- Phil Fox will be starting the season on injured reserve. He had an injury from last year that did not prevent him from playing but the Americans felt it was important to get it fixed to eliminate the potential of problems during the season. Recovery time should be around three weeks. Phil plans to be at the AEC this afternoon for the intrasquad game. So if you see him hobbling around on crutches wish him a speedy recovery. To me this is another example of how the Americans take care of the players.
- The big day has arrived as the intrasquad game finally takes place this afternoon at the Allen Event Center. Team store doors open at 2:00 pm, national anthem tryouts are at 3:00 pm, intrasquad game at 4:00 and skills challenge after the game. The Ice Angels will also be performing.
- The team store was getting new merchandise all week and late yesterday got another shipment. No jerseys yet but some new tees for the ladies came in and some Under Armour collared shirts have arrived.
- Had a chance to see the lineups for the intrasquad game and some interesting combinations. Matvichuk's team has more experience at defense (Berube, both Trevors (Ludwig & Hendrikx) and Ross Rouleau while the two young guys (Cintala & Byczynski) are on Martinson's team. All the former Brahmas are on team Matvichuk as are the three young signed players (Lavoie, Lessard, & Asuchak). Team Martinson has all of the returning forwards (Kerbashian, Schaafsma & Bootland) with the exception of Lukin. Goalies are split Fogal & Cook on team Matty and Pitton & Levine on team Marty. Hard to handicap this one.
- Pay special attention to the jerseys tonight as the white team will be debuting the new road jersey which looks great.
- Make sure to stay for the skills contest after the game. Here are the details. The skills challenge will be a team competition and there will be four events. There will be four teams (six players per team) and they were selected through a draft. Darryl Bootland (Team Red), Mike Berube (Team White), Trevor Hendrikx (Team Navy) and Jarret Lukin (Team Grey) selected the players. Here are the four events:
Fastest Skater: two players from each team will participate, players will skate one lap around the rink. There will also be a goalie race.
Hardest Shot: one player from each team will shoot three pucks.
Shooting Accuracy/Rapid Shot: two players from each team participate
Breakaway Challenge: All team members participate
I know the teams were created by a draft but on paper it appears Team Navy (Tetrault, Lachance, Micks, Kerbashian, Lavoie, & Hendrikx) has to be the favorite to win the skills challenge. Pick your favorite:
Team Red - Thibodeau, Trevor Ludwig, Wilson, Bootland, Tamblyn, Cintala
Team White - Tyler Ludwig, Berube, Robertson, Asuchak, Snowden, Lessard
Tam Grey - Short, Schaafsma, Byczynski, Lukin, Rouleau, Harrison
- By now most everyone is aware that the CHL has hired a new commissioner, Steve Ryan, to replace the departed Duane Lewis. There is no doubt he has the knowledge, skills and experience to take on the role as CHL Commissioner. The real question is whether he will take a hard look at the CHL business model and make basic changes to make the league more viable in the future. Rather than posting the CHL press release that most of you have already read here are a couple of things from the web.
Here is a quick look at his bio:
In 2008 Ryan started his own management consulting company, Ryan Enterprises. Prior to that Mr. Ryan was Commissioner and Chief Executive
Officer of the Major Indoor Soccer League, where he increased its
visibility worldwide by negotiating television contracts with ESPN and
FOX Sports World and by crafting the MISL All-Star Weekend. Prior to
joining MISL, Mr. Ryan was President and CEO of Strike Ten
Entertainment, where he was responsible for the management, marketing,
- Minor League Hockey Report is doing a preview of all CHL teams and here is what they had to say about Allen for the upcoming season. Zach Courter wrote this preview and the site (minorleaguehockeyreport.com) is a great site to have bookmarked as they cover happenings all over the Central Hockey League. Here is part of what Zach had to say about the Americans:
Major Additions: The Americans reloaded their off-season
roster by adding several key members from the now defunct Fort Worth
Brahmas roster. Allen added Ross Rouleau, John Snowden, Phil Fox, and
goaltender Brad Fogel. In addition to the former Brahma additions, Allen
added Central Hockey League veteran defenseman Daniel Tetrault. This
will be Tetrault’s eighth year in the league, five of which he spent in
Wichita.
Burning Questions: The biggest question for the Americans
will be can they replace playoff hero Todd Robinson, captain Jason
Deitsch, and goaltenders Aaron Dell and Steve Silverthorn. All four
played key rolls in the success of the Americans during their
championship season. The Americans added Brad Fogel (15-12-2, 2.72 GAA
and .902 SV. PCT) and Bryan Pitton, a five year professional. The
Americans also announced the signing of Alex Bourret during the
off-season however per the Allen Americans Blog, Bourret decided to stay
home and play in a local league. Bourret last played in the Central
Hockey League during the 2011-2012 season with the Wichita Thunder,
recording 20 goals, 37 assists, for 57 points in only 43 games. The
former first round draft pick would have added a huge spark to the Allen
offense.
The one thing I would add to Zach's preview is the potential impact of the young guys that were signed this year. Alex Lavoie, Jonathan Lessard and Spencer Asuchak all look like they will have an impact on this team.
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