Allen vs Wichita Preview, Player Profiles on New Players, My Comments on the Comments, ECHL Best Divisions and More

 

It is game day for the Allen Americans. Game two of three straight against Wichita. After tonight's game both teams will travel to Wichita to play again tomorrow night. The game tonight will also be game five of the 18 game challenge that will determine Allen's fate this season. After the first four games of this challenging schedule the Americans record is 0-3-1-0 and they have been outscored 22-6.

 

- Not much has changed since the game preview on Wednesday. Here is an update of the head-to-head stats after the 4-1 loss on Wednesday: 

- Head to head this season Allen's record against Wichita is 1-2-1-0. 

• 4-1 loss in Allen (December 18) 
• 4-2 loss in Wichita (December 5)
• 4-2 win in Wichita (November 8)
• 5-4 OT loss in Allen (October 30) 
• Wichita has out shot Allen 153-112
• Allen's power play is 0-9 in the four games
• Wichita's power play is 2-13 (15.4%)
• Allen took 15 penalties for 33 minutes
• Wichita took 11 penalties for 25 minutes

- The Allen power play drought continued on Wednesday.  At the end of November Allen had the #3 ranked ECHL power play at 26.1%. Since that time Allen has scored one power play goal in its last eight games. The Americans are 1-23 (4.3%) on the power play and now ranked #11 (18.8%). A power play goal tonight will give a big boost toward a win.

 

- Despite a 1-2-1-0 record against Wichita the Americans scored first in all four games. Allen hasn't had the results even though it has been scoring first a good start will be critical tonight. Playing with the lead is also critical. A reminder, Wichita is undefeated when leading after the second period (10-0-0-0) and Allen hasn't won a game all season when trailing after the second period (0-9-2-0). The Americans do not want to be playing from behind again tonight. 

 

-  Goalie Logan Neaton was released yesterday. Neaton was acquired from Kalamazoo on December 1 and appeared in one game for the Americans. He took over in relief last Saturday in Fort Wayne after Allen fell behind 4-0 nine minutes into the game. Neaton played the final 51 minutes giving up four goals on 29 shots. 

 

- You should see two new players on the ice tonight for the Americans, forward Nick Isaacson (#9) and goalie Luke Richardson (#33). Here are their player profiles:

NICK ISAACSON

Nick Isaacson

 

Nick is a 25 year old,  6'3", 205 pound left shot forward who is in his fourth year as a professional. He played his junior career in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League). He played 224 games in his OHL career and totaled 82 points (32G, 50A) with 147 penalty minutes.

Since turning pro in 2021-22 Nick has played for four different  ECHL teams before arriving in Allen (South Carolina, Maine, Jacksonville and Cincinnati). He has played in 114 games and tallied 40 points (19G, 21A) with 167 penalty minutes.

What will Isaacson bring to the Americans? The short answer is a physical presence, something Allen needs more of on the roster. He is a big body that has a physical presence and goes to the front of the net. He is a little older, more rugged and is hard to play against.

Here is a recent interview with Nick just before training camp started in Cincinnati. It is ironic how the optimism of having Toronto as the Cyclones new affiliate has turned out. If you watch this interview all the way through you will learn about Nick's interests off the ice and what you can expect he will bring to the ice for the Americans. 

 

 .  

LUKE RICHARDSON 

Luke Richardson

 Luke is a 25 year old, 6'3", 170 pound goalie who catches left. He played his junior hockey in the OHL (Kitchener Rangers) and then played four years for Queens University (Kingston, Ontario). He finished his collegiate career in 2022-23. He has played sparingly as a pro with great results. He was acquired from Wheeling for future considerations. He was playing behind two NHL contracted goalies in Wheeling. In his one start in Wheeling he gave up one goal and stopped 19 of 20 shots for a .950 save percentage. Here are his stats from juniors, college and the ECHL:

• OHL - 112 games, 3.45 GAA, .893 save percentage
• Queens University - 69 games, 2.47 GAA, .911 save percentage
• ECHL - 15 games, 1.99 GAA, .935 save percentage 

After Luke finished his collegiate career in 2022-23 he signed a tryout contract (PTO) with the AHL Belleville Senators. He was one of 10 goalies that played in at least one game for Belleville that season. Luke played in three games right out of college, totaled 150 minutes with a GAA of 3.99 and a .873 save percentage. The only videos I could find on YouTube of Luke were not interviews. One is a warmup video from his brief time in Belleville. The other is a video of his top five saves when he was playing junior hockey in the OHL:

OTHER COMMENTS

- If you are an ECHL hockey fan and have a subscription to FloHockey it will be a big weekend with some outstanding match-ups.

• #1 Toledo (Central Division) vs #1 Wheeling (North Division) play a home and home series.
• #1 Florida vs #2 South Carolina in the South Division start a two game series in Florida.
• #2 Kansas City vs #3 Tulsa in the Mountain Division start a two game home and home series.
• #2 Trois Riviéres (.775)  vs #3 (.761) in the North Division start a  three game series in Norfolk.
  

There are 12 games on the schedule tonight. Here are the previews for all of them: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-20

 

- If you regularly comment on the blog you may have noticed I have started to delete more comments recently. I had hoped not to address this issue again, but feel it is necessary.

For those of you that have been following the blog for a long time you know I have always considered it a safe place for everyone to share their opinions about everything Allen Americans both good and bad. The only posts I delete are personal attacks and even then I have let a lot go. I will be the first to admit I have been inconsistent in the comments I have deleted. From my point of view some of the comments have gotten out of hand over the last couple of months. Criticism is fine but name calling and personal attacks are not okay with me. 

My blog has always been 95% about the on ice product. I have stayed away from, for the most part, topics related to the business operations/front office. However, the comments on the blog have become more and more about the business operations side of the organization. I spend enough time researching, writing, interviewing, talking to sources, players, coaches and communicating with fans. I don't want to add hours as the comment police to my duties as it is no fun. 

Some have suggested to me I block those that make comments anonymously, but I understand some of you don't want your name out in the public. It does make it impossible to tell if certain comments are the view of many readers, or as I expect, a handful of anonymous authors are posting the majority of the negative comments and they do so repeatedly. I don't plan on requiring an author's name to post a comment. However, it would be nice if everyone created an author "handle" as some of you have done.

