AND FOLKS, THAT'S A WRAP............TO THE 2015-16 REGULAR SEASON


*Please note: While Barry is on vacation, the views below do not reflect those of Barry or the Allen Americans Organization.

"COME AND TAKE IT"  (courtesy of Lauren Lyssy)

Another nail biter at the AEC last night before a packed house as Allen won their final game of this season.  Off to the Kelly Cup race we all go!  We saw Allen fall behind early in the game, 3:24 of the first period, when IceMen's Alex Wideman beat Allen Goalie Jake Hildebrand.  But the Americans said "oh no, not again tonight" as Thomas Carr passed to Greger Hanson who found Spencer Asuchak. Spencer, maintaining his presence in front of the net, scored on the rebound and buried the biscuit (puck, not to be confused with our mascot), in the net past Evansville goalie Christoffer Bengtsberg.  At the 7:54 mark of the first period Allen tied the game.  Only 1 minute 4 seconds later, Allen would go up by 1 when David Makowski netted a goal off a shot from Casey Pierro-Zabotel from the blue line. Zabotel's shot was set up by a precision cross ice pass from Chad Costello.

This game would find no scoring during the second period.

Think Allen won this one in regulation?  Not quite, as the IceMen felt their final game slipping from under their skates, they found the back of net with just 49 seconds left.  Tyson Fawcett tied the score to force overtime.

Five minutes of 3 on 3 sudden death overtime was not sufficient to break this tied game, but a shootout did!  Gary Steffes, with a beautiful move to the stick side would score on the glove side of Bengtsberg in the second round and would be the game winner!

2015-2016 Season End Statistics -

• With last night's crowd of 5436, the Allen finished 12th in the league in attendance with a 4571 average.  This is almost a 12% increase over last year's 4096.
• Eric Roy was second in power play goals by defensemen and third by rookies with 7. He was first in shooting percentage by defensemen at 14.3%.  
• Matt Register's 20 power play points ranked him 3rd in the league for defensemen.
• David Makowski tied for the league lead in goals by defensemen with 17. His 7 winning goals led the league for defensemen.
• Chad Costello led the league in:

               - points (103)

               - assists (79)

               - power play assists (33)

               - power play points (40)

               - consecutive points streak (19)

               - consecutive assists streak (19) ranks second in the ECHL record book with the record                  being 20

The Apple does not fall far from the tree!
(courtesy of Dianne Webster)

With 4 goals in the second period last night against Alaska, Colorado claimed the West Division Championship.  As a result of Colorado's win, Idaho dropped to the fifth seed and will face Allen in the first round of the playoffs.

Allen has faced the Steelheads four times during regular season play with a record of 2-1-1-0. They last met on December 19th.

Final pairings in the Western Conference are:

• #1 MO  vs  #8 QC
• #2 FW  vs  #7 CIN
• #3 CO   vs  #6 UTA
• #4 ALN  vs  #5 IDA

This concludes our stint as guest bloggers.  Barry will return for the next blog. Many thanks for all your support.  

Did you know: In the history of the Kelly Cup Finals, there have only been 3 years the winning team has swept the series (4-0).  1992- Hampton Road Warriors, 1996 - Charlotte Checkers, and 2002- Greenville Grrrowl.