Steve Martinson's Facebook Live Comments, Former Allen Player Signings, Worst NHL Tape Job Video, Allen Players Moving Up the All Time Games Played List, Allen Alumni Game & More

 - I have had a lot of questions from those not able to watch the recent Facebook Live event with Stave Martinson so I thought a recap would be helpful. The main topic was to announce the new affiliation with the Wild but there were many more worthwhile nuggets from coach Martinson. Here are a few highlights:

- Tom Kurvers, the assistant general manager of the Minnesota Wild is a friend of mine since our playing days. It is a unique situation that will be beneficial. I expect we will be able to get a lot of guys into Iowa's training camp and a couple of players into the Wild's prospect tournament in Traverse City. I am really excited by this affiliation and think it will be a great opportunity for our players to move up.

- Right now we are looking at four or five players being assigned to Allen from Iowa including a goalie that will be a depth goalie for them but has been a top goalie in our league and has AHL experience. The number could increase over the next couple of months depending on who the Wild sign.

- This is just a one year deal with the Wild but I expect this to go on for a long time. Most affiliations are year to year. We are excited about working with them and they are excited to be working with us.

- We have signed a lot of players from last year but some have been told they have to come in under certain conditions. I have made it clear to some of the returning players they have to change some things and they have to do that early or they won't be here very long. There is a short window to prove you are serious about your career and show me hockey is your top priority. I expect this to be the most competitive training camp since I have been in Allen.

- We are way ahead of where we have been in the past with good young players because we added rookies at the end of last season. Couple that with the guys I expect to get from the Wild, guys we have coming back and new guys I am close to signing we should have a powerhouse.

- There are some players from the Colorado Eagles who are now free agents because the Eagles have moved to the AHL. There is a possibility a couple of those guys ending up with us but we will have to wait and see.

- There will be a couple of exhibition/preseason games in Allen.

-  Josh Thrower may play at right wing this season.



FORMER PLAYERS

- If you haven't been keeping track of the former Allen Americans who have signed with new teams for next season here is a partial list from the last few weeks:

Alex Guptill - signed in England with the Nottingham Panthers
Jared Bethune - headed to college at Queen's University
Peter MacArthur - signed with the Adirondack Thunder
Gordie Ballhorn - headed to college at the University of Saskatchewan
Stephon Williams - signed in Slovakia with HC Banksa Bystrica
Vincent Arseneau - signed with Utica Comets (AHL) but Allen retains his ECHL rights
Alexandre Carrier - signed with the Atlanta Gladiators
Bryan Moore - signed with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) 
Jaynen Rissling - from the Indy Fuel to the Nottingham Panthers (England)
Chris Crane - from the Orlando Solar Bears to the Norfolk Admirals
Daniel Leavens - from the Wichita Thunder to the Toledo Walleye
Corbin Baldwin - from the Idaho Steelheads to the Guildford Flames (England)
Jake Hildebrand - from the Tulsa Oilers to the Kalamazoo Wings
Tanner Eberle - from the Jacksonville IceMen to the Sheffield Steelers (England)
Harrison Ruopp - did not play professionally to the Manchester Storm (England)
Josh Brittain - from Banksa Bystrica (Slovakia) to Deggendorfer SC (Germany)
Joel Rumpel - from the Utah Grizzlies to to the Glasgow Clan (Scotland)



OTHER COMMENTS

- Now that Allen has ended their affiliation with San Jose the Sharks, options for an ECHL affiliate are limited. Here is article from Fear the Fin that lays out options for San Jose but also covers the entire NHL affiliation status with ECHL teams. A good read: https://www.fearthefin.com/2018/7/24/17599268/san-jose-sharks-new-echl-affiliate


- Here is a video about the NHL player's with the worst tape job on their sticks. This will be a good topic for a blog post about the Americans this season. Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn, among others, gets some shade thrown their way on how they tape their stick. Check it out:

- There is little doubt one of the most anticipated events of the upcoming season will be the first ever Allen Americans alumni game and the events that will surround it. There hasn't been much information about this 10th anniversary event but it got me to thinking what criteria you would use to pick the best players to ever put on the Allen Americans famous red sweater. Games played is certainly important as are points but how much weight should be given to championships, leadership, community involvement, awards, attitude, locker room impact etc. Erik Adams, former Allen defenseman and assistant coach has been named ambassador for the alumni game and other special events surrounding the game. Before training camp starts I will interview Erik to get more details on what will surely be a highlight of the season.


