Saturday, May 6, 2017

Playoff Update, The Tale of Two Conferences, Allen's Playoff Stat Leaders, Suspension Possibilities

- Back in October, 27 ECHL teams had aspirations to win the Kelly Cup. That number is now down to just six teams (Manchester, South Carolina, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Colorado, Allen). The Manchester Monarchs eliminated the Brampton Beast last night winning game six by a score of 5-4 and taking the series 4-2. The Monarchs are the North Division champions and will now take on the South Division champions (South Carolina Stingrays) in the Eastern Conference final.

- You often hear in all sports but especially in hockey, teams just need to make the playoffs and then anything can happen. The Eastern Conference final is a perfect example. Eight teams made the playoffs and the finals pit the #6 seeded team (Manchester) against the #7 seeded team (South Carolina). Who would have thought Manchester, who finished in fourth place in the North Division during the regular season would have home ice advanatge in the Eastern Conference finals. The Monarchs have home ice advantage in that they get four of the seven games at home. However, as happens so often in the ECHL building availability in Manchester and South Carolina plays a role that could impact the series. The first three games will be held in South Carolina with the last four in Manchester.


- The Western Conference is going much more according to Hoyle as the top four seeds are still vying for division titles. In the Central Division, last night Fort Wayne beat Toledo 4-1 at home to avoid elimination. The Komets were led by former Allen captain, Jamie Schaafsma, who scored two goals and was selected as the #1 star of the game. Fort Wayne trails 3-1 in the series and must win tonight in Toledo to stay alive.


- In the Mountain Division Allen is hanging on by a thread against Colorado, trailing 3-1 in the series with game five at the Budweiser Event Center (BEC) on Sunday afternoon (4:05 puck drop Allen time). The Americans will be hoping for some divine intervention to get this series back to Allen for games six and seven. In case you were wondering what the scheduling conflict is at the BEC that didn't allow game five to be played until Sunday it is the Archdiocese of Denver's Confirmation Ceremony. Nearly 800 students from all of the local parishes will be confirmed this afternoon.


BY THE NUMBERS

- If you compare the regular season stats to the playoff stats Allen is doing a little better in goals allowed having averaged 2.82 goals allowed during the regular season and 2.67 thus far in the playoffs. Goals scored is a different story as the Americans averaged 4.08 goals per game in the regular season, are averaging 3.00 in the playoffs and in the series against Colorado are averaging only 2.25 goals per game. 


- During the regular season Allen had eight players average a point per game led by Chad Costello at 1.69 and Greger Hanson at 1.31. During the playoffs only two players are averaging a point per game. Chad Costello is averaging 1.11 points per game and Bryan Moore 1.00 but Moore has only played in four playoff games.


- During the regular season only two players on the playoff roster had negative plus/minus numbers. So far in the playoffs there are 10 players with negative plus/minus numbers.


- Here are the top players in various stat categories for the playoffs. The number in parentheses is the rank among all ECHL players in the playoffs.

Points:
10 - Chad Costello (13th)
8  - Greger Hanson (27th)
7 -  Wade MacLeod (37th)
7 -  David Makowski (37th)

Goals:
3 - Greger Hanson (31st)
3 - Wade MacLeod (31st)
3 - Josh Brittain (31st)
3 - Joel Chouinard (31st)

Assists:
8 - Chad Costello (3rd)
5 - Greger Hanson (31st)
5 - David Makowski (31st)
4 - Wade MacLeod (48th)

Plus/Minus:
+7 - Joel Chouinard (5th)
+3 - Josh Brittain (30th)
+2 - Dyson Stevenson (56th)
+2 - Harrison Ruopp (56th)

Penalty Minutes:
24 - Josh Brittain (12th)
21 - Dyson Stevenson (17th)
17 - Bryan Moore (27th)
16 - Spencer Asuchak (31st)


Points By Defensemen:
7 - David Makowski (5th)
6 - Joel Chouinard (9th)
3 - Eric Roy (24th)
3 - Mike Brodzinski (24th) 


- If you look at the numbers above what stands out is the lack of scoring by the forwards. In prior years Allen's forwards were all over the top ten in all scoring categories. Last season for example Allen's forwards were #1, #2, #10 & #12 in goals, #1 in assists and #1, #3 & #8 in points. If the Americans are to come back against Colorado they will need more point production from the players upfront.


OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen's AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, started their second round playoff series against the San Diego Gulls last night. It was a heart breaker for San Jose as they lost at home 3-2 in overtime. San Diego tied the score 2-2 with under four minutes remaining in the game and took just 38 seconds into overtime to get the game winner. Here are all of the details from Paul Gackle of the Mercury News: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/05/missed-opportunities-haunt-barracuda-in-game-1-loss-to-gulls/


- There were no announcements yesterday by the ECHL concerning suspensions from the Allen vs Colorado series but would assume something will be out this morning. Allen is awaiting a decision on how long the indefinite suspension to Bryan Moore will last hoping it will be just the one game he has already served. Colorado has a couple of players that could be suspended for actions at the end of the game on Thursday. Mason Geertsen was given a game misconduct aggressor penalty penalty in the last five minutes of the game which is normally an automatic one game suspension though the suspension may be rescinded by the Vice President of Hockey Operations. Alex Belzile was given a cross-checking penalty and the cross check was to the head so there is a possibility he could also be suspended. Whatever decisions the ECHL makes it could have a big impact on game five on Sunday. UPDATE: Moore gets one additional game, Geertsen gets one game and Belzile gets two games. Here are the details: http://www.echl.com/echl-announces-fine-suspensions-may-6


DID YOU KNOW: Allen is 10-5 in game fives under Steve Martinson. According to the website Who Wins, looking at major league sports results, Allen has a better than 50% chance of winning game five but less than a 10% chance of winning the series. A 10% chance of winning the series is a big improvement from the 1.49% chance the Americans had when they were down 3-0. If Allen wins on Sunday the odds of winning the series will increase to 25%.

7 comments:

  1. If there are no suspensions handed to Colorado, I think we will see the way the ECHL thinks of Allen.
    No matter, I'm sure the guys are ready for Sunday's game just like the fans are. Let's do this!! GO RED!

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  2. If history serves as an example of how the ECHL will handle the Colorado infractions from Thursday's game, there will be no action at all. The ECHL is doing their best to show where their loyalties lie and the Americans are definitely not on their list of favorites. As I said yesterday, if one of our players breathes wrong on the ice we receive a penalty or worse a suspension.

    I was hoping that the Colorado organization might feel the heat of the ECHL based on the fact that one of their fans spit on one of our players. There should be some type of action for things like that. Of course, I was also under the misconception that the player's tunnels were supposed to be covered to keep the players safe but I guess that rule doesn't apply in Colorado.

    On the other side of this...is our boys up in Colorado getting ready to play tomorrow. I know these guys understand what is at stake and what they have to do to get the job done and get games six and seven back on home ice. You can do it Americans! We are all pulling for you back home and can't wait to see you finish these chumps off! They play dirty, don't stoop to their level. You kept it clean while Utah played super dirty hockey. Play YOUR game and you can WIN!

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    1. Yep, stay out of the penalty box, let's win this!

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  3. Germany with Konrad Abeltshauser beat team USA yesterday 2-1 in World Cup Hockey. Konrad has been playing in the DEL, Germany's top hockey league.

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    1. Abeltshauser was one of my kids favorite when played for Allen

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  4. I am glad Brodzinski has been placed on reserve...nothing against the tike but we need someone who can play with his heart. As per EHCL, I sent them a message on twitter asking them several questions, I asked the reason they hate Allen? the reason for which our suspensions are harder than those of other teams? the reason for which they allow gooning? I still remember what Florida did to Orlando's goalie which resulted in FL advancing, but karma took care of them and they lost the series to SC. I guess ECHL is just waiting for someone to get seriously injured and be sued.

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  5. I agree it seems like our suspensions are more severe. The suspensions for Colorado should have been more severe. We can only hope to take tomorrow's game and get back home. If anyone can make a miracle comeback it is the Americans!

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