Hank Crone has been traded to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits for future considerations, which will be a player to be determined at the March ECHL trade deadline.
- What went into this decision? I asked Coach Martinson to share his rationale for the trade, and here are some of the factors.
- The team is so deep at forward with contracted players from Utah/Tucson and Ottawa/Belleville, plus the play of leading scorers Mathieu De St. Phalle and Riley Kidney that top-six minutes are hard to come.
- Martinson is expecting to get one or more contract forwards from Belleville as players return from injury.
- Tucson has three forwards on the roster that haven't played a game and could get sent to Allen.
- Martinson has two players from prior seasons who may return.
- Crone is a good player and had his best seasons playing for Chad Costello. Martinson has reunited Crone with Chad, where he will have a bigger role and do well.
- What Martinson gets in the trade is the possibility of acquiring a good player for the playoffs at the trade deadline. He doesn't need players now.
- In addition to being the ECHL MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2022-23, Hank leaves Allen with these stats. When you consider that Crone is #17 on the all-time games played list (176), his totals are impressive.
- #1 - goals in a season (49)
- #3 - points in a season (105)
- #4 - all-time assists (134)
- #4 - all-time points per game (1.21) minimum 150 games
- #5 - assists in a season (56)
- #6 - all-time points (213)
- #7 - all-time goals (79)
ALLEN vs NEW MEXICO PREVIEW:
- Allen will play the ECHL's newest franchise, New Mexico Goatheads, six times this season. Tonight, Friday, and Saturday on the road, and February 18, 19, and 20 at home.
- Here is a comparison of the teams thus far:
- Allen's record is 5-2-0-0 (.667) vs New Mexico 1-4-3-0 (.313)
- Allen scores more, 3.5 goals vs 2.3, and allows fewer goals, 2.7 vs 4.0, than New Mexico.
- The Goatheads have a better power play percentage, 14.6% vs 7.4%.
- The Americans have a better penalty kill percentage, 91.3% vs 78.9%
- Allen has scored 21 goals and allowed 16 for a +5 goal differential.
- New Mexico has scored 18 goals and allowed 32 for a -14 goal differential.
- Keys to the games for the Americans are no surprise:
- Get off to a good start and don't give the Goatheads hope by playing from behind. Allen is one of the best teams in the league when it scores first.
- Win the special teams battle. The Allen power play looked good last week. It could really break out in this series. The penalty kill unit has been great; they have given up two goals, but have scored two shorthanded goals. New Mexico has given up four shorties in eight games, so a shorthanded goal by the Americans may make a difference in this series.
- Good goaltending is always key to a good defense. Jesper Vikman leads the ECHL in saves and has improved his save percentage from .844 after his first game in Allen to .910. In his last two games, he had save percentages of .926 and .964. He has been a workhorse, playing in all six games for the Americans.
- Riley Kidney is tied for the league lead in goals (6) and has a three-game goal-scoring streak, the longest in the league.
- Mathieu De St. Phalle leads the team with 8 points (3G, 5A) and has a point in 5 of 6 games.
- Here is the series preview issued by the Allen Americans with more details and stats:
https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/11/series-opener-wednesday-night-in-new-mexico
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