Allen Americans Update, Costantini Selected ECHL Goalie of the Week, Martinson's Comments, All-Time Stats Leaders, Allen's #1 PK and More

 

 The Allen Americans returned home on Sunday after a successful road trip to Rapid City, where they won two of three games against a Rush team that came into the series having just swept three games in Tahoe and beaten #1 Idaho two of three games. After Allen lost game one of the Rush series 7-3, it looked like it might be a long weekend, but the Americans bounced back with 4-0 and 5-1 victories to win the series. Goalie Marco Costantini returned to the lineup after missing five games with an injury. Marco was the difference maker in the two wins against Rapid City, stopping 75 of 76 shots for a .987 save percentage. For his effort, Marco was named ECHL Goalie of the Week: https://echl.com/news/2025/12/allens-costantini-named-warrior-hockey-echl-goaltender-of-the-week

 

- The Americans have been playing better hockey for a while now. On November 22, the Americans lost to Idaho 5-2, marking their sixth consecutive loss. Since then, Allen has won three straight series, two of them on the road. Allen's record over the last nine games is 6-3-0-0 (.667). The Americans' points percentage since November 22 has gone from .423 to .523. They are now in fourth place in the division in points percentage.

 

- What have been the keys to Allen's recent success?

• More scoring - Allen averaged 1.83 goals per game (11 goals in 6 games) during the six-game losing streak. In the nine games since, the Americans have averaged 3.78 goals per game (34 goals in 9 games). 
• Better defense - Allen has allowed three or fewer goals in seven of the last nine games.
• Great penalty kill - Allen did not allow a power play goal against Rapid City and now has the #1 ranked penalty kill percentage in the ECHL at 89.0%. 
• Great goaltending - Marco Costantini has won his last four starts and hasn't had a save percentage below .917 in his previous six games. Even after missing five games with an injury, Marco is #5 in the league in minutes (822), #3 in saves (449), and #5 in save percentage (.930). 
• David Tendeck had a couple of tough outings in his last two starts with little defensive support, but carried the load after Costantini was injured. His save percentages were .933, .957, and .941 in the first three games he started after Marco's injury.   

 

- Here are the Allen stats leaders over the last nine games (minimum four points) with plus/minus numbers:

• Watts - 9 points (4G, 5A) 0
• Sedley - 8 points (1G, 7A) +7 
• Crone - 8 points (4G, 4A) +2 
• Blaisdell - 7 points (4G, 3A) +4
• Asuchak - 7 points (3G, 4A) +3 
• McAuley - 7 points (3G, 4A) +3 
• Katic - 6 points (2G, 4A) +1            (7 games)
• Warmuth - 5 points (2G, 3A), +1
• Hargrove - 5 points (2G, 3A), +4     (8 games) 
• Caron - 5 points (2G, 3A), +3 
• Anania - 5 points (1G, 4A) +7
• Gildon - 4 points (3G, 1A) +5 
• Decker - 4 points (1G, 3A) 0
• Simmons-Fischer - 4 points (0G, 4A) 0    (6 games) 

 

-  Next up for the Americans is another three-game series. This one is against Tulsa, with games in Allen on Wednesday and Friday before the teams head to Tulsa for game three on Saturday. Tulsa just snapped a nine-game losing streak with back-to-back home wins against Tahoe. I will have a series preview on Wednesday. Allen will finish the week with a game in Kansas City on Sunday. Four games in five days is always difficult, but four games in five days with travel to Kansas City after the Tulsa game on Saturday for an early start on Sunday (4:05 pm) is cruel and unusual punishment. Kansas City plays three games this week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), but all are at home. 

 

- The Mountain Division continues to be the tightest of the four ECHL Divisions. Here are the points earned for each team in the last 10 games. The team's current points percentage is in parentheses:

• 16 points - Idaho (.673)  
• 16 points - Kansas City (.696)
• 13 points - Wichita (.522) 
• 12 points - Allen (.523)
• 12 points - Rapid City (.500) 
• 11 points - Tahoe (.577)
• 8 points - Utah (.458)
• 4 points - Tulsa (.409)  

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

- I had a chance to talk to Coach Martinson yesterday, and here is what he had to say:

  "We have been better recently, winning the last three series, but we are still not clicking on all cylinders. We are inconsistent defensively, as you saw in the Rapid City series. We lost the first game 7-3 and then won the next two 4-0 and 5-1. All month, we have played some good games and then have a terrible game." 

