Allen vs Utah Preview, Roster Update, ECHL Points Per Game Leaders, Comment Questions Answered, Active Rosters Reduce to 20 on Sunday and More

With an early start tomorrow (10:30 am) for the School Day game against Utah I am doing the game/series preview a day early. Hopefully the morning game tomorrow will turn out better than Allen's other morning game this season. On opening day in Tulsa, early morning was not kind to the Americans as they were defeated by the Oilers 8-2.

- The good news for fans is the last time the Americans played Utah (10 days ago) it was on the road and Allen came away with a 6-4 victory. That was the game Allen was 2-3 on the power play and Easton Brodzinski had a hat trick. 

- Despite being shutout 4-0 by Tulsa on Saturday and still looking for its first home win of the season the Americans have won two of their last three games while Utah has lost two of its last three games. Here is a stats comparison between Allen and Utah:

• Goals scored average: 2.13 Allen - 4.00 Utah
• Goals allowed average: 5.13 Allen - 4.14 Utah
• Shots for average: 24.00 Allen - 34.17 Utah
• Shots against average: 42.15 Allen - 32.29 Utah
• Power play percentage: 12.0% Allen - 18.2% Utah
• Penalty kill percentage: 75.7%% Allen - 60.0% Utah

 

- What stands out from the stats above?

• The game should be a high scoring affair even though Allen has been shut out in three of its four home games this season. The reason there should be a lot of goals is the games pits the #29 ranked team (Allen) and the #28 ranked team (Utah) in the ECHL is goals allowed.
• Allen's power play has struggled (ranked #24), but two of its three power play goals all season were against Utah which has the worst penalty kill percentage in the league by 15%. 
• Allen's shot differential (shots for minus shots against) is -18.2 compared to Utah's +1.9 The Americans can't expect to win if the get outshot by 20 shots against Utah.

 - Allen has been outshot in all seven of its games this season, the only team in the league that has been outshot in every game. Utah, on the other hand, has different results. The Grizzlies are 3-1 when outshooting opponents and 1-2 when getting outshot. Shot totals will be a deciding factor in this series. 

- Good starts and playing with the lead is always important, but even more so with these teams. Utah hasn't lost a game when leading after the first or second period and hasn't won a game when losing after the first or second period. Almost the same for the Americans who are 2-0-1-0 when leading after the first period, 2-0-0-0 when leading after the second period, 0-5-0-0 when trailing after the first period and 0-5-0-0 when trailing after the second period. It is clear Allen doesn't want to be playing from behind.

 

- If you are looking for players to watch in this morning game was well as in this three game series, the player for Utah is #24 Gianni Fairbrother. He scored a goal in both games against Allen and totaled four points (3G, 1A). Utah's leading scorer, Neil Shea, who had a goal in the five games he played with the Grizzlies, including the two against Allen, is no longer with the team having been recalled to Colorado (AHL). For Allen the leading scorers in the two games against Utah were Brodzinski (3G, 0A) and Watts (1G, 2A). 

 

- There could be changes when transactions come out this afternoon but here is an update on the Allen roster:

Goalies 

• #33 Marco Costantini - Reserve
  
• #35 Anson Thornton*
  
• #39 Dylan Wells*

Defensemen

• #91 Ayo Adeniye - 14-day IR
  
• #3 Ryan Gagnon 
• #66 Artyum Kulakov 
• #55 Andrew Nielsen 
• #44 Nolan Orzeck 
• #21 Mike Van Unen 
• #2 Quinn Warmuth 
• #5 Hudson Wilson
  

Forwards

• #26 Spencer Asuchak
• #42 Robbie Baillergeon
  
• #24 Harrison Blaisdell
  
• #22 Easton Brodzinski 
• #16 Kyle Crnkovic*
• #8 Mark Duarte 
• #10Will Gavin* - 14-day IR
  
• #17 Riley Ginnell 
• #84 Liam Gorman 
• #14 Brayden Guy
• #86 James Hardie
• #70 Dakota Seamen - Reserve
  
• #11 Rylan Van Unen - 3-day IR
  
• #92 Brayden Watts 

*NHL/AHL contracted players

 

OTHER COMMENTS

 - Here are some news, notes and stats in the Allen Americans Weekly issued by the team: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/11/americans-weekly-update-11-11-2024

 

- The next couple of weeks before Thanksgiving will be key for ECHL teams that have been struggling. History shows teams more than five points out of a playoff spot at Thanksgiving rarely make the playoffs. Right now there are three teams more than five points out of a playoff spot. Cincinnati in the Central Division plus Allen and Rapid City in the Mountain Division. Allen will play six games before Thanksgiving; three at home against Utah, a home and home against Tulsa and a game in Rapid City in an effort to close the gap for the fourth playoff spot.  

 

 - There are three games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Kalamazoo is at Cincinnati, Fort Wayne at Wheeling and Iowa at Kansas City. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/11/echl-today-nov-12  

- There are 18 ECHL players with 10 or more points this season. Of the18 players there are six averaging 1.40 or more points per game. Notice they all come from the Western Conference and four of the six are from the Mountain Division.

• 1.70 - Brandon Hawkins (Toledo)
• 1.60 - Hank Crone (Idaho)
• 1.60 - Michal Stinil (Wichita)
• 1.50 - Kyle Mayhew (Fort Wayne)
• 1.44 - Sasha Pastujov (Tulsa)
• 1.40 - Ty Pelton-Byce (Idaho 

- I put this together for ECHL Stats about how teams have done as new franchises. 

Tahoe is off to a great start in the first seven games of its franchise. How does it compare to the first seven games in the history of these recently added franchises?

 

Savannah: 5-1-1-0 (.786)

Tahoe: 4-2-1-0 (.643)

Bloomington: 2-4-0-2 (.429)

Trois Rivières: 3-4-0-0 (.429)

Iowa: 1-5-1-0 (.214)

 

Tahoe is currently third in the Mountain Division (by points percentage) and Bloomington is fifth in the Central Division but it is very early in the season. Will they make the playoffs? 

 

Here is how the others finished in their first season:

- Savannah finished sixth in the South Division and missed the playoffs.

