CAN THE AMERICANS "REIGN" SUPREME???

                                                  Photo courtesy of Lauren Lyssy

*Please note while Barry's name remains at the bottom of this blog, he is on vacation and the information/views posted in his absence do not reflect Barry's views or the views of the Allen Americans organization.

If you were at the event center last night you were treated to, what some may say, was the best Allen hockey game of this entire season.  We witnessed sixty minutes of solid hockey played by both the Americans and the Reign.  This game proved that an ex-CHL team can stand strong against an established ECHL team.  For the Americans, all shifts executed their best play the entire game. Few errors were made and the result was warranted. That's exactly what we need from our team tonight. If that happens, Allen will advance to the finals.  So get everyone, you know that likes/loves hockey to the game tonight and support our Allen Americans to create a sea of red.  Our attendance was 3053, a boisterous crowd. Although a good  crowd for Tuesday night, we need to do better tonight.

Ontario's Derek Couture and Judd Blackwater and Allen's Dyson Stevenson and Aaron Gens were chirping all night long which boiled over in the final 7 seconds of the game. Gens was injured which required stitches above the eye. Couture was assessed a match penalty for attempt/deliberate injury. At the time of this writing there is no announcement from the league regarding a suspension.  According to Steve Hunt of the Press Enterprise, "After the loss, several Reign players were involved in an altercation in a hallway outside the visiting locker room". No additional information available at this time.

                                                Photo courtesy of Lauren Lyssy

Game observations:

• Ontario's Blackwater point streak was halted at 5 and he was a -1 last night and Matt Register, playoff points leader amongst defensemen was also a -1
• Allen played a tight game defensively with no odd man rushes allowed
• Chad Costello and Gregor Hanson again contributed by each scoring a goal and were the #1 and #3, (respectively) stars of the game 

                                        Photo courtesy of scenebykimberly.com

• Riley Gill who was the #2 star gave a stellar performance stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced. Several of the key stops were made in the 3rd period.

Coach Martinson's Comments

• I think that was our best defensive game -
• they have a pretty good PP, we did not give up odd man rushes and that was the difference in the game
• it was fun to watch Costello score on a shot to the low blocker side of the goalie.  That was a comment after the warm-ups (low blocker, low blocker)
• the nice thing about tonight is I don't have a lot video to review because we didn't make a lot of mistakes
• would be nice to get PP clicking, had a couple of good opportunities but the puck didn't go in
• fun playing game 7s
• Gen's eye is cut, hopefully no deeper damage
• Ian Shultz  is out for tonight's game, but he should be available by next week

In Eastern Conference final, the Toledo Walleye have dug out from a 3-0 hole, forcing a game 7 in Toledo tonight. Toledo's last 2 wins have come in overtime.

Ralph Strangis was on hand last night to sign autographs, take pictures, and the ceremonial puck drop.  The Allen American fans wish him the best in his future endeavors.