What I would ask is you keep your comments in the blog more about the on ice product than the business operations. Team president, Jonny Mydra, has repeatedly offered to talk directly to any of you about any concerns, suggestions or questions you might have have. That offer still stands. You can email Jonny at jm@allenamericans.com to share your feedback, ask questions or make suggestions or ask him to give you a call to discuss. I find it ironic that after the many concerns articulated in the comments section of the blog, not a single one of you have chosen to reach out to the team President to discuss.   

From this point forward, I will be deleting many more comments than I have in the past. I realize it is a slippery slope when I am the one deciding which adjectives I don't like and what I think is a personal attack. Criticism is fine, but I ask you to keep it based on facts and without the attacks. There are many talented and knowledgeable commenters on the blog that have valuable information that is great to share with all of us. Unfortunately the repetitive negative comments are drowning out all the valuable information. As the official blogger for the Americans I do not scoop the team before announcements are made public. Commenters don't have that restriction so they provide a service to all blog readers.   

In case there are any questions, I want to reiterate what I have said in the past. The Allen Americans have never asked my to change anything I have included in the blog or delete any comments with the exception of two times. One time I reported about a new franchise that had been approved and got a call to ask I delete it from the blog post, which I did. The request actually came from the ECHL league office througgh the Americans. The other request was to delete comments after commenters started impersonating current and former coaches and front office staff, which is totally inappropriate.       

I hope the blog comments can still be a place for an active dialogue no matter your opinion. Thanks, Barry

DID YOU KNOW: I found the ECHL Stats post today very interesting.  It is pretty clear there are more top teams in the Eastern Conference and bottom teams in the Western Conference.

One way to judge overall strength of each ECHL division is looking at the bottom three current non-playoff teams. It doesn’t happen often but last season two teams with point percentages below .500 (.486 & .479) made the playoffs. The last place team in the South Division right now (Orlando) has a higher point percentage than one of the playoff teams in 2023-24. Here are the point percentages for the bottom three teams in each division:

 

 

NORTH

.455 - Maine

.404 - Worcester

.385 - Reading

 

SOUTH

.521 - Savannah

.500 - Atlanta

.481 - Orlando

 

CENTRAL

.435 - Bloomington

.405 - Kalamazoo

.261 -Cincinnati

 

MOUNTAIN

.413 - Allen

.360 - Rapid City

.271 - Utah

 

- How strong is the South Division? There are nine ECHL teams with a point percentage below .480. Three each in the North, Central and Mountain Divisions. None in the South Division. 

 

- There are five ECHL teams with a point percentage of .750 or higher. They are all in the Eastern Conference. Three in the North, two in the South.

Allen Loses 4-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Allen vs Wichita Have Changed, Players Used By Each ECHL Team and More

 

The Allen Americans lost their seventh straight game last night, losing 4-1 to the Wichita Thunder. The Americans got off to a good start scoring the first goal of the game at the 4:03 mark of the first period. Scoring first is normally a huge advantage, but no so much for the Americans. Allen's record when scoring first is one of the worst in the league. The Americans have scored first in 12 of their 23 games (52%) but have lost eight of the twelve. Allen has scored first in all four games against Wichita this season, but lost three of the four. 

 

- Newly acquired forward Colin Jacobs arrived in Allen yesterday after a long day just trying to get to DFW with the typical flight problems, but was an immediate factor in the game. He scored Allen's only goal and drew a penalty all in the first five minutes of the game. In addition to centering the third line, Jacobs played on the power play and penalty kill. 

 

- After Allen's early goal all the scoring came from Wichita. Allen had plenty of opportunities to score and the shots were close (31-28), but the Americans could not find the back of the net. Wichita tied the score 1-1 at the 14:53 mark of the first period, scored the only two goals of the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. It was very bleak at that point when you consider Wichita is undefeated when leading after the second period (10-0-0-0) and Allen hasn't won a game all season when trailing after the second period (0-9-2-0).

 

- Former Allen defenseman Nolan Kneen scored the only goal of the third period, into an empty net, just 37 seconds after the Americans pulled goalie Anson Thornton with 3:28 left in the game to make the final score 4-1.

 

- Allen's power play woes continued last night. The Americans were 0-4 and have now gone 15 straight power plays without a goal. Over the last eight games the power play is 1-23 (4.3%). In the last three weeks the power play has fallen from 26.1% (ranked #3) to 18.8% (ranked #11). The penalty kill was solid last night (0-4) but is still under 80% (ranked #19 at 79.8%). 

- Here are the game recaps from both team with the goal by goal details along with the video highlights:

• Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/game-recap-americans-fall-to-wichita-4-1
• Wichita Thunder game recap: https://wichitathunder.com/news/2024/12/thunder-continues-road-swing-with-win-at-allen 
• Video Highlights:  https://echl.com/videos/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans-dec-18-2024

 

-  If you have been following Allen's transactions this week there have been many and certainly hard to figure out. Here is my take:

• Forward Colin Jacobs was acquired in a trade with Worcester for Ryan Mahshie
• Goalie Luke Richardson was acquired in a trade with Wheeling for future considerations. I haven't been told this but assume the futures is for a player to be named later.
• Forward Nick Isaacson lands in Allen in a multi trade deal that had to include settling some future considerations trades. Isaacson was in Cincinnati.  
• Defenseman Adam Tisdale started in Kalamazoo was traded to Allen who traded him to Cincinnati. 
• Defenseman Luc Salem started in Indy, was traded to Allen who traded him to Kalamazoo.

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

"I didn't like our game tonight. Yes, we scored the first goal, but I think we are in a little bit of a funk and feel sorry for ourselves when things don't go right. Like in the second period when we hit two posts and they make a big save on Guy and then they go down and score."

"Our best players have to be our best players and that isn't happening right now both even strength and on the power play."

"The two new players should be available by Friday. One is driving and one is flying. Isaacson is driving and will definitely by available. 

"We have to be a more physical. We are not physical enough right now. Fraser, Isaacson and Jacobs will help."

   

OTHER COMMENTS

- Here is the 18 game challenge update. After the first four games of this challenging schedule the Americans record is 0-3-1-0 and they have been outscored 22-6.

