Saturday, November 21, 2015

ITS CANDY CANES FOR KIDS TONIGHT - AMERICANS RETURN HOME VICTORIOUS

Today is a day filled with fun and festivities including a Josh Wilson concert before the game. Last night was also filled with fun after a daunting first period

Game Recap
  • Chad Costello scored the first goal at the 4:38 mark of the first period.  He was given an excellent backdoor pass from Justin Baker and scored as he crossed the crease.
  • The second goal, at 9:11 of the second period, was a result of good aggressive play by Vincent Areseneau and Casey Pierro-Zabotel keeping traffic in front of the net.  After a shot from the point by Jonathon Parker, a rebound allowed Arseneau a shot and Pierro-Zabotel was there to knock Arseneau's rebound home.
  • The night's final goal was again a result of aggressive play in front of the net. A rebound from a shot by Costello was poked twice by Arseneau and an alert play on the squirming puck by Justin Baker allowed a score over the left shoulder of Wichita goalie David Shantz.
  • The first period was unnerving as Allen allowed a season high 21 shots on goal while managing only 7 of their own.  Riley Gill's outstanding play in goal kept the score at 1-0 after the first period.  The remaining two periods were a complete turnaround as the Americans picked up the pace with aggressive forechecking, strong physical play all around and penalty killing on all four Wichita power plays, one being a 5 on 3 for over a minute and a half.
  • Evidence of the increased physical play was 4 roughing penalties and 4 fighting penalties called in the last two periods.  The "Main Event" involved Dyson Stevenson and Wichita's Dan Milan.  A number of rights were exchanged.  (We scored the round 10-7, Stevenson).
  • Riley Gill was outstanding in goal,getting his first shut out of the year and surviving a barrage of shots in the first period.  He was rightfully named first star of the game.
Coach Martinson's post game comments
  • Riley Gill was very good in goal tonight
  • Scoring first and special teams play made the difference tonight
  • Chad Costello used his speed to create some opportunities
  • Strong physical play from Stevenson - Braid line.
  • A full post game interview, compliments of the All Americans facebook page, is below



  • Missouri defeated Tulsa, tonight's opponent, in overtime last night.  They remain 3 points ahead of the Americans with a game in hand and lead the entire ECHL in points
Pregame for Tonight
  • Please remember the start time of tonight's game has been moved to 7:35PM due to pregame activities surrounding the Candy Canes for Kids events.
  • The Americans are on a three-in-three stretch beginning with last nights game and continuing today at the AEC and concluding tomorrow in Tulsa with a 4:05PM start time.  Tulsa also played last night and, with Allen today and tomorrow, is also in the middle of their own three-in-three.  The Americans will depart at 10:00AM Sunday for the trip to Tulsa
  • Tulsa is currently in last place in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference and 26th in the ECHL, besting only the Evansville IceMen in points.
  • Allen leads Tulsa in the division with 22 points vs Tulsa's 10.
  • Leading points scorers for Tulsa are Adam Pleskach with 9 points and Brandon Wong with 7.  By comparison the Americans have 5 players with over 10 points
  • Phil Brewer and Brandon Wong lead the Oilers in goals with 4.  The Americans have four players with 5 or more goals
  • For special teams, Allen is 11/71 (15.5%) on the PP; Tulsa is 5/41(12.2%).  On the PK Allen is 6/59 (89.9%) and Tulsa is 8/47 (83.0%)
  • Tulsa has lost their last 5 games, Allen is 3-2 over the same stretch.
  • Allen continues its unbeaten streak when scoring first (9-0) and leading after 1 period (5-0).  A fast start usually means success for the Americans
  • In spite of the statistical differences, the teams are 2-2 in head to head meetings.  Allen winning its only home game with the Oilers and recording a 1-2 record at the BOK Center in Tulsa.  It appears we may have a closer game than would be expected by looking at stats only.
  • Tudor Floru, a crowd favorite, will be the referee tonight - he also called last night's game in Wichita (doubtful he made the trip to Allen on the team bus!)
This and That


Did you know - The earliest hockey games were played with chunks of frozen cow dung (aren't we glad that the puck has evolved into vulcanized rubber!?)


3 comments:

  1. Great blog, better than when I assist!

    Mary

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    Replies
    1. thanks partner - trust me, it is a lot easier when we work together!

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  2. KC metro has the Mavericks, I don't see them getting another team, especially in the large Kemper arena. A metro area of 1million people having 2 ECHL teams seems like it would be hard to keep both financially sound. If the Steven brothers want to expand then go to OKC.

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