Today Is Nothing But Good News Day

With another practice day for the Allen Americans as they prepare to take on the Rapid City Rush tomorrow night at the Allen Event Center (AEC), I was trying to think of something to write about this morning. I was reminded of a huge retirement community in Florida where several friends have moved to enjoy their retirement years. The community is so large they have their own daily newspaper and parts of the paper are reserved for good news only. In that spirit, today will be a good news only blog post. The last few blogs have been all about what is going wrong with this team so devoting one day to all the positives seems only fair. Here goes:

- Allen has won two of their last three games and in the one loss at Missouri the Americans outshot the Mavericks 22-2 in the third period and almost pulled out a win.

- The Americans are undefeated on the season when scoring first with a perfect 4-0 record. There are only four other teams in the league (Florida, Ft. Wayne, Indy, Tulsa) that have not lost a game when scoring first.

- Chad Costello has scored in seven of the last eight games (3 goals 9 assists), leads the ECHL in assists and is second in points.

- Derek Mathers has quickly become a presence with the Americans providing the toughness for the team. He has played in just 11 games but leads the ECHL in penalty minutes (73) and fighting majors (9). According the the website dropyourgloves.com Derek has yet to lose a fight, winning six of nine fights with the others being rated a draw.

- Allen is undefeated when games go past regulation time, an area where they struggled last season. The Americans are 1-0 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts. Last season they were 3-3 in overtimes and 3-4 in shootouts.

- The Americans have been a strong third period team thus far having outscored (21-16) and outshot (174-143) their opponents in the third period.

- There have been only four times in the ECHL this season when a team has taken 22 or more shots in the third period. Allen has two of the four. They outshot Missouri 22-2 this past Tuesday and on October 25 against Tulsa they outshot the Oilers 25-3 in the third period. 

- Greger Hanson has a point in six of the last eight games (4 goals 6 assists) and on the season is scoring an average of 1.07 points per game.

- Spencer Asuchak already has more goals (6) and assists (6) than he scored during the regular season with Allen last year. He is averaging .86 points per game versus .56 last season and his shooting percentage has doubled from last season (20.7% vs 10.5%).

- In his second season with Allen, Eric Roy has improved his average points per game from .58 to .79. He has 11 points (3 goals 8 assists) which ranks him fifth in the ECHL among defensemen. 

- Joel Chouinard is sixth in the ECHL in plus/minus with a +10.

- Allen is averaging almost five more shots on goal per game than last season. This season the Americans are ranked #7 averaging 33.43 shots per game. Last season they were ranked #24 averaging 28.82 shots per game.

- Last season Allen finished 20 points out of first place in the Central Division. They are currently just five points out of first place in the Mountain Division.

-  Just a reminder of how talented the Allen Americans are can be seen by the following stats looking at the 23 players currently on the roster. Nine players were drafted by the NHL. 21 of the the 23 players on the roster have played in the AHL and there are 10 players with more than 20 AHL games.  Combined, the roster has 750 AHL games under their belts.

- Here are a few photos from practice yesterday courtesy of Dianne Webster:

"Everybody with eyes on the shooter"

Kale Kerbashian riding the bike while talking to trainer and watching practice

Jamie Murray

- There you have it, an entire blog post with nothing but positive news. Have to admit it was fun to research and write. Tomorrow it will be back to normal with the Allen vs Rapid City game preview.




DID YOU KNOW: Winning the regular season championship is not a good predictor of playoff success. Once the playoffs start any team is capable of winning. Allen has won four straight championships but only once (2012-13) did they have the best regular season record.

Practice Update, Injured Players Return, Hockey Analytics, Just Seven ECHL Teams Below .500

- It looked to me like a pretty somber group at the Allen Americans practice yesterday. I am sure many were tired after a long road trip, a 5-3 loss to Missouri on Tuesday followed by a 475 mile bus ride back to Allen and then practicing Wednesday morning.  With a 6-8 record there aren't going to be many days off with coach Martinson.

- There was some good news however, as Gary Steffes, who was injured in warmups in Missouri when he stepped on a puck and crashed into the boards and had to miss the game, was back at practice.

