Training Camp Roster and Report, Allen's Locker Room Remodel, Belleville Preseason Game Results, Journey to Match Number of NHL/AHL Teams and More

 

The 2025-26 Allen Americans season officially got underway yesterday with the first on-ice practice.  Here is Allen's training camp roster:

Goalies

• #33 - Marco Costantini* 
• #1 - William Lavalliere (Tryout) 

Defensemen

• #86 - Andre Anania* 
• #22 - Anthony Costantini
• #21 - Jackson Decker 
• #28 - Troy Murray
• #4 - Zach Papapetros (Tryout) 
• #43 - Matt Register
• #23 - Sam Sedley*
• #6 - Braidan Simmons-Fischer* 
• #44 - Kevin Spinozzi
• #2 - Quinn Warmuth 
• #9 - Hudson Wilson

Forwards

• #26 - Spencer Asuchak
• #18 - Harrison Blaisdell 
• #11 - Thomas Caron
• #91 - Michael Gildon
• #27 - Mark Duarte* 
• #7 - Colton Hargrove
•  #10 - Ryan Hunter (Tryout) 
• #76 - Malik Johnson
• #14 - Kayson Gallant 
• #77 - Brad Morrison (delayed arrival in Allen)
• #5 - Brandon Reller (Tryout) 
• #8 - Carter Savoie*
• #40 - Avery Smith  (Tryout)
• #3 - Frankie Trazzera (Tryout)  
• #29 - Brayden Watts

*Players attending Belleville Senators training camp. 

 

- Mark Duarte has been added to the list. He was finally signed by the Americans yesterday. The other name I get asked about numerous times each day is Hank Crone. Here are the facts about Crone from my  knowledge and research:

• Crone's ECHL rights are owned by Norfolk.
• Crone is not on Norfolk's roster posted on the ECHL website as of this morning, so he has not signed with Norfolk.
• Crone was not included in ECHL transactions yesterday, so no team has acquired his rights.
• If any ECHL team, including Allen, doesn't complete a trade for Crone's rights, he will have no choice, if he wants to play in the ECHL, but to sign with Norfolk and report.
• Crone is still in Texas
• Allen is involved in the sweepstakes for Crone's rights, but so are other teams. The price won't be cheap when you consider Hank is a league MVP, and his ECHL career points per game average of 1.37 would be the highest in the league this season. It will most certainly cost a high-end player, or possibly two, to acquire Crone's rights from Norfolk.  

 

- Coach Martinson's first practice yesterday included five or six drills, which, by design, all had a systems components to them. At the end of practice, he went over the set breakouts that will be used in the scrimmages tonight and Sunday. 

It is only one practice, and it is hard to draw conclusions, but two things stood out to me. Martinson has put together a very big team, and he has a lot of good puck carriers. You add that to the physicality of this team that you don't see in practice, and Allen fans are in for a treat. Martinson is famous for saying you need guys that carry the water and guys that chop the wood. With this team, he has a lot of guys who can do both. 

When you add all of the one-ice observations to the first class environment that team owner Myles Jack has provided from a locker room that would do an NHL team proud (see details below), housing, top-of-the-line recovery equipment, helmets, sticks, etc., my opinion is this team will come together very quickly. It is a big change from the tight budgets of the past Martinson teams.     

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- By now, you have probably seen photos of the new Allen locker room. If not, here is the press release from the Americans with a photo and some details. https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/10/americans-unveil-new-state-of-the-art-locker-room

 

 I had a chance to sit down with Allen's equipment manager, Matt Miletich, during practice yesterday to ask him about the Americans' locker room remodel. Matt was the project manager for the remodel and has been working on the project since last February:

Here is some of the information Matt shared with me on the locker room remodel project from the idea to completion:

"We started talking about remodeling the locker room last February. The locker room was 16 years old, and Myles vision, as a professional athlete himself, was to make sure the players were taken care of. They are professional hockey players, and they need a professional locker room."

"At the end of the season, Jordan (Head Trainer) and I went to dinner with Myles when he was in town and discussed what we had put together for the remodel. We were fortunate to work with a local company called Longhorn Lockers from Venus, TX, which has been in business since the 1980's. They are the best in the business. They design and custom-build everything at their own facilities. Longhorn Lockers client list is a who's who of professional and collegiate sports."

As an aside, I went to the Longhorn Lockers website and found this list of clients, which is just a fraction of their client list:

• Dallas Stars
• Dallas Cowboys
• University of Texas
• University of Alabama
• Air Force Academy
• Baltimore Ravens
• Miami Dolphins
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Rams
• New England Patriots 
• Colorado Avalanche

 Matt told me he had learned from Longhorn Lockers that they have done the locker rooms of every football team in the SEC except for South Carolina.