 

- I wrote yesterday about the lack of physicality from both of these teams. Wichita and Allen have always had physical play as part of their DNA going back to the Central Hockey League days. Being a physical team has always been a huge part of the Americans success. Allen's penalty minutes the four years it won championships was:

• 1571 (2012-13)
• 1498 (2013-14)
• 1644 (2014-15)
• 1189 (2015-16)

 Last night Allen and Wichita each had eight penalty minutes. In the four games these teams have played this season Allen has a total of 33 penalty minutes and Wichita has 25. Those would be low for one game totals back in the day. It is tough to watch the style of play Allen is playing now where players don't finish checks, don't stand up for each other and don't push back when getting dominated. The Allen teams of the past wouldn't let a team beat them by five or six goals without someone dropping the gloves. Yes, the game has changed, but this team has to be more physical if they want to get this turned around. 

- The gap between the top five teams in the Mountain Division and the bottom three continues to grow. The two longest losing streaks in the league right now are 14 games (Utah) and seven games (Allen). The bottom three teams in the division have two or fewer wins in the last 10 games. The top five all have five or more wins in the last 10. Here are the points earned in the last 10 games for each team in the division with points percentage in parenthesis. 

• 16 points - Tahoe (.708)
• 15 points - Kansas City (.700)
• 13 points - Wichita (.577)
• 12 points - Tulsa (.630)
• 11 points - Idaho (.560)
• 6 points - Allen (.413)
• 6 points - Rapid City (.360)
• 2 points - Utah (.271)

There are eight teams in the Mountain Division this season with the addition of Tahoe. That makes it very difficult for the bottom three teams to make the playoffs. They will have to pass two teams to make it to fourth place and the last playoff spot. Allen is 10 points out of fourth place, Rapid City is 11 points out of fourth place and Utah is 16 points out of fourth place.  

  

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about how many players teams have used. Allen is in the middle of the pack with 31 players used, but that number could increase by two before the weekend is over.

Here are the number of players used thus far by each ECHL team. Teams below .500 in point percentage are marked with an asterisk. It makes sense the teams with a poor record have used the most players, with a few exceptions:

 

41: *REA

38: *BLM

37: *ORL

35: ADK, *WOR

34: *UTA

33: *CIN, IA

31: *ALN, *KAL, *MNE, SC

32: IND

31: TUL

30: *RC, TAH

29: *ATL, FLA, JAX, NOR

28: FW, GVL, SAV, TR, WHL, WIC

26: IDH, TOL

25: KC

 

It is no coincidence most of the top teams in the league are at the bottom of this list. Eight ECHL teams have a point percentage of .700+ and seven of them have used 30 or fewer players.

 

 

  

Allen vs Wichita Preview, Costantini Heads to Italy, ECHL Teams with Most Rookies, Most Veterans and More

 

It is game day for the Allen Americans as they host the Wichita Thunder tonight at CUTX Event Center (7:10 pm). The Americans will be trying to snap a six game losing streak, the longest of the season. Allen will see a steady stream of games against Wichita in the next month with seven of the next 15 games coming against the Thunder. The eight games in the next month not against Wichita will not be a walk in the park and include Kansas City (four games), Tulsa (three games ) and Idaho (1 game). 

- Before the last road trip I talked about Allen's upcoming 18 games were the toughest part of the schedule and would determine the fate of the team. Playing top teams with 11 of the 18 games on the road. After the first three games of this challenging schedule the Americans record is 0-2-1-0 and they have been outscored 18-5. 

 

- The next group of four games, this week's challenge, includes four games in five days with travel included. Three of the four games are against the Wichita. After home games against Wichita tonight and Friday night both teams will travel to Wichita (370 miles) where they will play again on Saturday night. After that game Allen will get on the bus and head for Tulsa (175 miles) where they play the Oilers in a Sunday afternoon game starting at 3:05 pm. ECHL scheduling strikes again.

- While Allen is on a six game losing streak, Wichita's record over it last six games is 4-1-1-0 which includes a 4-2 win over Allen on December 5. Here is how Allen and Wichita rank is some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #22 (2.50) - Wichita #12 (3.28)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #28 (4.14) - Wichita #11 (2.72)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #28 (25.91) - Wichita #7 (32.00)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (40.23) - Wichita #25 (33.84) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #10 (20.0%) - Wichita #15 (18.1%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #23 (78.8%) - Wichita #6 (85.3%) 

You can see Wichita has the advantage in goals scored and allowed. On average Allen scores 0.78 goals fewer than Wichita per game and allows 1.42 more goals per game than the Thunder.

- Head to head this season Allen's record against Wichita is 1-1-1-0. 

• 4-2 loss in Wichita (December 5)
• 4-2 win in Wichita (November 8)
• 5-4 OT loss in Allen (October 30)  
• Wichita has out shot Allen 122-84
• Allen's power play is 0-5 in the three games
• Wichita's power play is 2-9 (22.2%)
• Allen took 11 penalties for 25 minutes
• Wichita took seven penalties for 17 minutes

The last time these teams played Wichita had no penalties and Allen had one. Oh how the times have changed. Allen has only taken seven major penalties all season. Just five ECHL teams have taken fewer including Wichita with a league low of four major penalties. The days of Allen and Wichita being known for their toughness is long gone. 

- Special teams will play a key role in the three games against Wichita this week. The Allen power play has been in a drought for a while. At the end of November Allen had the #3 ranked ECHL power play at 26.1%. Since that time Allen has scored one power play goal in its last seven games. The Americans are 1-19 (5.3%) on the power play in the last seven games. The Allen penalty kill has also struggled recently. Since the beginning of December the penalty kill percentage is 68.8% (5-16). If Allen is going to be successful against Wichita it will have to do better on special teams.

 

- Despite a 1-1-1-0 record against Wichita the Americans scored first in all three games. Keep in mind across the entire league the team that scores first wins 75.7% of the points. The overall record for the teams that score first is 232-60-37-5. Even though Allen's scoring first record of 5-3-3-0 (.591) is one of the worst in the league and Wichita's scoring first record of 9-3-1-0 (.731) is below the league average, scoring first and playing with the lead will be critical in this series. Wichita is 5-1-0-0 when leading after the first period and Allen is 0-8-1-0 when trailing after the first period. The records are even worse after the second period. Wichita is 9-0-0-0 when leading after the second period and Allen is 0-8-2-0 when trailing after the second period. It is very clear the importance of the Americans getting off to good starts and avoid playing from behind.   

