Allen vs Wichita Preview, Chaz Smedsrud Traded, Former Allen Players on ECHL Leaderboard, Best and Worst ECHL Shooting Teams and More

 

It's game day for the Allen Americans as the Wichita Thunder are in town for one game before the team heads to Salt Lake City for games against Utah on Friday and Saturday. Before going into tonight's preview I wanted to mention Chaz Smedsrud was traded to Rapid City on Monday for future considerations. The futures are for a player to be named later. Chaz got caught up in a numbers game as the Americans had too many forwards once Harrison Blaisdell reported after being acquired from Fort Wayne. I thought Smedsrud had a bright future in Allen after joining the team last season at the end of March after his collegiate career. He had seven points in nine games (3G, 4A) and was a +1 which was fifth best on the team. He added a goal in the playoffs as the Americans were swept by Idaho. Smedsrud enters the 2024-25 season as a rookie and didn't have a great start, but you can say that about every player on the team. He had no points in three games, just one shot and was -4. The stats don't sound so bad when you consider only five players on the team have a point and 10 players have a plus/minus greater than -4. 

If there is a silver lining in this trade it is Smedsrud in going to a team that is also struggling and he should get plenty of playing time. Even better, he will be playing closer to home, which is a small town in the southwest corner of Minnesota (Laverne). As a young boy growing up on the eastern border of South Dakota, Luverne (population 4000) was a big town 40 miles away that my family would visit. For Chaz, it will be a five hour drive for his friends and family to see him play in Rapid City. I wish him the best in Rapid City. He won't have to wait too long to prove to the Americans they made a mistake. Allen visits Rapid City for three games at the end of November. I have seen so many times over the years when Allen trades a player to another team in the division, that players kills the Americans. The most recent example is Zane Franklin.  

I see a lot of stats writing the blog, but will always remember Smedsrud's high school stats. As a junior in high school he played in 25 games and had 92 points (33G, 59A) only to top that as a senior when he played in fewer games (23) and had 93 points (37G, 56A). Averaging a point per game in hockey is special, but averaging 1.21 goals per game as Chaz did his last two years in high school is off the charts.

 

 

- Tonight begins the first of 13 games (6 home, 7 away) this season against Allen's biggest rival, the Wichita Thunder. The rivalry was set in stone back in the CHL days (2013) when Allen beat Wichita in game seven of the finals to win its first championship. Allen trailed 2-0 in the third period and scored at the 7:13 mark (Jarret Lukin) and 17:41 mark (Trevor Hendrikx) to send the game to overtime. Todd Robinson scored the championship goal at 2:47 of overtime. Since that win in 2013 the teams have been involved in many donnybrooks on the ice, but not much of a rivalry when it come to results. Since 2013 Wichita has made the playoffs just twice and lost in the first round both times. Since that 2013 championship Allen has won three more championships and has made the playoffs in nine of ten seasons. Allen's regular season record against Wichita since joining the ECHL, if my old records are correct, is 79-32-5-7 (.691). In 2015-16, when Allen won its second Kelly Cup, the Americans regular season record against Wichita was 13-0-0-0. Last season Allen was 8-1-0-0 against Wichita.

 

- While it is great to reminisce about Allen's dominance over Wichita over the years, past is definitely not prologue given the start the Americans have had this season. It will take an extraordinary effort for Allen to get its first points of the season tonight. Here are the game results for both teams this season:

ALLEN

• Lost to Tulsa 8-2 (outshot 37-23)
• Lost to Kansas City 4-0 (outshot 38-16)
• Lost to Kansas City 9-0 (outshot 51-18)

WICHITA

• Lost to Kansas City 5-3 (outshot 33-23)
  
• Lost to Kansas City 5-4 (outshot KC 36-31)
  
• Beat Tulsa 4-3 OT (outshot TUL 35-34)
  
• Beat Tulsa 6-2 (outshot 32-22)

- With the Americans getting off to such a poor start, Wichita has much better goals and shots stats:

• Goals scored average: Allen (0.7) - Wichita (4.3)
• Goals allowed average: Allen (7.0) - Wichita (3.8)
• Shots for average: Allen (19.0) - Wichita (29.0)
• Shots against average: Allen (42.0) - Wichita (32.5)

 

- Special teams typically play a big role when Allen plays Wichita so you can expect both teams will have several power play opportunities tonight and Allen has the advantage. While both teams are below average on special teams the Americans are ranked higher on the power play and penalty kill. Allen is ranked #22 on the power play (11.1%) and Wichita is ranked #27 (5.9%). Allen is ranked #17 on the penalty kill (80.0%) and Wichita is ranked #28 (60.0%). Neither team has scored a shorthanded goal, Allen has allowed one. 

