Allen Loses 3-2, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, 4th Line Magic, Point Percentage Difference Since December 1, Roster Makeup and More

 

Allen lost 3-2 last night in Kansas City. It was the Americans seventh loss in eight games against the Mavericks this season. The loss also matched Allen's longest losing streak of the season (eight games). Kansas City scored first and kept the streak alive, the team that has scored first has won all eight games these teams have played this season. Unfortunately Allen has scored first just once. 

 

- Once again the Americans fell behind and couldn't catch up. Allen trailed 1-0 after the first period which was a death knell for the Americans. The Mavericks haven't lost a game all season when they have had the lead after the first period. A perfect 20-0-0-0.  

 

- Things didn't get any better for the Americans in the second period. Kansas City took a 3-0 lead midway through the period before Allen finally got on the scoreboard. Nick Isaacson scored his first goal since joining the Americans.  

- Allen scored the only goal of the third period to cut the score to 3-2. Isaacson scored his second goal of the night early in the period (4:52). Allen had plenty of time to get the equalizer which included two power play opportunities, but came up short. Kansas City's stellar defense was the difference in the game. The Mavericks have the #3 ranked defense in the ECHL giving up an average of 2.49 goals per game. If you look at the last 12 Kansas City games, they have a record of 10-1-1-0 (.875) and have allowed just 19 goals for a goals per game average of 1.58. Allen will have to score more than two goals if it expects to win on Friday and Saturday.

 

- If you are looking for positives from the game last night there are a few:

• After gave up eight power play goals (3,2,3) in the last three games against KC. The Allen penalty kill was perfect last night (0-6).
• Allen allowed fewer shots (34) than its average against KC (39).
• Allen took more shots (28) than its average against KC (22).
• Nick Isaacson scored both of Allen's goals. His first goals for Allen.

 

-  Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans which includes post game comments from coach Ferguson: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/americans-lose-a-tight-battle-with-kc 

- Here are the video highlights. Notice Kansas City's second goal was from the goal line in the corner. The Mavericks third goal was on a shot headed way wide that went off an Allen skate into the net. https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-kansas-city-mavericks-feb-19-2025

 

COACH FERGUSON'S COMMENTS

- I asked coach Ferguson for his thoughts on the game:

"We were off to a good start on the road, but when they scored the first goal we took our foot off the gas for a bit."

"Richardson held us in the game, bouncing back after a couple of unlucky goals."

"We found ourselves chasing the game again after they scored one goal from a bad angle and one off our defenseman's skate that was going three feet wide."

"Good on Isaacson going to the net and getting rewarded."

"In the third period our forecheck took over and we got pucks back, controlled a lot of the play, but never could get the equalizer."

"The guys fought hard to battle back, we need to end up on the other side of these one goal games." 

 

 OTHER COMMENTS

- If Allen players are in a goal scoring slump they should ask coach Ferguson to put them on the fourth line. Check out these stats:

• The fourth line goal scoring barrage started with Harrison Blaisdell. He had one goal in 28 games and then rattled of goals in three straight games (February 7, 8, 12),
• Blaisdell's fourth line teammate Liam Gorman, kept the streak going in the next game on February 14. Gorman had three goals in his first 43 games for Allen. He scored two of Allen's three goals last Friday.
• Kamerin Nault was the fourth line hero the next game on February 15. He had no goals in his first six game since being recently acquired, but scored the first two goals of the game last Saturday.
  
• Nick Isaacson was put on the fourth line last night and the magic continued. All he did was score Allen's only two goals. Isaacson had no goals in the 23 games he has played for Allen prior to last night. 
• The fourth line has something special going on when it comes to goal scoring. Three multiple goal games and a three goals in three games streak. All this happened in the last seven games. Nine of Allen's 16 goals (56%) in the last seven games were scored by the fourth line.
  
• Gorman was promoted to the #1 line last night and Blaisdell was promoted to the #3 line and neither one scored. They might ask to go back on the fourth line where all the goal scoring happens. (Just kidding).     

- Other than a three game sweep of Rapid City at the end of January the Americans haven't won a game since January 8. Since January 8, Allen has had a seven game losing streak and an eight game losing streak wrapped around the three wins against Rapid City. The Allen record is even worse if you go back to the beginning of December. Here are the details:

• 8 game losing streak
• 1 win
  
• 5 game losing streak
• 2 wins
• 7 game losing streak
• 3 wins
• 8 game losing streak

 

- You add it all together and the Americans record since December 1st is 6-22-4-2 (.264). At the end of November here were the Mountain Division point percentages:

• .694 - Tulsa 
• .632 - Kansas City 
• .583 - Idaho 
• .563 - Tahoe
• .531 - Allen
• .500 - Wichita
  
• .389 - Rapid City
• .353 - Utah

Here are the point percentages today:

• .707 - Kansas City
• .620 - Wichita
• .620 - Tulsa
• .608 - Tahoe
• .592 - Idaho
• .458 - Rapid City
• .418 - Utah
• .350 - Allen

Here is the point percentage difference from December 1 until today:

• +.120: Wichita
• +.075: Kansas City
• +.069: Rapid City 
• +.065: Utah
  
• +.045: Tahoe
  
• +.009: Idaho
  
• -.074: Tulsa   
• -.181: Allen 

You can see Allen has lost more ground in point percentage since December 1st than any other Mountain Division team and it isn't close. Six of the eight teams have a better point percentage today than on December 1st. 

- Probably not much outdoors activity for the team's off day today with a high temperature of 10 degrees. I heard a lot of the players will be watching the Canada vs USA game tonight at a Sport's bar right next to the hotel. Would assume some of their per diem money will be on the line. 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the number of NHL/AHL contracted players and rookies on ECHL rosters. With Dylan Well recalled to Tucson, Allen has four contracted players on the roster but two of them (Thornton, Gavin) are on injured reserve. Allen has 10 rookies on the roster. How does this compare to Allen's opponent, Kansas City last night? Kansas City had eight contracted players dress for the game last night (two goalies) and will get a ninth back on Saturday when Max Andreev returns from suspension. He is second on the team in points (42) and first in assists (30). Kansas City has nine rookies on its roster. 