- Also back at practice as full participants were Tristan King who was injured back on October 28 and Mike Gunn who hasn't played since October 29 and is coming off an injury.

- Kale Kerbashian is slowly recovering from his injury and has been cleared to start skating. It will still be a while before he is game ready but he is making progress.

- Allen's opponent on Saturday (Rapid City) played the Oilers last night in Tulsa and beat the top team in the league standings 2-0. They will play Tulsa again on Friday night before heading to Allen for the game with the Americans Saturday night. After a very poor start (2-9-1-0) the Rush have won their last two games against a couple of good teams in Tulsa and Colorado. The Americans will definitely be the more rested team on Saturday. 

- It was good to see J.P. LaFontaine has been picked up by the Elmira Jackals after being released by Allen. He is a great guy off the ice and is also a great teammate. It is always difficult when popular players like LaFontaine and Rick Pinkston move on but it is the nature of the game at this level.

- I keep getting asked if more changes are coming. Based on history and how the team is playing the answer to that question is yes. As the general manager, Steve Martinson is always trying to find ways to improve the roster. This is the time of year where players that signed in Europe for the first time might be realizing it is not what they thought it would be especially if they are on a losing team. Martinson is probably checking in with these players as well as free agents in North America. ECHL trades are also an option. While there may be more urgency to this process if the team doesn't get things turned around soon, this is the job of a general manager and it is a process Martinson uses each and every year.

- I came across this interesting article about the recent coaching change in Orlando and what impact analytics may have had in the change. After all the Solar Bears record at the time of the coaching change was 5-5-1-0. The title of the article is, "Solar Bears Coaching Swap a Potential Sign of Leafs Trickle-Down." Check it out: http://theleafsnation.com/2016/11/15/solar-bears-coaching-swap-a-potential-sign-of-leafs-trickle-down

- Talk about great starts how about the Florida Everblades who have the highest winning percentage in the ECHL (.955) with a record of 10-0-1-0.

- Saw this quote Gary Steffes posted on social media last night. It certainly has a lot of applications and hockey may be one of them. "Commitment is staying true to what you were gonna do long after the mood you said it in passes"-----Inky Johnson


DID YOU KNOW: Just seven of the 27 teams in the ECHL have losing records and three of the seven are in the Mountain Division. Here are the ECHL teams with a losing record in winning percentage order with an asterisk by the Mountain Division teams.

.208 - Norfolk
.273 - Elmira
.321 - Rapid City*
.375 - Missouri*
.409 - Indy
.429 - Allen*
.464 - Reading

Allen Loses to Missouri 5-3 After Big 3rd Period Comeback - LaFontaine Released

For the record the Allen Americans lost to the Missouri Mavericks yesterday by a score of 5-3 to split their four game road trip 2-2. The game against the Mavericks was typical for the Americans this season as they gave up the first goal for the 10th time in 14 games. They were badly outplayed in the first period surrendering three goals, allowed another goal in the second period to go down 4-0 and then came storming back in the third period. Goals by Travis Brown (2), Spencer Asuchak (6) and Tanner Eberle (3) cut the score to 4-3 with over nine minutes left but the Americans could not get the equalizer. Allen out shot Missouri 22-2 in the third period and 38-25 for the game.

- Coach Martinson is always coming up with unorthodox strategies and he did so again in this game. Trailing 4-1 in the third period the Americans had a five on three power play with over 11 minutes remaining in the game. Martinson opted to pull the goalie to create a 6-3 power play and it worked as Spencer Asuchak jammed home a rebound. Eberle scored a little over a minute later to make the score 4-3 and Allen missed several great chance down the stretch to tie the score before Missouri scored an empty net goal to seal the 5-3 victory.

- A look at goals scored by period this entire season gives you a good idea how the poor early starts have plagued the Americans. Allen has scored the first goal in just four games this season and are 4-0 in those games. Their opponents have scored first in 10 games and the Americans record in those games is 2-8. Allen has been outscored 20-11 in the first period, are even in the second period (11-11) and have outscored their opponents in the third period 21-16. Playing from behind has proven to be an Achilles heel for this team as third period comebacks have come up short more often than not.

