A Deep Dive On the 2015-2016 Allen Americans Schedule (Home & Away)

Ever since the Allen Americans became part of the ECHL everyone has talked about the 2015-2016 schedule when the seven former CHL teams would be fully integrated into the ECHL. The ECHL announced earlier this year they would move to a six division alignment for next season. Allen will be in the four team Central Division along with Missouri, Tulsa and Wichita. The next step happened yesterday with the release of the schedule for next season. Kudos to the ECHL for the early release which makes for better planning for all involved. Here is the complete schedule for the Allen Americans.

Game #:	Date:	Time:	Visiting Team:			Home Team:
5	Fri, Oct 16, 2015	7:05 pm CDT	Quad City		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
16	Sat, Oct 17, 2015	7:05 pm CDT	Tulsa		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
26	Sun, Oct 18, 2015	4:05 pm CDT	Allen		at	Tulsa		4:05 pm CDT
29	Wed, Oct 21, 2015	7:05 pm MDT	Allen		at	Colorado		7:05 pm MDT
32	Fri, Oct 23, 2015	7:05 pm MDT	Allen		at	Utah		7:05 pm MDT
44	Sat, Oct 24, 2015	7:05 pm MDT	Allen		at	Utah		7:05 pm MDT
82	Sat, Oct 31, 2015	7:05 pm CDT	Missouri		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
91	Tue, Nov 3, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		7:05 pm CST
102	Fri, Nov 6, 2015	7:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Rapid City		7:05 pm MST
115	Sat, Nov 7, 2015	7:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Rapid City		7:05 pm MST
131	Tue, Nov 10, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Wichita		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
145	Fri, Nov 13, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		7:05 pm CST
157	Sat, Nov 14, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Colorado		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
167	Sun, Nov 15, 2015	4:05 pm EST	Colorado		at	Allen		4:05 pm EST
174	Tue, Nov 17, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Missouri		7:05 pm CST
186	Fri, Nov 20, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Wichita		7:05 pm CST
200	Sat, Nov 21, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Tulsa		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
209	Sun, Nov 22, 2015	4:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		4:05 pm CST
227	Fri, Nov 27, 2015	7:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Utah		7:05 pm MST
237	Sat, Nov 28, 2015	7:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Utah		7:05 pm MST
270	Fri, Dec 4, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Rapid City		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
280	Sat, Dec 5, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Utah		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
298	Wed, Dec 9, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Idaho		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
331	Sun, Dec 13, 2015	4:05 pm CST	Idaho		at	Allen		4:05 pm CST
339	Wed, Dec 16, 2015	7:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Colorado		7:05 pm MST
347	Fri, Dec 18, 2015	7:10 pm MST	Allen		at	Idaho		7:10 pm MST
359	Sat, Dec 19, 2015	7:10 pm MST	Allen		at	Idaho		7:10 pm MST
377	Mon, Dec 21, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Tulsa		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
382	Sat, Dec 26, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Missouri		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
392	Sun, Dec 27, 2015	5:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Wichita		5:05 pm CST
408	Wed, Dec 30, 2015	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Wichita		7:05 pm CST
425	Fri, Jan 1, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Missouri		7:05 pm CST
431	Sat, Jan 2, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Quad City		7:05 pm CST
457	Fri, Jan 8, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Colorado		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
480	Sun, Jan 10, 2016	4:05 pm CST	Colorado		at	Allen		4:05 pm CST
508	Sat, Jan 16, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Cincinnati		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
518	Sun, Jan 17, 2016	4:05 pm CST	Cincinnati		at	Allen		4:05 pm CST
526	Mon, Jan 18, 2016	1:05 pm CST	Cincinnati		at	Allen		1:05 pm CST
532	Fri, Jan 22, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Wichita		7:05 pm CST
558	Sun, Jan 24, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Wichita		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
566	Tue, Jan 26, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		7:05 pm CST
575	Fri, Jan 29, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Tulsa		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
589	Sat, Jan 30, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		7:05 pm CST
601	Sun, Jan 31, 2016	4:05 pm CST	Tulsa		at	Allen		4:05 pm CST
615	Fri, Feb 5, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Utah		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
627	Sat, Feb 6, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Wichita		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
642	Wed, Feb 10, 2016	7:15 pm AKST	Allen		at	Alaska		7:15 pm AKST
647	Fri, Feb 12, 2016	7:15 pm AKST	Allen		at	Alaska		7:15 pm AKST
660	Sat, Feb 13, 2016	7:15 pm AKST	Allen		at	Alaska		7:15 pm AKST
695	Fri, Feb 19, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Missouri		7:05 pm CST
708	Sat, Feb 20, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		7:05 pm CST
721	Sun, Feb 21, 2016	4:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Tulsa		4:05 pm CST
738	Fri, Feb 26, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Allen		at	Wichita		7:05 pm CST
750	Sat, Feb 27, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Wichita		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
761	Sun, Feb 28, 2016	4:05 pm CST	Wichita		at	Allen		4:05 pm CST
787	Sat, Mar 5, 2016	7:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Colorado		7:05 pm MST
799	Sun, Mar 6, 2016	4:05 pm MST	Allen		at	Rapid City		4:05 pm MST
810	Wed, Mar 9, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Missouri		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
832	Sat, Mar 12, 2016	7:05 pm CST	Wichita		at	Allen		7:05 pm CST
840	Sun, Mar 13, 2016	4:05 pm CDT	Wichita		at	Allen		4:05 pm CDT
853	Wed, Mar 16, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Missouri		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
862	Fri, Mar 18, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Alaska		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
874	Sat, Mar 19, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Allen		at	Tulsa		7:05 pm CDT
885	Sun, Mar 20, 2016	4:05 pm CDT	Tulsa		at	Allen		4:05 pm CDT
895	Wed, Mar 23, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Allen		at	Wichita		7:05 pm CDT
919	Sat, Mar 26, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Missouri		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
928	Sun, Mar 27, 2016	4:05 pm CDT	Missouri		at	Allen		4:05 pm CDT
942	Fri, Apr 1, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Allen		at	Missouri		7:05 pm CDT
955	Sat, Apr 2, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Allen		at	Missouri		7:05 pm CDT
975	Wed, Apr 6, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Evansville		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
985	Fri, Apr 8, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Evansville		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT
999	Sat, Apr 9, 2016	7:05 pm CDT	Evansville		at	Allen		7:05 pm CDT