- Iowa finished last in the Central Division and missed the playoffs.

- Trois Rivières finished second in the North Division and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

 

 

Here are a couple of examples of teams that did very well in their first ECHL season, but didn't meet the criteria for the list above.

- The Newfoundland Growlers are no longer an ECHL franchise but when they started in 2018-19 were 4-3-0-0 in the first seven games, won their division and went on to win the Kelly Cup.

- Allen was an existing franchise in another league (CHL) but a new ECHL franchise in 2014-15. The Americans were 4-3-0-0 in the first seven games, won their division and went on to win the Kelly Cup.

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMENTS

 

Questions continue to arise in the comments section of the blog. While many are ones I would never ask management to answer publicly and no team would ever agree to publicly answer, I picked out some of the questions I thought I could get answered and paid a visit to team president, Jonny Mydra. He wanted me to reiterate if you have any questions (on any topic) to and I quote, "email me and I promise I will respond, and even take phone calls or get lunch at Kelly's if you want." My sense is to continually comment in the blog about your concerns is not a very effective way to effect change. If the team president is willing to talk to you about any concerns you have, give him a chance. My personal experience is he is open, honest, not defensive, listens and is prompt in getting back to you. And to answer one of your questions/comments, the team nor any of the employees have ever asked me to change anything related to the blog. Maybe the fact that I am a volunteer gives me the latitude to run the blog as I see fit. Here are Jonny's answers to my questions:   

 

Q: Does the team have any interest or desire, or have you had any discussions with anyone about relocating this franchise in the immediate or long term future?

A: Relocating the team has never been mentioned to me by Myles, LJ, Zawyer or REV or anyone at the league office. Our lease with the City of Allen ends after the 2026-27 season, but I would project we agree to a new long-term lease extension before that one ends.

 

Q: Is there an out clause in the lease with the City of Allen if you don's achieve a certain number of wins, concession sales or the like?

A: No

 

Q: Are you personally committed to the franchise and its future?

A: My goal, just like the players, is to move up to the NHL one day. I have no interest in leaving Allen or the Americans for another minor league job, even in the AHL. I have  had a few opportunities come up in the NHL, but I don't want to leave unless it is the right position. Ownership is supportive of me going to the NHL if it is a big step forward in my career, but that is really the only reason I would leave.

 

Q: Serious question, why get rid of the Red Kingdom song? That was a great song. I'd think there is room also for the new "Come Together" song. Just a miss if you ask me? Kudos to Hallie Stuekrath who put the Red Kingdom mix together. Was awesome last season, bring it back.

A: Thanks for the shoutout to Hallie. We have heard the feedback about the Red Kingdom song, and she is going to reincorporate it more often. The Come Together video will be the intro video until around early January when we will probably introduce a new one. We like to keep it fresh. 

 

 

- The other question/comment that comes up all of the time relates to the role of  Zawyer and REV Entertainment. Because it is a work in progress a lot of the details and decisions are made each week. I have had a lot of discussions with many different people and there is no clear answers to many of the questions. As everyone knows the goal is to have REV take over from Zawyer. Right now Zawyer is still involved in all aspects of the business and hockey sides of the organization. Some categories are happening faster than others. I have been told the last two categories that Zawyer will have any say over is hockey operations and merchandising, but even they are beginning to fizzle out. What does seem set in stone is by the end of the season Zawyer will have no involvement in the Allen Americans at all.     

 

DID YOU KNOW: For the 1st month of the ECHL season the weekly salary cap is increased from $14,600 to $15,130 and teams can carry an extra player (21 instead of 20) on the active roster. That ends on Sunday (3:00 pm ET). Look for transactions to increase this week as teams meet this deadline. Some teams won’t have an issue because of players on injured reserve, but some teams will have to trade or release a player to get the active roster down to 20.   

What does the mean for Allen? It remains to be seen, but with three players on injured reserve, and two on reserve, the Americans active roster by my count is already at 20 players. 

Allen Shutout 4-0, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Allen to Host 2026 All-Star Classic, Mountain Division Goal Differentials and More

During the game last night ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin and Americans team owner LaSonjia Jack announced that the Allen Americans will be hosting the 2026 ECHL All-Star Classic. Here are the details: https://echl.com/news/2024/11/allen-named-as-host-of-2026-warriorechl-all-star-classic

 

The Allen Americans futility at home continued last night with a 4-0 shutout at the hands of the Tulsa Oilers before a sellout crowd of 6275 at the CUTX Event Center. The game was essentially over midway through the first period when the Oilers built a 3-0 lead which included two power play goals. When the dust settled on the first period, Allen had been outshot 24-9, the most shots allowed in a single period in the ECHL this season.

 

- Special teams played a big role in the game. The good news was for the first time all season Allen had more power play opportunities (4) than its opponent (3). The bad news is the Americans were 0-4 on the power play and Tulsa was 2-3. If you look at the last six Allen games the Americans have scored 0,0,0,2,0,0 power play goals compared to the opponents who have scored 2,2,1,1,0,2 power play goals. The Allen power play has fallen to #23 in the league (12.0%) and the penalty kill has fallen to #25 (75.7%). A combined power play and penalty kill percentage below 100% is considered poor and above 105% is considered excellent. Allen's combined percentage is 87.7%. The top ECHL combined percentage belongs to Tulsa at 119.0%.

 

- The shot totals after the first period were much closer though Tulsa had the edge, 13-9 in the second period and 9-8 in the third. The game total was 46-26 which follows the 47-28 shot total in Wichita on Friday. As long as I have been writing the blog coaches have quibbled about shot totals, some arguing under counts and at other times over counts. I have always felt the shot numbers average out over time and team comparisons are valid even if the totals aren't perfect. The fact is Allen has the worst average shots on goal per game and the worst average shots allowed per game in the ECHL. The top teams are averaging 12 more shots per game than Allen and giving up 18 fewer shots per game. That gap has to narrow for the Americans to be a winning team. 

 

- If you want the blow by blow game recaps here they are from both teams:

• Allen American: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/11/americans-blanked-by-tulsa
• Tulsa Oilers: https://tulsaoilers.com/news/2024/11/oilers-buteyets-blank-americans-in-road-win   

 

- Here are the video highlight. In addition to the goals there are some of the 42 saves made by goalie Anson Thornton whose save percentage was .933. 

