- For those of you waiting for more player announcements you can expect a flurry of activity in the next week. Coach Martinson shared with fans at his recent question and answer session that in addition to the nine players that have already been announced (Costello, Descoteaux, Gens, Gill, Hanson, Pierro-Zabotel, Schultz, Stevenson, Young) most of the players from last year that have not signed elsewhere will be returning. Look for several of these announcements to made in the coming days.
- The San Jose Sharks rookie camp is already in progress with the main camp starting on Friday. Vincent Arseneau, Mike DiPaolo, and Joel Rumpel who all played in Allen last year are participating in the rookie camp. The main camp begins on Friday and in addition to the guys at the rookie camp, Chris Crane is also on the main camp roster. If these players don't make the final roster for the San Jose Barracuda look for them to be assigned to Allen.
- All three of the players at rookie camp had an impact as the Sharks rookies split a pair of games with the Anaheim Ducks rookies. Vincent Arseneau scored a goal, Mike DiPaolo was doing his job of agitating all over the ice and Joel Rumpel was the winning goalie and named a star of the game in the game the Sharks won.
- In addition to the four players named above look for several of the players signed by Allen to attend the San Jose Barracudas training camp which starts a week after the San Jose Sharks camp. There may be as many as ten players at the Barracudas training camp that will be on the opening night roster for the Allen Americans.
- The details on the Allen Americans training camp are still being finalized. Steve Martinson mentioned at his Q & A session he hoped to have a preseason game but nothing has been firmed up at this point. The ECHL published their critical dates yesterday and here are the key dates related to training camp:
October 1 - Players may report to Training Camp. Training Camp Rosters due 3:00 pm Eastern time
October 2 - First day of on ice session.
October 14 - Opening day rosters due (3:00 pm Eastern time).
October 16 - 28th ECHL Regular season begins
Player physicals for Allen are scheduled for October 2nd. Whether the Americans can get ice over the weekend (October 3rd & 4th) has still not been determined as the community ice rink is very busy. If ice is not available on the weekend the first on ice practice will be Monday, October 5th. The ice in the main rink will not be installed for a couple of weeks so it will not be available at all.
- Coach Martinson attended the annual ECHL coaches meeting last week in Kansas City. Joe Ernst, ECHL Vice President of Hockey operation and his staff had the opportunity to go over with the coaches the rule changes for the upcoming season such as overtime, shootouts, and hash marks. It was also a chance to talk about some of the changes made in the off season in how the salary cap is administered. Coaches roles and responsibilities were also discussed.
- Heard from the Allen Americans front office that the promotion schedule has been completed and will be released soon. Some new promotions have been added this year that will be great for everyone but especially families.
- Talk about training camp, the Allen Americans Ice Angels are working hard preparing for the upcoming season. They have a trainer, nutritionist and if you have seen any video of their workouts both in the gym and on the dance floor this is some serious stuff. They will be in great shape when they head to the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Resort and Spa in Akumal, Mexico from October 7-11 for their 2016 calendar shoot.
- The Allen Americans are lucky to have Stephanie DiBiase-Wheat as the Ice Angels Director. Stephanie is well known in the industry and has been involved with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (DCC) as you may have seen her again this year on the DCC series "Making the Team" where she choreographed a routine and taught it to the DCC training camp candidates. Stephanie was recently honored as one of "The 10 Most Influential Women in Dallas" in her field and it is no wonder so many dancers want to be part of the Allen Ice Angels. It has become a stepping stone for so many who have moved on to the NFL, NBA and NHL dance teams.
- Colton Yellow Horn who played in Allen from 2009-2012 has had a great start to the season. Yellow Horn is playing for Orli Znojmo which is a Czech based team that plays in the Austrian Hockey League. Colton has seven points (4 goals 3 assists) in the first two games and leads the league in scoring.
- Head coach Josh Hepditch (2011-2012) and assistant coach Bruce Graham (2009-2012 & 2013-2014) got their first victory as a coaching team on Saturday as their Junior A team, the County Aces, who play in the Maritime Hockey League (MHL) won their home opener 2-1. The team is located in St. Stephan, New Brunswick.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL begins the season on October 16th and the last day of the season is April 9th. ECHL playoffs begin on April 13th.
Thanks for the update
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