Roster Update, Rick Gosselin's Article About Chad Costello, New Arena For Gens' Hometown

It is back to practice for the Allen Americans today as they get ready for a busy four games in five days. Home games on Wednesday (Missouri) and Friday (Alaska) followed by a trip to Tulsa on Saturday and then back to Allen against Tulsa on Sunday.

- There is nothing new on the roster front. As of last night, the team had not heard from the ECHL concerning the suspension of Spencer Asuchak. In the press release dated March 10 when Spencer was suspended indefinitely, the league indicated he would miss games on March 12 and 13 and any further discipline would be announced on Monday (March 14). The delay is probably not good news. The announcement should be out sometime this morning. UPDATE: Spencer Asuchak was suspended for six games (he has already missed two) and C.J. Ludwig was suspended for four games (he has missed one).

 - Justin Courtnall  and Chris Crane are day to day and could be in the line up against Missouri. No decision has been made pending the results of medical tests.

- With Justin Courtnall and Aaron Gens recently missing games because of injuries, the only player who has played in all 61 Allen games is Chad Costello. Chad has set many records since joining the Americans that will probably never be broken. His single season points record (125) is 37 more than second place Colton Yellow Horn who had 88 points in 2010-11. His single season assists record (84) is 29 more than second place. In less than two years with the team, Chad is already the career leader in assists, second in points and fourth in goals. With all of the scoring records, maybe the most impressive record that Chad has set is he has never missed a game since joining the Allen Americans. He is the true ironman of the team.

- Rick Gosselin has a great article about Chad in today's Dallas Morning News about his amazing passing skills. Front page of the sports section. Here is the story: http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/other-sports/moresports/2016/03/14/gosselin-chad-costellos-elite-passing-skills-americans-coach-saying-shares-quality-hall-famer-adam-oates

- As the regular season winds down it is so important to have your team playing well going into the playoffs. A look at the standings show some teams rising, some falling and some maintaining excellent play. Here are some examples:

Manchester, Adirondack, Florida, Utah - Good teams playing poorly, just four wins in last 10 games.

Toledo, South Carolina - Good teams playing well, eight wins in last 10 games.

Reading, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Colorado - Teams on the rise, seven wins in last 10 games.

- Inter-divisional play has been a little bit of a misnomer for the Central Division this season. There have been plenty of games outside the division but they have been almost exclusively between teams in the Western Conference. Here is the record for the Central Division against the other divisions.

Midwest Division - 29-10-3-2
West Division - 28-26-5-0
South Division - 1-3-0-0
North Division - 0-0-0-0
East Division - 0-0-0-0

- Here is a story with a great ending about Aaron Gens and his hometown. The story is part of an article written by John Hamre that appeared recently at letsplayhockey.com. 

Located on the border with Canada, just southeast of Lake of the Woods, Baudette, Minn., is a community of approximately 1,200 people. Baudette, also referred to as the “Walleye Capital of the World,” lies on the Rainy River nestled in the north woods between Warroad and International Falls.

Baudette residents hold their hockey tradition proudly. The town hosted the first editions of Hockey Day Minnesota (2007 and 2008), both on Baudette Bay. Like so many towns in Minnesota, Baudette is proud of its citizens who go on to succeed at higher levels in their chosen sports or paths in life. Current Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard, former Golden Gopher Jon Waibel and  Divison I hockey-playing brothers Matt (St. Cloud State) and Aaron Gens (Alaska) all consider Baudette their hometown, as did former Gopher and 1972 Olympic silver medalist Wally Olds.

Today, the Baudette Ice Arena is in dire need of renovation. The arena is where these players grew up playing hockey and so many others continue to do so today through the Lake of the Woods Youth Hockey Association.

This story has a happy ending as Baudette is looking to build a brand new arena, thanks to an anonymous $5 million donation. While the arena will be primarily used for hockey, it would also be rented for other functions. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Thanks to Frank for today's question.

Q: Can you provide a breakdown of where all the Allen Americans players are from.
A: This year's team is one of the most geographically dispersed ever when you look at where they grew up. Based on the roster from the team's website, there are players from eight states, five provinces and one from Sweden. Here is the breakdown with the number of players in parenthesis. Michigan (4), Minnesota (3), Texas (2), Massachusetts (2), Iowa (1), Ohio (1), Colorado (1), Missouri (1), Saskatchewan (3), British Columbia (3), Alberta (2), Quebec (1), Ontario (1), Sweden (1).


DID YOU KNOW: In his entire ECHL career which spans 226 games, Chad Costello has averaged over one assist per game. He has 239 assists in 226 games. Of the ECHL's top 150 players all time in assists, only five have averaged over one assist per game.