Allen Gets Player From Tucson, Allen vs Worcester Series Preview, ECHL All Time Coaching Leaders, Goalies Used by Each Team and More

 

Before I start the Allen vs Worcester series preview the Americans got some good news yesterday. Tucson has sent forward Miko Matikka to Allen. He is already in Allen, will wear #91 and I expect he will be in the lineup tonight, though I haven't been told that.

Matikka, who is from Helsinki, Finland, signed a three year entry level NHL contract with Utah last July. He was the 3rd round (#67 overall) pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL draft. The 21 year old is 6’3” and 201 pounds. He is a right shot which helps the Americans. 

The rookie played for Denver University last season and won NCAA national championship. He was second on the team with 20 goals in 43 games. 

Matikka has struggled offensively in Tucson. He has been with the Roadrunners all season, played in 28 of 45 Tucson games and has just two assists. I am sure he has been sent to Allen to regain his confidence and scoring touch. You don't score 20 goals for the best college team in the nation last season and lose that ability. We have seen in the past where good players that are struggling get sent to Allen and have great success in the ECHL. With some top minutes and possibly power play time, he should be fun to watch.

 

  

Miko Matikka draft day 2022 - #67 overall

It always enjoyable when a team outside the Mountain Division visits the CUTX Event Center. It will happen just twice this season. The Worcester Railers are in town for games tonight, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Jacksonville will visits Allen for three games on March 6, 7 and 8.

 

- Allen will be trying to stop the bleeding from a four game losing streak tonight having been outscored 27-7 in the last four games. Wheeling is in fourth place in the North Division, four points ahead of fifth place Reading in a fight for the final playoff spot. The Railers have won four of their last five games and have an overall record of 20-20-2-4 (.500).

 

- Allen and Worcester have just one common opponent this season, the Wichita Thunder. Worcester visited Wichita for three games at the end of November and won two of them. Allen's record against Wichita this season is 3-7-2-0.

 

- I went back in the archives and found Allen has played Worcester twice in the past, once at home and once on the road. It is always fun looking back at old boxscores with the players from the past, one of which will be in the lineup tonight.

• 2018-19: On February 15, 2019 the Americans lost to Worcester at home by a score of 6-2. Allen scored the first goal of the game (Braylon Shmyr) and led 2-1 after a second period goal by Dante Salituro. Worcester scored five unanswered third period goals (all even strength) to win 6-2. Reminiscent of Allen games back then, there were three fights in the game. Emerson Clark, Jacob Doty and Braylon Shmyr all had five minute majors for fighting for the Americans.
  

 

• 2019-20: On December 18, 2019 Allen beat Worcester 5-4 on the road. The Americans scored the first three goals of the game on goals by Jack Sadek, Jared Van Wormer and Alex Breton. After Worcester cut the score to 3-1 Allen added two more third period goals by Jordan Topping and Cole Fraser to take a commanding 5-1 lead with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game. The Railers then scored a shorthanded goal, a power play goal and an even strength goal to cut the score to 5-4. Allen hung on to win the game and the game winner was scored by Cole Fraser. It is his only game winning goal in the 66 games he has played for the Allen American.  

- Allen is 3-6-0-1 over its last 10 games, Worcester is 6-3-1-0. Here is how Allen and Worcester rank in some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #24 (2.54) - Worcester #16 (2.91)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #29 (4.24) - Worcester #22 (3.43)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #21 (28.35) - Worcester #9 (32.00)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (38.78) - Worcester #19 (31.07) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #14 (19.1%) - Worcester #11 (20.7%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #22 (78.3%) - Worcester #27 (75.5%) 

 

 

- As is typical, Allen is ranked lower than its opponent in almost every category. Allen scores 0.4 fewer goals per game and allows 0.8 more goals per game then Worcester. The Americans take 3.7 fewer shots and allow 7.7 more shots per game than Worcester. The Railers have the better power play (20.7% vs 19.1%), but Allen has the better penalty kill (78.3% vs 75.5%).

 

 

 

- It is often more telling to compare road vs home special team stats rather than the overall percentages. Worcester has the #1 ECHL road power play percentage (27.0%) compared to Allen's home power play percentage of 18.6%. The opposite is true when you look at Worcester's road penalty kill percentage. It is ranked #28 at 74.1% compared to Allen's home power play percentage, which is ranked #21 (78.4%). 