- So the Americans return to the Allen Event Center (AEC) for one game against Rapid City on Saturday, before finishing the month of November with six more road games. The Americans were 2-2 on the just completed road trip but the two wins don't give you a lot of confidence the team has their poor play turned around. The first win was a 5-1 victory in Utah.  Allen scored five goals but only generated 20 shots on goal, their lowest total of the season. They were out shot 41-20. The 21 shot difference was the highest of the season. In the Americans second win, also in Utah, they trailed the entire game, tied the score with less than four seconds remaining and won in a shootout after being out shot 7-2 in the overtime period. The two wins in Utah were important for sure but there was cause for concern in both of the victories. If it hadn't been for the outstanding play of goalie Riley Gill both games in Utah could have had different outcomes.

- Coach Martinson was happy with this team when he put it together and felt it was one of the most talented he has had but he also is a believer that you can't wait too long to make a change if the team isn't performing. The season is now 20% completed and the team is two games below .500 and out of a playoff spot. Martinson has already made two moves, trading Rick Pinkston for Alex Guptill and releasing J.P. LaFontaine. You can be assured there are more on the way. He will get this turned around one way or another but he won't stand pat with a losing team and hope all of a sudden they can flip a switch and start playing the right way.

- What exactly is needed to get things turned around? Is team speed a problem? Do they need to be quicker? Does there need to be more of a commitment to team defense? Do players need to be more committed to winning games than scoring points? These are all questions coach Martinson will be looking at as he considers roster changes.

- This has been mentioned many times in the past and the team would never use it as an excuse but Allen is one of very few teams that take a bus on these long road trips. The team has played four games in the past week and traveled over 3000 miles on the bus with one breakdown thrown in for good measure. That is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 hours on the bus. After the home game on Saturday, Allen will have six road games in 11 days and travel another 4500 bus miles including trips to Idaho and Utah. There really is such a thing as bus legs and with other teams flying on these long trips it is a disadvantage to the Allen players. Over 7500 bus miles in the month of November with two trips out west is a bit much. It seems like it would be money well spent to fly the team in these situations. 


DID YOU KNOW: How bad is this 6-8 start for the Americans. Under Steve Martinson they have never had fewer than 10 wins after the first 14 games of a season. Here are the records:
2016-17:    6-8
2015-16:    10-4
2014-15:    11-3
2013-14:    10-4
2012-13:    11-3

Allen vs Missouri Game Preview - Who Will Get Schooled on Education Day - The Details

It is game day for the Allen Americans or should I say it is game morning for the Allen Americans as they take on the Missouri Mavericks in Independence, Mo. with a rare 10:30 am puck drop.

- Early morning hockey is certainly not a rarity as the availability of ice time makes for strange hours both early and late. Youth hockey has early games and there are adult leagues that play at 6:00 am so everyone can head off to work. Even for the Americans skating in the morning is the norm as practice typically starts at 10:00 am. But for the professional hockey player, most of who have a very specific game day routine, today will be unique. What and when they eat along with their physical and mental preparation will be out of sync. It all starts with an early wake up call and departure for the rink at 8:15 this morning.

- The early start time will not be the only unique part of the game today as the makeup of the crowd will be unique. It is the inaugural "Education Day/School Day" game for the Mavericks where local schools can come to the game and take advantage of all of the educational elements that will be incorporated. Students will receive a hockey-themed workbook and special educational themed videos will air during the game. The in game contests will have an educational twist as well. There will be many children, teachers and chaperones in attendance at their first hockey game. It all should make for a lot of noise and fun environment for all.

- What won't be unique about the game is the rivalry between these two teams. Both franchises started the same year in the Central Hockey League back in 2009. While Missouri has been the more successful franchise from a business perspective the Americans have been the better team on the ice. Missouri is still looking for their first championship while Allen has won four and been the runner up once.

- Since joining the ECHL the Americans are 15-6-1-0 against the Mavericks including a record of 6-3 in Missouri. Even last year when the Mavericks were the best team in the ECHL during the regular season and finished with a record of 52-15-3-2, five of the 15 losses were at the hands of the Americans.