- I saw on social media the Costello family headed to Germany (Krefeld) this week to prepare for the upcoming hockey season. Chad joins Greger Hanson who signed with the Krefeld Pinguine at the end of last season. According to the website eliteprospects.com there was a rumor back in April that Jack Combs would also be signing with Krefeld but nothing has been announced since. It would be interesting to follow these three former Allen Americans as they try and help turn around the Krefeld Pinguine who finished last in the 14 team league last season.


- After the Joel Chouinard "Life After Hockey" story was posted on Thursday (http://allenamericansblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/joel-chouinard-shares-his-approach-to.html) I had a couple of readers ask how they can contact Joel to talk to him about their financial future. Here is his contact info:

DID YOU KNOW: If Joel Chouinard, David Makowski, Mike Gunn and Spencer Asuchak return to the Allen Americans (Chouinard and Gunn have already been announced) they could all end the season in the top ten all time for games played with Allen. Asuchak needs just 17 games to be #1 all time which is currently held by Tyler Ludwig (247 games). Gunn could get as high as #4, Makowski #5 and Chouinard #6. 

Joel Chouinard Shares His Approach to Life After Hockey - A Blueprint From the Captain

Joel & Courtney are expecting their first child, a boy, in November

 As recruitment for the 2018-19 hockey season is in full swing, Allen coach and general manager Steve Martinson has a very big tool kit at his disposal when talking to players about why playing for the Allen Americans is a good move for their career. I want to talk about just one of these tools in depth, preparing for a post hockey career, and share the story of Allen captain Joel Chouinard. But first here is my version of the recruiting pitch coach Martinson might make to a player he is recruiting.


-  Allen has never missed the playoffs in my six years as coach and we have won four championships. You can count on many additional weeks of pay as Allen makes a deep playoff run along with a couple of extra months of lodging and playoff bonuses. This can total $10,000 - $15,000 more in compensation for a player over a team that does not make the playoffs. 

- You will play in an upbeat, aggressive offensive system in Allen that is also dedicated to defensive hockey. Points you score in the ECHL won't keep you in the American Hockey League (AHL) but points will get you noticed. You have to be able to play without the puck and you have to understand the game and that is what we will help you with in Allen. With our system you will have plenty of opportunity to get points. We won't handcuff you in the third period with a lead. We will take less risks but we will keep our foot on the gas. If you want to play in a system where you can score a lot of points come to Allen.

- You will play in a great facility in the nine year old Allen Event Center which is surrounded by shopping and restaurants.  

- You will play for a team that has a history of moving young players to the AHL. Our goal is to see you progress in your hockey career.

- You will be able to develop your skating technique by working with skating coach Luke Chilcott who also works with AHL and NHL teams.

- While playing in the Dallas Metroplex you have access to whatever interests you may have including the Stars, Cowboys, Mavericks and Rangers. Playing where you have a major international airport makes it easier for you, your friends and family to travel in and out of DFW and for players to get to AHL cities quickly if called up.

- You will live in a place where you can play golf year around. Average high temperature during the hockey season is 79 in October, 66 in November, 57 in December, 55 in January, 61 in February, 69 in March, 77 in April and 84 in May. It is a great place to live whether your are single or married.

- If you like to fish there are plenty of opportunities within 30 minutes of your apartment. Fishing is excellent.

- One of the biggest detriments in recruiting in the past was that it was well known Allen traveled by bus more than other teams and players would bring that up as a problem. With new ownership Martinson can now tell players the team will be flying more and they have a newer, better bus when they do drive. One of the bigger obstacles has been overcome. 

- You will be helped with whatever your post hockey career interests are through our intern program and other corporate contacts. You will be able to develop business contacts while you are still playing that will be useful after you retire. The DFW metroplex is a great place to build a post career network whether you are planning on retiring in the area or just building your resume for your post career. DFW is the corporate headquarters to 22 Fortune 500 companies and 42 Fortune 1000 compamies. 

- It is this last point I would like to explore in more detail through the eyes of Allen Americans captain, Joel Chouinard. 


LIFE AFTER HOCKEY

I had the chance to sit down with Allen Americans captain Joel Chouinard to talk about preparing for a post career while still playing professional hockey. Joel had dreams of playing in the NHL and gave his all to that dream after being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL draft. While he was chasing his NHL dream Joel was keenly aware of the importance of an education. After all, his entire family has advanced degrees. His dad is a retired neuropsychologist, his mom was a school principal and his brother is in his last year of a Master's program in Economics at McGill University.

Joel started our discussion about preparing for a post hockey career with this comment, "I started thinking about my post hockey career when I still had playing in the NHL as my primary goal. The NHL is not my goal anymore. I gave it a good shot, I gave it every thing I had and I have no regrets."