ECHL teams with the most and fewest NHL/AHL contracted players and rookies. Numbers include players on reserve and injured reserve:

 

Most NHL/AHL Contracted Players

12: SAV

11: CIN, GVL, SC

 

Fewest NHL/AHL Contracted Players

1: WOR

2: IDH

3: TUL

 

Most Rookies

19: ADK

15: CIN

 

Fewest Rookies

5: FLA

6: FW, KAL, ORL

Allen vs Kansas City Series Preview, Overtime Stats, Best of the Rest, 40 Goal Scorers, Games Remaining, ECHL Defensemen Used and More

 

Allen is going to have its hands full tonight taking on the Kansas City Mavericks in the first of a three game series. Kansas City is the best team in the Mountain Division, the hottest team in the ECHL (9-1-1-0) and owns a record of 6-1-0-0 against Allen this season.  

The stats don't lie and they tell a pretty bleak story and it started from the beginning of the season and it has never stopped:

• In Allen's home opening weekend Kansas City shutout the Americans 4-0 and 9-0.
• Allen scores one goal per game less than KC (2.5 vs 3.5).
• Allen allows 1.7 goals more per game than KC (4.2 vs 2.5).
• Allen takes 5.1 fewer shots per game than KC (28.8 vs 33.9).
• Allen allows 12.4 more shots per game than KC (38.5 vs 26.1).
• Allen's road record is 7-12-3-1 (.391). 
• KC's home record is 12-5-2-1 (.675).
• Allen has lost seven straight games while being outscored 39-14.
• KC is 9-1-1-0 in its last 11 games, allowing and average of 1.55 goals per game.
• Allen's road PP% is 19.7%. KC's home PP% is 25.4%.
• Allen's road PK% is 78.2%. KC's road PK% is 79.7%
• Allen's record when scoring 1st is 7-9-4-2 (.455), KC's is 23-3-1-1 (.857) 

 

- It is hard to look at the stats above and see how Allen can get a victory tonight. However, anything can happen on a given night in the ECHL. After all, Allen's lone win against the Mavericks this season came on the road on January 4. It was a strange game as the American won 5-2 and scored their five goals on just 18 shots. Brayden Watts had a pure hat trick scoring the first three goals of the game. It took a Herculean effort by goalie Luke Richardson who face 48 shots and had a .952 save percentage. He will need another Herculean effort tonight for the Americans to win.

 

- I swapped messages with coach Ferguson yesterday as the team was about to arrive in Kansas City in snow and cold. FYI,. the high today will be 9 and the low tonight -10 and that isn't wind chill. You can expect several line changes and position changes when the lineup comes out later today. 

- The typical keys to the game apply to this series. Get a good start, don't play from behind, avoid neutral zone turnovers, keep the front of the net clear, keep the shots close, get good goaltending and win the special teams battle. Penalty kill will be particularly important. In the last four times Allen played Kansas City the Mavericks were 8-17 (47%) on the power play. Can't let Kansas City score two or three power play goals and expect to win.   

 

- Luke Richardson will be in goal tonight and will likely play all three games against the Mavericks. Dylan Wells was recalled by Tucson yesterday, so Allen will use an EBUG tonight. Not sure what the goalie situation will be for Friday and Saturday. Anson Thornton is on 3-day injured reserve and could be cleared, coach Ferguson could find a free agent goalie, a SPHL goalie or he could go with an EBUG.  

 

- Here are Allen's top scorers in their last 10 games played:

9 points, (6G, 3A), Asuchak 

8 points (2G, 6A), Crnkovic

6 points (2G, 4A), Gorman

6 points (2G, 4A), Watts

5 points (1G, 4A), Kulakov

5 points (3G, 2A), Blaisdell

5 points (2G, 3A), Duarte

5 points (0G, 5A), Brassard

 

 

- Allen will likely see plenty of Kansas City goalie Jack LaFontaine in this series. He was just named the ECHL Goalie of the Week for last week. He was 3-0 with a GAA of 0.96 and a .962 save percentage. He saved 76 of the 79 shots he faced.

 

 

- There will be one referee working the game tonight, #33 Chazz Knoche. When you consider in the last three head to head games Allen and Kansas City combined penalties assessed were 19, 13 and 9, you can expect double digit penalties tonight.

OTHER COMMENTS

- If you look at leaguewide overtime stats some teams are involved in a lot. Orlando leads the league with 20 of 54 games (37%) going to overtime. Idaho is second with 16 of 49 games (33%) going to overtime. The best overtime team is Fort Wayne. The Komets have been involved in only eight overtimes with two going to a shootout. Fort Wayne is 4-2 in overtimes and 2-0 in shootouts for a league best .750 point percentage. The worst overtime team is Cincinnati who is 1-7 (.125) in overtimes. Here are the stats for Allen and Kansas City.

• Allen - 12 of 49 games (24%) have gone to overtime. Allen's record is 3-7 in overtime and 0-2 in shootouts for a points percentage of .250.
• Kansas City - 10 of 48 games (21%) have gone to overtime. Its record is 3-4 in overtimes and 2-1 in shootouts for a points percentage of .500.

 

- Remaining home games and road games vary quite a bit in the Mountain Division. With three teams (Tahoe, Wichita, Tulsa) currently tied for second place with identical 62 points and .620 point percentage home vs road games could be a big factor. Here are the home and road games remaining.

Home Games Remaining

• 16 - Kansas City
• 13 - Tahoe
• 12 - Rapid City
• 10 - Utah
• 10 - Allen
• 9 - Tulsa
• 6 - Wichita

Road Games Remaining

• 16 - Wichita
• 13 - Allen
• 13 - Idaho
• 13 - Tulsa
• 13 - Utah
• 12 - Rapid City
• 9 - Tahoe
• 8 - Kansas City

 

- "Best of the Rest" 

• .458 - Rapid City (44 points)
• .418 - Utah (41 points)
• .357 - Allen (35 points)

Rapid City plays in Utah Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

 

- Here are the ECHL leaders in goals. If they play in all remaining games at their current pace the potential total is in parenthesis. Will anyone reach 40 goals? I added the ECHL 40 goal scorers over the last 10 years. No surprise three of the seven 40 goal scorers were with the Allen Americans.