 

- I talk all the time about the importance of scoring the first goal of the game which Allen has yet to accomplish. Wichita has scored first in three of its four games. FYI, the ECHL teams that have scored first this season have a record of 37-11-6-0 (.741). The Americans, however, have a much bigger challenge than scoring first. Allen hasn't scored a goal yet in the first or second period. The Americans only two goals came in the third period of the opening day game in Tulsa after the Oilers had taken a 5-0. lead.

 

- For Allen to be successful against Wichita, it will need huge improvements at both ends of the ice. The Americans need to generate a bunch more offense and play a lot better defense. Yes, Kansas City is one of the best teams in the league but giving up 13 goals and scoring none over two games while being outshot 89-24 is not acceptable. Tonight will be the best opportunity this week to get back on the right track. 

 

- I should get the lineup later today and will post it on social media, but based on what I saw at practice yesterday, there will definitely be some line changes for the game tonight. Newly acquired forward Harrison Blaisdell looked good in practice so would expect he will get his first start as a professional. It also seems like the prefect game to give tough guy, Dakota Seamans, an opportunity if he has his visa issues resolved that coach Adams mentioned in a recent interview. Tucson's goalie coach, Jeff Hill, is in town working with the two contracted goalies that are assigned to Allen (Wells and Thornton). Given the results of Allen's first three games, I would expect Thornton will get the start tonight.  

 

- A player to keep an eye on for Wichita is #22 Michal Stinil who is the current ECHL Player of the Week. In two games against Tulsa last week, Stinil had seven points (3g, 4A). Dating back to last season he is on a nine game point streak (6G, 10A). He currently leads the ECHL in scoring with 10 points (5G, 5A). He has more goals and assists than Allen has as an entire team (2G, 4A). And of course it would be great if Aaron Dell got the start in goal for the Thunder. How ironic that would be since Dell was the winning goalie in the 2013, seventh game, overtime CHL championship game against Wichita.   

- The game tonight is another one of the 50% of home games where two referees are assigned. The referees will be Tyler Hascall (#8) and Tyler Spott (#32). The linesmen will be Daniel Barnes (#76) and Trent Williams (#62). You can never tell what can happen when Wichita comes to Allen. There have been multiple fights in warmups and there was one game last season with just three power plays. Hascall has worked Allen games many times and as a rule, as a single referee, he lets the players play. Back in 2022 he was the referee for an Allen road game in Toledo in which the Americans were outshot 44-20 but won the game 4-3. It was one of those very rare games with no penalties and even more rare for the Allen Americans to be involved in a zero penalty game.

OTHER COMMENTS

- Tonight is a light one with six games on the ECHL schedule. Wichita at Allen is the only Mountain Division action. Florida is at Atlanta trying to extend its unbeaten streak to start the season to 4-0. Game time is 6:00 pm (CDT), so if you have FloHockey, time to checkout the Everblades and watch Colton Hargrove and Kris Myllari before the start of the Americans game. 

- There are only two ECHL teams other then Florida that remain unbeaten. Kansas City is 4-0, winning three of the four games on the road. The other unbeaten team in Adirondack (3-0), coached by former Allen player, Pete MacArthur. 

- How are Allen's NHL and AHL affiliates doing early in the season. Tucson has a record of 3-4-0-0 (.429) and is in sixth place in the 10 team Pacific Division. Utah has a record of 4-4-2 (.500) and is tied for fourth place with Colorado and St. Louis in the Central Division.  

 

- Some former Allen Americans on the ECHL leader board:

• Tyler Poulsen is tied for the league lead in goals (5).
  
• Dalton Gally leads the league in PIM (30).
• Jackson Leppard is #2 in PIM (29).
• Hank Crone is #6 in points (8).
• Jeremy Brodeur is #4 in save percentage (.981).
   

DID YOU KNOW: Here are the best and worst shooting ECHL teams thus far in 2024-25 by shooting percentage.

 

BEST

17.6% - Kalamazoo (15 goals on 85 shots)

15.0% - Kansas City (23 goals on 153 shots)

14.7% - Wichita (17 goals on 116 shots)

14.6% - Tulsa (24 goals on 164 shots)

14.0% - Reading (15 goals on 107 shots)

 

WORST

1.7% - Indy (2 goals on 116 shots)

3.5% - Allen (2 goals on 57 shots)

5.2% - Rapid City (7 goals on 135 shots)

5.3% - Atlanta (5 goals on 94 shots)

5.9% - Cincinnati (7 goals on 119 shots)

 

It will come as no surprise that all of the teams on the best list are in playoff positions and all of the teams on the worst list are not (by points percentage).