- Colin Jacobs, who was just acquired in a trade with Worcester for Ryan Mahshie, is scheduled to arrive in Allen today. Whether he will be in the lineup tonight remains to be seen. James Hardie was practicing yesterday wearing the green non-contact jersey. He is listed as day-to-day and should be available sometime this week, but tonight might be a little soon. Will have to wait and see on his status.

 

 

- Here is the complete updated Allen roster that I am pretty sure is accurate as of this morning. The transactions this afternoon could make changes to the status of some players. With the Christmas waiver/trade freeze four days away and Allen on a six game losing streak, it won't be a surprise to see more roster changes before the 22nd.

Goalies 

• #1 Logan Neaton 
• #35 *Anson Thornton

Defensemen

• #91 Ayo Adeniye -  reserve
• #23 JC Brassard
• #82 Cole Fraser - 14-day IR
• #3 Ryan Gagnon 
• #66 Artyum Kulakov 
• #44 Nolan Orzeck 
• #21 Mike Van Unen
• #2 Quinn Warmuth 

Forwards

• #26 Spencer Asuchak 
• #42 Robbie Baillergeon 
• #24 Harrison Blaisdell
• #22 Easton Brodzinski 
• #28 Brian Chambers
• #16 *Kyle Crnkovic
• #8 Mark Duarte 
• #10 *Will Gavin - 14-day IR
• #84 Liam Gorman 
• #14 Brayden Guy
• #86 James Hardie - reserve
• #17 Colin Jacobs
• #70 Dakota Seaman - 14-day IR
• #11 Rylan Van Unen 
• #92 Brayden Watts
  

 *AHL contracted players

 

- Here is the game/series preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/americans-open-a-four-games-in-five-nights-stretch-this-evening-againt-wichita

OTHER COMMENTS

- Goalie Marco Costantini is headed to Europe. He has signed with an Italian team, Asiago Hockey 1935, in the ICEHL. The ICEHL is made up of teams from Austria, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia. Former Allen players Zane Franklin, Corey Mackin, Alex Lavoie, Kale Kerbashian, Josh Atkinson and Jason Fram all  play in the ICEHL. Asiago is currently in 11th place in the 13 team league with a record of 6-16. 

- Blake Murray who along with Bennett MacArthur was a big part of Allen's turnaround last season. They were both under NHL contract last season, Murray (Carolina) and MacArthur (Tampa Bay) and assigned to their ECHL affiliates. Somehow coach Chad Costello was able to convince their NHL teams to send them to Allen, (neither NHL team was affiliated with Allen) for development. It was a big piece of the puzzle that turned around Allen's season and got them to the playoffs. This season MacArthur is playing for the top team in the league (Wheeling). and Murray is playing for the last place team in the South Division, Atlanta.Congrats to Blake who was just selected as the ECHL Player of the Week. Here is the press release: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/atlantas-murray-named-inglasco-echl-player-of-the-week  

-  The ECHL season is already close to one third completed and the top and bottom teams are well established: Here are the top and bottom five teams in point percentage. Notice all of the top teams are in the Eastern Conference:

• .833 - Wheeling
• .775 - Trois Riviéres
• .761 - Norfolk
• .750 - Florida
• .750 - South Carolina

• .250 - Cincinnati
• .261 - Utah
• .354 - Rapid City
• .385 - Reading
  
• .404 - Worcester

- There are six games on the ECHL schedule tonight and three of them are in the Mountain Division. In addition to Wichita at Allen, Rapid City is at Idaho and Tahoe is at Utah. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-18  

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about rookies and veterans. With the trade this week Allen lost a rookie and gained a veteran. The Americans now have 11 rookies and two veterans.

Here are the ECHL teams with the most and fewest rookies and veterans on their roster. Teams with point percentages above .600 are marked with an asterisk. Most telling from these stats is seven of the nine teams with the fewest rookies are above .600. The five teams with the most rookies have point percentages of .261, .354, .385, .409 and .500.

 

ROOKIES

 

Most

17: BLM

15: ADK

14: REA, UTA, RC

 

Fewest

6: *JAX, *KC, *TOL, *FW, IDH

7: *FLA, MNE, *NOR, *TAH

 

 

VETERANS

 

Most

4: *FLA, IDH, ORL, *TOL

 

Fewest

0: ADK, BLM, *IA, MNE, SAV, WOR

Allen Loses 4-3 in Overtime, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Comparing Records After 22 Games, Allen Shorthanded Goal Leaders and More

 

The Allen Americans salvaged a point on their three game swing through the Central Division with a 4-3 overtime loss in Fort Wayne last night. Allen's losing streak of six games (0-4-2-0) is now the longest of the season. The Americans record over the last 10 games is 2-5-3-0.

 

- Unlike the first two games of this road trip, Allen had some good to go along with the bad in the loss yesterday. Here are a few of the good and the bad:

• Allen scored the first goal, by Spencer Asuchak and his reunited line.
  
• Fort Wayne had a 15-9 shot advantage in the first period.
• Allen led 2-0 after the first period.
• Fort Wayne scored the only goal of the second period on a breakaway.
  
• Allen led 2-1 after the second period, its record with a second period lead was 6-1-0-0.
• Fort Wayne scored twice early in the third period to take a 3-2 lead.
• Allen (Mark Duarte) scored late in the third period (17:49) to send the game to overtime.
• Fort Wayne scored the game winner 55 seconds into overtime on a breakaway.
• Allen didn't give up a power play goal (0-2).
• Fort Wayne didn't give up a power play goal (0-2).
  
• Allen gave up four goals, the fewest of the weekend.
  
• Fort Wayne scored three of its four goals on breakaways, all by Jack Dugan.
• Allen's second goal was scored by Robbie Baillargeon, his 50th as a pro.
• Fort Wayne had a 42-23 shot advantage.  