 

29 - Brandon Hawkins, TOL (42)

28 - Cade Borchardt, KC (43)

25 - Tyler Spezia, TOL (36)

25 - Kyler Kupka, SC (38)

24 - Simon Pinard, TAH (36)

 

Most recent ECHL 40 goal scorers:

40 - Brandon Hawkins, TOL, 2023-24

49 - Hank Crone, ALN, 2022-23

41 - Michael Joly, Colorado, 2017-18

41 - David Pacan, Brampton, 2016-17

41 - Brendan O’Donnell, FLA, 2016-17

44 - Gary Steffes, ALN, 2014-15

41 - Chad Costello, ALN, 2014-15

- It is a light Wednesday night in the ECHL tonight with eight games on the schedule. Other than Allen at Kansas City the only Mountain Division team in action is Tahoe at Florida. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-19 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL has used 296 defensemen this far this season ranging from 9 to 19. Here is the number used by each team:

 

19: REA

16: MNE, ORL,TAH, UTA

14: ADK, JAX, WOR

13: BLM, IND, KAL, WHL

12: ALN, *FLA, FW, IDH, SC

11: RC, *TOL, TUL

10: ATL, CIN, IA, NOR, SAV

9: GVL, *KC, *TR, WIC

 

*Division Leaders

Allen Swept, Game Recap, Video Highlights, KC Up Next, Overseas Deadline has Former Players on the Move, Best of the Rest Stats and More

 

It was rinse and repeat on Sunday afternoon as the Allen Americans were swept by the Worcester Railers. Just like the loss on Friday night a bad first period doomed the Americans. Allen was outshot in the first period 16-4 and outscored 3-0. Even though Allen was the better team in the final two periods, outshooting the Railers 33-18 the Americans could manage just one goal to make the final score 3-1. 

- Allen did not score even strength in the game. The Americans one goal was scored by Brayden Watts on the power play, his 17th goal of the season. Allen has now lost seven straight games and been outscored 39-14. That computes to giving up an average of 5.6 goals per game while scoring an average of 2.7 goals per game. Not a formula for success.

 

- It will be out of the frying pan into the fire this week as the Americans head to Kansas City for games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The team will leave at midnight tonight and bus to Kansas City, arrive early Tuesday morning, grab breakfast and head to the rink for a 10:00 am practice and then have the rest of the day off. The Americans record against Kansas City is 1-5-0-0 and they have been outscored in the six games 29-11. If there is good news the one Allen win came in Kansas City. I will have a complete series preview on Wednesday.

 

- Here is the game recap from Worcester with all of the details and the video highlights:

• Worcester Railers game recap: https://railershc.com/news/2025/02/railers-sweep-americans-with-3-1-finale-win
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/worcester-railers-vs-allen-americans-feb-16-2025
  

 

- Coach Ferguson met with season ticket holders after the game. Props to the coach who meets with the season ticket holders after every home game unless there is an on ice event after a game that requires the use of the room. Here is what he had to say:

"We all saw the story out there, we came out flat. I don't know what it is. It seems like the last few games home ice advantage has gone right out the window. Getting out shot 16-4 in the first period is not a recipe for success."

"The guys tried to battle back in the 2nd and 3rd period with a 33-18 shot advantage. We are not hear for little victories, but the fight was still in the players."

"We were a desperate trying to score in the third period. What we need is that type of desperation from the opening puck drop."

"Before the game yesterday I told the guys to go to a different coffee shop, drive a different way to the rink, if you ride with a buddy hop in with another buddy, if you play soccer before the game don't play soccer, if you don't play soccer before the game play soccer, try something different. Today before the game the guys were feeling good and we say all the right things, but the fact is there is another team out there when the puck drops and we have to be ready."

"In the first period our forwards weren't working back for our defensemen to give them outlets, so our defensemen were just trying to throw pucks up the wall and they would be picked off and head right back at us." 

"We need our best players to be our best players this week in Kansas City." 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen is falling further and further behind in the "Best of the Rest" race. Here are the standings with each team's schedule this week in parenthesis:

• .458 - Rapid City (at Utah Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
• ,417 - Utah (Rapid City at home Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
• .357 - Allen (at Kansas City Wednesday, Friday and Saturday)

 

- Here are the "Best of the Rest" records the last 10 games:

• 7-2-1-0 Rapid City
• 4-3-1-2 Utah
• 3-6-0-1 Allen

 

- Several former Allen Americans are heading to Europe or returning from Europe just before the deadline (see DID YOU KNOW below):

• Grant Hebert (F) - left his team in England (Manchester Storm ) and has signed with the Norfolk Admirals. He had 35 points (14G, 21A) in 32 games in Manchester. His team is in ninth place in a 10 team league and out of playoff contention. He joins Norfolk who is ranked #9 of the 29 ECHL teams and will be in the playoffs.
• Andrew Nielson (D) - He played 10 games in Allen earlier this season and has played the last 30 games in Utah. The defenseman had 23 points (4G, 19A) for the Grizzlies. He just got in under the deadline and has signed with a team in the second best league in Sweden. Utah will not make the playoffs. His team (Sodertalje) in Sweden will, is currently in fourth place in a 14 team league.
• Jame Hardie (F) - He started this season in Allen and was traded to Wheeling. He just signed with a team (Blue Devils Weiden) in the DEL2, the second best league in Germany. His team is currently in seventh place in a 14 team league. His team should make the playoffs.
• Mark Sinclair (G) - played with Allen last season and had a .907 save percentage in 27 games. He signed with Bloomington this season and had a .929 save percentage in 21 games. Bloomington is fighting for a playoff spot, but has a losing record. Sinclair just signed with a team (HPK) in the top league in Finland (Liiga) which is considered one of the best leagues in Europe. His team is currently in 10th place in the 16 team league. The top 12 teams make the playoffs.    

