Eric Roy Loaned To Lake Erie, The Remaining Allen Schedule, Where To See Great Hockey Pictures

- It is a rare day off for the Allen Americans with no game and no practice so time for rest and relaxation. With no game until Saturday, there are still three straight practice days left this week before the three games in three days against Cincinnati.

- I mentioned yesterday that Eric Roy was being loaned to an AHL team. That team is the Lake Erie Monsters. If you are not familiar, they are located in Cleveland and are the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL. There was a possibility after spending all day traveling to meet up with the team, Eric would play last night but that didn't happen. The Monsters played the Manitoba Moose in Winnipeg and won the game 7-3. After a day off today the teams play again tomorrow night in Winnipeg, so Eric should make his debut in that game. Eric is a talented young player (just 21) who was very disappointed when he was released by the Calgary Flames organization who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL draft. Coach Martinson's advice to Eric when he signed in Allen was to "come in with a chip on your shoulder and show why they made a mistake in releasing you." That is exactly what Eric has done as the top rookie defenseman in the ECHL and second leading scorer for the Americans. You never know how long these assignments will last, but it will be long enough for Eric to show what he can do at the next level. He certainly deserves the chance.


- If you are an Allen fan it is disappointing that Eric wasn't given a chance by the San Jose Barracuda as you can be assured they were aware of how he was doing in Allen. There were certainly rumors they were looking at bringing him to San Jose but for whatever reason it didn't happen. Sometimes it is a matter of timing rather than lack of interest. If things don't work out in Lake Erie for Eric he will have other opportunities.

- When you ask coach Martinson how long a player will be gone when they get loaned he is always hesitant to answer because the truth is you never know. He always uses the example of a player of his that was loaned to an AHL team for just one game and he never came back and never played AA hockey again. All a player wants and needs is an opportunity.

- Had a reader ask where is the best place to go to see all of the pictures the photographers take at the Allen home games. Here is the answer to that question as provided by the photographers.
Lauren Lyssy - On her Facebook page which is "Lauren Lyssy Photography"
Kimberly Sauer - Her pictures are posted at this website, thesinbin.net
Dianne Webster - On her Facebook page which is "Dianne Webster Photography"

They all have photography websites as well in various stages of development and with much different content. I know some of them have plans to broaden the availability of their photos so as things change I will keep you posted. But here are their websites if you are interested. 
Lauren:  http://laurenlyssy.wix.com/txhockeyphotography
Dianne: http://www.diannewebsterphotography.com/home.html
Kimberly: http://www.scenebykimberly.com/



- Listing the sites where you can look at game pictures made me think of Chip Crail, who was very kind to me when I first started writing the blog in 2012. Chip passed away from cancer almost two years ago but his great pictures still exist. If you have some time and can look at pictures on a decent sized monitor go to http://www.chlphotos.com/ and take a look at Chip's photos. The first page starts in December 2013 which is the last time Chip posted pictures.  Each time you get to the bottom of the page click on "older posts" and you will be in for a treat looking at pictures back to 2010. If you followed the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2010-13 or just like great hockey pictures you have to visit this site. There are plenty of pictures from all the teams in the league so you don't have to be an Allen fan to enjoy Chip's photos. You will also notice on the right side of the page you can find your favorite player and bring up his photos. Here are a just a few of my favorites from Chip's collection:

Darryl Bootland

Side view of first championship ring

Chip specialized in goalie pictures, this is Danny Battochio from Rapid City

That's Josh Hepditch on top who now coaches junior hockey

Nice victory pic!

Both trainers helping Wichita players who collided at full speed

Colton Yellow Horn with the "that was a sweet goal" look

Jarret Lukin scored against Arizona

Pregame chat between old friends Kip Brennan & Darryl Bootland in the Odessa days

The Americans will hit the halfway mark of the season on Saturday. Here are the number of times Allen plays each team this season and the games still remaining. After the three games this weekend against Cincinnati the Americans will have 34 games remaining in the season and 24 of the 34 will be against division rivals. Allen plays Wichita nine times, Tulsa eight times and Missouri seven times. The other thing to notice about the last half of the season is the tough road trips are over with the exception of a Colorado and Rapid City trip in early March. The only other long trip will be to Alaska and the team will fly. They will even get a day off in Alaska as they play Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (February 10-13).

15 games - Tulsa (6 home 9 away) - remaining (3 home, 5 away)
13 games - Wichita (7 home 6 away) - remaining (6 home, 3 away)
11 games - Missouri (6 home 5 away) - remaining (4 home, 3 away)
7 games - Colorado (4 home 3 away) - remaining (0 home, 1 away)
6 games - Utah (2 home 4 away) - remaining (1 home, 0 away)
4 games - Alaska (1 home 3 away) - remaining (1 home, 3 away)
4 games - Idaho (2 home 2 away)- no games remaining
4 game - Rapid City (1 home 3 away) - remaining (0 home, 1 away)
3 games - Cincinnati (3 home 0 away) - remaining (3 home, 0 away)
3 games - Evansville (3 home 0 away) - remaining (3 home, 0 away)
2 games - Quad City (1 home 1 away) - no games remaining


DID YOU KNOW: Allen plays their last seven games of the season against just two teams. They play Missouri four straight games (two home, two away) and then finish the season with three home games against Evansville.