- Both teams have struggled early this season currently ranking fifth (Allen) and sixth (Missouri) in the Mountain Division. Remember, only the top four teams in each division make the playoffs.

- The game today will be the third between Allen and Missouri this season. They will play a total of 13 times. The first two games were played in Allen on October 15 &16. Allen handily won both games. Riley Gill won the opening night game 6-3 as the teams recorded a total of 86 shots on goal. The next night Jamie Murray stopped 35 Missouri shots on the way to a 4-0 shutout.



- Here is how Allen and Missouri match up:

                                    ALLEN                              MISSOURI

Team Record:             6-7-0-0 (12 points)             3-7-0-1 (7 points)
Division Ranking:        5th Mountain                     6th Mountain
Conference Ranking:  10th Western                     13th Western
League Ranking:        18th                                    24th
Last Game:                 3-2 Win (Utah)                   6-1 Loss (Ft. Wayne)
Goals For:                   42                                      31
Goals Against:            42                                      43
Power Play:                7.3% (4/55)                       10.4% (7/67)
Penalty Kill:                80.6% (12/62)                    86.0% (6/43)
Most PIM                    Mathers (73)                      Elbrecht (32)
Leading Scorers:        Costello (4-14-18)              Fox (4-6-10)


-  Here is how Allen and Missouri rank in the ECHL in some statistical categories:

Penalty Minutes Per Game: Allen 3rd (19.69) - Missouri 13th (14.09)
Goals Scored Per Game: Allen 14th (3.23) - Missouri 20th (2.82)
Goals Allowed Per Game: Allen 18th (3.23) - Missouri 24th (3.91)
Shots For Per Game: Allen 10th (33.08) - Missouri 5th (34.09)
Shots Against Per Game: Allen 24th (36.38) - Missouri 17th (32.09)
Power Play Percentage: Allen 25th (7.3%) - Missouri 22nd (10.4%)
Penalty Kill Percentage: Allen 22nd (80.6%) - Missouri 11th (86.0%)

- A couple of things stand out when you look at the stats. Both of these teams have really struggled on their power play. Allen has just four power play goals all season (4-55) but the good news is they have a power play goal in two of their last three games. The Mavericks have seven power play goals all season but four of them have come in their last three games. Watch to see which teams continues their recent success on the power play.

- Another key to this game will be shots on goal. Allen is giving up way too many averaging 36.38 per game while Missouri is one of the better teams in the league in generating shots. In the opening night game 6-3 loss to Allen on October 15 the Mavericks had 47 shots on goal.

- Missouri seems to struggle against teams that play a physical style so look for Allen to finish their checks and emphasis their physical play. The recent additions of Derek Mathers, Harrison Ruopp and Alex Guptill make Allen a tougher team to play against.


The referee scheduled for the game is Stephen Reneau (#17) and the linesmen are Lucas Bisbee (#72 and Chase Wilkinson (#68).


OTHER COMMENTS

- Alex Guptill, who was acquired from Manchester in a trade for Rick Pinkston will make his debut for Allen against Missouri. Here is the press release announcing the acquisition of Guptill: https://allenamericans.com/americans-acquire-former-dallas-stars-draft-pick-from-manchester/

- With the addition of Guptill it makes a total of 15 forwards on the Allen roster. While some are injured (Neuber, Kerbashian, King) the team can't and won't keep that many forwards. I would anticipate a forward to be traded or released soon.

- Here is a video Tommy Daniels recorded yesterday with coach Martinson where he talks about the road trip and game with Missouri: https://youtu.be/iRDwlDTrRHg


- Here is information on Alex Guptill courtesy of hockeydb:

Alexander Guptill

Left Wing -- shoots L
Born Mar 5 1992 -- Burlington, ONT
[24 yrs. ago]
Height 6.03 -- Weight 200