 

- How bad is Allen's record? Allen is on a seven game losing streak and has lost 14 of its last 17 games. If you go back to the beginning of December the Americans record is 6-21-4-2 (.273). Allen's overall record is 13-27-7-2 (.357). The only other season that comes even close to Allen's .357 point percentage is 2018-19 when the Americans finished the season with a record of 25-41-4-2 (.389), the worst in the ECHL. Allen will need 12 wins in their remaining 23 games to match the 25 wins in 2018-19. How quickly can bad seasons turnaround. Just one season later (2019-20) Allen had a record of 40-14-6-2 (.710), the third best record in the ECHL.  

DID YOU KNOW: 12 ECHL players have moved to and from Europe just in the last week. The latest include:

 

Grant Hebert - to Norfolk from England

Andrew Nielsen - from Utah to Sweden

James Hardie - from Wheeling to Germany

Will Riedell - from Savannah to Germany

Ryan Foss - from Scotland to Idaho

 

It all ends today:

February 17 - Overseas Deadline (3 p.m. ET) & IIHF Transfer Deadline (6 p.m. ET).

Another Heartbreaking Loss, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Post Game Comments, Today's Preview, Division Standings and More

 

The Allen Americans found yet another way to lose a game with a with a 4-3 shootout loss to Worcester last night. It was Allen's sixth straight loss and 12th loss in the last 15 games. The three wins were a sweep of  Rapid City.

 

- I do not remember the last time the Americans hit every key to a game except the final score. Check this list out which shows the odds Worcester overcame to win the game.

• Allen scored the first goal of the game. Across the ECHL the team that scores first wins over 70% of the time.
• Allen led 2-0 after the first period. Worcester's record when trailing after the first period was 6-12-0-1 (.342).
• Allen led after the second period 3-1. Worcester's record when trailing after the second period was 5-18-1-0 (.229).
• Allen gives up an average of 39 shots a game, but allowed the Railers only 32 (regular time).
• Allen averages 29 shots per game, but took 31 (regular time).
• Allen won the special teams battle scoring one power play goal to none for Worcester.
• Allen stayed out of the penalty box, four infractions (8 minutes), compared to Worcester with nine infractions (18 minutes).
• Allen had six power play opportunities, Worcester just one. 

 

- If your team met all of the keys above it would mean victory almost 100% of the time, but it was not the case last night. Worcester tied the game 3-3 after pulling the goalie and puck luck was not on Allen's side. A shot from the outside hit an Allen player's butt, dropped down in the blue paint for an easy tap in by Worcester to send the game to overtime. 

 

- Neither team could score in overtime, though both had good chance saved by the goalies. In the shootout, the first five skater didn't score, but the sixth won the game for the Railers. It was a gut punch loss for sure, especially the they way Allen lost that game. FYI, Allen has been in two shootouts this season, lost them both and the Americans are still looking for their first shootout goal (0-6).

 

- The line of  Nault-Gorman-Blaisdell led the team again last night in energy and scoring. Kamerin Nault had two goals after Liam Gorman had two on Friday night. During this six game losing streak Allen forwards have totaled 12 goals and seven of them (60%) have been scored by this line. They used to be referred to as the fourth line. They have been Allen's #1 line during this losing streak. They are now called the "Gold Line" because they wear gold practice jerseys, but they have certainly been golden lately.

 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Kamerin Nault (2,3) and Brayden Guy (11). Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/worcester-railers-vs-allen-americans-feb-15-2025

 

- Here are game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-recap-americans-fall-in-a-shootout-4-3 

Worcester Railers: https://railershc.com/news/2025/02/railers-stun-americans-with-4-3-comeback-win 

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

- Coach Ferguson brought Kamerin Nault to the standing room only post game season ticket holder meeting. Here is what they had to say: 

"Obviously the effort was great tonight from the guys. I felt like we continued the momentum we built last night and the two early goals were great.".....Ferguson

"I wish our power play (1-6) could have gotten another one as that would have put the game away.".....Ferguson

"We let them claw back on a couple of  unfortunate pinball goals in the third period that ended up in the back of our net. The 6-on-5 goal goes right off our guy's butt and lays right there for them to finish. That is usually how those 6-on-5 goals happen.".....Ferguson

"With the goalie stick delay I thought I would make the longest game in the world go even longer. There is a quirky rule that requires the goalie to have white tape on the knob of his stick. They had just scored so I thought it was an opportunity to stop their momentum. I  pointed that out the rule to the referee. Then he pulled out his rule book and said our goalies tape on the knob wasn't thick enough. That whole delay is on me, sorry you will miss the 10 o'clock news tonight. I didn't see that backfiring on me like it did. I could feel they were coming on strong so was just trying to kill a little bit of their momentum. I saw Darryl Sutter use that rule in the playoffs one time and it has always stuck with me. Our equipment guy, Matt, has a job during warmups, and that is to look at the other guys knobs.".....Ferguson 

"Me just getting to Allen and trying to get accustomed to everything and trying to get my legs back under me has been my focus. Our line talks about keeping the game simple. I know it has been trying season. We have to find a way to dig our way out of this and keep the game fun. It is a privilege to play this game and in our room we have done a lot of good things since I have been here and it is a tight knit group. It seems like anything that can go wrong has gone wrong for us. But everything is fixable and you just need to get the first one and get cranking and those bounces will start going our way.".....Nault

"Blades and Gorms are two young guys. I have played for seven years and I have always believed in playing the game as hard as you can, playing it honest and in the right way. It is nice to have these young legs on my line. They buzz around out there pretty good. It give me a couple of shifts where I can be the third guy high, so that is always nice.".....Nault

       

TODAY'S PREVIEW

-  If the Americans play this afternoon like they did last night they will win the game. It will be a tall task to duplicate the game from last night but a good start will be an imperative. And if Allen has six power plays today, they need more than one goal. 