Joel started taking classes the first year he turned professional (2011) through the University of Athabasca and is now just nine credits short of a Bachelor's degree in Management which he plans to complete during the upcoming season.

It is uncertain how long Joel will continue to play hockey. He is really comfortable where he is at. He loves playing for the Allen Americans and has no interest in going anywhere else. Chouinard admits he loves hockey more than anything and he will never be ready to retire and could play until he is forty and still love it. As he said, "Sure the traveling sucks but being out there playing on a Saturday night before a crowd of 5000 can't be beat so I know I am never going to be ready to retire but I want to have a plan to make it a lot easier transition when that day arrives."

Back in 2016 Joel read a story published on the website "The Players' Tribune" that was written by former NHL player Brandon Crombeen about life after hockey. Crombeen used his own experience to lay out a five point plan for life after hockey while still playing. His five points were:

1. Determine what interests you outside of playing hockey.
2. Once you have identified your interest, get some substance behind it.
3. Add depth to the experience you have.
4. Believe you can be successful outside hockey.
5. Don't forget about your hockey career.

Here is the complete Crombeen story: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/brandon-crombeen-nhl-advice

Joel used this article as a road map to continue his education, make contacts in the community, network with professionals, ask questions and pick a field that interests him. Last year Joel contacted New York Life Insurance Company and got life and health insurance licenses in November. Throughout the season he was taking classes, studying and getting ready so when the season ended he could start his "other" work. Joel has been working hard this summer trying to meet as many people as possible to develop his business. He has been working mainly with people from the big Allen Americans' family, whether families or business owners.

You may wonder what are the similarities between professional hockey and working for New York Life. Here is how Chouinard describes it, "I have heard it so many times that professional athletes tend to do very well in this industry because it is a lot about work ethic and not quitting. It is very difficult at first because you have to build your own book of business. But athletes tend to persevere and reap the rewards later down the road."

When I asked Joel why people should choose him over other financial professionals he responded, "I tell them three things. First, I love to help people. As a captain you have to care for all of your teammates and deal with every situation, good or bad and help them achieve their goals. Second, I am fortunate to work for a very reputable company that offers unbelievable support to their agents. We have access to CPA's, attorneys, consultants and financial professionals who have a lot of experience in this industry and are only a phone call away. My job is to make sure my clients' concerns are heard and reach out to my team, so we can put together some recommendations. This transitions to my third point. I love working as a team because I have my whole life through hockey. This means that I do not want you to choose me over somebody else, I simply want to be another resource to you and your team of financial professionals. I have learned that working as a team is a lot more beneficial than working alone.


The reason Joel wanted to share his journey is to encourage other athletes to start working on their post career while they are still playing. Education, internships, networking, shadowing, talking to people in your field of interest in the summer will set you up when your career is over. His message to others is start now preparing for the future and the transition will be much easier when the time comes.


Steve Martinson has always been supportive of players working on their post career aspirations while they are still playing. Martinson became a certified financial advisor after his playing days were over but did not get certified until he had retired. Martinson told me, "Joel Chouinard is our captain because he is always prepared and goes about things in the right way. I am totally supportive of the initiative he has taken to finish his degree and become a licensed agent with New York Life while he is still playing hockey. He is a great example for others."


 

Joel G. Chouinard - Licensed Agent with New York Life

The Knowns, the Unknowns, the Educated Guesses on the 2018-19 Allen Americans Roster

It is that time of year when the Allen Americans can't announce the roster for the 2018-19 season quick enough and many fans are getting antsy about what is to come. With the announcement on Saturday that the Americans new affiliate will be the Minnesota Wild (NHL) and Iowa Wild (AHL) another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.

I thought today I would take a crack at what is known and unknown about the 2018-19 roster and make some educated guesses about the players from last season that might return, who will be the new players added to the roster and who may be assigned to Allen by the Wild.


ALREADY SIGNED

Joel Chouinard - the captain and anchor of the defense returns for his third season in Allen. He has never missed a game since joining the Americans in 2016-17. It has been quite the summer for the Chouinard family. Joel and his wife (Courtney) got a puppy (goldendoodle named Harley), bought a house, announced they are expecting their first child (a boy) in November and Joel started working as an agent for New York Life. Tune in tomorrow for a story about Joel's approach to life after hockey.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel - the team leader in points (69) and #2 in assists (50) in the ECHL returns for his third season in Allen. A two time Kelly Cup champion (Allen & Colorado), Casey is a player/assistant coach and also has not missed a game in the last two seasons.