- Goal scorers for Allen were Spencer Asuchak (8), Robbie Baillargeon (1) and Mark Duarte (6). Here are the video highlights. Three breakaway goals in a 4-3 game is not acceptable. The fact they were all scored by the same player is even worse. https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-fort-wayne-komets-dec-15-2024  

- Fort Wayne has a population of around 420,000 in its metropolitan area and gets so much local media coverage the Komets don't produce or publish game recaps on its website. Here is the Allen Americans game recap and a couple of the game recaps from Fort Wayne media:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/game-recap-americans-fall-to-komets-in-ot

WANE 15: https://www.wane.com/sports/komets/dugans-hat-trick-leads-komets-to-overtime-win-over-allen/ 

The Journal Gazette: https://www.journalgazette.net/sports/professional/komets/jack-dugan-scores-on-3-breakaways-including-ot-winner-and-komets-down-americans/article_d43d3036-bb35-11ef-bd12-7b4fb7fcc73b.html

 

- While you can certainly find some good in the game yesterday the bottom line is it ended in another defeat for the Americans. Next up for Allen is two home games against Wichita on Wednesday and Friday. If Allen has hopes of making the playoffs, these games against Wichita are vitally important because the Thunder occupy fourth place in the division. Allen's current point percentage is .432 compared to Wichita's .560. If Allen sweeps the two games the Americans would narrow the point percentage gap to .479 vs .519. If Allen gets swept by Wichita the point percentage gap will widen to .396 vs .593. The Americans would be 13 points out of a playoff position. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- How does the Mountain Division rank among all 29 ECHL teams in point percentage? Here is the ranking with point percentage in parenthesis:

• #6 - Kansas City (.700)
• #8 - Tahoe (.696)
• #11 - Tulsa (.630)
• #14 - Wichita (.560)
• #17 - Idaho (.542)
• #22 - Allen (.432)
• #27 - Rapid City (.354)
• #28 - Utah (.261)

- Hank Crone has finally made it to the top of the ECHL points list. Crone leads the league in points (31) and assists (22). Hank also leads Idaho in plus/minus (+13). 

 

- Ryan Smith (Adirondack) leads the ECHL with three shorthanded goals in just 18 games played. Last season the shorthanded goal leader was Patrick Polino of Cincinnati who had five. Here are Allen's shorthanded goal leaders since the Americans joined the ECHL

• 1 - Spencer Asuchak, 2024-25 (after  22 games)
  
• 4 - Gavin Gould, 2023-24
• 2 - Liam Finlay, 2022-23
• 2 - Spencer Asuchak, 2021-22
• 5 - Corey Mackin, 2020-21
• 2 - Tyler Sheehy and Stepan Falkovsky, 2019-20
• 3 - Riley Bourbonnais, 2018-19
• 1 - By seven different players, 2017-18
• 2 - Bryan Moore, 2016-17
• 3 - Justin Courtnall, 2015-16
• 5 - Greger Hanson, 2014-15    

- Every season there is plenty of discussion why Allen's record is good or bad to start the season. Discussions often allude to injuries, call ups, loans and road vs home games just to name a few. It seems like good teams find a way to overcome these issues. I pulled a sample of Allen's record after 22 games over the years. I included the first ECHL season for Adams (2024-25), Costello (2022-23) and Martinson (2014-15) plus Martinson's last season in Allen (2020-21). As a reminder, Martinson missed the playoffs once in his 10 years in Allen and won four championships. Costello made the playoffs in both seasons he coached in Allen. It remains to be seen if the Americans can overcome their poor start this season and make the playoffs.

• 7-10-5-0 (.432), 2024-25
• 7-14-1-0 (.341), 2022-23
• 10-9-3-0 (.523), 2020-21
• 16-4-1-1 (.773), 2014-15

- It is no coincidence the Wheeling Nailers are on pace to set the all-time ECHL record for point percentage in a single season. Wheeling's point percentage is .833, just ahead of the all-time record of .826 set by Idaho in 2022-23. The number of NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to Wheeling has actually increased since the season began and is the highest of all ECHL teams as of last week. The Nailers have two NHL contracted goalies from their affiliate (Pittsburgh Penguins) and 12 AHL contracted players from their AHL affiliate (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins). Wheeling is the hottest team in the league right now. Three teams in the North Division have the ECHL's longest current point steaks led by Wheeling. Here is the list:

• 15-0-1-0: Wheeling
• 10-0-2-0: Trois Rviéres
• 10-0-0-0: Norfolk 

As a comparison the longest point streak right now in the Central and South Divisions is three games and in the Mountain Division is seven games.
 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the best and worst teams in several statistical categories:

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

 

Wheeling point streak: 15-0-1-0

Utah losing streak: 0-12-1-0

Trois Rivières PP%: 30.4%

Atlanta PP%: 10.6%

South Carolina PK%: 95.2%

Utah PK%: 55.9%

Florida goals allowed average: 1.88

Utah goals allowed average: 4.70

Indy shots allowed average: 21.85

Allen shots allowed average: 40.23

 

Trois Rivières is 21-69 on the power play.

Atlanta is 9-85 on the power play.

South Carolina is 3-62 on the penalty kill.

Utah is 26-59 on the penalty kill.

   

Another Big Loss for Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Rematch Preview, All-Time Worst Losses, Goal Differentials, Christmas Break and More

 

It was a second night of making the Allen Americans all-time worst losses list (losing by six or more goals) which now stands at 11 over the past ten years. Three of the 11 have come this season. Last night it was a loss to Fort Wayne by a score of 8-2. The Komets scored on their 3rd, 4th, 8th and 10th shot of the game and it all happened before the midpoint of the first period. Fort Wayne added a fifth goal at the 13:20 mark of the first period to put the final nail in the coffin. Three of the five first period goals were scored unassisted including a shorthanded goal.

 

- It wasn't as bad as the loss in Indy on Friday night. After all the Americans generated 33 shots and scored two goals, both in the second period. Braden Guy scored his fifth goal of the season and Ryan Mahshie his first, but the game was long since over by the time Allen got on the scoreboard. Fort Wayne scored three unanswered goals in the third period to make the final score 8-2. Eight different players scored goals for Fort Wayne. 

 

- Allen has now been outscored 14-2 on its swing through the Central Division with one more game this afternoon in Fort Wayne (4:00 pm Allen time). Here are a  few other combined stats from the two losses:

• 72-33: Allen shot disadvantage.
• 0%: Allen's power play percentage (0-7).
• 57.2%: Allen's penalty kill percentage (3-7).

 

- Here are the video highlights. You can see the many defensive miscues including those that led to the three unassisted goals in the first period. : https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-fort-wayne-komets-dec-14-2024  

-  Allen will have one more opportunity to earn points on this road trip with a rematch against Fort Wayne this afternoon (4:00 pm Allen time). The team can't be in a good frame of mind based on the embarrassing losses the last two nights. Meanwhile the Komets will be full of confidence. They scored eight goals last night after totaling just 10 goals in their last six games. 