 

- Coach B.J. Adams met with the season ticket holders after the game to answer questions. Here is some of what he had to say:

Q: Was fatigue a factor given your team traveled overnight from Wichita and Tulsa hadn't played since last Sunday?

A: I hate using excuses, but Tulsa definitely had a really good jump in the first period. We talked about it before the game. They were getting to pucks first, they were winning the 50-50 battles and the score was 3-0 before we settled in. Once we settled in I thought it is was a pretty even game, but we can't spot them three goals. Yes, they were the fresher team, but we should have been ready to go, so no excuses. I was really disappointed in our start tonight.

 

Q: Will Seaman get an automatic suspension for his leaving the bench game misconduct?

A: I am not sure, but usually on a change like that, you can't have that stuff happen. I am sure something will be done from the league.

 

Q: Can you give us an assessment of where your team is at after a couple of good games on the road?

A: We are still trying to understand what our identity is. We do well at times, but sometimes we get away from it. After the first 10 minutes tonight and especially in the second period we had some good offensive zone time and some good opportunities. The third period in the win in Utah we gave up one odd man rush and just eight shot on goal to a team that came hard at us the previous five periods. We stuck to our systems and structures. We just have to be more consistent. Bottom line is we are getting there, we are not there yet and I want to get there quicker.    

  

Q: Are you worried about all of the shots on goal?

A: Most of them came in the first period and it was pretty close after that. The shots in the last three games have been much different than what he get on our analytics. In Wichita the boxscore had the shots 47-28 but when we got the InStat report in the morning the shots were 32-27. Tulsa is a team that throws everything at the net. I care more about what kind of shots our opponents are getting. Would I like our forwards to block more shots and our defensemen to block out better to avoid rebound shots, sure. I care more about where the shots are coming from than how many shots we face."

 

Q: Are you looking at guys in Europe to possibly bolster you roster?

A: We always have our tentacles in Europe. We have an European scout that I talk to frequently. We are always looking to improve and get better.   

 

- Next up for the Americans is a day game (10:30 am) on Wednesday against Utah. Allen will also play the Grizzlies on Friday and Saturday.

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen's home record is now 0-3-1-0 and the Americans are the only team in the division without a home win. It is not just a matter of losing at home, it is how Allen has lost. The Americans have been shutout three times, been outscored 22-4 and outshot 170-93. No way to sugarcoat those results.

 

-  Kansas City lost to Rapid City last night (5-2) and Idaho lost to Savannah (4-3). The top two teams in the division do not appear to be running off and hiding in the standings like they did last season. It is still early so that could still change. Here are the standings after last night:

• .722 - Kansas City
• .688 - Tulsa
  
• .667 - Wichita
• .667 - Utah
• .583 - Tahoe
• .556 - Idaho
  
• .313 - Allen
• .250 - Rapid City

- Another proxy for strength of teams is goal differential (goals for minus goals against). Here they are for the Mountain Division:

• +14 Tulsa
• +11 Kansas City
• +9 Idaho
• +6 Wichita
• +3 Utah
• -2 Tahoe
• -17 Rapid City
• -24 Allen

- Prior to last night there were just two hat tricks in the ECHL all season (Tyler Bird - Orlando and Easton Brodzinski - Allen). The number doubled last night. Anthony Repaci (Worcester) and Logan Lambdin (Florida) had hat tricks to lead their teams to victory. Colton Hargrove assisted on two of Lambdin's goals. 

-  Depth goal scoring has been an issue for Allen. Just three players have more than one goal; Brodzinski (5), Crnkovic (4) and Watts (3). These three players have scored 70% of Allen's goals. Four players have one goal and and the other 17 have none. 

 

- Dylan Wells and Anson Thornton have made 297 saves thus far this season in six games. Compare that to Adirondack's goalies who have 161 saves in six games. It shows you how much defense is a team sport. 

 

- Couldn't end the blog today without noting the Saturday night, big crowd, specialty jersey curse was on full display last night. Here is Allen's record by jersey type for the 36 home games last season. Allen's home points percentage was .486 so you can see the jerseys that over performed and under performed.

• Texas Jersey: 7-3 (.700)
• Red Jersey: 6-3 (.667)
• White Jersey: 2-6 (.250)
• Specialty Jersey: 2-7 (222)
  

 

DID YOU KNOW: Talk about some head scratching special teams stats both good and bad, check these out:

 

Adirondack has still not given up a power play goal this season. It’s 100% penalty kill has killed 16 straight penalties.

 

In addition, the penalty kill unit has scored four shorthanded goals in six games. When your PK outscores its opponents 4-0 thus far that is something to behold.

 

Norfolk is at the other end of the shorthanded goals spectrum. Norfolk has given up six shorthanded goals in 10 games. No other ECHL team has allowed more than two shorthanded goals. For the season the Norfolk power play unit has scored five goals but allowed six. 

 

Cincinnati has a combination of the worst power play in the league at 4.3% (1-23) with one of the best penalty kills at #4 (90.9%, 3-33).

 

Rapid City has the #1 home power play percentage at 41.2% (7-17), but on the road the power play percentage is just 6.7% (1-15).

 

Allen Wins, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Allen vs Tulsa Preview, Average ECHL Penalty Minutes Over Time and More

 

The Allen Americans made it two straight road wins with a 4-2 win in Wichita last night before a crowd of 3669 at INTRUST Bank Arena. Allen scored the first and only goal of the opening period on Brayden Watt's third goal of the season.  It was Watt's first time back in Wichita, where he played for four seasons and was captain of the team before signing with Allen. The Americans kept the lead the entire game after Watts opening goal.

 

- Kyle Crnkovic scored the only goal of the second period at the 11:32 mark to give Allen a 2-0 lead at the second intermission. It was a good sign for a couple of reasons. Allen had been outscored 13-2 in the second period prior to last night. It was good to see the team finally win a second period (1-0). The other reason the 2-0 lead after the second period was a good sign is teams rarely lose when leading after the second period. Allen is now 2-0 when leading after the second period, but across all ECHL teams this season the record when leading after the second period is 35-1-1-1.

