- The good news is Allen came away with four points despite losing two of three games to the Cyclones over the weekend. The bad news is Allen lost two of three games at home to a team that had lost seven of their last nine games.
- The games on Sunday and Monday were eerily similar. It was the same officiating crew, Allen got off to a great start (2-0) lead, they coughed up the lead, neither game was settled in regulation time, Cincinnati won both games, and the final score was 4-3 both days.
- Cincinnati out shot Allen 31-20 and seemed to have more puck possession as the game progressed. In the third period and overtime the Cyclones out shot Allen 17-6.
- The Americans don't play again until next weekend when the have another grueling three games in three days which includes travel. All three games are against the Wichita Thunder. They play in Wichita on Friday and Saturday and in Allen on Sunday.
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
- That ending was disappointing. We lost a battle on the wall, a second guy steps up and he gets beat. Their guy beats two guys and walks into the slot and scores.
- I thought a critical part of the game was the five on three power play goal in the first period after we had taken a 2-0 lead. The first penalty wasn't a penalty at all from what I saw as the guy just spun around and fell down. And then the slashing penalty was a soft call. But I talk to players all the time about avoiding stick penalties in those situations.
- When we aren't scoring goals as has been the case recently we have to make sure if we get three goals it is enough to win the game. We can't make the defensive mistakes we are making if we expect to win.
- I thought Hanson played well even though he didn't score. He hasn't skated for a few days, hasn't played in a game for a while and and had a long day just getting to Allen. He will help create more offense but it might take a few games for him to get going.
- I think our line up is a couple of players away from putting a bunch of wins together. But right now we need to do the best we can with the line up we have.
- I will start working tonight on bringing in another goalie. I expect Gill to be out for around three weeks. I will have to see what is out there for goalies. Usually some goalies become available after the weekend because they have been signed as emergency backups.
OTHER COMMENTS
- It was quite an effort for Greger Hanson just to make it to Allen to play in the game yesterday. Up at 4:00 am to catch a flight, arrive in Dallas at 11:45, arrive at the rink at 12:55, get dressed and jump on the ice. It is great to have him back!
- The Americans have now past the halfway point of the season having played 38 of 72 games. Thought is would be interesting to look at a couple of key statistics to see how the team is doing this season compared to last season after 38 games.
2015-16 2014-15 Difference
Points: 45 61 -16
Goals Scored: 97 160 -63
Goals Allowed: 109 97 +12
Shots on Goal: 1046 1247 -201
It is easy to see why Allen has 16 fewer points than last year after 38 games. They have taken 201 fewer shots, scored 63 fewer goals and allowed 12 more goals than last season. They will need some significant improvement if they are to make a deep run in the playoffs this year.
- It was a big day yesterday for a couple of former Allen players. Kale Kerbashian, who now plays for Wichita, score both Thunder goals in a losing cause as they were defeated by Utah 3-2 in overtime. Jack Combs scored two goals to lead Hartford (AHL) to a 3-2 overtime win over Providence.
- Garrett Clarke is headed to Europe to finish the hockey season. He has signed to play in the MOL Liga which is a nine team league for clubs based in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.. Clarke will be playing for DVTK Jegesmedvek which is from the northeastern Hungary industrial town of Miskolc. One of his teammates and leading scorer on the team is Jon Booras who played in Tulsa last season. The team is currently in first place.
- Here are a few photos from the game yesterday which included a special appearance by the Dallas Zoo.
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| Hanson returns to Allen - photo by Lauren Lyssy |
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| It's a celly - photo by Lauren Lyssy |
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| Welcome home Greger - Photo by Lauren Lyssy |
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| PA Announcer Lee Hastings - photo by Lauren Lyssy |
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| Cincinnati's Brandon Gracal with the OT game winner - photo by scenebykimberly.com |
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| Greger gets a welcome - photo by scenebykimberly |
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| Stevenson gets up close and personal - photo by scenebykimberly |
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| Biscuit meets Biscuit - photo by Dianne Webster |
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| Chris Crane's goal - photo by Dianne webster |
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| Goalie calling for a fair catch - photo by Dianne Webster |
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| Coach Martinson calmly asking for an explanation from the referee - photo by Dianne Webster |
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| This is my first hockey game - photo by Dianne Webster |
I'm still astounded that Hanson went from runway to ice in a little over an hour, with no warm-up, and looked as good as he did. That's the sort of mental and physical toughness that this team needs right now, and maybe his leading by example will spark something that helps to get the boys moving in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of "a few more players" to get the right roster: It was recently announced that Konrad Abeltshauser has been released by Chicago, and I've heard some folks wondering if he might come back to Allen. My question would be whom to release to make room? Poe? Gunn? If memory serves, Martinson brought them in to be stay-at-home defensive guys. Do you replace someone like that and bring in another offensive-minded d-man to try to produce some more offense?
Mike, agree with you on the effort Greger made to get to the AEC ASAP. As for Abeltshauser, he won't be returning to Allen from what I understand. Not sure what his plans are but am almost positive they don't include Allen.
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