Everyone I talked to after the game last night, from the coach, players and fans agreed that the Allen Americans played their best game of the season last night, but it was only good for a 2-1 overtime loss to the Rapid City Rush. Here is a synopsis with the good and the bad:
- Allen exploded for 40 shots after totaling 48 shots in two games against Kansas City last weekend.
- Allen gave up 41 shots to the Rush, who were averaging 27.75 shots per game before last night.
- The two best players on the ice were the goalies. Allen goalie Marco Costantini's save percentage was .951, topped by Rapid City goalie Connor Murphy, who had a .975 save percentage.
- The Americans have given up the first goal in all four of their games and also trailed after the first period in all four games.
- Allen has yet to have a lead in regulation time this season.
- The new lines put together last night by Coach Martinson created a lot more opportunities. Allen outshot Rapid City 15-13 in the first period and 16-6 in the second period.
- Allen's power play was 0-4. Rapid City's power play was 1-3. Allen took a penalty with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, which carried over to overtime. Blake Bennett made the Americans pay with a 4-on-3, power-play, game-winning goal at the 1:23 mark of overtime.
- Bennett joined the Rush in the middle of January last season after starting the year in Europe. Since his return, he has scored 30 goals in 42 games, including three goals in five games this season. Based on a full season, his goals-per-game average would produce 51 goals. Allen better have a plan to control him this weekend.
- Allen finally broke through on its 38th shot of the game. Andre Anania didn't get an assist on the goal, but did a great job keeping the puck in the zone. Then two nice passes from behind the goal line led to the goal. Hank Crone passed to Mark Duarte, who passed to Colton Hargrove, who was net front. Hargrove was getting checked, but got the puck in the net from the crease. If you watch the highlights below, take a moment to see how the hard work by all four players contributed to the goal.
- Allen was outshot 3-0 in overtime, because they were penalty killing the entire time. Allen has been involved in two overtime games this season and have been outshot 8-0.
- Here are the game recaps from both teams, plus the video highlights:
Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/10/americans-fall-in-ot-to-rapid-city
Rapid City Rush game recap: https://rapidcityrush.com/news/2025/10/game-recap-bennett-plays-hero-in-overtime-rush-defeat-allen-in-series-opener
Video Highlights: https://echl.com/videos/rapid-city-rush-vs-allen-americans-oct-29-2025
- Allen's goals for and against by period really tell the story of the season thus far;
- 0-5 - 1st Period
- 2-2 - 2nd Period
- 4-4 - 3rd Period
- 0-1 - Overtime
- 1-0 - Shootouts
- After last night, Allen's average goals scored per game is now down to 1.75. Indy (1.67) is the only team with a worse average. The Americans' average goals allowed (3.00) is ranked #12 in the ECHL.
COACH MARTINSON'S COMMENTS
"We stayed out of the penalty box until the end. We did a much better job of that. The difference in the game is they scored on the power play and we didn't."
"I thought we showed a little bit more speed tonight. The goal now is to get everybody capable of scoring to score. I liked our effort tonight, but we have to get some offense going."
"I tried juggling the lines tonight to split some guys up that like to play together, and then I put them back together in the third period, and they got a goal."
"We have a lot of guys with a history of scoring, and they have to start scoring. Conditioning is part of the problem, as some guys are a step behind. Rapid City has 10 NHL/AHL contracted players who were all on the ice at least two weeks before us, and some for a month before us."
"It is pretty frustrating, but guys who have a history of scoring will start scoring. I don't think this is the year they will stop scoring."
"I am going to bring in another proven goal scorer, who is hard to play against, as soon as he gets his passport."
"I want to win, not next month, but now. We have to win, and we have to win rights now. The fact that there isn't a new CBA, and we have no contracted players, is not an excuse; we have to win on Friday night and then build on that. I am confident the guys that aren't scoring will start scoring."
"If I get the word back from Ottawa, that it might be a week or two before Parsons' return, I will sign a goalie whom I have already identified. Marco will play both games this weekend, and we will have an EBUG."
OTHER COMMENTS
- There were six games in the ECHL last night, and six Mountain Division teams were in action, as a couple of South Division teams are visiting. Here were the results:
- Wichita beat Florida 2-1 after the Everblades scored first at the 16:21 mark of the second period.
- Jacksonville beat Utah 3-1.
- Idaho beat Utah 5-1, but the final score included two empty net goals.
- Rapid City beat Allen 2-1 in overtime.
Here are the current Mountain Division standings by point percentage. The team's rank in the ECHL is in parentheses:
- .800 - Kansas City (3rd)
- .750 - Wichita (7th)
- .667 - Idaho (9th)
- .600 - Rapid City (17th)
- .500 - Tahoe (19th)
- .417 - Utah (21st)
- .375 - Allen (23rd)
- .200 - Tulsa (27th)
- Here is the odd stat of the day. I noticed it while doing my ECHL Stats post this morning about the number of players on the 14-day injured reserve (see below). The Bloomington Bison have three players on 14-day injured reserve, and all of them are former Allen Americans (Theo Calvas, Ayden MacDonald, Noah Kane).