- Allen will need outstanding goalie play to have any chance of beating Fort Wayne. Thornton looked tired last night giving up four goals on 10 shots after allowing six goals on Friday in Indy. Anson has started 10 of the last 11 games including three games in three days before this road trip. Logan Neaton came in to the games last night in a difficult relief role and stopped 25 of 29 shots (.862) over 50 minutes of playing time. You have to expect he will get the start today, but you just never know. 

 

- Allen will have to do better on special teams if it expects to win. Whenever you get outscored on the power play it is not a good night. Last night the power play failed to scored on five opportunities and gave up a shorthanded goal. The penalty kill gave up a goal last night and has been scored on in four of the last five games. Allen can't win with special teams results like that.

 

- Last night Allen gave up a couple of early goals and got steamrolled. Fort Wayne's record when it scores first is 8-2-1-0. If Allen doesn't score first this afternoon it could get ugly again.

 

- Allen Americans leading scorers over the last six games with six points are Mark Duarte (4G, 2A) and Brayden Guy (2G, 4A). Here are Allen's leading goal scorers:

• 11 - Easton Brodzinski
• 8 - Brayden Watts
• 7 - Spencer Asuchak
• 5 - Kyle Crnkovic
• 5 - Brayden Guy
• 5 - Mark Duarte
   

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed) is a good proxy for just how good a team is regardless of the standings, though both stats are very closely aligned. Here are the Mountain Division goal differentials with point percentages in parenthesis:

• +28 Kansas City (.700)
• +20 Tahoe (.682)
• +14 Wichita (.560)
• +12 Tulsa (.630)
• +9 Idaho (.542)
• -35 Allen (.429)
• -35 Rapid City (.354)
• -44 Utah (.273)

It is pretty clear there is a sizeable difference between the top five teams in the division and the bottom three. 

 

- Allen's losing streak has now reached five games (0-4-1-0). Only two ECHL teams have a current longer losing streak than the Allen Americans. Bloomington has lost seven straight games and Utah has lost 11 straight. The five game losing for the Americans matches the five game losing streak they had to start the season.

 

- Here the 11 games Allen has lost by six or more goals since joining the ECHL in 2014. Notice the only two road losses by six or more goals happened the last two nights. Also, notice the only team on the list more than once is Kansas City (four times).

•  8-2: Fort Wayne - 12/14/24 (road)
•  6-0: Indy - 12/13/24 (road)
•  9-0: Kansas City - 10/26/24 (home)
•  6-0: Tulsa - 3/10/24 (home)
•  6-0: Atlanta - 10/29/23 (home)
•  8-1: Kansas City - 1/8/22 (home)
•  8-2: Rapid City - 12/3/22 (home)
•  7-0: Wichita - 10/23/21 (home) 
•  9-3: Kansas City - 3/8/19 (home
•  6-0: Kansas City - 3/6/19 (home) 
•  8-1: Colorado - 11/14/15 (home)

 

- It is a light schedule in the ECHL today with just five games being played. The Allen game will be the latest with a 5:00 pm local start time. The other four games have start times at 3:00 or 3:05 pm local time. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews.https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-15 

 

- Here is a great story about Charlie Combs, who plays for South Carolina, and the influence his brother Jack has had on his hockey career. Jack Combs is fifth on the Allen Americans all-time points list with 213 points (79G, 139A) in just 162 games played. His 1.31 points per game average is second all-time to his good friend and teammate, Chad Costello's 1.50 points per game (minimum 110 games played). https://echl.com/news/2024/12/charlie-combs-hockey-journey-following-in-big-brother-jacks-footsteps 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the Christmas break. My guess is a lot of players will stay in Allen over the break. The Americans are one of the teams that have a game on the 22nd (in Tulsa) so they won't get an early start on the Christmas break. The Americans play at home on the 27th so I would expect coach Adams will have a practice on the 26th. If that is the case, maybe practice can be scheduled late in the day so players can travel back to Allen the morning of the 26th. 

It’s that time of year. The ECHL Christmas waiver/trade freeze is from December 22-26. No games will be played on the 23, 24 or 25 which is the official Christmas break.

 

Some teams can’t wait for the break. The Utah Grizzlies have lost 12 straight games (0-11-1-0). They haven’t won a game in a month (November 16). 

 

Other teams are on a roll. The Wheeling Nailers are on a point streak of 16 games (15-0-1-0). Wheeling has won 13 straight games and last lost in regulation on November 1.

 

There are only six games on the schedule on the 22nd and no games on the schedule on the 26th. If coaches are cooperative and don’t schedule practices for the 26th, players might have time to go home or take a quick vacation to warm places, Las Vegas, etc. For players that have to play on the 22nd and have to practice on the 26th, it will be tough to go anywhere.

 

Allen Sets ECHL Record, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Allen vs Fort Wayne Preview, Steve Martinson Update, All-Time Fewest Shots List and More

 

There is no way to sugarcoat what happened to the Allen Americans in Indy last night. The 6-0 loss to the Fuel was one of the worst defeats since Allen joined the ECHL in 2014. The Americans have lost by six or more goals 10 times since joining the league. The worst defeat was earlier this season (October 26) when Kansas City followed up a 4-0 shutout in Allen's home opener with a 9-0 shutout the next night. 

 

- While the game last night was not the worst defeat in history it was arguably the worst game in franchise history. Here is a sample of what went wrong for the Americans last night.

• Allen gave up the first goal of the game. Record when that happens is 2-6-2-0.
• Allen trailed after the first period (1-0). Record when that happens is 0-7-1-0.
• Allen trailed after the second period (3-0). Record when that happens is 0-7-2-0. 
• Allen's #4 ranked power play was 0-4.
• Allen's penalty kill gave up two goals on three opportunities.
• Allen had one shot in the first period, the second lowest shot total in the league this season.
• Allen had two shots in the second period, tied for the lowest shot total in the league this season.
• Allen had four shots in the third period.
• Allen's seven total shots was six fewer than the ECHL season low of 13.
• Allen's seven shots set the all-time ECHL record for fewest shots in a game. 