Mike Gunn - Mike returns for his third season in Allen and the popular defenseman has improved every season.

Chad Butcher - Chad is a right shot forward who is a playmaker with great skating skills. In his last year of junior hockey (2016-17) in the Western Hockey League (WHL) Chad had 103 points (27G, 76A) in 68 games. Chad is from Kamloops, British Columbia, the same home town as Spencer Asuchak and Casey Pierro-Zabotel. Not sure if there will ever be a "Kamloops Connection" line this year but the three do train together in the off season.


DEFINITELY NOT RETURNING

Here are some players from last season that will not return as they have already signed elsewhere:

Alex Guptill - signed in England with the Nottingham Panthers
Jared Bethune - headed to college at Queen's University
Peter MacArthur - signed with the Adirondack Thunder
Gordie Ballhorn - headed to college at the University of Saskatchewan
Stephon Williams - signed in Slovakia with HC Banksa Bystrica
Vincent Arseneau - signed with Utica Comets (AHL) but Allen retains his ECHL rights
Alexandre Carrier - signed with the Atlanta Gladiators


THE VETERANS

This gets a little more tricky because there is no way to know what has happened with the veterans. Keep in mind there are just four veteran spots available on the roster. Chouinard and Pierro-Zabotel have already been announced. Spencer Asuchak, Thomas Frazee and Tristan King are all veterans with Spencer reaching vet status (over 260 games) for the first time. My guess is Asuchak and Frazee take the last two vet spots and King will move on. Tristan was injured in the first game he played for Allen last season and missed the rest of the playoffs.


THE QUALIFYING OFFERS

If you track the qualifying offers given by the Americans you can make some educated guesses as to players that are already signed but not announced. This is a tried and true method based on past seasons. It goes something like this. The Americans can give qualifying offers to up to eight players from last season to retain their rights and the qualifying offer must be made by June 30. If a player has already been signed you don't need to give them a qualifying offer. Allen only used seven of their eight qualifying offers so you can assume any player from last season not on the qualified list has been signed. That list would include:

Josh Thrower
Miles Liberati
Zach Pochiro
Matt Foget
J.C. Campagna
Braylon Shmyr

Of the seven players on the qualified list there are two (Eric Roy & Dalton Thrower) that could sign with Allen. The other five (Arseneau, Archambault, Guptill, Ballhorn, Lessard) will play in other leagues but Allen retains their ECHL rights for this season.


THE AHL CONTRACTED PLAYERS

David Makowski, Spencer Asuchak, Bryan Moore and Jake Patterson were all on AHL contracts last season and are free agents that can sign anywhere. If you listened to coach Martinson's Facebook Live session on Saturday (it is still available on the Allen Americans Facebook page and worth a listen) he mentioned David Makowski is going to camp with Iowa so it looks like he will be returning. You have to assume Asuchak will be back. Moore and Patterson I am sure are looking for AHL deals so their return is unknown and less likely in my opinion.


PLAYERS ASSIGNED BY IOWA

Coach Martinson mentioned on Saturday he will get a goalie assigned by the Wild who is a proven player. He also expects to get some players assigned that the Wild will sign in the next couple of months. Other possibilities from Iowa are players still on their roster that spent time with their affiliate (Rapid City) last season. Here are those players:

Gustav Bouramman - a 6'0" 187 pound right shot defenseman from Sweden played 54 games with Rapid City and had 28 points (5G, 23A). Gustav was drafted in the 7th round of the 2015 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild.

Dante Salituro - a 5'8" 176 pound right shot right wing/center played 53 games in Rapid City and had 48 points (23G, 25A). Salituro was acquired by the Wild in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in June of 2017. He was selected for the ECHL all-star game last season.

Pavel Jenys - a 6'3" 218 pound left shot center played 48 games in Rapid City and had 35 points (17G, 18A). Pavel is from the Czech Republic and was drafted in the 7th round of the 2014 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild.

Chase Lang - a  6'1" 194 pound right shot center/right wing played 18 games in Rapid City and had 10 points (4G, 6A). He was drafted in the 6th round of the 2014 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild.


NEW PLAYERS

This may be the most important and exciting category and the one I know the least about but coach Martinson did give everyone a few hints in the Facebook live event on Saturday.

Martinson has signed a couple of defensemen (one played for Richard Matvichuk) that will be attending the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, MI from September 7-11. The eight team field consists of prospects from the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.

