Allen Beats Wichita, Martinson's Comments, Baby It's Cold Outside at Home & More

The Allen Americans beat the Wichita Thunder last night 6-1 before an entertained crowd of 4345 at the Allen Event Center (AEC). Beat is the correct word as the Americans dominated the game in every facet from goals (6-1), to shots (45-32), to power play goals (3-1) to penalty minutes (73-63).


- Goal scorers for Allen were Bryan Moore (2), Gary Steffes (6), Zach Hall (1), Dyson Stevenson (4), David Makowski (1) and Jake Marchment (7).


- There were 102 penalty minutes in the second period alone. Four players were given game misconduct penalties including Mike Gunn and Gary Steffes for Allen. There were three fights happening at the same time. By the time the game was completed, referee Tudor Floru, who has a long history with the Americans, had issued 33 penalties for 136 minutes. Mike Gunn had 29 penalty minutes which is the most penalty minutes in one game in the ECHL all season.


- The mini brawl started after a sequence of events that makes you wonder. Derek Mathers had a fight with Vincent Arseneau at 16:12 of the second period and had a clear win. Mathers landing at least 10 unanswered punches. Wichita coach Malcolm Cameron called a timeout after that fight and then four seconds after play resumes the mini brawl begins.


- Dyson Stevenson was the #1 star of the game and it was well deserved as Dyson did everything for the team. He not only had a Gordie Howe hat trick he almost had a double. Stevenson had two fights, two assists and one goal. For good measure he also took a few shifts at defense late in the game.


- Check out all of the goals and the fights at ECHL Rewind: http://www.echl.com/



STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

- I had the chance to visit with coach Martinson after the game and best I not share the majority of that conversation as he was none too pleased with the way the game was handled. You can be assured he will be in communication with the league office with video as back up regarding how the brawl started and ended with Wichita getting a five on three power play. I think you are always much better off when you raise issues with the league after a 6-1 victory  rather than when you lose the game.

- Coach Martinson was pleased with the effort put forth by the guys in all facets of the game. When the only goal you allow is a five on three power play it is a very good night.

- The team leaves at 2:00 pm today as it is required for a stand alone game you travel the day before the game. Game time tomorrow is 4:05 pm. It should be a good one.

- It was good to have Kevin Colley on the bench helping out. Kevin has over 350 games as a head coach in the ECHL.  



OTHER COMMENTS

- Hats off to Jaime Garcia who has been doing double duty recently for the Americans. In addition to his regular job as the team's trainer he has been filling as the equipment manager until the new guy transitions into the job. Jaime was all over the place last night dealing with the aftermath of the numerous fights as well as several equipment issues. A job well done for a guy that goes above and beyond the call of duty. 

One of the recruiting tools coach Martinson  always uses is the weather in Allen. While there are a few cold wintry days, players can fish and play golf all year long. The weather this morning is a perfect example. It is currently 70 degrees in Allen and although the temp will be going down this afternoon it is a far cry from the weather back home for most of the players.  Here are a few examples of what the temperature is like at home. All temperatures are in Fahrenheit and are not wind chill temps but the actual temps.

Chad Costello - It will be -9 tonight with snow in Chad's hometown of Johnston, Iowa.
Dyson Stevenson - Dyson's family in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan is enjoying -16. High today -8.
Aaron Gens - It will be -23 in Baudette, Minnesota tonight. The high today will be -8.
Bryan Moore - A balmy high of 55 today in Bryan's home town of Indian Trails, North Carolina.
Greger Hanson - Is is 34 degrees in Greger's hometown Lindingo, Sweden. High today 35.
Eric Roy - It is -8 in Beauval, Saskatchwan. Low tonight for the Roy family a chilly -18.
Derek Mathers - It is 27 in Derek's hometown of Strathroy, Ontario. Tomorrow night low is -3.
Harrison Ruopp - It is -24 on the Ruopp family farm in Zehner, Saskatchewan. High today is -6.
Travis Brown - It will be -9 for a high today in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Low tonight is -22
Riley Gill - It will be -26 and snow tonight in Riley's hometown of Northfield, Minnesota.


- Here are the results of the of the "Ugly Sweater" jersey auction tonight:

$1100 - Chad Costello
$800 - Riley Gill
$700 - Dyson Stevenson
$600 - David Makowski
$600 - Derek Mathers
$600 - Gary Steffes
$600 -  Mike Gunn
$550 - Travis Brown
$550 - Spencer Asuchak
$550 - Greger Hanson
$550 - Aaron Gens
$550 - Joel Chouinard
$550 - Kale Kerbashian
$500 - Harrison Ruopp
$500 - Jamie Murray
$500 - Eric Roy
$500 - Bryan Moore
$500 - Randy Cure
$450 - Zach Hall
$450 - Tristan King
$450 - Tanner Eberle
$450 - Jake Marchment
$400 - Alex Guptill
$400 - Micheal Brodzinski


- Here is another example why the Allen Ice Angels are the best in the business. A little performance titled, "Ice Angels Bet You Can't JuJu Like Me Challenge"  https://youtu.be/n08jYpNEmE4 




DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans had a rough bus trip through the mountains over Thanksgiving with numerous breakdowns but the all time bus trip from hell took place one year ago on another trip out west. Here is the blog post from one year ago.

The road trip from hell continues for the Allen Americans as they have still not made it to Boise, Idaho where they are scheduled to play the Steelheads tonight. They have pretty much been in travel mode ever since Tuesday night when they left Allen for Colorado. A seven hour delay in that trip because of a snow storm was just the beginning of the problems. After losing 4-1 to Colorado Wednesday night the team attempted to head to Boise but had to turn around after just 30 minutes because of impassable roads. Another attempt Thursday afternoon got them as far as Cheyenne, Wyoming which sounds like a long way but in fact is less than 60 miles from Loveland where the Eagles play. The Interstate was closed west of Cheyenne so the team spent the rest of the day in a parking lot in Cheyenne. A check of the weather this morning shows parts of the Interstate are still closed. I haven't heard from the team since last night but the most likely scenario was a return to the Denver area and then flying to Boise today, however, nothing had been decided. It has to be a bored, frustrated, angry, beat down group of guys on that bus. When you own a bus like the Americans do, it is hardly ever cost beneficial to fly but if you don't own a bus, flying is a reasonable option on trips like the one to Colorado and Idaho. The bus is on its last legs as it is over 20 years old and has traveled about two million miles. The best thing to happen for the players would be to have the bus die permanently!