- Wichita did cut the lead to 2-1 early in the third period (6:39), but Kyle Crnkovic scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the season (16:09) to give Allen the insurance goal they needed. And they certainly needed it as the Thunder pulled the goalie and scored an extra attacker goal with 24 seconds remaining in the game. Wichita never managed a shot in the last 24 seconds and Spencer Asuchak scored his first goal of the season with nine seconds remaining to make the final score 4-2. If you were watching the game it looked like Asuchak's goal was an empty net goal as the net was empty. However, Aaron Dell was not quite off the ice when the puck went in the net so the goal was not considered an empty net goal. 

 

- Wichita had no answer for Allen's top line of Watts-Asuchak-Crnkovic. They scored all four Allen goals and had five of the six Americans assists. Asuchak tallied four points, scoring one goal and assisting on the other three. Crnkovic had two goals and an assist and Watts had a goal and an assist. 

 

- A second big reason Allen won last night was the play of goalie Dylan Wells who stopped 45 of 47 shots for a save percentage of .957. His 45 saves are the most in the ECHL this season. His 22 saves in the second period ranks #2 this season. After a couple of rough outings to start the season, Wells has been great in his last two starts saving 85 of 91 shots (.934). However, the Americans can't keep giving up 40+ shots and expect to win. Allen continues in last place in the league in shots allowed giving up an average of 41.71 shots per game. That is seven more shots per game than the next highest team. When you consider over half the teams in the league give up fewer than 30 shots per game, there is plenty of room for improvement in this critical stat.   

- A third big reason Allen won last night was the play of the penalty kill unit. One of the keys to the game was to stay out of the penalty box. However, Allen continued its trend of giving up more power play opportunities (5) than they had for themselves (2). Prior to last night the Americans had given up at least one power play goal in the last four games (6 PP goals in 4 games). Last night the Allen penalty kill was excellent going 0-5. 

 

- Allen not only won its second straight road game, but snapped Wichita's six game win streak, which was the longest in the league. After a horrendous start to the season when Allen was 0-3 and were outscored 21-2 the team has earned five of eight points (.625) over the last four games with three of the four points earned on the road.

 

- If you want more detail about the game here is the game recap from the Wichita Thunder: https://wichitathunder.com/news/2024/11/win-streak-snapped-on-friday-night-vs-allen

 

- Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-wichita-thunder-nov-8-2024

 

- After the game I asked coach Adams about the play of the top line, the penalty kill and the goalie. Here is what he had to say: 

"The top line scored timely goals for us tonight. Watts scoring the first goal of the game started us off right. Crnkovic finished a nice play from a great breakout and gave us a little cushion which helped with all of the penalties we took in the second period. His second goal in the third period was big giving us a two goal advantage again."

"The penalty kill was good tonight. We didn't allow a lot of high percentage scoring chances. They had a lot of second chances in tight that I feel we can still clean up." 

"Wells was great again in goal. They tried a lot of wrap arounds and got a few rebounds off of them which increased their shot total. Overall, we didn't give up too many quality chances."

ALLEN VS TULSA PREVIEW

- It will be another big challenge for Allen tonight. The Americans jumped on the bus right after the win last night and traveled back to Allen, arriving early this morning. Tulsa did not play last night and hasn't played since last Sunday. So it will be a fresh Tulsa team against a tired Allen team tonight. Add to that the fact that tonight is a Saturday night, big crowd, specialty jersey game which many fans say is cursed. The facts don't lie. Last season the Americans record when wearing specialty jerseys was 2-7-0-0. 

 

- Tonight will be the second of 12 times Allen will play Tulsa this season. Hard to forget the first time these teams played. It was Allen's season opener, a day game in Tulsa and the Oilers crushed the Americans 8-2. Since that time the two teams have taken different paths. Tulsa won its first three games of the season but has lost three of the last four. Allen lost its first three games but has now won two straight and earned five points in the last four games. 

 

- As is the case with every game given Allen's bad start to the season the comparison stats all favor Tulsa:

• Goals scored average: Allen (2.4) - Tulsa (4.3)
• Goals allowed average: Allen (5.3) - Tulsa (2.9)
• Shots for average: Allen (23.7) - Tulsa (31.3)
• Shots against average: Allen (41.7) - Tulsa (27.4)
• Power play percentage: Allen (14.3%) - Tulsa (29.6%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen (79.4%) - Wichita (83.3%)

 

- The keys to the game remain the same, but may be even more critical tonight. Tulsa has the #3 ranked power play in the league. The Americans are unlikely to win if the give up five power play opportunities and get just two as they did last night. 

 

- Allen has scored first in its last four games with a record of 2-1-1-0. Tulsa has scored first in just three of its seven games and has won them all. The first goal tonight will be critical. 

 

- Goalie Anson Thornton stayed home from the long trek to Wichita and back. He is well rested and fresh for the game tonight and will get the start in goal. 

 

- I would be surprised if you don't see more balanced scoring in the game tonight. I expect there will be some lineup and line changes for the game against Tulsa. I will post the lineup later this afternoon. Here is Allen's complete roster without the changes when transactions come out this afternoon: 

Goalies 

• #33 Marco Costantini
• #35 Anson Thornton - Reserve
  
• #39 Dylan Wells

Defensemen

• Ayo Adeniye - 14-day IR
  
• #3 Ryan Gagnon 
• #66 Artyum Kulakov 
• #55 Andrew Nielsen 
• #44 Nolan Orzeck 
• #21 Mike Van Unen 
• #2 Quinn Warmuth - Reserve
  
• #5 Hudson Wilson
  

Forwards

• #26 Spencer Asuchak
• #42 Robbie Baillergeon
  
• #24 Harrison Blaisdell
  
• #22 Easton Brodzinski 
• #16 Kyle Crnkovic
• #8 Mark Duarte 
• #10Will Gavin
• #17 Riley Ginnell 
• #84 Liam Gorman 
• #14 Brayden Guy
• #86 James Hardie
• #70 Dakota Seamen 
• #11 Rylan Van Unen - 3-day IR
  