- The ECHL set a goal to have no more than twelve games (six home six away) against any team in the division and they came close in achieving that goal but didn't quite make it. Allen plays Tulsa 15 times (6 home 9 away) and Wichita 13 times (7 home 6 away).

- Allen will play eleven different ECHL teams next season. Here is a complete list of the 72 games by team:
15 games - Tulsa (6 home 9 away)
13 games - Wichita (7 home 6 away)
11 games - Missouri (6 home 5 away)
7 games - Colorado (4 home 3 away)
6 games - Utah (2 home 4 away)
4 games - Alaska (1 home 3 away)
4 games - Idaho (2 home 2 away)
4 game - Rapid City (1 home 3 away
3 games - Cincinnati (3 home 0 away)
3 games - Evansville (3 home 0 away)
2 games - Quad City (1 home 1 away)

- Here is a breakdown of all 72 games by day of the week:
Sunday - 15 (10 home, 5 away)
Monday - 2 (2 home, 0 away)
Tuesday -  4 (1 home, 3 away)
Wednesday - 9 (4 home, 5 away)
Thursday - 0
Friday - 19 (7 home, 12 away)
Saturday - 23 (12 home, 11 away)

- Here are the games by month. Allen was successful in getting more road games in October and November during football season.
October - 7 games (3 home 4 away)
November - 13 games (4 home 9 away)
December - 11 games (6 home 5 away)
January - 13 games (8 home 5 away)
February - 11 games (4 home 7 away)
March - 12 games (8 home 4 away)
April- 5 games (3 home 2 away)
  

- One of the many things the team looks at when the schedule comes out is how many times they have to play three games back to back to back. Three games in three days is stressful especially if there is travel involved. Players are more prone to injuries in these situations. This past season the Americans played three games in three days five times. In 2015-2016 that will happen seven times. Here are back to back to back games for the Allen Americans:

October 16, 17, 18 - Quad City (H), Tulsa (H), Tulsa (A)
November 13, 14, 15 - Tulsa (A), Colorado (H), Colorado (H)
November 20, 21, 22 - Wichita (A), Tulsa (H), Tulsa (A)
January 16, 17, 18 - Cincinnati (H), Cincinnati (H), Cincinnati (H)
January 29, 30, 31 - Tulsa (H), Tulsa (A), Tulsa (H)
February 26, 27, 28 - Wichita (A), Wichita (H), Wichita (H)
March 18, 19, 20 - Alaska (H), Tulsa (A), Tulsa (H)

-  Four games in five days with travel is really brutal but that only happens twice next season.
November 13-17 - Tulsa (A), Colorado (H), Colorado (H), Missouri (A)
March 16-20 - Missouri (H), Alaska (H), Tulsa (A), Tulsa (H)

- Five of the eleven teams on Allen's schedule next year didn't make the playoffs this year. Allen will play these five teams 34 times.

- Allen will play only two teams with a winning percentage above .600 during the just completed regular season. Idaho had a winning percentage of .708 and Colorado had a winning percentage of .625. Here is a complete list in winning percentage order with the number of games played in parentheses:
.708 - Colorado (7)
.625 - Idaho (4)
.569 - Utah (6)
.562 - Rapid City (4)
.562 - Quad City (2)
.556 - Tulsa (15)
.535 - Alaska (4)
.507 - Cincinnati (3)
.507 - Wichita (13)
.451 - Missouri (11)
.271 - Evansville (3)

- After opening the season at home against Quad City on October 16th and Tulsa on October 17th the Americans hit the road for eight of ten games between October 18 and November 13. The other tough part of the schedule for Allen will be February 10 through March 6 when Allen plays nine of eleven games on the road.

- The easiest part of the schedule for Allen will be between January 8th and February 6th. During this month they play 10 of 13 games at home and the three road games are one day trips to Tulsa, Tulsa & Wichita.

- From March 9th to the end of the season on April 9th Allen will have 11 of 15 games at home. The Americans finish the season with four straight games against Missouri (2 home 2 away) followed by three home games against Evansville.

- If you have ever wanted to go on a road trip to cheer on the Americans three dates to mark on your calendar are October 18th, November 22nd and February 21st. These games are on a Sunday afternoon in Tulsa. They combine the shortest distance to drive (230 miles) and a 4:05 p.m. puck drop so you can watch the game and still drive back to Allen at a reasonable hour.  If you want to make it an overnight trip pick February 21st as the Americans also play Tulsa on Saturday the 20th at 7:05 p.m. Maybe the Americans can sponsor a bus to one of these games.

- If you have always wanted to visit Alaska you can accompany the team on the first ever visit to play the Alaska Aces with games on February 10th, 12th & 13th. 

- Allen plays at home on December 21st and December 26th which makes it nice with no travel right before or after the Christmas break. The Americans will be on the road this year for New Years playing in Wichita on December 30th, Missouri on January 1st and Quad City on January 2nd.




DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans will travel 30,000 miles next year to their 36 road games with 22,000 miles being on the bus. The 8,000 mile round trip to Alaska will be by plane.