 

- Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-day-preview-final-game-this-afternoon-against-worcester     

 

- Here is the lineup for the final game against Worcester (2:10 pm start). Some fresh legs in the lineup (Westcott, Van Unen) and changes to the top two lines:

Forwards

#16 Crnkovic-#26 Asuchak-#8 Duarte

#92 Watts-#89 Polino-#91 Matikka

#25 Westcott -#17 Jacobs-#14 Guy

#11 Nault-#84 Gorman-#24 Blaisdell

 

Defensemen

#5 Wilson-#82 Fraser

#66 Kulakov- #2 Warmuth

#21 Van Unen- #23 Brassard

 

Goalies

#39 Wells

#33 Richardson (Backup)

 

 

- It is back to one referee for the game today. Sam Heidemann (#22) worked the game by himself on Friday, worked with another referee last night and will be back by himself this afternoon. There were four penalties on Friday and 13 last night. Heidemann could have his hands full this afternoon. 

 

If you watched the game last night you saw the referee overrule a too many men on the ice call made by one of the linesmen. Seems like the linesman saw six Worcester players on the ice and blew his whistle, forgetting the Railers had pulled the goalie and could have six skaters on the ice. The sad thing about the incorrect whistle is Mark Duarte had the puck inside the red line in the middle of the ice with an open shot into the empty net just as the whistle sounds. What would have been a sure empty net goal didn't happen.  Then Worcester scored the extra attacker goal shortly after the center ice puck drop after the overruled call. Bad luck again! Luckily that linesman will not be working the game today. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- It was another one-sided police vs fire game that preceded the Allen Americans game. I heard folks talking about the lopsided 9-0 shutout. They probably forget last year the police won 11-0. Over the years one or two dominate players make a big difference in the game. Players that played junior hockey in the past can skate right by most of the players on these teams. A few years ago the fire department had several of these junior players and dominated, but they eventually moved back north where they were from. Now the police department has several of these former junior players and is dominating. 

 

- It was quite the sight walking past all of the players from both teams that weren't playing sitting on the second level all in a row on the stools at the end of the rink. They were paying no attention to the game on the ice. They were all watching the USA vs Canada game on iPhones, sometimes three guys to one iPhone. I found out later how the game started and that was what was holding their attention.

- In the "Best of the Rest" race Utah and Rapid City both won last night and put Allen even further behind. Utah beat Idaho 6-5 in overtime and Rapid City had to come from behind to beat Maine 6-4. It was Rapid City's sixth straight win and seventh straight game with a point (6-0-1-0). That is the longest streak in the ECHL right now withe the exception of Kansas City (9-0-1-0). Here are the Mountain Division standings by point percentage with each team's ECHL point percentage rank in parenthesis:

• .713 - Kansas City (3rd)
• .633 - Tahoe (8th)
• .612 - Wichita (11th)
• .612 - Tulsa (11th)
• .583 - Idaho (14th)
• .458 - Rapid City (22nd)
• .417 - Utah (26th)
• .365 - Allen (29th)

 

- While Allen has lost Utah and Rapid City in the under .400 club, they have added Maine (.394) and Adirondack (380). All three of these teams made the playoffs last season. 

 

- Both of the Eastern Conference division champions last season, Adirondack (North) and Greenville (South) are in last place this season. Going from first to worst is never a pleasant experience for teams or fans.  

DID YOU KNOW: I was looking at the results of the games last night and they were quite striking. Turned them into the ECHL Stats post today:

It was an amazing, exciting and competitive night around the ECHL last night. 14 games seen by 73,479 fans. Let me count the ways:

 

- Wichita beat Tahoe 9-7. The 16 total goals is the highest of the season. Previous high was 14.

 

- Kansas City beat Tulsa 1-0 in a shootout. When no goals are scored in regulation time both goalies are credited with a shutout.

 

- 50% of the 14 games went extra time. 3 were decided in overtime and 4 went to a shootout.

 

- Of the 14 games, 10 were decided by 1 goal, 3 were decided by 2 goals and 1 was decided by 3 goals. Can’t get much closer games than that.

Allen Loses 5-3, Game Recap, Coach's Comments, Tonight's Preview, Best of the Rest, Gaps Between #1 and #29 and More

 

 When things aren't going well teams find all kinds of ways to lose. Allen lost to Worcester last night 5-3 in a game where the Americans outplayed the Railers for the majority of the game. However, a disastrous two minutes and 31 seconds in the first period sealed Allen's fate and created a hill it could not climb. Worcester scored three goals on three consecutive shots from 8:59 to 11:30 of the first period and Allen could never recover. Worcester took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Allen's 2-18-2-0 record when trailing after the first period loomed large.

 

-  In the final two periods Allen outshot Worcester 28-20 and outscored them 3-1 before the Railers scored an empty net goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game. Allen was able to cut the Railers 3-0 lead to 3-2 with the only two goals of the second period. Artyum Kulakov scored his fifth goal of the season and Liam Gorman his fourth. 

- Allen had to kill 37 seconds of a penalty to start the third period, which it did. The back breaker came when Worcester scored just after the penalty had expired, 48 seconds into the period to take 4-2 lead. Allen cut the lead to 4-3 at the 16:42 mark on Liam Gorman's second goal of the game and fifth of the season, but could not get the equalizer. 

 

 - Once again the line that brought the most energy and scored two of the three goals was the fourth line on the lineup card. That has been a misnomer, because the line of Nault-Gorman-Blaisdell has been the top line for the Americans the last few games. Blaisdell had a goal and two assists in his first 28 games this season. In the last four games he has three goals and an assist. Gorman had three goals in his first 43 games this season, last night he had two goals. Allen has been outscored 27-10 in the four straight home losses in the last week. However, this line's combined plus/minus was just -2. The other three lines combined plus/minus in the last four games was -18, -12 and -12. 

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Worcester Railers:https://railershc.com/news/2025/02/seven-game-road-trip-opens-with-4-3-railers-win

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/worcester-spoils-americans-valentines-day-party

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

I had a chance to talk to coach Ferguson after the game. Here is what he had to say:

"We were the better team for 57 minutes of the game. We had a three minute lull that cost us three goals."

