Ham-in-ick), a 6'2 190 lb. defenseman from Winnipeg, MB, was a 5th Round (102nd overall) pick by Tri-City in the 2009 Bantam Draft and spent last season with the Winnipeg Monarchs AAA Midgets. Hamonic appeared in 34 games for the Monarchs, totaling six goals, 21 points and 54 penalty minutes. The Monarchs finished 4th in the Winnipeg AAA Midget standings, compiling a 22-13-0-1 record.

KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City Americans' Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that seven Americans skaters will be heading off to NHL Training Camps this September. The players receiving invites this pre-season are goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy (Pittsburgh), defenseman Spencer Humphries (San Jose), along with forwards Justin Feser (Columbus), Patrick Holland (Calgary), Brooks Macek (Detroit), Jordan Messier (Columbus) and Brendan Shinnimin (New York Rangers).

"As an organization, we are very proud of our players accomplishments...team success brings individual success," said Tory. "This is the most players we've ever had attend NHL camps in one season and it speaks volumes about our players, scouts and coaches."

The summer break was too short.

That was the sentiment among some of the veteran players Wednesday at the Tri-City Americans training camp, but team captain Kruise Reddick put it in perspective.

"It's the shortest summer I've ever had," Reddick said. "But that means you are doing good. It's nice to be back and see the guys and meet the new faces. There's some great young talent challenging for spots."

There weren't many surprises expected at Tri-City Americans camp this season.

Not with so many veteran players returning from last year's U.S. Division and Western Conference champions.

"Last year, we spent a lot of time implementing a change in system," said second-year coach Jim Hiller. "This year, the players know the system -- 17 of them, anyway. The vets have a good handle of how I want to do things, so there's a lot less stress."

KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City Americans' Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that 19-year-old forward Adam Hughesman has earned the team's 2010 off-season fitness award, bestowed upon the player that comes into camp as the most overall fit player.

Hughesman, going into his fourth WHL season, is coming off a career-year in 2009-10, amassing personal-bests in goals (18), assists (46) and points (64). In 206 WHL games, all with Tri-City, Hughesman has totaled 51 goals, 102 assists and 153 points.

"Once again, all the players returned to camp in excellent shape," Tory said. "This is a testament to their character and the work being done by Scott (Murphy) and Mike (Beck) at Advanced Fitness Solutions."

KENNEWICK, WA - Tri-City Americans Governor/General Manager Bob Tory announced today that the team has added former WHL forward Chad Kletzel to the team's scouting staff. Kletzel's coverage area will be Southern Alberta, primarily focusing on the Lethbridge-area.

Kletzel played in three WHL seasons, one with the Edmonton Ice and two with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, appearing in 159 games and registering 42 points. Following his WHL stint, the Indus, Alberta native utilized his WHL scholarship with the University of Lethbridge, spending four seasons as a member of the Pronghorns. Following the 2004-05 season with the U of L, Kletzel retired from hockey and will now take his first step into scouting.

The players are all in town. It's time for Tri-City Americans camp to begin Monday.

The biggest question mark for this veteran team as it looks to defend its U.S. Division and Western Conference titles -- the blue line.

"Our defense is a little younger than last year," said Ams GM Bob Tory. "But everyone questioned our goaltending last year, and we were fine there."

Four defensemen from a year ago are back, but only 20-year-old Tyler Schmidt saw significant playing time, missing only one game.

Gage Rapita finished off a strong rookie camp with the Tri-City Americans by scoring a pair of goals Saturday night as the Blue team defeated the White 5-4 at the annual Todd Klassen Memorial game that concludes the four-day camp.

The Blue team broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period on a goal by Taylor Marr at 13:43. Duncan Edney scored with 1:26 left in the second for a 4-2 lead, and Edney assisted on Trevor Moore's goal 2:50 into the third to make it 5-2.

The White team kept things close as Brett Myer scored twice in the final 5:38 -- the second on the game's only power-play goal.