Undoubtedly, the most important series in this young season starts tonight in Utah. The Allen Americans will play the Grizzlies tonight, Friday, and Saturday. Allen is in the midst of a six-game losing streak, and the fall has been fast and dramatic and could get much worse.
- On November 5th, after a school day game 6-4 win over Wichita, the Americans were in first place in the Mountain Division standings (by point percentage) at .643.
- By November 22, after losing 5-2 to Idaho for the sixth straight loss, Allen had fallen to seventh place in the standings with a point percentage of .423.
- Over the next four days, Allen's point percentage could be as high as .532 if the Americans sweep Utah or as low as .344 if they get swept. A playoff spot or last place, that is the importance of this series. The odds are that the result will be somewhere in between, but Allen has to win this series to get back on track.
- Here are some comparison stats between Allen and Utah:
- Allen is 3-4-3-0 over the last 10 games, Utah is 5-4-1-0.
- Allen is 1-3-2-0 on the road, Utah is 1-3-1-0 at home.
- Allen's goal differential is -11 (33-44), Utah's is 0 (45-45).
- Allen's team plus/minus is -63, Utah's is -13.
- Allen's team save percentage is .910, Utah's is .906.
- Here is the more traditional statistical comparison between the two
teams.
- Goals scored average: Allen (2.5) - Utah (3.0)
- Goals allowed average: Allen (3.4) - Utah (3.0)
- Shots for average: Allen (31.2) - Utah (30.0)
- Shots against average: Allen (37.5) - Utah (32.1)
- Power play percentage: Allen (14.0%) - Utah (20.3%)
- Penalty kill percentage: Allen (88.1%) - Utah (79.6%)
- Good starts will be a key in this series, and Utah has the advantage. Allen has scored the first goal in only 31% of its games (4 of 13). The good news is Allen is 2-0-2-0 (.750) in those games. Utah has scored first in 53% of its games (8 of 15), posting a 5-2-1-0 (.688) record when scoring first.
Even more telling is goal scoring in the first period. The first period has been Allen's worst. The Americans have been outscored 14-7 in the first period. Utah has outscored its opponents 16-13 in the first period.
- If you look at the special teams ranking, Allen is #9 on the penalty kill and #17 on the power play. Utah is just the opposite, ranked #10 on the power play and #20 on the penalty kill. Maybe more telling is how Allen's special team performed in Idaho. Allen scored a power-play goal in two of the three games and was 2-7 (28.6%) in the series. However, the Allen penalty kill gave up three goals in the series, going 3-15 (80.0%). Allen is on the penalty kill more than any team in the league (percentage-wise). Staying out of the penalty box will be key in this series.
- The roster will be depleted tonight. Colton Hargrove will be serving the second of his two-game suspension. In addition, defenseman Kevin Spinozzi has left the team for Europe. A replacement has been signed, but will not report in time for the game tonight. As a result, the Americans will play two short tonight. It might also be time for Matt Register to get ready to go from behind the bench to the ice. With five veterans on the roster, it would take some kind of a rotation to make it work. And don't forget, Register is tied for sixth on the team in goals with two, and has only played in four games.
- Allen's scorers in the three games in Idaho were:
- 4 points, Crone (1G, 3A)
- 3 points, Gildon (2G 1A)
- 2 points, Sedley (0G, 2A)
- 1 point, Morrison (1G, 0A)
- 1 point, Spinozzi (1G, 0A)
- 1 point, Anania. (0G, 1A)
- 1 point, Warmuth (0G, 1A)
- Utah has six players with four or more goals and four players with 11 or more points. here are the Utah players to watch in this series:
- #59 Tyler Gratton: 13 points (4G, 9A)
- #26 Danny Dzhaniyev: 12 points (5G, 7A)
- #23 Reed Lebster: 11 points (7G, 4A)
- #28 Jack Ricketts: 11 points (6G, 5A)
- Here is the game/series preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/11/game-day-preview-thanksgiving-week-in-salt-lake-city
- After four straight games with the same referee (three paired with another referee), Allen will see a different one tonight. It will be a one-referee game tonight, and the referee scheduled is Chazz Knoche (#33). He has been officiating since he was 12 and has worked the Fraser Cup Finals (NA3HL), Robertson Cup Finals (NAHL), and the Clark Cup Conference Finals (USHL) in the past. This is his fourth season in the ECHL.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Here is the ECHL Today with the previews on the 10 games on the schedule tonight: https://echl.com/news/2025/11/echl-today-nov-26
- Some familiar names on the ECHL leader lists:
- Cole Fraser leads the ECHL in penalty minutes (58).
- Marco Costantini is #2 in saves (333) and #4 in minutes (602).
- Jeremy Brodeur is the only goalie in the league with two shootout wins.
- Harrison Blaisdell is tied for #1 in empty net goals (2).
- As usual, the ECHL all-star break (January 20-22) is after the all-star game (January 19) hosted by Allen. That means there are four regular-season games on the same day, in conflict with the All-Star Game. In past seasons, some players selected for the All-Star Game opted out because they didn’t want to miss their team’s regular-season game. Here are the eight teams that play the same day as the All-Star Game. Does this make sense?