• #92 Brayden Watts

 

- It wasn't just the team that had to travel from Wichita to Allen for the game tonight. Referee Chazz Knoche was the referee last night and will be the lone referee in Allen tonight. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen has made some progress over the last week but there is still a big gap between the top six teams in the division and the bottom two. Kansas City has been the star of the Mountain Division and has picked up where they left off last season. The Mavericks set the all-time ECHL record for road wins last season (29-4-2-1) and have started this season 5-0-0-0 on the road. Here are the Mountain Division standings by points percentage to account for the fact teams in the division have played as few as five games and as many as nine games:

• .813 - Kansas City
• .700 - Tahoe
• .667 - Wichita
• .643 - Tulsa
• .625 - Idaho
• .600 - Utah
• .357 - Allen
• .167 - Rapid City
   

 

- It is only two road wins, but Allen has the longest win streak in the division right now. The longest current ECHL streak without winning a game belongs Rapid City (9 games) and Cincinnati (7 games).  

 

 - Easton Brodzinski has scored a team leading five goals on just 23 shots for a shooting percentage of 21.7%. Of players in the league with five or more goals the leader in shooting percentage is Hank Crone who has five goals on 12 shots for a 41.7% shooting percentage. 

 

- Adirondack is the only remaining ECHL team with a 100% penalty kill. Adirondack has killed 14 straight. Along with a perfect penalty kill percentage, Adirondack has scored a league leading three shorthanded goals in just five games. The other eye popping specialty team percentage belongs to Kalamazoo, whose road power play percentage is 55.6%. 

 

- There is a full slate of games in the ECHL tonight with 28 of the 29 teams in action. The only team not playing is Wichita. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/11/echl-today-nov-9  Here are Allen connected players (current and former) mentioned in the previews:

• Bloomington's Mark Sinclair has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his seven appearances.
• Colton Hargrove leads Florida with seven points (3G, 4A).
• Tulsa's Tyler Poulson has multiple points in four of his seven games.
• Allen's Kyle Crnkovic has three goals in his last two games.
• Rapid City's Chaz Smedsrud has five points (1G, 4A) in his last four games. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: How have penalty minutes (PIM) changed over time. Here is ECHL average PIM per game over time. There was some thought that by adding one more skater this season (17 to 18) teams would add toughness, and some did, it would lead to more PIM. Thus far it has not been reflected in average PIM as the downward trend continues:

 

2024-25: 12.30

2023-24: 12.99

2018-19: 14.89

2014-15: 16.70

2010-11: 17.52

2006-07: 21.45

2002-03: 25.65

 

In 2002-03 the PIM range was from 19.00 to 32.30.

In 2024-25 the PIM range is from 7.20 to 20.00.

Allen vs Wichita Preview, Coach's Keys, Mountain Division Penalty Minutes, Allen's Record Compared to 2023-24 and Contract Players Assigned vs Team Record

 

It's game day for the Allen Americans as the team traveled to Wichita yesterday where they will take on the Thunder tonight (7:05 pm). After the game the Americans will travel back to Allen overnight to take on Tulsa Saturday night. Tulsa, on the other hand, has been idle since last Sunday, but after the game in Allen on Saturday has to travel to Wichita to play the Thunder Sunday afternoon (2:05 pm). If the Saturday night game between Allen and Tulsa would have been scheduled in Tulsa it would have benefited both hockey teams. To make matters worse for the Americans, after spending overnight traveling back to Allen, the game against Tulsa is a Saturday night, big crowd (Star Wars night), specialty jersey game and you know how those typically end up. 

- Tonight is the second of 13 games (6 home, 7 away) against Wichita this season. In the first game  (October 30) the Americans lost 5-4 in overtime with 12 seconds remaining in the overtime period. It was a game where special teams played a big role. Wichita was 2-3 on the power play while Allen was 0-3. 

- Wichita enters the game tonight with the longest winning streak in the league at 6-0-0-0. After losing its first two games of the season to Kansas City, the Thunder have beaten Tulsa twice, Allen and then Rapid City three times. Allen has earned points in two of its last three games including its first win of the season in its last game, a 6-4 win over Utah on the road.

- The season long statistical comparison between Allen and Wichita gives the advantage to the Thunder in every category:

• Goals scored average: Allen (2.2) - Wichita (3.8)
• Goals allowed average: Allen (5.8) - Wichita (2.8)
• Shots for average: Allen (23.0) - Wichita (31.3)
• Shots against average: Allen (40.8) - Wichita (33.5)
• Power play percentage: Allen (15.8%) - Wichita (18.5%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen (75.9%) - Wichita (76.7%) 

 

- As always special teams will be a factor in the game tonight. Neither team has strong specials teams. Allen's power play is ranked #22 and Wichita's is ranked #17. Allen's penalty kill is ranked #23 and Wichita's is ranked #21. The good news for Allen is it scored two of its three power play goals this season in the last game against Utah. The bad news is Allen has given up at least one power play goal in its last four games. In those last four games Allen has had 12 power play opportunities while giving up 21 power play opportunities. Allen will have to stay out of the penalty box to be successful tonight. 

 

- In Allen's only win this season the Americans scored first. Wichita has scored first in six of its eight games with a record of 5-1-0-0. A good start tonight will be critical, but so will the second period. Allen has scored just two goals in the second period all season while giving up 13 for a goal differential of -11. When you consider Allen is 0-4-0-0 when trailing after the second period and Wichita is 4-0-0-0 when leading after the second period, the Americans do not want to be playing from behind. 

 

- Here are the 22 players that traveled to Wichita. Robbie Baillergeon was activated from the 14-day IR yesterday and will see his first action of the season. Goalie Anson Thornton did not travel with the team. He looked great in practice this week so I assume he stayed back and will get the start against Tulsa on Saturday. Two skaters, one defenseman and one forward will sit out the game. I will have the lineup posted on social media later today.