 

- Going into the game it was clear shots would be hard to come by because Indy leads the league in shots allowed giving up just 22.2 per game. Meanwhile Allen is ranked #29 allowing 40.2 shots per game. The shot totals for the game favored Indy 33-7. Allen was well rested having not played for a week, but they laid a royal goose egg. It was the fourth time in 20 games the Americans have been shutout. That represents 20% of the games Allen has played and none of the scores were close. Total goals in the four shutouts was 23-0. 

 

- If the humiliating loss wasn't enough, James Hardie left the game early and never returned. His status for the games in Fort Wayne won't be known until later today. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he will be available tonight. If not, the Americans have an extra forward on the trip, Rylan Van Unen, who can step in.

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams and the video highlights:

• Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/americans-blanked-by-indy-6-0
• Indy Fuel game recap: https://indyfuelhockey.com/news/2024/12/fuel-shut-out-americans-6-0-on-eras-night  
• Video Highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-indy-fuel-dec-13-2024

 

 

- The game in Indy was one of those burn the tape games where it is better to just look ahead to the two games in Fort Wayne. It is a short trip, just over 100 miles, from Indy to Fort Wayne. The Americans have to have a total reset for the game tonight which starts at 6:35 pm Allen time. Sunday's game has a 4:00 pm Allen start time.

 

-  With the loss last night the Americans record fell to 7-9-4-0 (.450). Fort Wayne beat Bloomington 2-1 on the road to increase its record to 12-7-1-0 (.625). Just like Allen the Komets have a better road record (8-2-0-0) than home record (4-5-1-0). 

Fort Wayne has struggled recently to score goals. Its record over the last six games is 3-3-0-0, but the Komets didn't score more than two goals in any of the games. They have a total of 10 goals in the last six games, an average of just 1.67 goals per game. 

While Allen lost last night and set a record for fewest shots on goal, Fort Wayne was not far behind. In the Komets win over Bloomington they managed just 15 shots and were outshot 28-15. The 15 shots were the sixth fewest in the league this season.     

 

- Here is how Allen and Fort Wayne rank is some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #21 (2.50) - Fort Wayne #13 (3.15)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #28 (3.95) - Fort Wayne #20 (3.15)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #28 (25.7) - Fort Wayne #3 (34.2)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (40.2) - Fort Wayne #16 (29.8) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #4 (22.4%) - Fort Wayne #11 (18.8%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #24 (78.4%) - Fort Wayne #18 (80.6 %) 

- It will be imperative for Allen to get off to a good start tonight. If the Americans go down a couple of goals early in the game it could go south in quick order. Allen has to be ready from the opening puck drop after what happened in Indy.

 

-  Allen's special teams will have to get back on track tonight if the Americans expect to win. Allen went through a stretch in November when it had power play goals in six of seven games. Since then the Americans have one power play goal in the last five games. In Allen's current four game losing streak the penalty kill has been at 60% (4-10).  

 

- The game will have two referees, #10 Austin O'Rourke and #40 Harrison O'Pray. I know there is a joke somewhere in those names, but I will refrain. When it comes to penalties, Fort Wayne is ranked #5 averaging 15.45 minutes per game. Allen is ranked #17 averaging 11.45 minutes per game.  

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The top five teams in the Mountain Division are starting to distance themselves from the bottom three teams. The top five are all on point streaks while the bottom three are all on losing streaks. Here are the standings by point percentage with current streaks in parenthesis:

• .708 - Kansas City (6-0-0-0)
• .667 - Tahoe (5-0-0-0)
• .614 - Tulsa (1-0-0-0)
• .565 - Idaho (1-0-1-0)
  
• .563 - Wichita (3-0-0-0)
• .450 - Allen (0-3-1-0)
• .326 - Rapid City (0-5-1-1)
• .286 - Utah (0-9-1-0)

- Steve Martinson's team, the Athens Rock Lobsters, finally had their home opener last night over a month after the season started. The Rock Lobsters played their first 11 games on the road because they were waiting for the completion of their new arena. Then the home opener scheduled for December 6 had to be postponed because of problems with the final inspection. A sold out crowd of 5500 last night watched the Rock Lobsters win the home opener 3-2 in Steve Martinson style. A couple of fights, a bunch of roughing penalties, four game misconduct penalties for everything from charging to boarding to fighting after the original altercation. Athens improved its record to 10-2. From December 21 to January 12 the Rock Lobsters will play nine straight games at home.

 

- It is a big night around the ECHL tonight with 13 games on the schedule. All eight Mountain Division teams will be in action. Will the winning streaks continue or can the bottom three teams gain some ground? Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-14  

- There are 34 ECHL players with 20 or more points thus far. Here are the players averaging more than 1.20 points per game. Noteworthy that four of the five on this list play in the Mountain Division:

• 1.35 - Cade Borchardt, Kansas City
• 1.30 - Hank Crone, Idaho
• 1.29 - Simon Pinard, Tahoe
• 1.25 - Odeen Tufto, Fort Wayne
  
• 1.21 - Max Andreev, Kansas City

 

DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post from today. Anytime an ECHL team sets an all-time record it has to be the subject of an ECHL Stats post.

It’s not very often an all-time ECHL record is broken. The Allen Americans managed to do so last night for fewest shots in a game in a 6-0 loss to Indy. The Americans had one shot in the first period, two shots in the second period and four shots in the third period for a total of seven shots to set the all-time record. The lowest shot total this season prior to last night was 13 set by Kalamazoo in a game against Fort Wayne. Here is a list of the ECHL all-time fewest shots in a game:

 

7 shots - Allen Americans , 2024

8 shots - Elmira Jackals, 2016

8 shots - Trenton Devils, 2009

9 shots - Atlanta Gladiators, 2024

9 shots - San Francisco Bulls, 2012

9 shots - Bakersfield Condors, 2004

9 shots - Arkansas RiverBlades, 2000

Allen vs Indy Preview, Chad Costello Named Associate Coach in Rapid City, ECHL Leading Goal Scorers and More

 

The Allen Americans start their one and only road trip outside the Mountain Division tonight as they are in Indy to take on the Fuel. They will then travel to Fort Wayne to take on the Komets on Saturday and Sunday. Thus far this season the Mountain Division has a record of 3-8-1-1 against the Central Division. 