"Obviously, this is a big week for us. We need to continue climbing up the standings. Tulsa just got their #1 goalie (NHL contracted) back from San Diego."

"I plan on adding a defenseman to the roster in the next few days."

"Troy Murray has been loaned to Springfield (AHL). They are looking to add some toughness to their lineup, and it is a great opportunity for Troy."

"Patrick Moynihan was suspended to retain his ECHL rights. After initially expressing an interest in signing, he has apparently decided not to play in the ECHL."

"Brad Morrison will not be in the lineup on Wednesday, serving the third game of his three-game suspension."  

"I don't anticipate getting any players assigned by Ottawa/Belleville this week. That could change, but it is unlikely."  

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- It has been almost three years since an Allen Americans goalie has won ECHL Goalie of the Week honors. Here is a list of winners since Allen joined the ECHL:

• Riley Gill: December 5-11, 2016
• Antoine Bibeau: December 27 - January 2, 2022
• Luke Peressini: March 14-20, 2022
• Chase Perry: January 2022-23, 2023
• Marco Costantini: December 8-14, 2025  

 

 - Allen team's save percentage is up to .914, which is ranked #7 in the ECHL. It is even more impressive when you consider half the teams in the league have two NHL/AHL contracted goalies, and all but a couple of teams have one. The Americans have just two games played by a contracted goalie (Jackson Parsons). Here are the top seven ECHL teams in save percentage:

• .929 - Atlanta
• .928 - Wheeling 
• .921 - Florida
• .918 - Wichita 
• .916 - Maine
• .915 - Tahoe 
• .914 - Allen 

- Stick taps to Adirondack's  Justin Taylor, who became the ECHL's all-time leader in games played last Saturday. Here are the top five all-time in games played:

 

885 – Justin Taylor (2010-Present)

884 – Michael Pelech (2009-2023)

859 – Sam Ftorek (1998-2018)

789 – Cam Brown (1991-2006)

776 – Garet Hunt (2008-2024)

 

Here are Justin Taylor’s ECHL all-time ranking:

#1 - games played (885)

#1 - years played (16)

#8 - goals (296)

#13 - points (580)

#41 - assists (284)

#53 - PIMS (1084)

 

 

- FYI, Matt Register is #8 all-time in games played (687), and Spencer Asuchak is #40 all-time with 526 games played. Other players in the top 50 who spent time in Allen include #14 Casey Pierro-Zabotel (621) and #21 Mathieu Aubin (592).

 

 

- Looking at the last ten games, two teams stand out, one on the high side and one on the low side. Florida leads the pack, earning 19 of 20 points in the last 10 games for a points percentage of .950. Norfolk has been in a tailspin, earning just 2 of 20 points over the previous 10 games for a points percentage of .100.  

 

 

- Four ECHL teams have yet to play a game outside their division: Allen, Kalamazoo, Orlando, and Worcester. Allen won't play a game outside the Mountain Division until February 4, when Norfolk visits Allen. The Americans visit South Carolina (March 20-22). Allen's final series outside the division will take place from April 2-4, when Greensboro visits the CUTX Event Center.  

 

 

- Here is the weekly recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/12/americans-weekly-americans-take-two-of-three-in-rapid-city     

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: This was my ECHL Stats post yesterday, which lists the top 10 players all-time in years played in the ECHL. Five of the 10 are still active, and two of the five are Allen Americans: 

In the 38-year history of the ECHL, only 10 players have played 13 or more seasons; five of the 10 are still active:

 

16 years - Justin Taylor, Adirondack

13 years - Matt Register, Allen

13 years - Anthony Collins, Tahoe

13 years - Justin Vaive, Cincinnati

13 years - Spencer Asuchak, Allen

 

 

Here are the five retired players in the top ten all-time in number of years played. In parentheses are the first and last years each player played in the ECHL. They did not play in the ECHL in all of the intervening years:

 

15 years - Sam Ftorek (1998-2016)

14 years - Michael Pelech (2009-2023)

14 years - Ernie Hartlieb (2000-2019)

13 years - Cam Brown (1991-2006)

13 years - Garet Hunt (2008-2024)