Goalies 

• #33 Marco Costantini
  
• #39 Dylan Wells

Defensemen

• #3 Ryan Gagnon 
• #66 Artyum Kulakov 
• #55 Andrew Nielsen 
• #44 Nolan Orzeck 
• #21 Mike Van Unen 
• #2 Quinn Warmuth 
• #5 Hudson Wilson
  

Forwards

• #26 Spencer Asuchak
• #42 Robbie Baillergeon
  
• #24 Harrison Blaisdell
  
• #22 Easton Brodzinski 
• #16 Kyle Crnkovic
• #8 Mark Duarte 
• #10Will Gavin
• #17 Riley Ginnell 
• #84 Liam Gorman 
• #14 Brayden Guy
• #86 James Hardie
• #70 Dakota Seamen
  
• #92 Brayden Watts
  

     

- Players to watch tonight for Wichita include #22 Michal Sinil who leads the league in scoring with 14 points (8G, 6A) in eight games and was just selected as the ECHL player of the month. #21 Jay Dickman always seems to give Allen fits. He had a goal and an assist in Wichita's 5-4 overtime win in Allen last week. For Allen #22 Easton Brodzinski has been hot scoring five goals in the last three games including a hat trick in his last game. #92 Braydon Watts has five points in the last three games (2G, 3A) and is just getting going. 

 

- I asked coach Adams for two keys to the game tonight. Here is what he said:

"We have to control the middle of the ice."

"We have to stay out of the penalty box."

 

- Allen has had two referees for its last five games, but tonight there will be just one. The referee will be Chaz Knoche (#33). Knoche is one of those young, up and coming referees in the ECHL. The 24 year old has been officiating since he was 12 and is in his third season as an ECHL referee. In his young career he he has already officiated in the championship finals in the NA3HL (Fraser Cup), NAHL (Robertson Cup) and USHL (Clark Cup) and was recently on of five ECHL referees to officiate at NHL prospects games. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Since joining the ECHL Allen has never had a losing record against Wichita. I pulled this out of the archives yesterday. It is Allen's season by season record against Wichita. Can the Americans keep this streak going this season?

• 8-1-0-0: 2023-24
• 7-7-0-0: 2022-23
• 10-7-0-0: 2021-22
• 7-3-1-0: 2020-21
• 8-1-3-0: 2019-20
• 8-4-0-2: 2018-19
• 6-6-0-0: 2017-18
• 11-2-1-0: 2016-17
• 13-0-0-0: 2015-16
• 9-2-3-3: 2014-15

 - After practice on Wednesday, I noticed Spencer Asuchak working with four or five players, showing them his techniques on taking faceoffs. Asuchak has long been one of the best faceoff players in the league. In the two games last weekend in Utah he took close to 50 faceoffs and had off the charts success, winning over 90% of them. 

 

- Chaz Smedsrud has gotten off to a good start since being traded to Rapid City. He scored his first goal of the season in Rapid City's 3-2 loss to Kansas City on Wednesday. Chaz has three points in four games (1G, 2A).

 

- Colton Hargrove is on one of those streaks he was known for in Allen. Seven points (3G, 4A) in his last five games, helping Florida to a 5-0-1-0 record.

 

- The Mountain Division has long been noted as a high penalty minutes division. With some teams signing a tough guy with the extra skater allowed this season how has that impacted penalty minutes? The ECHL average penalty minutes per game is 12.36. Here are the Mountain Division averages. The team's rank is in parenthesis:

• 15.71 - Kansas City (5th)
• 14.83 - Allen (7th)
• 14.00 - Tahoe (10th)
• 12.86 - Idaho (12th)
• 11.57 - Tulsa (16th)
• 11.00 - Wichita (18th)
• 7.25 - Rapid City (28th)
• 7.20 - Utah (29th)

Two teams are averaging more than 20 penalty minutes per game. Jacksonville is #1 (22.50) and Jacksonville is #2 (20.00).

- There are 10 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. A couple I am going to check out on FloHockey include Fort Wayne (5-1-0-0) at Toledo (5-1-1-0) and Idaho (4-3-0-0) at Savannah (6-1-0-0). Idaho has just four NHL/AHL contracted players assigned and two of them are goalies. Savannah has a league leading 12 NHL/AHL contracted players assigned. Here is the ECHL Today with previews of all 10 games tonight: https://echl.com/news/2024/11/echl-today-nov-8

  

- How does the 2024-25 Allen record compare to 2023-24:

• After six games Allen's record is 1-4-1-0.
• After six games last season Allen's record was 2-4-0-0.
• Allen won its seventh game last season to improve to 3-4-0-0.
• If Allen wins tonight its record will be 2-4-1-0.
  
• Last season Allen lost games eight thru 13, a six game losing streak, that left the Americans with a record of 3-10-0-0. Granted the six losses were against Kansas City at home and Idaho on the road, but nevertheless relegated Allen to last place with a .231 points percentage. 
• With four home games after the game tonight the Americans will have a chance to gain ground in the standings.
   

DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post from today.

 The number of NHL/AHL players assigned to ECHL teams doesn’t always equate to success. Here are a few examples: 

 

- Savannah has the most assigned players (12) and the best record in the league (6-1-0-0, .857).

 

- Cincinnati has the 2nd most assigned players (9), but the 2nd worst record in the league (0-5-2-0, .143).

 

- At the other end of the spectrum is Toledo who has just four assigned players, but leads the Central Division in points (11) with a record of 5-1-1-0.

 

- The three teams with the fewest NHL/AHL players assigned (3) all have records at .500 or above.

4-3-0-0: Idaho (had a 4th player, a 2nd goalie, assigned yesterday).

3-3-2-0: Atlanta

3-3-1-0: Iowa

 

 

- Here are the four teams with seven or more assigned players and losing records (by points percentage).

.125 - Rapid City

.143 - Cincinnati

.357 - Bloomington

.375 - Greenville

 

Allen Wins 6-4, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Blog Comments Must Change and More

 

The Allen Americans got the monkey of their back with a 6-4 win in Utah last night. The team was led by Easton Brodzinski's hat trick which included him scoring the first and last goal of the game. He scored unassisted 101 seconds after the opening puck drop and unassisted 25 seconds before the final buzzer. It was Brodzinski's second professional hat trick. His first was also in Utah, last December, in a 5-3 Allen win.  The other great performance was by goalie Dylan Wells, who had a 40 save performance.

