Statistical Leaders, Trade Deadline Today, Mike DiPaolo Assigned to Allen & More

It will be a second day of rest for the Allen Americans players as they prepare to play the Rapid City Rush on Friday & Saturday. They will have a practice this morning and then a lot of down time. Off the ice it is most likely very hectic for coach Martinson as he works on the roster with two deadlines this week. Last night was the last time a player under NHL/AHL contract that is playing for another ECHL team could be reassigned. It was under this rule Allen acquired Mike DiPaolo who is under contract with the Springfield Falcons (AHL)  but was assigned to the Ontario Reign. (see details below). Today at 3:00 p.m. EDT is the ECHL trade deadline so if there are any trades in the works they would have to be completed this afternoon.

Neither of the deadlines this week impacts current AHL players being assigned to Allen. Those assignments could happen right up until playoff rosters are due which is April 13.

TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS

There are plenty of reasons why the Allen Americans have been so dominate in the Central Division as there is outstanding talent all the way up and down the roster. But what has put Allen over the top are three guys who are having career years. At the top of the list is Gary Steffes who leads the ECHL in goals scored (39). Gary has never had more than 22 goals in a season going all the way back to juniors. He is on pace to get close to 50 goals so this is definitely a career year for Steffes. Chad Costello is also having a career year. Before this year he has never had more than 51 assists in a season and he already has 64 assists. The most goals Chad has ever had in a season is 34 and he is sure to break that mark this year as is already has 32 goals. The best indication of how good a year Costello is having is his 96 points (32 goals 64 assists) leads the ECHL scoring race by 31 points. The third player that was having a career year until he left the team was Jack Combs who in just 32 games had 56 points (22 goals 34 assists).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

- When you consider there are 28 teams in the ECHL, if a player is in the top fifteen in any statistical category that is quite impressive so to see the numerous categories that are dominated by Allen players is amazing. Will try to illustrate this below by listing the top three players on the team with their stat and then where they rank in the league in that stat. I have included Jack Combs as there is a slight chance he could still return to Allen.

Points - Costello 96 (#1), Combs 64 (#3), Steffes 62 (#6)
Goals - Steffes 39 (#1), Costello 32 (#2), Combs 26 (#8)
Assists - Costello 64 (#1), Combs 38 (#8), Gens 34 (#21)
Power Play Goals - Steffes 16 (#1), Schultz & Tyler Ludwig 7 (#13)
Power Play Assists - Costello 22 (#1),  Gens 14 (#7), Combs 13 (#14)
Shorthanded Goals - Hanson 4 (#2), Seven tied with one
Game Winning Goals -  Steffes & Hanson 7 (#3), Costello 5 (#15)
Penalty Minutes -  Gens 172 (#10), Clarke 147 (#18), Schultz 97 (#46)
Plus/Minus - Costello +35 (#1), Hanson & Steffes +27 (#5)
Shots On Goal - Steffes 201 (#5), Costello 182 (#13), Hanson 157 (#33)
Points By Defenseman - Gens 42 (#2), Baker 33 & Young 34 (#11)
GAA - Gill 2.60 (#14)
Save Percentage - Gill .914 (#10)
Goalie Wins - Gill 28 (#1)
Minutes Played - Gill 2445 (#2)

- Allen defensemen dominate the statistics for defensemen. They occupy four of the top fifteen spots in scoring by defensemen with Gens (#2), Baker (#11), Young (#11), and Tyler Ludwig (#15). No other team has more than two in the top fifteen.



TEAM STATISTICS:

 Here is how the Americans rank in the 28 team ECHL in some of the statistical categories. The first number is Allen's number and the second number is how they rank in the ECHL.
Win Percentage - .746 (#1)
Points - 85 (#1) 
Average Goals For - 4.07 (#1)
Average Goals Against - 2.84 (#6)
Average Shot For - 32.51 (#5)
Average Shots Against - 30.12 (#14)
Power Play Percentage - 20.2% (#4)
Penalty Kill Percentage - 87.4% (#3)
Average Penalty Minutes - 22.82 (#1)
Win % When Scoring First - .839 (#7)
Longest Winning Streak - 9 games (#4)
Longest Home Winning Steak - 11 games (#1)
Team Plus/Minus -  +244 (#1) 
Goal Differential -  +70 (#2)
Home Wins - 19 (#4)
Road Wins - 20 (#1)

OTHER COMMENTS

Mike DiPaolo assignd to Allen

- Mike DiPaolo was assigned by Springfield (AHL) yesterday to the Allen Americans. Mike had been playing in Ontario. He has played both defense and forward in the past but will be playing right wing for the Americans. With Spencer Asuchak and Ian Schultz playing in the AHL Allen has lost some size and physical play. That is the reason for bringing in DiPaolo. Here are his stats courtesy of hockeydb:

Mike DiPaolo

Defense -- shoots R
Born Jan 7 1994 -- Brantford, ONT
[21 yrs. ago]
Height 6.04 -- Weight 215

			Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2010-11	Burlington Cougars	OJHL	22	0	4	4	37		--	--	--	--	--
2011-12	Sarnia Sting	OHL	14	0	0	0	9	-1	--	--	--	--	--
2012-13	Sarnia Sting	OHL	43	1	0	1	64	-5	4	0	0	0	4
2013-14	Sarnia Sting	OHL	2	0	0	0	2	-2	--	--	--	--	--
2013-14	Charlottetown Islanders	QMJHL	51	0	4	4	165	-13	4	0	2	2	15
2014-15	Springfield Falcons	AHL	Statistics Unavailable
2014-15	Kalamazoo Wings	ECHL	6	1	0	1	16	-4
2014-15	Ontario Reign	ECHL	24	1	2	3	78	2

-  Colorado beat Alaska last night 4-3 in a shootout. The fans in Alaska were disappointed but sure got their moneys worth as it took seventeen rounds in the shootout to decide a winner. 

- Jack Combs had two goals last night in a losing cause as Stockton was beaten by Ontario 6-3. Jack now has 64 points (26 goals 38 assists) in just 39 games. He is in third place in the ECHL scoring race just one point behind second place.

- Another former Allen player on a hot streak is Alex Lavoie who plays for Florida who is leading the East Division in points. Alex is on a six game scoring streak with three goals and four assists in the six games. His team has won five games in a row.

- Allen is getting very close to clinching both a playoff spot and the Central Division Championship. It could happen within a week.

- After this weekend Allen will have only five road games remaining. Two in Tulsa and three in Wichita.


-  It was announced yesterday that the new AHL franchise that will operate in Stockton next season will be called the Stockton Heat. The franchise is owned by the NHL Calgary Flames.

DID YOU KNOW: There are two teams in the ECHL with over 1300 penalty minutes for the season. One of them is Allen (1301 minutes) who has the best record in the league with 85 points. The other is Stockton (1364) who has the worst record in the league with just 35 points.