Wednesday, February 3, 2016

STATS, STATS, STATS Plus ECHL Board of Governors Meeting Considers Worcester & Brampton


 STATS STATS STATS:

As the Allen Americans enjoy the last day of their rescheduled All-Star break before they get ready to take on Utah and Wichita at home this weekend, thought today would be a good day to look at some statistics. You might have to be a stats geek to enjoy this post as it is merely a compilation of what stood out to me as I waded through the entire ECHL statistical information. Some of these will be familiar and some obscure but hopefully you will find them interesting. Here goes.

- The first stat may be the most familiar and amazing as one player leads the ECHL in scoring by 15 points and that would be Allen's own Chad Costello with 63 points (18 goals 45 assists) in 45 games.

- Eleven of the twenty eight teams in the ECHL have as many or more road wins as home wins.

-There are three players tied for the ECHL lead in plus/minus at +25 and they are all from the Missouri Mavericks. (Jesse Root, Bryce Aneloski, Tyler Barnes).

- It is impossible to tell how good a team is by the number of penalty minutes they take. Missouri is the top team in the league with 70 points and has the second fewest penalty minutes (432). Manchester is second in points (61) but has taken the fourth most penalty minutes (714).

- Goalie Josh Robinson, who plays for the Missouri Mavericks, has not lost a game all year. Josh has won an ECHL record 22 straight games. Josh also leads the ECHL with a GAA of 1.84.

- The workhorse of all ECHL goalies is Joel Martin from Kalamazoo. Joel has played in 38 games for 2226 minutes and has made 1226 saves. He has 346 more minutes and 370 more saves than any other goalie in the league.

- There have been 18 penalty shots awarded in the ECHL this year with five resulting in a goal. Allen has had one penalty shot (J.P. Lafontaine) which was unsuccessful. There have been no penalty shots awarded against Allen. Of the five successful penalty shots, two have been against Atlanta and two against Fort Wayne.

- There have been four goals by one player in a game just twice this season. The same player had both. Barry Almeida from Utah scored four goals against Colorado and Tulsa.

- Fort Wayne has the best special teams in the ECHL. They are ranked #1 on the power play at 23.5% and #2 on the penalty kill at 88.8%. Add in their league leading 10 shorthanded goals and it is a potent combination.

- It is easy to see why Wichita has the fewest points in the ECHL standings. They are ranked #28 in goals scored (2.02) and #26th in goals allowed (3.42). Wichita is on pace to set the all time ECHL record for fewest goals scored in a season.

- Tulsa is the only team in the ECHL that has not lost a game in regulation when leading after the first or second period. The Oilers are 10-0-0-1 when leading after the first period and 13-0-0-0 when leading after the second period.

- If you play Adirondack it is best to not out shoot them. They are 15-2-2-1 when being out shot by their opponent.

- The ECHL penalty minute stats are dominated by former Allen Americans. Darryl Bootland leads in most penalty minutes (161) and most minor penalties (32). Garrett Klotz leads in most major penalties (12). Dyson Stevenson is tied for second in major penalties with 11.

- When it comes to the new three on three overtime the best in the league is Florida who is a perfect 6-0. Greenville has the most overtime losses and is 2-6 in overtimes.

- The two best records in the ECHL when scoring first belong to the Central Division. Missouri is 27-3-0-0 and Allen is 19-2-1-1.

- Don't get in a shootout with Elmira as they are 5-0 in shootout games. They are 8-15 (53.3%) in shootout attempts. Two teams (Colorado & Fort Wayne) have not been involved in a shootout all season. At the other end of the spectrum, Manchester has been in eight shootouts.

- The best team doesn't always win if a game goes to a shootout. The top five teams in the ECHL standings are just 12-11 in shootouts this season. 

- Justin Crandall of the Reading Royals is making a strong case for ECHL rookie of the year. He leads all rookies in scoring with 43 points (11 goals 32 assists). His 43 point ranks him seventh in scoring for the entire league and his 32 assists is second in the league behind Chad Costello.

-Evansville has only won 15 games all season but nine of the 15 wins have come on the road.

- In the last ten games the best team in the league has been Toledo at 9-1. The worst team has been Rapid City at 1-9.

- The Missouri Mavericks have scored a league leading 53 goals in the first period but only 38 in the third period. Manchester has scored just 32 goals in the first period but 50 in the third period. Both teams lead their division in the standings.

- There are two ECHL teams averaging more than 7000 in attendance  Fort Wayne - 7378 & Toledo 7055) and two teams averaging less than 2500 (Adirondack - 2425 & Kalamazoo 2002). 

- Last season there were five teams (Toledo, Allen, Florida, Idaho, Fort Wayne) who finished the season with a winning percentage above .700 led by Toledo at .743. This season only Missouri (.854) and Florida (.709) have winning percentages above .700.

- The Missouri Mavericks are on pace to destroy most ECHL single season records. They are ahead of the all time record for most points, most wins, fewest losses, highest winning percentage, most home wins and most road wins. The Mavericks could lose eight of their last 31 games and still tie the all time points record. 


BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING

The ECHL Board of Governors (BOG) meeting is underway this week in Kalamazoo, Michigan. While no agenda is published, these meetings include presentations by League partners as well as discussions placed on the agenda by Members. Based on the stories below, two agenda items at the BOG meetings will be establishing an ECHL franchise in Worcester for the 2017-18 season and considering a request related to the future of the Brampton Beast franchise. The Evansville move to Owensboro, Kentucky  should also be on the agenda.

Worcester - According to a story written by Bill Ballou published at telegram.com prospective owner Cliff Rucker will find out on Friday if his application to have Worcester join the ECHL in 2017-18 is approved. Check out the story as it is informative and entertaining. http://www.telegram.com/article/20151219/SPORTS/151219188

Brampton - This story was written by Robin Inscoe of the Brampton Guardian and talks about the struggles of the Brampton Beast franchise. Two weeks ago team owners went to the Brampton City Council to ask them to help offset the losses the Beast has incurred. Team owner Cary Kaplan is quoted in the story saying, "If we don't get help from the city, we won't be able to play next year." Kaplan will be at the ECHL BOG meeting in Kalamazoo seeking an extension on a February 4th deadline to declare the team's intention for next season. Here is the complete story with all of the details:  http://www.bramptonguardian.com/sports-story/6260438-beast-won-t-play-next-season-without-city-s-help-gm-says/



DID YOU KNOW: Last season Gary Steffes set the Allen Americans single season record for goals (44) and power play goals (18).  One record that isn't talked about is shooting percentage. Last season Gary also set the all time shooting percentage record that will probably stand for a long time. Here are the team leaders in shooting percentage by year (minimum of 100 shots).

2015-16  Chris Crane - 16.2%
2014-15: Gary Steffes - 19.0%
2013-14: Alex Lavoie - 14.9%
2012-13: Anthony Maiani - 15.0%
2011-12: Bruce Graham - 12.9%
2010-11: Bruce Graham - 16.5%
2009-2010: Tobias Whelan - 15.8%



2 comments:

  1. Great stuff.
    Brampton, $4Million loss over 3 years, yikes, that hurts.
    That is the reality of minor league sports.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Josh Robinson - great to see a Michigan Tech Alum having such great success!

    ReplyDelete