 

-The win doesn't mean the team has everything turned around, but any win on the road can be a step in the right direction. With this one win the Americans moved from last place in the ECHL in points to a tie for 25th. They still have a hole to dig out of, but last night was a small ray of light. 

- Allen scored first early in the opening period and finally the odds worked in its favor. The Americans had scored first the last two games, but still lost. Last night the 75% odds of winning when scoring the first goal proved true. 

- Allen scored three times in the first period on goals by Brodzinski, Watts and Crnkovic and took a 3-1 lead after the first period. Allen never trailed the rest of the game. A big part of the win was winning the special teams battle. Both teams had three power play opportunities after Utah had eight and Allen four in the Americans loss on Friday. Allen not only stayed out of the penalty box, the Americans were 2-3 on the power play while Utah was 1-3. The two power play goals were a first this season and the first power play goal in the last five games.

 

- One stat that sticks out is the shots. The official count was 44-22, but see the coach's comments below. The 44 shots led to four goals and four goals allowed is too many even though it is fewer than Allen's last place average goals allowed of 5.83 per game.

 

- Goal scorers for the Americans were Easton Brodzinski (3,4,5), Brayden Watts (2), Kyle Crnkovic (2) and Riley Ginnell (1). Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-utah-grizzlies-nov-2-2024

 

- If you want a goal by goal breakdown of the game here is the game recap issued by Utah: https://utahgrizzlies.com/news/2024/11/americans-defeat-grizzlies-6-4-at-maverik-center

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

I had the chance to ask coach Adams a few of questions after the game. Here is what he had to say:

Q: Are you concerned about the shot discrepancy?

A: No, I am not for two reasons, Utah throws a lot of pucks at the net and both nights we had a lot more shots than we were given credit for. 

Q: You made some line changes tonight and scored six goals. Did you like what you saw from the line combinations?

A: The changes didn't last very long as we lost Duarte for the first two periods and had to change them up. We were able to go with the new lines after Duarte returned from the hospital in the third period. I thought the third period might have been our best period of the year.

Q: Any other thoughts on the team or players?

A: I challenged all of them to compete harder tonight and everyone did. Everyone who played tonight made a contribution and it was a great team win. Wells made some big saves for us and it is always great when a guy like Brodzinski gets a hat trick. 

 

- The Americans are now off until Friday when they play at Wichita before traveling back to Allen for a game against Tulsa on Saturday. Wichita has won five straight games and plays again this afternoon in Rapid City. 

 

 

BLOG COMMENTS 

For those of you that have been following the blog for a long time you know I have always considered it a safe place for everyone to share their opinions about everything Allen Americans. The only posts I delete are personal attacks and even then I have let a lot go. Recently the comments have gotten out of hand and I feel compelled to make a few changes.

Impersonating someone else is not okay, even if it is done in jest. It is totally inappropriate and any posts with a member of the staff's name (whole or partial) as the author has been removed. Do not use somebody else's name as your author. This just started happening in the last few days and it has to stop.

The Allen Americans organization is divided into two parts, business operations and hockey operations. While there isn't a bright line between the two organizations they are run separately. Hockey operations is pretty much self explanatory, the on ice product. Business operations includes broadcasting, communications, fan engagement, marketing, sales, service and merchandising. 

My blog has always been 95% about the on ice product. I have stayed away, for the most part, topics related to the business operations/front office. However, the comments on the blog have become more and more about the business operations side of the organization. I spend enough time researching, writing, interviewing, talking to sources, players, coaches and communicating with fans, I don't want to add hours as the comment police to my duties as it is no fun and a slippery slope. 

Some have suggested to me I block those that make comments as anonymous, but I understand those that don't want their name out in the public. It does make it impossible to tell if  certain comments are the view of many readers, or as I expect, a handful of anonymous authors are posting the majority of the anonymous comments. I don't plan on requiring an authors name of some type to post a comments. However, it would be nice if everyone created an author "handle" as some of you have done.

What I would ask is you keep your comments in the blog more about the on ice product than the business operations. At the end of September I asked team president, Jonny Mydra, about his willingness to answer any questions/suggestions you have. Though he is extremely busy dealing with the Zawyer transition and the loss of the Chief Operation Officer, he graciously agreed to have you email your questions directly to him. Thus far, since the end of September he has received no emails from this offer. Jonny is very responsive to emails so if you have a question/feedback and can't get the answer elsewhere, send Jonny an email at jm@allenamericans.com. 

From this point forward, I will be deleting many more comments that relate to the business operations  part of the organization (broadcasting, in game entertainment, team store, etc) If you have those issues and really want to solve problems, email Jonny Mydra. 

I hope the blog comments can still be a place for an active dialogue about the on ice product, no matter your opinion. Thanks, Barry 

 

DID YOU KNOW: ECHL Stats post today. FYI, Allen's record is 1-4-1-0 after six games. Last season after six games Allen's record was 2-4-0-0.

Good organizations tend to perpetuate themselves. It is no coincidence that three weekends into the 2024-25 season, the final four from the 2024 Kelly Cup playoffs are on top. They lead their respective division by points and/or points percentage:

 

.875 - Adirondack (North Division)

.833 - Florida (South Division)

.750- Kansas City (Mountain Division)

11 points - Toledo (Central Division)

 

 

There have been some surprises in the early going. Here are two of the biggest:

 

- Savannah has missed the playoffs and had a points percentages below .500 in its first two seasons in the ECHL. The Ghost Pirates are currently tied for the lead in the South Division, with Florida, in points percentage (.833).

 

- Cincinnati scored the coveted affiliation with Toronto in the offseason, but it hasn’t helped. The Cyclones have the league’s worst record (0-4-2-0) and a paltry .167 points percentage.

 

  

Allen Loses 5-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, A Look Ahead, Mountain Division Offense Shines and Eye-Opening ECHL Stats

 

Allen suffered its fifth straight defeat last night, losing 5-1 to the Utah Grizzlies before a crowd of 5800 at the Maverik Center. The Americans scored the first goal early in the first period (6:06), but it was the only offense Allen generated all game. Allen was plagued with penalties as Utah had five power plays in the first period alone. The Grizzlies tied the score on a power play (16:46) and took the lead on an even strength goal just 47 second later (17:33) and never looked back. 

