Allen Americans Look To Avoid Duck Trap by Tony Jaremko

Great article on this weekends series with Quad City Mallards by Tony Jaremko of thehockeywriters.com

By Tony Jaremko November 8, 2012

Allen Americans Look to Avoid Duck Trap

Last weekend saw the open of duck season and as hunters all over looked to the skies, the Americans continued their red hot start as every other team in the CHL was forced to look upwards at them.  Tomorrow, Allen rolls into Moline, IL to face the Quad City Mallards for a weekend series.  Despite having five teams between them, the two teams are only separated by 5 points, and the Mallards have made late game heroics an early calling card early this season, having gone to extra time for half their games.  Last Friday, Quad City was involved in an 11-round shootout which they dropped.
It would be easy for the Americans to take the ducks lightly, especially when looking at the stat sheet.  Despite being last in the league with the man advantage at 9.5%, Quad City might have found some consistency as they scored their first two PP goals against Bloomington in that shootout loss last Friday.  However, only slightly better at 6^th, the Mallards would find it best to stay out of the box as their 78.6% PK would indicate.
That might be difficult given the aggressive style that Allen plays.  The Americans have found themselves a man up on the power play more than any team which is indicative to the way Coach Steve Martinson and Assistant Richard Matvichuk teach and encourage the team to finish their checks and fight for every inch of ice.
At the same time, Allen has been shorthanded more than any other team (actually tied with Tulsa, but that was because Tulsa got “suckered” into losing their cool last Friday in Allen) but has had incredible success on the kill, only yielding 4 goals out of 38 opportunities.  It would serve Allen very well this weekend to continue the physical, “pond hockey” style of play that has vaulted them to the top of the standings.
Players to watch
Darryl Bootland and Brett Skinner continue to lead the Americans in scoring with 10 points each, where Patrik Levesque is the only player for the Mallards who appears in the top-20, also with 10 points but has a -1 rating and an abysmal 12% shooting percentage.  Levesque and center, Mickey Lang account for a third of the Mallards total shots, so when those two aren’t out on the ice, Americans goaltenders Steve Silverthorn and rookie Aaron Dell will have to keep themselves mentally sharp.  Speaking of goalies, Allen and Quad City are on opposite tracks as Silverthorn and Dell boast GAA percentages of 2.52 and 2.02 respectively, where Mallards Joe Palmer and John Murray have each given up 10 goals and have GAA percentages hovering around 3.20%.
Defenseman, Derek Matheson will be playing his first game against Allen as he was traded to Quad City last week.
Allen is making its first trip to the i wireless Center as the two teams split the only two games ever played between the teams last season in Allen.  The Americans and Mallards did not face each other in Quad City’s first season in the CHL back in 2010-2011.