"On the fourth goal in the third period we killed the penalty and had a miscommunication coming out of the box. We had two players go to one position and the open guy put the puck in the back of our net."

"It was a great response by the guys after going down 3-0. The never quit and were never out of the fight."

"It was a physical game with a lot of play along the yellow (wall). If you look at a heat map of the game probably 85% of the game was along the yellow. They won a few more of those battles."

"We had a chance to tie the score at the end of the game with a good flurry and grade A opportunities. Gorman's line was excellent again. They bring a lot of energy and they are scoring. If we want to be successful we have to be a four line team."

 

TONIGHT'S PREVIEW

- First among equals in keys to the game tonight is a good start. Allen does not do well when it has to play from behind. The Americans record when they give up the first goal is 6-17-3-0 (.282). When they trail after the first period their record is 2-18-2-0 (.136) and when they trail after the second period is 2-23-2-1 (.125). 

- Both teams were 0-2 on the power play last night. While that is a special teams stalemate, Allen needs to score a power play goal and stop Worcester, who has the top road power play percentage in the league. During Allen's current five game losing streak the power play is 2-15 (13.3%). The opponents power play is 6-21 (28.6%). Allen needs to win the special teams battle tonight.

 

- The battle along the wall was a problem last night and is a strength of Worcester. Pay attention to those battles to see who is most often winning those puck battles.

 

-  There will be two referees working the game tonight. Sam Heidemann (#22), who was the lone referee last night will be joined by Luke Gagnon (#13) tonight. Would definitely bet the over in more penalties tonight than the four Heidemann called last night. 

- Here is the lineup for tonight. The only change from last night is Wells gets the start in goal. 

Forwards

#92 Watts-#26 Asuchak-#8 Duarte

#16 Crnkovic-#89 Polino-#91 Matikka

#14 Guy -#17 Jacobs-#9 Isaacson

#11 Nault-#84 Gorman-#24 Blaisdell

 

Defensemen

#5 Wilson-#82 Fraser

#3 Powell-#23 Brassard

#66 Kulakov- #2 Warmuth

 

Goalies

#39 Wells

#33 Richardson (Backup)

 

 

 

Here is the game preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-day-doubleheader-hockey-day-in-allen

OTHER COMMENTS

- The "Best of the Rest" results last night had Allen and Utah losing while Rapid City extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1-0). Here are the current standings with points out of a playoff spot in parenthesis:

• .447 - Rapid City (16 points)
• .404 - Utah (20 points)
• .362 - Allen (24 points)

 

- Here are the points earned in the last 10 games for each team in the Mountain Division. Easy to see the teams gaining ground and losing ground. The team's point percentage is in parenthesis:

• 17 points - Kansas City (.707)    
• 15 points - Rapid City (.447)
• 13 points - Tulsa (.615)
• 13 points - Wichita (.604)
• 11 points - Tahoe (.646)
• 11 points - Idaho (.585) 
  
• 11 points - Utah (.404)
• 7 points - Allen (.362)

 

-  It is a full schedule in the ECHL tonight with 28 teams in action. All eight teams in the Mountain Division will be playing the same teams as last night:

• Tulsa at Kansas City
• Tahoe at Wichita
• Worcester at Allen
• Maine at Rapid City
• Idaho at Utah

DID YOU KNOW: The gap between the ECHL #1 and #29 teams in the following stats is wide:

 

Goals For Gap - 74

#1 Norfolk: 178

#29 Indy: 104

 

Goals Against Gap - 100

#1 Florida: 100

#29 Allen: 200

 

Points Gap - 38

#1 Florida: 72

#29 Allen: 34

 

PIMS Gap - 405

#1 Iowa: 823

#29 Tahoe: 418

 

Power Play Percentage Gap - 13.5%

#1 Toledo: 25.5%

#29 Kalamazoo: 12.0%

 

Penalty Kill Percentage Gap - 14.9%

#1 South Carolina: 87.6%

#29 Utah: 72.7%

Allen Gets Player From Tucson, Allen vs Worcester Series Preview, ECHL All Time Coaching Leaders, Goalies Used by Each Team and More

 

Before I start the Allen vs Worcester series preview the Americans got some good news yesterday. Tucson has sent forward Miko Matikka to Allen. He is already in Allen, will wear #91 and I expect he will be in the lineup tonight, though I haven't been told that.

Matikka, who is from Helsinki, Finland, signed a three year entry level NHL contract with Utah last July. He was the 3rd round (#67 overall) pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL draft. The 21 year old is 6’3” and 201 pounds. He is a right shot which helps the Americans. 

The rookie played for Denver University last season and won NCAA national championship. He was second on the team with 20 goals in 43 games. 

Matikka has struggled offensively in Tucson. He has been with the Roadrunners all season, played in 28 of 45 Tucson games and has just two assists. I am sure he has been sent to Allen to regain his confidence and scoring touch. You don't score 20 goals for the best college team in the nation last season and lose that ability. We have seen in the past where good players that are struggling get sent to Allen and have great success in the ECHL. With some top minutes and possibly power play time, he should be fun to watch.

 

  

Miko Matikka draft day 2022 - #67 overall

It always enjoyable when a team outside the Mountain Division visits the CUTX Event Center. It will happen just twice this season. The Worcester Railers are in town for games tonight, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Jacksonville will visits Allen for three games on March 6, 7 and 8.

 

- Allen will be trying to stop the bleeding from a four game losing streak tonight having been outscored 27-7 in the last four games. Wheeling is in fourth place in the North Division, four points ahead of fifth place Reading in a fight for the final playoff spot. The Railers have won four of their last five games and have an overall record of 20-20-2-4 (.500).

 

- Allen and Worcester have just one common opponent this season, the Wichita Thunder. Worcester visited Wichita for three games at the end of November and won two of them. Allen's record against Wichita this season is 3-7-2-0.

 

- I went back in the archives and found Allen has played Worcester twice in the past, once at home and once on the road. It is always fun looking back at old boxscores with the players from the past, one of which will be in the lineup tonight.

