CHL Rankings, Roster Moves, Goal Projections, Radio Shows

- After watching the Allen Americans lose three of their last four games and listening to what Steve Martinson had to say after the Sunday loss in Brampton (see blog post for Monday) it was easy to predict a couple of things that were going to happen. This is especially true given the fact that Allen has only one game (Friday against Brampton) in over a week. The first is some long hard practices. Watching practice yesterday it was definitely an up tempo, practice like you play session. Lot's of game situation drills with speed and players going to the net. And when they left the ice it was time for video review. Would expect more of the same today.  The second thing you could predict based on the recent team performance is some roster changes. Nothing to report at this point but would assume there will be something announced this week.

- With close to 20% of the season now completed I thought it would be interesting to look at the goal scoring thus far and compare it to something coach Martinson said at the media kickoff luncheon. Martinson said the Americans should have balanced scoring as all of the forwards have the ability to score 20 goals. There are eight forwards that have played in all 12 games thus far. I took the goals scored by each of these eight forwards in the first 12 games and projected that same pace of scoring over the entire season (66 games). So here are the projected goals for the entire season for each player if they score at the same rate as they have in the first 12 games. Obviously, the pace of scoring will change as the season progresses but an interesting exercise nevertheless.
Jonathan Lessard - 44
Kale Kerbashian -  33
Darryl Bootland -   33
Alex Lavoie -         28
Spencer Asuchak - 17
Jarret Lukin -         11
Corey Tamblyn -     6
Jamie Schaafsma -  6


- I recently joined forces with the team from the Minor League Hockey Report and another blogger from Missouri (Sin Bin Blog) to put together the CHL power rankings. This will be a weekly effort as we try to identify the comers and goers, the hot the cold, the tough schedules and easy schedules, and other factors that will impact the standings. We just completed our first effort and the results are below. It has been a lot of fun and if you are on twitter I would encourage you to follow Minor League Hockey Report (@ML_HockeyReport) and the Sin Bin Blog (@SinBinMavs).

T-1:Missouri & Rapid City
3. Allen
4. Brampton
5. Denver
6. Quad City
7. Tulsa
8. St. Charles
9. Arizona
10.Wichita

- In an effort to already shake up the weeks power rankings and make a statement to move up next week the bottom two teams (Arizona & Wichita) both won last night on the road. Arizona beat Denver 4-3 in overtime and Wichita scored the first five goals of the game to spank Tulsa 6-1.

- Roster changes continue around the CHL with some well known names being moved. Arizona waived veterans Damian Surma and Darcy Verot. In additon the Sundogs have acquired defenseman Micheal Trebish in a trade with Denver. However, the biggest surprise is St. Charles waiving forward Chad Costello. Costello has been a prolific scorer throughout his professional career and has averaged over a point a game. He was the MVP in the ECHL as recently as 2011-2012 despite missing a third of the season because of a knee injury. He had 76 points (29 goals 47 assists) in 47 games playing for the Colorado Eagles. This year he had nine points (4 goals 5 assists) in six games with the Chill. Not sure what happened but comments attributed to coach Jamie Rivers about Costello include the St. Charles Chill organization only want players that want to be here and represent the city of St.Louis and St.Charles to the best of their abilities. It doesn't matter what your resume is if you're not wanting to be dedicated to your teammates, the organization and the City. Would love to hear the full back story on this one.

- Tommy Daniels just put the finishing touches on his radio show schedule for the rest of the year. A great opportunity to interact with players and coaches. A very ambitious schedule indeed!

Tuesday, November 19^th    The Steve Martinson Show – Solutions Automotive in McKinney - 5:00 pm

Tuesday, December 3^rd   Daniel Tetrault and Bryan Pitton - The Allen Wickers in Plano - 6:00 pm

Wednesday, December 11^th   The Flow Brothers (Lukin and Berube) - Palios Pizza in Allen/Fairview - 6:30 pm 

Wednesday, December 18^th Steve Martinson Show - Hirsch’s Meat Market in Plano -5:30 pm

Thursday, January 2^nd The French Connection with Lavoie and Lessard - Freebirds in Allen -1:00 pm

Tuesday, January 7^th   Darryl Bootland and Jamie Schaafsma - Abuelos in Plano - 6:30 pm

Monday, January 13^th Garret Klotz and Spencer Asuchak - Solutions Automotive in McKinney - 5:00 pm

Wednesday, January 22^nd Ross Rouleau and Phil Fox - Cowboy Chicken in Allen - 6:00 pm

Tuesday January 28^th Richard Matvichuk and Corey Tamblyn - Game On Sports in Allen - 6:00 pm

Tuesday, February 11^th The Flow Brothers (Lukin and Berube) - JC’s Burger House in McKinney - 6:00 pm

Wednesday, February 19^th Steve Martinson Show - Mooyah in Allen - 1:00 pm

Tuesday, February 25^th Trevor and Tyler Ludwig - Solutions Automotive in McKinney - 5:00 pm

Tuesday, March 4^th Richard Matvichuk and Kale Kerbashian - Game On Sports in Allen - 6:00 pm

Tuesday, March 11^th Trevor and Tyler Ludwig – Quaker Steak and Lube - 6:00 pm

Tuesday March 18^th – The Steve Martinson Show - Solutions Automotive in McKinney - 5:00 pm

Monday March 24^th Dallas Ehrhardt and David Brown – On The Border in Allen - 6:00 pm

Tuesday March 25^th Steve Martinson Show - 5^th Street Pizza in Allen - 6:30 pm

DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans franchise record for most goals in a season is held by Bruce Graham and Nino Musitelli who scored 34 goals in 2010-2011. When you talk about prolific goal scorers in the CHL it is hard to beat Don Parsons. He had over 50 goals four different years while playing for the Memphis Riverkings.

57 - 2002-2003

56 - 2000-2001

55 - 2004-2005

54 - 2001-2002