Drafted by Dallas Stars

- round 3 #77 overall 2010 NHL Entry Draft

Regular Season

						Playoffs
Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2008-09	Brampton Capitals	OJHL	49	30	34	64	28
2009-10	Brampton Capitals	OJHL	10	6	5	11	24	0
2009-10	Orangeville Crushers	OJHL	19	13	13	26	26	11
2010-11	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL	43	13	12	25	53	-13	2	0	0	0	0
2011-12	U. of Michigan	CCHA	41	16	17	33	48
2012-13	U. of Michigan	CCHA	38	16	20	36	32
2013-14	U. of Michigan	Big-10	31	12	13	25	20
2013-14	Texas Stars	AHL	5	0	2	2	6	0	--	--	--	--	--
2014-15	Binghamton Senators	AHL	61	9	9	18	74	-3	--	--	--	--	--
2015-16	Binghamton Senators	AHL	3	0	1	1	4	-2	--	--	--	--	--
2015-16	Evansville Icemen	ECHL	24	9	4	13	23	-7	--	--	--	--	--
2015-16	Manchester Monarchs	ECHL	14	5	5	10	9	1	--	--	--	--	--
2015-16	Rochester Americans	AHL	20	3	5	8	28	3	--	--	--	--	--
2016-17	Manchester Monarchs*	ECHL	8	3	3	6	11	1
2016-17	Allen Americans	ECHL	Statistics Unavailable

DID YOU KNOW: Allen and Missouri have met in the playoffs twice since their franchises began in 2009. In the 2013 CHL playoffs the Americans beat the Mavericks in game seven of the semi-finals. Game seven was in Allen and the Americans won 7-3 to eliminate Missouri. Brian McMillin and Todd Robinson led the way for Allen with two goals each. The Americans went on to win the championship. Last season Allen beat the number one seeded Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs 4-2. The Americans won the series in game six in Missouri by a score of 5-1 led by Greger Hanson who had two goals and an assist. Allen went on to win their fourth straight championship. 

Allen Beats Utah 3-2 in a Thriller, Coaches Comments, The Anatomy of the Big Goal

If you checked the score of the Allen Americans game last night or watched/listened to it live you know the Americans won the game 3-2 in a shootout. It was as exciting a finish as you could wish for if you are an Allen fan. Aaron Gens scored with just 3.5 seconds left in the game to tie the score 2-2. The Americans won the game in a shootout as Greger Hanson and Matt Willows scored while Riley Gill stopped both Utah shooters.

The subplots in this game were many. Here are my thoughts:

- There is little doubt this team has great confidence in goalie Riley Gill. When you have a three time Kelly Cup champion, who is the winningest playoff goalie in ECHL history, in the net it just gives the team confidence. Gill stopped 78 of 81 (.963) shots in the back to back wins in Utah including seven in the overtime last night. With Gill in goal Allen has a record of 4-2, without him they are 2-5.

- It was fitting to see Aaron Gens get the big goal to tie the game last night. He was a healthy scratch on Wednesday in Colorado for the first time since joining the Americans. Gens played two solid games in Utah. He had the big goal last night, an assist on Friday night and was a plus two for the weekend.

-  The Americans won both games in Utah after giving up the first goal of the game. They have given up the first goal in eight of their 12 games and the two games in Utah are the only ones they have won.

- Last season Allen was 3-4 in shootouts and converted on only 23.5% (8-34) of their shootout attempts. Last night they were 2-2 as Greger Hanson and Matt Willows converted.


QUOTES FROM THE GAMES

"We played much better tonight. We had a strong first 10 minutes but then we started turning pucks over.".....Allen coach Steve Martinson

"We took a bad penalty in the third period and then followed it up with a bad penalty kill.".....Martinson

"It was great to see the comeback, this type of game can really help when you are struggling.".....Martinson

"I started to go with two defensemen toward the end of the overtime period because we were giving up more chances than we were generating. I figured we had a better chance in the shootout.".....Martinson

"We played an unreal game. I thought we could've won 6-2. Riley Gill made some huge saves once again, that is why he has won as many championships as he has. We have to be proud of the way we played. I thought we played excellent in both games.".....Utah coach Tim Branham

"I liked our effort, I thought our system play was much better tonight. We did a lot of good things tonight. We played an unreal hockey game for 59 minutes.".....Branham