The reason veterans are becoming a dying breed in this league is pretty simple: you can’t make enough to justify playing that long. Plenty of players actually lose money just trying to stay in it. If the league wants veterans to keep contributing, the new CBA would need to include a serious pay increase — but that’s unlikely when the league seems more focused on phasing them out than supporting them. Without real improvements to compensation, it’s unrealistic to expect players to keep sacrificing for a system that doesn’t support them financially
ReplyDeleteexpenses for teams has skyrocketed. Paying for the players living expenses, all of the travel, arena rents, and all that ain't cheap. It sucks but having a lot of expensive vets would make the majority of ECHL teams lose even more money than they already do :(
DeleteThe average across the entire league was 4.5 million in revenue per team. This came directly from the commissioners mouth.
DeleteYou've got a stagnant salary cap for 6+ years.
DeleteVets command top dollar (rightly so), but by the analysis above by Barry, teams would rather spread the spend.
A team of champions, or a championship team?
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541472984/202423549349301557/full
ReplyDeleteECHL took in $4m from expansion revenue.
Distributed $1.7m to teams ($50k a team)
Teams paid on average $100k to league in dues.
Cash at hand increased from $1.3m to $5.1m.
ECHL needs to support the CBA in a positive way.
Calling Memphis Dave for analysis on this
DeleteDoes anybody really care what he has to say about anything?
DeleteThanks to the first poster for your comment - I have thoughts on this but I'm happy just keeping them to myself while I watch the ship upright itself this year. You could write a book titled "How to Destroy a Franchise in Three Months" from the insanity that took place last year. Unprecedented in professional sports
DeleteTo the second poster - does anyone really care about any of your worldly wisdom...? Get a screen name and maybe you will be more relevant than the dump I took this morning...just a thought
Is Reggie being punished for being out of shape or is he injured? Surely this isn't just a move to help as assistant coach and play occasionally based on his stats in a handful of games. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteFuture Allen coach???
DeleteNo Barry, the ECHL are clueless and have failed to listen to the fans and teams over the last many years about the All Star game. They are diluting their own work product. The AllStar game will never be at the level of other sports because the league is just stupid in understanding the possible reach it could achieve - both from the marketing of the sport and for sponsors. Beyond clueless, but should any of us be surprised? Surely not. It's the ECHL.
ReplyDeleteBarry you are around the team a lot. How is the locker room culture? It seems at the games like players expected it to be a laid back and cushy style like Chad used to coach. No defense needed, just show up and do what you want. Now with Marty actually coaching the guys hard and in his system, they dont like it because they have to work hard. Is this making guys mad? Maybe that is why Spins left for Europe.
ReplyDeleteOne man's erroneous opinion!
DeleteIt sure does seem like some of the guys out there would rather the easy style of Chad. Marty is pushing for greatness and the lazy ones will be weeded out of his system in time. It is sad to see the lack of effort from many of the guys. These losses are not on Marty at all.
DeleteMarty can not play the games for the players. The players need to show some self pride and demonstrate how good they really think they are. Are they really good or is that only in their minds....Need to see some positive proof boys! Do you care or not?
DeleteFunny guy. Amazes me that's what people think.
DeleteHe probably left for more money like always...
ReplyDeleteHe's dual France/Canada citizenship so he can play local in the Ligue Magnus easily. Would pay more than the max Allen could pay him. Pretty simple unless there was a lifestyle reason to be in Texas.
DeleteWow. If players don’t want to work hard and be pushed, why play? I realize there is a middle ground but play hard and win. Simple as that. Nothing is ever handed to you (unless you’re a billionaire kid and even then you wouldn’t be playing hockey). Players certainly aren’t going to move up if they are slackers and want to be pampered.
ReplyDeleteWe’ll get there.
All the players need to show some want to! Do you want to win or go home to mamma?
DeleteThe team more or less starts out this way every year and gradually builds up steam as the season moves on and they hit there stride around January. The wins will come. Give it some time.
DeleteIf I believe in anyone its Marty he will get the troops together and we are going to start clicking.
ReplyDeleteGO RED!!!!!
Ditto!
DeleteJC Brassard available and we signed Trevor LeDonne? 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
ReplyDeleteThought the same
DeleteThe 15 game Trevor LeDonne?
DeleteThe Trevor LeDonne we traded?
The Trevor LeDonne that only managed 2 games in Wheeling?
Oh, that Trevor LeDonne ....
Just because someone is available, doesn't mean you can pick & choose who you want. There are a lot of factors involved.
DeleteYea it does!
DeleteWhat does Brassard cost vs does he fit into Marty's system?
DeleteMarty seemed pi$$ed Spinozzi left.
ReplyDeleteAlluded it was because Anania was playing better and getting the power play.
Kudos to Andre for stepping up and being a leader. Great player. Disappointed Spinozzi left, but it is what it is. Seems he didn't have patience.
DeleteGreat win last night!
ReplyDeleteBegan slow but came together as a team as the game progressed.
It’s ok for those that don’t want to buy in and not want to work, they can depart the team and go elsewhere.
Go Red!
Wow, what a game! I haven’t seen the Americans play with that type of intensity for a few years now. Welcome back Marty!
ReplyDelete