 

 

 

- You have to expect there will be plenty of power play opportunities for both teams in this series. Worcester is ranked #4 in penalty minutes per game, Allen is ranked #13. Only eight ECHL teams have taken more than 200 minor penalties. Two of them are Allen (207) and Worcester (201). Worcester has taken 27 five minute major penalties compared to Allen's 18. What is the difference? Worcester has taken 20 fighting majors compared to Allen's 12. Odds are you will see some fisticuffs this weekend.

 

 

 

-  I asked coach Ferguson for a couple of his keys to the series with Worcester:

 

"Worcester is a big, strong team. We need to win battles along the walls and make sure to clear out the front of our net."

 

"They take a lot of penalties because of the way they play. We have to stay disciplined and capitalize on our power play opportunities.  

 

- Worcester's average height of 6'1" is the tallest in the ECHL, tied with eight other teams including Allen. The Railers are #1 in average weight (196 pounds) tied with Trois Riviéres. Coach Ferguson is correct that Worcester is a big strong team. 

 

 

 

- The players to watch for Worcester include Anthony Repaci (#81) who is #4 in goals in the ECHL (23). He was recently selected to the ECHL Midseason All-Star team. The Railers have a lot of guys that will drop the gloves, but keep any eye on their leaders in penalty minutes; Kolby Johnson (#12) and Matthew Boudens (#23).

 

 

 

- Playing with the lead is always a key to any series. Worcester is one of the better teams in the league in coming back after trailing. The Railers record when trailing after the first period is 6-12-0-1 and when trailing after the second period is 5-18-1-0. Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 2-17-2-0 and when trailing after the second period is 2-22-2-1. The Americans definitely don't want to be playing from behind in this series.

 

 

- There will be only one referee working the game tonight. Remember, half of Allen's 36 home games use two referees and the other half just one. The referee tonight will be Sam Heidemann (#22). The linesman will be Daniel Barnes (#76) and Aaron Schacht (#51).      

OTHER COMMENTS

 

- Rapid City had one of those rare third period comebacks last night in a 5-4 home win over Maine. It was the fourth straight win and fifth straight point game for the Rush. Rapid City was trailing 4-3 after the second period and scored two third period goals to take the win. The game winning goal was scored by former Allen player, Chaz Smedsrud. How rare is a third period comeback for Rapid City? With the win last night the Rush record when trailing after the second period is now 2-21-3-0.

 

 

- Here are the "Best of the Rest" standings with each team's current streak in parenthesis:

 

• .435 - Rapid City (4-0-1-0)
• .413 - Utah (2-0-0-1)
• .370 - Allen (0-4-0-0) 

- Here is the ECHL Today with the previews of the 10 games on the schedule tonight. All eight Mountain Division teams will be in action: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-14

 

• Tulsa at Kansas City
• Tahoe at Wichita
• Worcester at Allen
• Maine at Rapid City
• Idaho at Utah

 

 

- This was at the end of the ECHL Today and is a list of the winningest coaches in the history of the ECHL. Florida coach Brad Ralph is about to pass Steve Martinson for third place on the all-time list. FYI, Martinson has 1123 wins in AA hockey across four different leagues (ECHL, CHL, UHL, WCHL). Nobody is close to that record which may never be broken. 

667 - Jason Christie - Peoria, Utah, Ontario, Tulsa, Jacksonville

615 - Jeff Pyle - Moblie, Gwinnett, Evansville, Atlanta

518 - Steve Martinson - San Diego, Elmira, Chicago, Allen

518 - Brad Ralph - Idaho, Florida

491 - John Marks - Charlotte, Greenville, Pensacola, Augusta

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Was asked about the number of goalies used by each ECHL team this season. The range is from two to six. Here goes:

 

6: NOR

5: ALN, BLM, IA, REA

4: ADK, IDH, IND, JAX, KAL, ORL, SC, TAH, WHL, WIC, WOR

3: ATL, CIN, *FLA, GVL, *KC, MNE, RC, SAV, *TR, TUL, UTA

2: FW, *TOL

 

*The current division leaders (TR, FLA, TOL, KC) have all used only two or three goalies this season.