- Years ago, I had a section of the blog called "Question of the Day" where I would track down answers to questions fans asked. Even though I no longer have that as part of the blog, if any of you have questions, please email them to me at janssenfamily@msn.com. If I don't know the answer, I can track it down. I am at the rink most days, I talk to Coach Martinson every day, and I have many sources around the league.
- I had a question myself last night about the website that tracked fights that is no longer in business. It was very comprehensive and easy to use, and I still miss it. Here is my answer to myself:
- The name of the website was DropYourGloves.com
- It was a fan-maintained hockey fight database that tracked fights from virtually every professional and junior league around the world.
- It was founded in the early 2000s by a Swedish hockey fan.
- Is closed around 2022.
- The site's owner chose to shut it down due to time, cost, and maintenance issues. It wasn't taken over or officially archived.
Since the DropYourGloves.com shutdown, no website has replicated its depth and ease of use, though HockeyFights.com is currently the best hockey fight database you can use to research player and team hockey fights.
Proud of Marty for the game plan and proud of the boys for peppering the net last night. Good point earned. Need 4 points this weekend.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the above.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for Barry, posted here rather than emailing, what is the status of Easton Brodzinski?
He is taking this season off. Hes a new dad 🙌
DeleteAwesome!
DeleteHow about he takes 2025 off and signs in Allen for the run to the Kelly Cup!
You are the only one posting Allen lineups.
ReplyDeleteAllen - stop giving free tickets out.
ReplyDeleteUse some initiative to get Biscuit and some players into the local schools and give out $5 or $10 tickets to the kids.
Call and email the school pricipals. Offer a free 30min experience.
Think outside the box.
Make it super easy to call up and buy a second ticket, or 4 tickets etc.
Fill the rink - except the lower bowl and center ice.
But don't devalue the experience to the point tickets are free.,
You are surrounded by stellar schools with parents that want great experiences for their kids.
Peace out.
lol already they do do that
Deletenah, they haven't been to my kids schools at any point over the last 4-5 years.
Deletenot to mine either
DeleteI know that the two cities are different, but when I had season tickets with the San Diego Gulls (both WCHL and ECHL) and Martinson was head coach, the Gulls always had lots of hat nights , a t-shirt nights, etc. i’m not implying that Martinson was responsible for that, but making a comparison. However, for whatever reason, people love hats, they love, free T-shirts, and other chatzkies given away if you buy a ticket. Butts in seats is the goal.
ReplyDeleteI know the hats, T-shirts, etc., Aren’t the greatest quality, but for whatever reason, people used to love those kinds of freebies to get their butts into the seats. It would seem to me that doing that, and not just giving away a towel or a glow stick, but something useful that a fan can wear regularly either to a game or to promote the team by wearing a hat or a T-shirt around the city, Seems to be a far better approach than giving away tickets. Unless those tickets are to elementary school kids, I don’t see why a cheap $5 to $10 giveaway (not knowing what the hat and shirt would cost in bulk) would be better than giving away a $25 seat. Any unused hats/shirts can go to the next hat night or whatever it Might be.
I still have some long sleeve gulls t-shirts to this day.
They used to do bobblehead night but I get it that those are pricey.
An empty seat costs $0 to fill.
DeleteA tshirt at minimum costs $5 printed.
Use whatever multiplier for production, the free tickets come out ahead in a cost comparison.
I do think the glow sticks are good cheap items that kids love.
Red Rally towels, meh, we just don’t wave them at the rink, and who wants whiplash to the face?
More involvement with schools is needed. There should be a school a day during hockey season booked for a visit. If this was a non negotiable, and a number 1 objective, you’d fill the house. Make the discounted tickets only available for the games we know we don’t fill the arena with paid seats, surely we have the data.
Kids are your target market, not Heritage Ranch or the 50+ crowd.
Go Red
Cheap t-shirt or hat = marketing if even a small percentage of recipients wear. Instant goodwill is valuable. Yes $0 for a seat but then no butt in the seat, no marketing potential, no concessions (even if overpriced).
ReplyDeleteLook, doing the same glow stick, rally risk is always done. Time to think outside the box. It’s minor leagues. Get people here and not st the expense of irritating STM’s by giving away free tickets.
Long term thinking and goodwill is financially valuable and can be measured in many ways but also intangible ways as well but great for long term if done right.
Spending $5-$7 on a t-shirt or hat (or whatever) yes costs money. But the “cost” of selling the ticket is what!, $29 face value? So spending $5-$7 but someone buys even a $29 seat (of if it’s less, not sure) it’s still a win in dollars. Agreed The long team value is also the goodwill to the fans who might wear the hat or t shirt but would not normally be a STM. Give people a reason to show up and when we’re winning again it’ll be an even easier sell to get someone to buy a $20+ ticket because of a give away. Glow sticks are fine but a kid can’t or maybe won’t wear/use that regularly like a hat or shirt. Kids wearing a t-shirt to school helps market to other kids about The Americans. For us, I know all of our glow sticks are tossed aside and all thrown out by now but kids wear t shirts from other sports give aways all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt’s just about name recognition. Look what it does for Bud… One of the worst beers there is (IMO), but because of name recognition it’s everywhere. I realize the analogy is not an exact analogy, but I think the point comes across.
Katic did play Wednesday for Belleville for 2PM and a -1
ReplyDeleteParsons was back up Goalie.