"It was a great pass from Chad Costello and I knew I had to get the shot off quickly. Both goalies were great tonight, but Riley was a little better.".....Aaron Gens describing is game tying goal



ANATOMY OF THE GENS GOAL

If you didn't have a chance to see the Aaron Gens goal to tie the game 2-2 with 3.5 seconds remaining it is a fascinating play where every Allen player played a key role. There was a faceoff in Allen's offensive zone to the left of the Utah goalie with 13.2 seconds remaining.  Chris Crane won the draw against Utah's Jon Puskar but the puck got tangled in their feet as they both fell to the ice. When they went down Puskar's helemt came off.  Spencer Asuchak was at the dot in a flash, dug out the puck, sent it to Eric Roy at the point and headed to the front of the net. With 10 seconds left Roy passes the puck to Chad Costello on the side boards. At the same time Puskar has to head to the Grizzlies bench because he doesn't have his helmet. Costello is all alone and has time to make a play. At this point Asuchak is in front of the net, Crane has his back to Costello heading toward the net and Matt Willows is on the opposite of the ice heading toward the side of the goal. Aaron Gens is on the opposite side board, behind and outside Willows. With nobody pressuring Costello he clearly sends a pass through the slot intended for Willows. The pass bounces off the heel of a Utah defensman's stick and goes right to Gens who takes a shot that the goalie gets a piece of but it trickles in. There was actually 6 seconds left when the goal went in but the clock continued to run and was stopped with 3.5 seconds remaining. Sorry for all the detail on this goal but as I watched the replay (probably 50 times) it became obvious how everyone contributed. Crane winning the faceoff and engaging Puskar all the way to the ice where he lost his helmet, Asuchak's quick action to get to the faceoff dot, dig it out of the legs and throw it back to Roy and then go immediately to the front of the net. Roy getting the puck to the wide open Costello on the side boards. Willows and Gens positioning themselves on the opposite of the ice to accept the pass from Costello. When you give Chad Costello time and space to make a pass it usually means something good is likely to happen and Aaron Gens made it happen last night.


OTHER COMMENTS

- The team left immediately after the game on the close to 1100 mile trip to Missouri. They will stay in Independence until Tuesday when they take on the Mavericks. The Mavericks are hosting their inaugural "Education Day" game with a 10:30 am start. Talk about changing your game day routine. The good news for the Americans is with an early start they will arrive back in Allen at a reasonable hour Tuesday night.

- It was announced yesterday that Allen has traded Rick Pinkston to the Manchester Monarchs for a player that should be named today or tomorrow. Pinkston is a class guy who is great with the fans and it always hurts to lose that type of player. Sometimes when the coach identifies a skill set he needs to improve the team, a good player is dealt to get the player that will help. Hopefully it will be a decent fit for Pinkston in Manchester. The Monarchs are a good team (currently 2nd in the North Division) and Manchester is just 75 miles from where Rick played his college hockey at Dartmouth.

- It was a great night for the San Jose affiliated teams with Allen winning 3-2, the Barracuda beating the Texas Stars 8-5 and the Sharks beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1.

- With the Allen win and a loss by Colorado, the Americans are still in fifth place in the Mountain Division but are only three points out of first place.

- Finally, no blog tomorrow as the team has the day off and I am headed to Lake Texoma to do some striper (Striped Bass) fishing. Wish me luck.


DID YOU  KNOW: Chad Costello is already #40 on the all-time ECHL assist list (268) even though he has only played in 250 ECHL games. Chad is one of only three players that have averaged over 1.00 assist per game in their ECHL career.

Allen Beats Utah 5-1, Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

Is the glass half full or half empty for the Allen Americans?

Anytime you win a road game 5-1 to snap a four game losing streak it is a good night. That is what happened to the Allen Americans last night in Utah before a crowd of 6463 at the Maverik Center. However, you must have a "win is a win" philosophy to come away from the victory feeling good about the team's performance. Maybe the best approach is take a look at the 5-1 win from a glass half full versus glass half empty perspective.

