Early Season Assessment by the Numbers, Mark Duarte (#3) and Jackson Parsons (#1) Earn Stars in Win, Yablonski Visits Practice and More

 

I want to take some time this morning to assess the Allen Americans' season thus far. There are so many factors to consider when deciding where Allen stands 10 games (13.8%) into the season. When the season started on October 18, there was a consensus among most Allen fans and those around the Mountain Division that with the return of Steve Martinson and the skilled, physical team he recruited, the Americans would be a contender in the division.

 

- It was also clear that it might take some time for the team to come together since Coach Martinson had not coached most of the players he recruited. It has been an up-and-down first month of the season. Allen beat Wichita on the road on opening night, but since that first win, Allen has lost three straight, won three straight, and lost three straight. 

 

- The loss to Tulsa on Saturday (4-2) was particularly frustrating because the team had a week off between games, had a good week of practice, team meetings, and a chance to heal bumps and bruises. The expectations for that game were very high. With a win the Americans' record would improve to 5-3-2-0 (.600) as Allen hits the road for two weeks, when Disney on Ice takes over the CUTX Event Center. Instead, the Americans hit the road nursing a three-game losing streak.

 

- It wasn't just the loss on Saturday that was disheartening; it was how the team lost the game. 

• Allen outshot Tulsa in every period (33-24 for the game).
• A fluky goal on Tulsa's first shot of the game spelled defeat, as Allen never recovered.
• Three second-period goals, including another fluky goal, put the game out of reach as the Oilers took a 4-0 lead into the second intermission. 
• Allen turned it on in the third period, outshooting Tulsa 13-8 and outscoring them 2-0 to make the final score 4-2. It was encouraging to see how the team responded in the third period, but a disappointing result as the team approaches one of the roughest stretches of the schedule with nine of the next 12 games on the road. 

 

- If you step back and look at the season thus far, this is what the stats say:

- With all of the ups and downs, Allen is still a .500 hockey team in the thick of the Mountain Division standings race, because the division is the closest in the league. You can make the argument that Allen could return from the upcoming six-game road trip to Idaho and Utah in first place or last place in the division. Here are the current standings by point percentage, which is a better measurement than points because games played vary from 10 (Allen) to 14 (Tahoe & Idaho):

• .636 - Tulsa
• .615 - Kansas City
• .607 - Tahoe
• .536 - Idaho
• .500 - Allen
• .462 - Utah
• .462 - Rapid City
• .423 - Wichita 

 

- There is no denying that Allen is getting less help from its affiliate than any team in the division, and it isn't even close. It is important to remember, by the time Steve Martinson was hired as coach and general manager, his choice was to affiliate with Ottawa or be the only team in the ECHL without an affiliation, and thus be independent. Martinson's relationship with Ottawa/Belleville is great, and the Senators want to help. The main issue is that budget constraints limit the number of players the Senators have under contract, so injuries prevent them from sending players to Allen. As of last Tuesday, here are the numbers of NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to each Mountain Division team. 

• 10 - Rapid City
• 8 - Utah
• 6 - Tulsa
• 6 - Kansas City
• 6 - Tahoe
• 6 - Wichita
• 0 Allen - Net zero (Katic assigned, Duarte loaned)

 

- Scoring has been an issue with the Americans so far, given the skill on the team. Allen has scored 28 goals in its first 10 games, but if you look behind the numbers, the Americans scored six goals twice. In their other eight games, Allen has scored a total of 16 goals (2.00 per game). Here is a breakdown of the number of goals scored in the first 10 games.

• 6 goals - two times
• 3 goals - three times
• 2 goals - one time
• 1 goal - four times

Allen's record when scoring 3+ goals is 4-0-1-0, and when scoring two or fewer goals, it is 0-4-1-0. 

 

- Here are the Allen players who have three or more points after 10 games. 

• 11 points (5G, 6A) - Brayden Watts
• 8 points (1G, 7A) - Andre Anania
• 7 points (3G, 4A) - Danny Katic (5 games played)
• 5 points (3G, 2A) - Mark Duarte (loaned to Belleville)
• 5 points (3G, 2A) - Harrison Blaisdell
• 4 points (3G, 1A) - Michael Gildon
• 4 points (2G, 2A) - Thomas Caron
• 4 points (1G, 3A) - Brad Morrison (8 games played)
• 4 points (1G, 3A) - Spencer Asuchak (9 games played)
• 4 points (1G, 3A) - Hank Crone
• 3 points (2G, 1A) - Matt Register (4 games played)
• 3 points (1G, 2A) - Colton Hargrove
• 3 points (0G, 3A) - Kevin Spinozzi (9 games played)
• 3 points (0G, 3A) - Sam Sedley 

There are a lot of proven goal scorers on the list above. If Allen has success on the upcoming road trip, there must be more scoring from these proven goal scorers. 