• 2018-19: On February 15, 2019 the Americans lost to Worcester at home by a score of 6-2. Allen scored the first goal of the game (Braylon Shmyr) and led 2-1 after a second period goal by Dante Salituro. Worcester scored five unanswered third period goals (all even strength) to win 6-2. Reminiscent of Allen games back then, there were three fights in the game. Emerson Clark, Jacob Doty and Braylon Shmyr all had five minute majors for fighting for the Americans.
  

 

• 2019-20: On December 18, 2019 Allen beat Worcester 5-4 on the road. The Americans scored the first three goals of the game on goals by Jack Sadek, Jared Van Wormer and Alex Breton. After Worcester cut the score to 3-1 Allen added two more third period goals by Jordan Topping and Cole Fraser to take a commanding 5-1 lead with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game. The Railers then scored a shorthanded goal, a power play goal and an even strength goal to cut the score to 5-4. Allen hung on to win the game and the game winner was scored by Cole Fraser. It is his only game winning goal in the 66 games he has played for the Allen American.  

- Allen is 3-6-0-1 over its last 10 games, Worcester is 6-3-1-0. Here is how Allen and Worcester rank in some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #24 (2.54) - Worcester #16 (2.91)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #29 (4.24) - Worcester #22 (3.43)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #21 (28.35) - Worcester #9 (32.00)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (38.78) - Worcester #19 (31.07) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #14 (19.1%) - Worcester #11 (20.7%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #22 (78.3%) - Worcester #27 (75.5%) 

 

 

- As is typical, Allen is ranked lower than its opponent in almost every category. Allen scores 0.4 fewer goals per game and allows 0.8 more goals per game then Worcester. The Americans take 3.7 fewer shots and allow 7.7 more shots per game than Worcester. The Railers have the better power play (20.7% vs 19.1%), but Allen has the better penalty kill (78.3% vs 75.5%).

 

 

 

- It is often more telling to compare road vs home special team stats rather than the overall percentages. Worcester has the #1 ECHL road power play percentage (27.0%) compared to Allen's home power play percentage of 18.6%. The opposite is true when you look at Worcester's road penalty kill percentage. It is ranked #28 at 74.1% compared to Allen's home power play percentage, which is ranked #21 (78.4%). 

 

 

 

- You have to expect there will be plenty of power play opportunities for both teams in this series. Worcester is ranked #4 in penalty minutes per game, Allen is ranked #13. Only eight ECHL teams have taken more than 200 minor penalties. Two of them are Allen (207) and Worcester (201). Worcester has taken 27 five minute major penalties compared to Allen's 18. What is the difference? Worcester has taken 20 fighting majors compared to Allen's 12. Odds are you will see some fisticuffs this weekend.

 

 

 

-  I asked coach Ferguson for a couple of his keys to the series with Worcester:

 

"Worcester is a big, strong team. We need to win battles along the walls and make sure to clear out the front of our net."

 

"They take a lot of penalties because of the way they play. We have to stay disciplined and capitalize on our power play opportunities.  

 

- Worcester's average height of 6'1" is the tallest in the ECHL, tied with eight other teams including Allen. The Railers are #1 in average weight (196 pounds) tied with Trois Riviéres. Coach Ferguson is correct that Worcester is a big strong team. 

 

 

 

- The players to watch for Worcester include Anthony Repaci (#81) who is #4 in goals in the ECHL (23). He was recently selected to the ECHL Midseason All-Star team. The Railers have a lot of guys that will drop the gloves, but keep any eye on their leaders in penalty minutes; Kolby Johnson (#12) and Matthew Boudens (#23).

 

 

 

- Playing with the lead is always a key to any series. Worcester is one of the better teams in the league in coming back after trailing. The Railers record when trailing after the first period is 6-12-0-1 and when trailing after the second period is 5-18-1-0. Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 2-17-2-0 and when trailing after the second period is 2-22-2-1. The Americans definitely don't want to be playing from behind in this series.

 

 

- There will be only one referee working the game tonight. Remember, half of Allen's 36 home games use two referees and the other half just one. The referee tonight will be Sam Heidemann (#22). The linesman will be Daniel Barnes (#76) and Aaron Schacht (#51).      

OTHER COMMENTS

 

- Rapid City had one of those rare third period comebacks last night in a 5-4 home win over Maine. It was the fourth straight win and fifth straight point game for the Rush. Rapid City was trailing 4-3 after the second period and scored two third period goals to take the win. The game winning goal was scored by former Allen player, Chaz Smedsrud. How rare is a third period comeback for Rapid City? With the win last night the Rush record when trailing after the second period is now 2-21-3-0.

 

 

- Here are the "Best of the Rest" standings with each team's current streak in parenthesis:

 

• .435 - Rapid City (4-0-1-0)
• .413 - Utah (2-0-0-1)
• .370 - Allen (0-4-0-0) 

- Here is the ECHL Today with the previews of the 10 games on the schedule tonight. All eight Mountain Division teams will be in action: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-14

 

• Tulsa at Kansas City
• Tahoe at Wichita
• Worcester at Allen
• Maine at Rapid City
• Idaho at Utah

 

 

- This was at the end of the ECHL Today and is a list of the winningest coaches in the history of the ECHL. Florida coach Brad Ralph is about to pass Steve Martinson for third place on the all-time list. FYI, Martinson has 1123 wins in AA hockey across four different leagues (ECHL, CHL, UHL, WCHL). Nobody is close to that record which may never be broken. 

667 - Jason Christie - Peoria, Utah, Ontario, Tulsa, Jacksonville

615 - Jeff Pyle - Moblie, Gwinnett, Evansville, Atlanta

518 - Steve Martinson - San Diego, Elmira, Chicago, Allen

518 - Brad Ralph - Idaho, Florida

491 - John Marks - Charlotte, Greenville, Pensacola, Augusta

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Was asked about the number of goalies used by each ECHL team this season. The range is from two to six. Here goes:

 

6: NOR

5: ALN, BLM, IA, REA

4: ADK, IDH, IND, JAX, KAL, ORL, SC, TAH, WHL, WIC, WOR

3: ATL, CIN, *FLA, GVL, *KC, MNE, RC, SAV, *TR, TUL, UTA

2: FW, *TOL

 

*The current division leaders (TR, FLA, TOL, KC) have all used only two or three goalies this season.