THE HALF FULL VERSION

- Allen scored five goals and was led by the core guys that needed to step up to get things turned around. Goal scorers were Eric Roy (3), Chad Costello (3&4), Spencer Asuchak (5) and Greger Hanson (7).

- After a long drought the Americans had a power play goal for the second game in a row. They were 1-3 on the power play.

- Allen was perfect on the penalty kill as Utah was 0-3 on the power play. The Americans came into the game having given up six power play goals in 19 attempts on the road.

- Riley Gill was outstanding in goal stopping 40 of 41 shots.

- Allen had only six penalty minutes while Utah had 18 penalty minutes.

- Allen out shot Utah 12-9 in the first period. It was the first time in eight games Allen has out shot their opponent in the first period.

- For the first time all season Allen won a game after giving up the first goal. Utah scored the first goal of the game at the 4:20 mark of the opening period but never scored again. The Americans scored five unanswered goals.


THE HALF EMPTY VERSION

- Allen scored five goals but only generated 20 shots on goal, their lowest total of the season. They were out shot 41-20. The 21 shot difference was the highest of the season.

- The Americans were out shot in the last two periods by a hard to believe 32-8. In the second period they were out shot 18-2. The two shots were the fewest shots in the second period by any team in the ECHL all season.

- The Americans scored five goals on 20 shots but it was against a rookie goalie with a 1-3 record, a GAA of 4.76 and save percentage of .833.

- For the eighth time in 12 games Allen allowed the first goal of the game.

- Defensive lapses continued for the Americans especially in the last two periods. Utah coach Tim Branham said it best, "The difference tonight was goaltending. We out shot them 2-1 and I guarantee we out chanced them 2-1."


 OTHER COMMENTS

- It was an important win for Allen last night as a first to step getting back on the right track. They will need to play a much better game tonight in the rematch with the Grizzlies if they expect to win. Being out shot 2-1 will not win you many games.

- Not sure who selects the three stars of the game in Utah and not to take anything away from the players selected (#1 Costello, #2 Hanson, #3 Roy) but it is hard to believe you could watch that game and not give a star to Riley Gill who saved 40 of 41 shots with many of them being quality chances. All I can say is C'MON MAN!

- The win last night was the 300th regular season win in Allen Americans franchise history. 172 of the 300 wins have been with Steve Martinson as head coach.

- With his three point night (2 goals, 1 assist) Chad Costello now has 16 points and is just one point behind the league leaders in points.

- With a goal and an assist last night, Eric Roy now has 10 points (3 goals 7 assists) which is second in the league for points scored by a defenseman.

- Riley Gill's save percentage is now at .939 which is fifth in the ECHL.

- Even though the team won the game last night it is hard to remember a worse 5-1 win. Coach Martinson has mentioned at his last two press conference he has been working the phones to try and improve the roster. I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a move in the near future.

- Despite their poor start and being mired in fifth place, with the win last night Allen is just five points out of first place in the Mountain Division. Here are the current standings:

15 points - Colorado
13 points - Alaska
13 points - Idaho
12 points - Utah
10 points - Allen
7 points - Missouri
5 points - Rapid City

- Game time tonight is 8:00 pm Allen time and it is "Pooch on the Pond" night in Utah. Fans can bring their dog to the game and sit in the exclusive pooch section. 




DID YOU KNOW: The top two scorers in the ECHL are from the Rapid City Rush who have the worst record in the Western Conference (2-9-1-0). Lindsay Sparks and Ryan Walters each have 17 points. Sparks and Walters have a third of the Rush's total points (34 of 105).

Team Stats Leaders, Former Players Now in Europe, Former Players Wearing (C) or (A) Elsewhere

Even though the Americans are playing in Utah tonight (Friday) rather than doing a game preview by pointing out all of the team's recent struggles I thought today would be a good time to cover a few topics I have been thinking about lately. One being the team stats leaders and how they compare to the ECHL stat leaders. Second, after seeing Darryl Bootland and Casey Pierro-Zabotel wearing leadership letters (A's) for Colorado Wednesday night it struck me that there have been a lot of players that played on championship teams in Allen that have gone on to be leaders on other teams. You will be surprised at the length of that list. Finally, a check on how some of the players from the past are doing in Europe. If you are interested in the game preview check out the press release from Tommy Daniels, "Road Trip Continues Tonight In Utah" at this link: https://allenamericans.com/road-trip-continues-tonight-in-utah/


