The Allen Americans are finally back in Texas and can put the trip to Kalamazoo in the rear view mirror. Things didn't end up well on the ice with the 6-1 loss on Sunday afternoon and getting back to Texas took longer to fly than had the team jumped on a bus after the game and driven to Allen. Even though the game ended at 5:34 pm Sunday afternoon the flight home was not until Monday evening. I haven't been told this but assume it was a cost factor because there are several morning flights from Kalamazoo. A night flight through Chicago to Dallas, what could go wrong? A delay in Chicago resulted in the team landing at DFW after midnight. Welcome to life in the ECHL!
- It is unfortunate it took so long to get back to Texas because the Americans must get ready for what has become a very important series against Kansas City. The Mavericks are the best team in the ECHL (.783 points percentage), the best road team in the ECHL (24-2-2-1), the hottest team in the ECHL with an 11 game points streak (8-0-2-1) and they have owned the Americans in Allen (0-5-0-0). It will be a must the Americans put the stats aside and find a way to earn points this week.
- The three games this week against Kansas City would be a challenge under the best of circumstances but that is not the case. Game one of the series is tomorrow (Wednesday) morning with a 10:00 am puck drop and the Americans don't know who will be available. There will be several doctor appointments today to assess recent injuries. Here is the list of injured players. All but Crone were injured in the last week. I hope to get an update after practice today (if there is a practice) so I am speculating, but MacArthur might be the only one on this list that could be available Wednesday morning.
- Hank Crone
- Grant Hebert
- Easton Brodzinski
- Johnny Walker
- Bennett MacArthur
- Injuries aren't the only roster issues facing coach Costello:
- Forward Griffen Fox, who was signed after the injuries to Brodzinski and Walker on Friday, did not return to Allen with the team. It was known when Fox signed he would be released after the Kalamazoo series as he is headed back to his college (Lakehead University) to graduate.
- Mikael Robidoux will miss the first two games against Kansas City serving a two game suspension for a cross checking penalty late in the game on Sunday. Remember when a player is suspended he must remain on the active roster, another complication for the Americans.
- Given all of the injuries, Allen did make a trade yesterday with Rapid City. The Americans acquired left shot forward James Hardie for future considerations. Hardie is a rookie who started the season in Cincinnati. In 49 games this season he has 19 points (11G, 8A). He played his junior hockey in the OHL for the Mississauga Steelheads where he led the team in scoring in 2021-22 with 77 points (41G, 36A) in 68 games and in 2022-23 with 82 points (38G, 44A) in 66 games. He was the captain of the team in 2022-23.
When you read scouting reports on Hardie, 5'11, 176 pounds, it is very clear he has outstanding offensive skills. Words like pure sniper, extremely accurate shot, quick hands, quick release, great offensive instincts are used to describe his offensive game. He is a shoot first type of player so playing him on the wing with a good setup center is ideal. All of the scouting reports from his junior days talk about the need for him to get stronger.
Here is an interview with James Hardie from just over a year ago during his last season in Mississauga:
- I always get questions whenever a player is traded or acquired for future considerations. It is a broad term that can mean anything from "I will do you a favor sometime" to cash to a specific player to be announced at a later to a choice of several players from a list. I would say since I have been covering the Americans most futures are for cash or from a list of players from which to choose. Again, the terms are negotiable and can vary widely.
I don't have the details on the Hardie trade but you can be assured this was not a trade for cash given he is a rookie with a very good resume. At some point in time Allen will have to provide a list of players from which Rapid City can choose. What is negotiated in these types of trades would include:
- When is the list provided. It could be a date during the season or more likely after the end of the season. Deadline this season is June 20th to complete these trades.
- How many players are on the list provided. Typically three to five players but the number is negotiable.
- Types of players on the list. Veterans and NHL/AHL contracted players are usually excluded. Sometime position players (goalies, defensemen, forwards) are excluded.
- The number of games played for the team may be included before a player can be on the list. Something like a minimum of 10 games played.
You can see there is a lot of flexibility when negotiating these lists. There is some skill involved to structure the deal to get the best player possible if you are on the receiving end and giving up the least impactful player if you are losing a player.
- Time is running out on players from Ottawa/Belleville to qualify for the ECHL playoffs. Players need five ECHL games to qualify. Here are the games played by thus far.
- 19 - Mark Sinclair
- 13 - Leevi Meriläinen
- 10 - Tarun Fizer
- 5 - Philippe Daoust
- 4 - Donovan Sebrango
- 2 - Kevin Mandolese
The total number of games played is 53 and 34 of them are goalies. That is a very low number of games played by affiliate assigned players. Without doing the math I am pretty sure it is the lowest number in the league. Most teams would have five or 10 times more games played by assigned players than Allen.
It is possible Allen could get the top three from the list above assigned to Allen if the Americans make the playoffs. Daoust is out for the season and Sebrango needs one more game in Allen to qualify.
- Here is a video interview with goalie Kevin Mandolese who for the second straight season has the rare trifecta of spending time in the ECHL. AHL and NHL. Last season he had wins at all three levels. This season he has wins in the ECHL and AHL, but only served as a backup in the NHL. On this video Mandolese talks about his hockey journey from following in his brother's footsteps to winning in the NHL:
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about specials teams. Allen's percentages for comparison are 20.2% home power play, 21.7% road power play, 71.5% home penalty kill and 83.5% road penalty kill.
Twitter post is link to Monday and think it was slashing.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch Sunday's game but KAL seemed a little bigger of a team and threw their weight around without issue in the other 2 games.
Of course Robidoux is suspended when the team needs him and is leaving them short. Again. How many times does this have to happen before they realize he is not a dependable team player and get rid of him?
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