 

- Both teams have some unique stats within their records:

• Allen's record is 7-8-4-0 (.474) which places the Americans in sixth place in the Mountain Division. Allen has a losing home record (2-4-4-0) but a winning road record (5-4-0-0). The Americans record over the last 10 games is 4-3-3-0 and they have lost their last three games (0-2-1-0).
• Indy's record is 8-7-1-1 (.529) which places the Fuel in fourth place in the Central Division. Indy is the only team in the ECHL that has not won a home game, but the odd stat of the day has to be the Fuel have played 15 road games and just two home games. Like Allen the Indy Fuel have a losing home record (0-1-1-0) and a winning road record (8-6-0-1). Their record over the last 10 games is (6-1-1-1) and they have lost the last two games (0-1-1-0). 

 

- Here is how Allen and Indy rank is some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #18 (2.63) - Indy #29 (1.94)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #28 (3.84) - Indy #2 (2.00)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #27 (26.7) - Indy #20 (28.7)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (40.6) - Indy #1 (23.1) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #4 (24.1%) - Indy #15 (18.3%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #21 (80.3%) - Indy #2 (89.8 %)
  

 

- For two teams with similar records Allen and Indy couldn't be more different in style of play:

• Indy is the second best defensive team in the ECHL allowing just 2.00 goals per game, but is the worst offensive team in the ECHL scoring 1.94 goals per game. 
  
• Allen on the other hand is the second worst defensive team in the league allowing an average of 3.84 goals per game while scoring 2.63 goals per game.
• The match up tonight, statistically, will pit a bad offensive team against a bad defensive team.

-  When it comes to average shots allowed per game this will literally be the best team in the league (Indy, 23.1 shot average) against the worst team in the league (Allen, 40.6 shot average).

 

- When it comes to special teams there is also a contrast. The game will feature the fourth best power play in the league (Allen - 24.1%) versus the second penalty kill (Indy - 89.8%). If you add power play percentage and penalty kill percentages together Indy has the edge and is above the 105% that is considered excellent. Allen is just below the standard:

• 108.1% - Indy
• 104.4% - Allen

- Scoring first and playing with the lead is always a big advantage. 

• Indy and Allen are both winless all season when trailing after the first period or the second period. They have a combined record of 0-11-1-0 when trailing after the first period and 0-12-2-0 when trailing after the second period. 
• Allen has scored first in 53% of its games and is 5-3-2-0 (.600) when scoring first. Indy has scored first in 47% of its games and is 6-0-1-1 (.875) when scoring first.
• Bottom line is for Allen to be successful tonight it needs to score first and not play from behind. 

 

- Defenseman Hudson Wilson did not accompany the team to Indy because he was loaned to Tucson and flew to meet the Roadrunners Tuesday evening. Tucson plays Henderson at home tonight. This is Wilson's second loan to Tucson. He spent a week with Tucson in October, but did not play in a game. Hopefully he will get an opportunity to play this time.

- The players that stayed home were Will Gavin, Dakota Seaman and Cole Fraser. They are all on 14-day injured reserve. Here is the group on this road trip. Allen has one extra forward and one extra defenseman.

Goalies 

• #1 Logan Neaton
  
• #35 Anson Thornton 

Defensemen

• #91 Ayo Adeniye
• #23 J.C. Brassard
  
• #3 Ryan Gagnon 
• #66 Artyum Kulakov 
• #44 Nolan Orzeck
  
• #21 Mike Van Unen
  
• #2 Quinn Warmuth 
  

Forwards

• #26 Spencer Asuchak
• #42 Robbie Baillergeon
  
• #24 Harrison Blaisdell
  
• #22 Easton Brodzinski 
• #28 Brian Chambers
  
• #16 Kyle Crnkovic
• #8 Mark Duarte 
  
• #84 Liam Gorman
  
• #14 Brayden Guy
• #86 James Hardie
• #82 Ryan Mahshie
  
• #11 Rylan Van Unen
• #92 Brayden Watts
  

 

- The game tonight will use just one referee, Dylan Slater, #4. He is new to the ECHL this season. Last season he was a referee in the USHL and was named a referee for the playoff final (Clark Cup).

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Chad Costello was named the associate coach for the Rapid City Rush yesterday. It was announced last Friday that Rapid City coach Scott Burt has taken a medical leave of absence. Yesterday was a whirlwind day for Chad. An announcement of his selection, a flight to Rapid City, a quick introduction and behind the bench for his first game (a 3-2 shootout loss to Wichita). Here is the press release on Chad's selection: https://rapidcityrush.com/news/2024/12/rush-hires-chad-costello-as-associate-coach   

 

- Mark Duarte has scored a goal in four straight games. It is the second longest current goal streak and tied for the fifth longest goal streak in the ECHL this season. If he scores tonight he will be tied for the third longest streak this season. It was just a matter of time before Duarte started to score. He had 14 goals in 36 games for Rapid City last season. He had a slow start this season. It took nine games to score his first goal and he had just one goal in his first 15 games in Allen. He has now scored a goal in four straight games and is a big reason the second line has been outproducing the first line recently. If Allen can get the top two lines producing at the same time the Americans will be tough to beat on this road trip.

 

- There are 12 games on the ECHL schedule tonight with six Mountain Division teams in action including two teams playing teams outside the division:

• Allen at Indy
• Savannah at Kansas City
• Wichita at Rapid City
• Tulsa at Idaho

Here is the ECHL Today with previews on all 12 games: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-13

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today asks the question about which player will lead the league in goals this season. Easton Brodzinski leads Allen with 11 goals and just miss the list below.

Who do you think finishes the season with the most goals? Current ECHL leaders. NHL/AHL contracted players are marked with an asterisk:

 

19: *Cade Borchardt, KC

16: Anthony Repaci, WOR

13: *Simon Pinard, TAH

12: Ty Pelton-Byce, IDH

12: Tyler Spezia, TOL

12: Connor MacEachern, IDH

12: *Riley Hughes, SAV

 

 

Injuries as well as loans and call ups will play a big role in determining the ECHL leader in goals:

 

- Riley Hughes is currently called up to Charlotte (AHL). His 12 goals scored for Savannah came in just 16 games played. 

 

- Tahoe’s Simon Pinard has 13 goals in 17 games. He was called up to Henderson (AHL) for 11 days (3 games) in November. 

 

- Kansas City’s Cade Borchardt has 19 goals in 22 games, but has scored nine goals in the last five games including back to back hat tricks. He had one short stint (3 days) with Coachella Valley (AHL) and did not play in a game.