 "We had a chance to visit the Longhorn Lockers facility in Venus (57 miles southwest of Allen). In addition to showrooms, they have six warehouses where they build everything onsite; they do not outsource anything, and it is all custom-built."

"We ended up looking at what Longhorn did with the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars to fine-tune the design. Drying power (fans and air flow) for drying all of the players' equipment was a priority." 

"It took about five weeks from when the locker room was completely gutted to completion. In addition to the player stalls, the build-out included the new ceiling-mounted logo, new flooring, paint, new lights, and new technology."

Here are some of the details on the player stalls:  

"The top of the locker shelf has five fans (two in the ceiling, three on the shelf), which will take care of shin pads and the helmet. The middle shelf has two glove dryers and two skate dryers, plus two fans on the bottom of the shelf to circulate the air."

 

"Underneath the two upper shelves is where the players hang their pants and shoulder pads and where we hang their clean jerseys. This area has three custom-made hooks with an American logo on the center one. There are six fans at the bottom of this area. There is also what is called a no-friction hinge, with the Americans logo laser-engraved, where I can hang game-day and practice jerseys.

 

   

"The locker seat is an antimicrobial/antibacterial vinyl that is double-stitched and padded. There is stainless steel storage behind the backrest and under the seat. At the bottom, you have the backlit stainless steel Americans logo."

 

"Myles wanted the logo that was on the floor and couldn't be walked on, moved to an LED-lit logo on the ceiling to give the guys more room in the locker room."

 

Congrats to Matt for a job well done under some stressful times, taking this project from concept to completion. It was not completed until Wednesday, just in time for the start of training camp. And thanks to Myles Jack for the vision and commitment to make the Allen locker room the best in the ECHL. How much did the project cost? According to a Longhorn Lockers video on their project with the Colorado Avalanche, the cost was $500,000. Based on the quality of the Allen project, I imagine the cost is similar. 

Let me end with a quote from Longhorn Lockers, "Have you ever seen a minor league hockey team's locker room that is better than almost every NHL team? Welcome to the Allen Americans' brand new locker room." 

I know the team is making plans to have exclusive locker room tours for season ticket holders (Patriot Club Members). They will likely be scheduled sometime in mid to late March when the team is on a long road trip and the locker room isn't being used for other events.     

 

- The Belleville Senators lost their first preseason game of the season last night, losing to Laval 5-2. All of the Americans in Belleville played in the game. Here were their stats:

• Carter Savoie - scored a goal on his only shot of the game, plus/minus of 0.
• Braidan Simmons-Fischer - no points, no shots, had a fight, plus/minus of -2.
• Mark Duarte - no points, two shots, plus/minus of 0.
• Sam Sedley - no points, one shot, two PIMS, plus/minus of 0.
• Andre Anania - no points, three shots, plus/minus of -2.
• Marco Costantini - played the final period, faced four shots and stopped them all. 

Belleville got some players back from Ottawa after a recent recall, so it remains to be seen how many of Allen's players will be in the Belleville lineup for the second (and last) preseason game against Toronto, on Sunday afternoon (3:00 pm EDT). 

The other question to be answered is when the players will return to Allen (some will be driving), and whether any of them will be signed to an AHL contract.

 

- The Americans' scrimmage tonight is not open to the public, but the scrimmage tomorrow (Sunday) will be. The start time is 11:00 am. Contact your ticket rep for access to the Community Rink. I will arrive early and will keep a lookout for anyone at the door. 

 

- I post this on ECHL Stats at the beginning of every season, but it never changes behavior. The ECHL will forever be known as "the coast" to many.

As ECHL training camps begin, the never-ending reminder for writers, bloggers, reporters, fans, players, coaches, etc. 

 

What do the letters ECHL stand for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

 

In a change reflective of its nationwide presence, the East Coast Hockey League changed its name to simply ECHL on May 19, 2003.

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post from today. The ECHL may match the number of teams in the NHL and AHL in 2026-27?

 

Here are the ECHL team changes over the last five seasons on the league’s journey to match the NHL/AHL 32 teams:

 

2021-22: (27 teams)

Iowa & Trois Rivières added

Brampton deleted

 

2022-23 (28 teams) 

Savannah added

 

2023-24 (27 teams)

Newfoundland deleted

 

2024-25 (29 teams)

Bloomington & Tahoe added

 

2025-26 (30 teams)

Greensboro added

 

- Two more teams (Rio Rancho, New Mexico & Augusta, Georgia) are scheduled to start play in 2026-27. In addition, Utah is relocating to Trenton, New Jersey.