 

 

Another Loss to KC, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Worcester Next, ECHL Shootout Results and More

 

It certainly wasn't a surprise Kansas City beat Allen 6-2 at home last night. The game unfolded pretty much as the stats predicted with the exception of special teams:

• Kansas City improved its road record to 19-6-2-0 (.741) best in the ECHL
• Allen's home record dropped to 6-13-4-0 (.341), 2nd worst in the ECHL. 
• Kansas City scored first to improve it record when scoring first to 23-2-1-1 (.889) best in the ECHL
• Allen allowed six goals, which is below its average goals allowed over the last four games (6.75).
• Kansas City allowed two goals, which is above its goals allowed average over its last eight games (1.75). The Mavericks record is 7-0-1-0 in the last eight games.
• Allen has been outscored 27-4 during this four game losing streak.
• Kansas City has outscored its opponents 31-14 during its eight game point streak.
• Kansas City led 3-0 after the first period and improved its record when leading after the first period to 19-0-0-0. 
• Allen's record when trailing after the first period is now 2-17-2-0. 
• Plain and simple there were no comebacks happening in the game last night.
• Allen is now 1-6-0-0 against Kansas City this season and will play the Mavericks three more times, on the road on February 19, 21 and 22.
  

 

- I say special teams was the one stat that didn't go as predicted because Allen actually had a small  advantage over Kansas City in both the power play and penalty kill. Allen took a bunch of undisciplined penalties throughout the game and the Mavericks made them pay. Half of their goals were scored on the power play (3-6). Allen finally did score a power play goal with 35 seconds remaining in the game and finished 1-4.

 

- It may not be a popular take, but I thought the effort by the Americans was there last night. Allen is just not good enough to keep up with Kansas City, who has nine NHL/AHL contracted players on its roster. The season is 64% complete and it is clear Allen cannot keep up with the top five teams in the Mountain Division. After 46 games played the Americans have just five wins against the top five teams. A record of 5-20-5-0 and a points percentage of only .250.

 

- Allen's loss last night put the Americans even further behind in the "Best of the Rest" standings. Here is the latest with the number of remaining home (H) and road (A) games in parenthesis:

• .370 - Allen (13H, 13A)
• .413 - Utah (13H, 13A)
• .422 - Rapid City (15H, 12A) 

- Allen's goal scorers were Brayden Watts, who scored his team leading 45th point (16G, 29A) and Harrison Blaisdell who scored his fourth goal of the season and third in as many games. I heard this story at practice the other day. Not sure I have all the facts straight but the gist of the story comes through. When James Hardie was traded in January, Allen ended up with three of his custom sticks. Harrison Blaisdell really want to get a hold of those custom sticks. He proposed a bet to equipment manager, Matt Miletich. Harrison would buy Matt coffee for a month if he didn't score a goal that night against Wichita, but if he did score a goal Matt would give him the three custom sticks. It took Matt a nanosecond to take the bet, because at the time Blaisdell had scored a total of one goal in 28 games. Sure enough, Blaisdell beat the odds and scored a goal to win the custom sticks. With his goal last night he has now scored a goal in three straight games. Love those custom sticks!

 

- Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/kansas-city-mavericks-vs-allen-americans-feb-12-2025

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-recap-americans-fall-at-home-to-kc-6-2

 

-  Allen now has to prepare for three games against the Worcester Railers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Worcester is fighting for a playoff spot in the North Division with a record of 20-20-2-4 (.500). Allen has played Worcester before both at home (one game) and on the road (one game). More details in the series preview tomorrow.

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

"We talked about the importance of coming out strong to start the game but that just didn't happen. I thought we had a couple of good days of practice after last weekend, but that didn't translate to the game."

"We took too many undisciplined penalties and it cost us. Our power play has been coming along but let us down tonight. Half their goals were on the power play. You are not going to win many games when you are 3-6 on the penalty kill. Once again we end up on the wrong side of the special teams ledger."

"These are the types of games we should have no trouble getting up for because they are they are the standard we want to achieve."

"We don't know what Worcester will bring this weekend, but they are a team fighting for their playoff lives right now. We expect it will be a mini playoff series."

"I see the work the players are putting in on Monday and Tuesday at practice. The work that is happening, the details I am trying to hammer home. It sucks to lose, but we are looking for small incremental gains."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- As the ECHL approaches the final third of the season here is a breakdown of the league by point percentages:

• Above .700: FLA, TR, TOL, WHL, KC
• .600-.699: SC, NOR, TAH, JAX, TUL,WIC, FW
• .500-.599: IA, ORL, IDH, BLM, WOR, IND
• .400-.499: SAV, ATL, GVL, REA, CIN, RC, MNE, KAL, UTA
• Below .400: ADK, ALN

The top point percentage is .745 (Florida) and the bottom point percentage is .370 (Allen).

 

- Brayden Watts is tied for 12th in the ECHL in points with 45. The league leader is Brandon Hawkins with 63 points. Kyle Crnkovic is tied for 13th in the league with 30 assists. Brandon Hawkins is the league leader with 36 assists.

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about shootout records. Allen has only been invloved in one shootout this season which they lost. The Americans were 0-3 in that shootout.

 

3 ECHL teams have zero shootouts this season (Maine, Savannah, Cincinnati). Here is the shootout record and conversion percentage for the 4 teams with the most (3) shootout wins:

 

Toledo: 3-0

75.0% (6-8)

 

Greenville: 3-2

57.1% (8-14)

 

Wichita: 3-1

35.3% (6-17)

 

Trois Rivières: 3-1

26.7% (4-15)

 

 

Worst shootout record:

Worcester: 0-4

8.3% (1-12)