 

- Utah's 2-1 lead held up in the second period as there was no scoring. Utah took a 3-1 lead early in the third period (3:59) which held up until Allen pulled goalie Anson Thornton. The Grizzlies scored an empty net goal at 18:02 and a meaningless full strength goals at 18:54 to make the final score 5-1.

 

 - One of the keys to the game was staying out of the penalty box. That turned out to be a big failure. Allen took 10 penalties and gave Utah eight power play opportunities. The penalty killers did a good job allowing just 1-8, but when you spend that much time killing penalties it disrupts the entire game. To make matters worse Allen was 0-4 on the power play. The Allen power play percentage is now down to 6.3% (1-16). 

 

- The Americans were outshot in every period for a game total of 40-26. Allen has been outshot in every game this season by a total of 201-116. The Americans have played 15 periods of hockey thus far and have been out shot in 14 of them. Allen did have the advantage in the overtime period in the loss against Wichita.

 

- Allen's lone goal was scored by Liam Gorman, his first goal as a professional, assisted by Andrew Nielsen and Will Gavin. Here is a great set of video highlights which show all the goals and some great saves, but also has different angles of some of the goals: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-utah-grizzlies-nov-1-2024 

 

- If you want a blow by blow recap of the game with more detail than I provided check these out. Allen's includes quotes from coach Adams and Spencer Asuchak.

• Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/11/americans-fall-to-utah-5-1
• Utah Grizzlies: https://utahgrizzlies.com/news/2024/11/grizzlies-win-home-opener-5-1-at-maverik-center 
   

- After the game I asked coach Adams how much impact all of the penalty killing had on Allen's even strength game and what will be the keys to get things turned around tonight. This is what he had to say:

"All of the penalty killing didn't affect the 5-on-5 play as the game went on. I thought our 5-on-5 play was pretty good. It did, however, change up who was on the ice. It is taxing for the guys who have to kill penalties and takes away minutes from players that need to be on the ice."

"Two keys for game two are staying out of the penalty box and capitalizing on the power play."

 Here is Adam's quote from the press release issued by the team, "We took too many penalties tonight that killed our momentum 5-on-5, which was the strongest part of our game, and the best of the season. Our power play needs to find us a goal."

  

- The game was definitely closer than the score as it was a one goal game, 2-1, until early in the third period and Utah added two goals late in the game. With that said, Allen has once again fallen to the bottom of the list in almost every statistical category. Here is a recap: 

• #29 - points percentage (.100)
• #29 - points (1)
• #29 - average goals allowed (6.20)
• #29 - average shots for (23.20)
• #29 - average shots allowed (40.20)
• #29 - team save percentage (.846)
  
• #28 - average goals scored (1.40)
• #28 - power play percentage (6.3%)
• #27 - team shooting percentage (6.0%)
  
• #22 - penalty kill percentage (76.9%) 

- After the game tonight the Americans next five games are; at Wichita for one game and then four home games, one against Tulsa and three against Utah. At that point the Americans will be 11 games into the season and if they are still mired in a battle for the worst record in the league, it will be time for some major roster changes. That is what turned around Allen's last two seasons, when the Americans went from last place in the division to second place and third place. The team has the next six games to get on the winning track, but as I show every year 80% of all playoff teams are determined by Thanksgiving. Coach Adams can't wait much past the middle of the month to make roster changes, if the team is in last place, if he has any hope of salvaging the season. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

-  The top six teams in the Mountain Division separated themselves even farther from last place Allen last night. Kansas City lost to Fort Wayne 4-1 to drop from the list of undefeated teams (Kalamazoo and Adirondack remain undefeated). Here are the standings in point percentage order:

• .800 - Kansas City
• .750 - Utah
• .700 - Tulsa
• .667 - Idaho
• .667 - Wichita
• .625 - Tahoe
• .200 - Rapid City
• .100 - Allen

- Here is a stat that says something about the offensive firepower in the Mountain Division. There are 19 players in the ECHL that have seven or more points thus far, 15 of the 19 play in the Mountain Division. Six ECHL teams are averaging four or more goals per game, five of them are from the Mountain Division:

• 4.80 - Kansas city
• 4.80 - Tulsa
• 4.25 - Kalamazoo
• 4.17 - Idaho
• 4.00 - Utah
• 4.00 - Wichita
   

 

- It doesn't take long for the cream to rise to the top. The last two ECHL MVPs are already on the ECHL scoring leaderboard. 2024 MVP, Brandon Hakwins (Toledo) is #2 with 11 points (3G, 8A) and 2023 MVP, Hank Crone (Idaho) is #3 with 10 points (4G, 6A). The points leader and early MVP candidate is Michal Stinil (Wichita) with 14 points (8G, 6A).

 

- Tahoe rookie defenseman Sam Mayer, who is under contract with Henderson (AHL), was stretchered off the ice last night after crashing into the end boards feet first in what appeared to be a leg injury. The injury happened with 7:05 remaining in the first period and the teams left the ice because the only ambulance at the venue in Tahoe took Mayer to the hospital and they had to wait for a replacement. The ice was resurfaced, the teams came out to finish the first period, took a two minute break, and then immediately began the second period. It was scary to watch and you can only hope the best for Mayer. The game was just the third in his professional career. I looked for an update on his injury, but found nothing. Incidentally, Idaho won the game 6-1. The team's play again tonight.

 

- It is a busy night in the ECHL with 13 games on the schedule. All eight ECHL teams are in action so there will be some changes in the standings. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/11/echl-today-nov-2

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Some eye opening stats early in the ECHL season:

 

- Kalamazoo 4-0 & Adirondack 3-0 are the only remaining undefeated teams.

- Kansas City & Tulsa are averaging 4.8 goals per game.

- Indy is averaging just 0.40 goals per game.

- Allen is allowing 6.2 goals per game.

- Cincinnati has killed 18 straight penalties to lead the 3 teams with 100% PK.

- Allen & Rapid City have scored just one 2nd period goal & allowed 11.

- Wichita has scored 12 second period goals and just nine goals combined in the 1st and 3rd periods.