TEAM STATS LEADERS

- Despite their disappointing record the Americans are averaging almost the exact same number of goals per game this season as last (3.08 vs 3.09). Below are the team leaders in various statistical categories after 11 games with the league rank in parentheses:

Points:
13 - Chad Costello (9th)
11 - Greger Hanson (17th)
10 - Spencer Asuchak (29th)

Goals:
6 - Greger Hanson (8th)
4 - Spencer Asuchak (30th)
4 - Matt Willows (30th)

Assists:
11 - Chad Costello (4th)
6 - Spencer Asuchak (33rd)
6 -  Eric Roy (33rd)
6 - Joel Chouinard(33rd)

Plus/Minus:
+9 - Joel Chouinard (3rd)
+5 - J. P. LaFontaine(29th)
+4 - Eric Roy (52nd)

Penalty Minutes:
66 - Derek Mathers (1st)
25 - Dyson Stevenson (17th)
16 - Mike Gunn (50th)

Shots On Goal:
47 - Greger Hanson
32 - Chris Crane
31 - Chad Costello

- Jamie Murray is fourth among goalies in the ECHL in minutes played (465) and third in saves (238).

- Eric Roy is tied for fourth in the league for points by a defenseman (8) and is only one point behind the league lead. Joel Chouinard is second in plus/minus for a defenseman at +9 which is outstanding for a team that is 4-7.



ALLEN HAS PRODUCED MANY LEADERS

One of the things you always hear around successful teams is there are a lot of leaders in the locker room. Check out this list of players who were on one or more of Allen's championship teams that went on to be captains (C) or alternate captains (A) on other teams:

Darryl Bootland - Colorado Eagles (A)
Jamie Schaafsma - Fort Wayne Komets (C)
Ian Schultz - Edinburgh Capitals (A)
Trevor Ludwig - Missouri Mavericks (C), Orlando Solar Bears (A)
Daniel Tetrault - Rapid City Rush (C)
Jarret Lukin - Evansville IceMen (C)
Trevor Hendrikx - Cardiff Devils (A)
Drew Daniels - Fort Wayne Komets (A)
Bryce Aneloski - Orlando Solar Bears (A)
Adam Pineault - Utah Grizzlies (A)
Garrett Klotz - Indy Fuel (A)
Casey Pierro-Zabotel - Colorado Eagles (A)
Jack Combs -  Greenville Swamp Rabbits (A)


FORMER PLAYERS IN EUROPE

Here is an update on players from last season's Kelly Cup team who are playing in Europe this season along with a few favorites from the past. Stats courtesy of eliteprospects.com.

David Makowski - David is playing for a team in Hungary (Szekesfehervar) and has seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) in 13 games. He is the top scoring defenseman on his team but also has the team's worst plus/minus (-12). His team is currently in 11th place in a 12 team league.

Jordan Rowley - Jordan is playing in Sweden (HC Vita Hasten) and has nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 16 games. He is the top scoring defenseman on his team and is third in scoring overall. His team is tied for last place in a 14 team league.

Thomas Carr - Carr is playing in France (Gap) and has 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in 17 games. His team is in fourth place in a 12 team league.

Alex Lavoie - Alex is playing in Sweden (BIK Karlskoga) and has 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 18 games. He is third on the team in scoring. His team is in first place in the 14 team league.

Jack Combs - Jack is playing in Germany (Fischtown Pinguins) and has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 15 games. He leads the team in scoring. His team is in 11th place in a 14 team league.

Ian Schultz - Ian is playing in Scotland (Edinburgh Capitals) and has two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in nine games. His team is in seventh place in a 10 team league.

  

DID YOU KNOW: The oldest team in the ECHL is the Alaska Aces with an average age of 26.17 years. The youngest team is the Missouri Mavericks with an average age of 23.65 years. The Allen Americans rank #12 in the ECHL with an average age of 25.04 years.