The Allen Americans take on the Wichita Thunder this morning at 10:30 a.m. CST in the first of three School Day games this season. The other two will be on December 3 against Utah and April 2 against Greensboro. If you are attending the game, be prepared for 5000+ screaming kids going nonstop. It actually creates a lot of energy in the arena.
- How tough is it for players to get ready for a 10:30 a.m. puck drop? Since practice takes place around 10:30 a.m., many players feel that having a game start in the morning is more preferable to a mid-afternoon game, which, on a normal game day, is nap time.
- Allen will play Wichita 10 times this season, five at home and five in Wichita. The Americans opened the season in Wichita and came away with a 3-2 shootout win. Michael Gildon scored after Wichita took a 1-0 lead, and then Hank Crone scored the game-winner in the third round of the shootout after Wichita missed.
- Wichita arrives in Allen with a record of 2-2-2-1 and is on a three-game losing streak (0-2-1-0). Allen's record is 3-2-1-0, and the Americans have won two straight. Here is a statistical comparison between the two teams.
- Goals scored average: Allen (2.67) - Wichita (1.86)
- Goals allowed average: Allen (2.83) - Wichita (2.43)
- Shots for average: Allen (31.83) - Wichita (33.71)
- Shots against average: Allen (37.83) - Wichita (35.43)
- Power play percentage: Allen (15.4%) - Wichita (25.0%)
- Penalty kill percentage: Allen (88.9%) - Wichita (81.8%)
- Looking at the stats above, these are two fairly evenly matched teams. Both teams have been good defensively, but have struggled to score, especially Wichita, which is ranked #29 in the league. The Thunder has scored a total of six goals in the last four games. Wichita's two wins this season were by scores of 1-0 and 2-1. Allen's offense has started to come alive with 40 shots in two of the games against Rapid City this past week.
- If you look at the special teams stats, Allen has the advantage on the penalty kill, and Wichita has the advantage on the power play. It was encouraging that after Coach Martinson made some changes on the power play, Allen scored two power-play goals on Saturday (2-6). Wichita is one of the least penalized teams in the ECHL, averaging 8.00 minutes per game, which ranks them #29. Allen is ranked #18, averaging 10.83 penalty minutes per game. All of Wichita's penalties (28) are minor penalties. Allen has 30 minor penalties and just one five-minute major.
- Here is the updated roster. I do know that Colby McAuley will not be in the lineup, that Spencer Asuchak is expected to play, and that the Americans will have an EBUG (Laird) again. Coach Martinson will make several transaction changes this morning:
ROSTER
Goalies
- #31 - Jackson Parsons (recalled to Belleville)
- #33 - Marco Costantini
- #1 - Landry Laird (EBUG)
Defensemen
- #86 - Andre Anania
- #22 - Anthony Costantini
- #21 - Jackson Decker
- #28 - Troy Murray
- #43 - Matt Register (14-day IR)
- #23 - Sam Sedley
- #6 - Braidan Simmons-Fischer
- #44 - Kevin Spinozzi
- #2 - Quinn Warmuth
Forwards
- #26 - Spencer Asuchak (3-day IR)
- #18 - Harrison Blaisdell
- #11 - Thomas Caron
- #67 - Hank Crone
- #27 - Mark Duarte
- #91 - Michael Gildon
- #7 - Colton Hargrove
- #76 - Malik Johnson (14-day IR)
- #9 - Danny Katic
- #19 - Chase Maxwell (reserve)
- #92 - Colby McAuley (reserve)
- #77 - Brad Morrison
- #29 - Brayden Watts
- Here is the tentative lineup this morning. The lines are subject to change because I got them so early today:
- When I talked to Caoch Martinson last night, he told me the biggest key to success today is playing the Allen style of trying to carry the puck into the offensive zone, but dumping the puck if there isn't a play. Avoiding neutral ice turnovers makes a big difference. If there is no play, put the puck in deep and hit the defensemen. Allen is doing more of that lately.
- Brayden Watts is the Allen player to watch this morning. He has five assists in the last two games. Brayden now leads the Americans in points (6), assists (5), and plus/minus (+3). Harrison Blaisdell's hat trick on Saturday has him the leader in goals (3).
- Michal Stinil (#22) and Jay Dickman (#21) are two players to watch for Wichita. Stinil has averaged over a point per game in his five-year ECHL career with Wichita. He leads the Thunder this season with six points (3G, 3A). Two former Allen players, Kyle Crnkovic (#16) and Nolan Kneen (#27), play for Wichita.
- The officiating crew today is unfamiliar to me. There will be one referee, Ibrahim Arifi (#46). He played junior hockey in Peoria, IL (NA3HL) and has been an AHL referee since 2023-24. The linesmen will be Antoine Bujold-Roux (#72) and Duncan McGarrah (#94).
OTHER COMMENTS
- I wanted to follow up on the broken stick question from the last blog. Here is some information about sticks from Allen's head equipment manager, Matt Miletich.
- Per league agreement with the vendor (Warrior Hockey), the team has to buy a minimum of 310 sticks by the end of December.
- Based on the current Allen roster, Matt has sticks with six different curves that vary in flex from 65-105.
- Matt estimates there have been 30 broken sticks since the beginning of training camp.
- Former Allen defenseman Cole Fraser has been traded from the most penalized team in the league (Worcester) to the least penalized team in the league. Cole has 32 penalty minutes in six games with Worcester. The entire Cincinnati team has 56 penalty minutes in seven games. Fraser will definitely add some toughness to the Cyclones.
- Atlanta's win streak is up to six games (6-0-0-0), and with one more win, the Gladiators will make the record book. They play Greenville at home in a School Day game today at 10:30 a.m. EST. Here is the list of all-time most wins to start a season, from the record book:
- 9 - Worcester - 2022-23 (after the record-breaking start, Worcester missed the playoffs)
- 8 - Atlanta - 2023-24 (after the great start, the Gladiators missed the playoffs)
- 8 - Trenton - 2001-02
- 8 - Dayton - 1994-95
- 7 - Kansas City - 2022-23
- 7 - Adirondack - 2014-15
- 7 - Elmira -2009-10 (Steve Martinson coached team)
- There are seven games on the ECHL schedule today. Three of them are morning games. In addition to Allen hosting Wichita, Kansas City hosts Idaho, and Atlanta hosts Greenville. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/11/echl-today-nov-5
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today breaks down the 47 NHL contracted players assigned to the ECHL. Allen is at zero, but Jackson Parsons, upon his return to Allen, is an NHL-contracted player. Parsons signed a three-year entry-level NHL deal with Ottawa this summer that runs through 2027-28.
Flo is horrendous. Technical issues every other 5mins.
ReplyDeleteWas the wifi bill paid by the event center?
DeleteOMG, flo is unwatchable.
Power off for 60 seconds.
DeleteCtrl-Alt-Del
Something ...
Flohockey says it’s an Allen issue
ReplyDeleteGreat win today!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd another win.. were you at, sourpuss aka TB?
ReplyDeleteWhere*
DeleteThe Marty Party continues!!
ReplyDeleteI have plenty of friends who say coaching doesn’t matter. Lol. Ok. Yes players do play but strategy and how to manage the game matters. Some of the same players as last year or prior years and then coupled with connections and how to lead, etc. BJ Adams couldn’t coach, cut or traded very good players. The only great thing BJ did was give us an insufferable 4+ months which lead to Martinson.
ReplyDeleteCoaching matters. 😎
Barry thanks for the hockey stick stat! I know it isn't your normal type of question!
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