 

- Allen has been a .500 club over the first 10 games, which is an okay start. However, the Americans have played seven of their 10 games at home. Between now and Christmas, the Americans will play 12 of 17 games on the road. This section of the schedule will go a long way in determining if Allen is a contender or one of several teams fighting for the final playoff spot.   

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- When Mark Duarte was loaned to Belleville last week. My first thought other than being excited about the promotion, was would he get signed to an AHL deal by the Senators and not return to Allen. After all that is the goal. Mark is the perfect type of player to be loaned as a third/fourth line player. He works hard, is great on the forecheck, and is an outstanding penalty killer who can contribute offensively. Mark has played in all three games since reporting to Belleville, which were all road games, at Rochester, Utica, and Syracuse. Belleville won all three games.

Mark scored his first two AHL goals in Belleville's 4-1 win over Syracuse on Saturday. He scored the first goal of the game, unassisted, with a backhanded shot Allen fans are familiar with. He then scored the final goal of the game into an empty net. It says a lot about Mark's defensive ability that he was on the ice at the end of the game when Syracuse pulled its goalie for an extra attacker. For his effort, Mark was selected as the #3 star of the game. 

Here are the video highlights, which show both of Mark's goals plus one of his blocked shots (he has been killing penalties). The highlights also include many of Jackson Parsons' saves as he stopped 34 of 35 shots for a .971 save percentage to earn the #1 start of the game:

 

 Here is a post-game interview with Mark:

 

- As I mentioned in the blog post on Saturday, enforcer Jeremy Yablonski visited practice on Friday to work with a couple of players before and after practice. Here are two videos from my Allen Americans YouTube channel. The first one is Jeremy working with Braidan Simmons-Fischer after practice, and the second is Steve Martinson talking about why he asked Yoblonski to help out. FYI, Yablonski has visited Allen's practices several times in the past. 

 

 

 

- After practice, I had a chance to sit down with Yablonski and Martinson as they talked about fighting back in the day and today, but I was intrigued as they talked about how Jeremy works with players on fighting techniques. He talks with players about the mental approach to fighting as much as the physical aspects. After a lot of fighting talk the conversation shifted to the importance of self-responsibility in leadership. Before you can lead anyone else, you must take ownership of your own actions, choices, and growth. Personal accountability is the foundation of influence in coaching and in the locker room. 

If you watched the Simmons-Fischer fight on Saturday, you could see that he applied the lessons learned from Jeremy, especially how to switch hands, adjust positioning, and have patience. Here are the video highlights from the game, including the fight: https://echl.com/videos/tulsa-oilers-vs-allen-americans-nov-15-2025 

  

- The Americans will leave tomorrow morning for Boise, where they will start their road trip with games against Idaho on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The team will practice tomorrow after they arrive in Boise. Because of the long road trip, all healthy players will accompany the team. I would assume the only player staying home will be Malik Johnson who is on injured reserve. It remains to be seen if Jackson Parsons will return to Allen for the road trip. The expectation is he will, but if he doesn't, Martinson will sign a goalie rather than play with an EBUG in Idaho. 

 

- Here is the first of what I hope will be many player videos this season that will be posted to the Allen Americans YouTube Channel (please subscribe). I did this one last week as a way to get to know the players in their own words. Thanks to Michael Gildon for being the first:

  

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the leading scorers among ECHL defensemen. Andre Anania is on the list. Andre is Allen's second leading scorer behind Brayden Watts:

Top scoring ECHL defensemen by average points per game (minimum 10 games played):

 

1.08 - Marcus Crawford, Kansas City

1.00 - Chad Nychuk, Atlanta

.92 - Noah Beck, Wichita

.91 - Jake Johnson, Cincinnati

.82 - Brent Johnson, Wheeling

.80 - Andre Anania, Allen

.80 - Riley McCourt, Toledo