Martinson also mentioned he could pursue some of the free agents from the Colorado Eagles. With the Eagles moving to the AHL next season there will be a lot of free agents. There are many players from the two time Kelly Cup champions that have not been signed to AHL deals. Matt Register, Colin Bowman, Ryan Olsen, Gabriel Verpaelst and Jake Marto are a few of the names that are free agents and have not been signed according to eliteprospects.com.

There will be several new players that are not on anyone's (except Martinson) radar screen and they may be the most significant signings of the summer. Will just have to wait until they are announced.


GOALIES

Per coach Martinson, Allen will get one goalie assigned by the Wild. According to the website eliteprospects.com the Wild have four goalies under contract.  The NHL club has Devan Dubnyk as their top goalie with Alex Stalock as the backup. The AHL club shows two goalies on their roster, Andrew Hammond and Kaapo Kahkonen. The goalie that will be assigned to Allen would most likely be the next goalie that is announced.

Neither Jake Patterson or Jeremy Brodeur have signed a contract for next season according to eliteprospects.com so they may very well be in the mix for Allen. The question is will Martinson bring two or three goalies to camp. Since Patterson was under AHL contracted (Milwaukee) last season he is probably looking for another AHL deal. Seems more likely that Brodeur would be back in Allen as the backup to the Wild assigned goalie.

There have been many questions and comments about the status of Riley Gill with the Americans. Even though I have not discussed this with the Americans or Riley Gill there is no doubt in my mind that Gill has played his last game for the Allen Americans. Last season was a difficult one for the future Hall of Famer who was injured in his second start of the season and was out for the year. Whether Riley retires or signs elsewhere his place in ECHL history is cemented as the winningest playoff goalie ever to go along with three Kelly Cups.



DID YOU KNOW: Allen's new affiliation with the Wild could be called the Interstate 35 affiliation. The Iowa Wild play in Des Moines which is 675 miles straight up Interstate 35 from Allen. The Minnesota Wild play in St. Paul which is 250 miles straight up Interstate 35 from Des Moines. I have made this trip many times over the years heading back to Minnesota for hunting and fishing trips and the directions are very easy, get on interstate 35 and go north for 925 miles.

Barry the Blogger Returns, Allen Signs Forward Chad Butcher, New Affiliation, John Snowden Heads to Newfoundland, Garrett Clarke's Blog, Allen PIM's Leaders

I feel like I need to reintroduce myself after a month without a blog post which is the longest time between posts since the blog started in 2012. Just arrived home yesterday afternoon after a 20 hour trip that started in Helsinki. Nancy and I just spent a glorious month cruising around the Baltic Sea visiting Stockholm, Sweden. Our 84 passenger ship with a crew of 60 cruised right by Greger Hanson's hometown (an island named Lidingo that is part of the Stockholm archipelago). We then headed to St. Petersburg, Russia which was full of World Cup fans from all over the world. Russia was followed by a stop in Tallin, Estonia and Riga Latvia (home of Nikita Jevpalovs). We then visited Gdansk, Poland and Copenhagen, Denmark.

On the second half of our trip we set a course up the western coast of Norway aboard an authentic steamer ship that regularly sails into local harbors to deliver supplies and travelers to hard to reach towns. These are pristine lands of steep rugged mountains, narrow ocean inlets and vivid blue fjords. We ended up near the top of the world at the northern most land mass in Europe (North Cape), the land of the midnight sun. We then toured northern Finland (Lapland) by bus before flying back to Helsinki.

This isn't a travel blog so I will stop here but in addition to eating fresh fish almost everyday (salmon, halibut, cod, trout, wolf fish, arctic char, white fish) I did get to go net fishing in Ivalo, Finland which is above the Arctic Circle. There are so few people in this part of the world with so many fish individuals are allowed to fish with nets (60 meters long) when fishing in lakes.

Two things worth mentioning about a visit to Lapland is there are reindeer everywhere and you think of temps way above the arctic circle to be cold. Turns out there was a heat wave during our visit. July high temps are normally in the mid 60's but they were in the mid 80's this past week. The locals were suffering as well as the tourists since none of the hotels have air conditioning. The reindeer were also suffering with the hot weather and a bumper crop of mosquitoes. Reindeer walking down the highway was commonplace as they tried to escape the mosquitoes in the forest.  


- I sure didn't miss much from the Allen Americans in the last month with player announcements. Casey Pierro-Zabotel was announced before I left. Since then captain Joel Chouinard's return was announced. I will have a blog post in the next week about preparing for life after hockey which is based on Joel's experience from being drafted by the NHL to planning for his future outside of hockey while still playing professionally.


- The Americans announced their third player on Thursday with the signing of forward Chad Butcher.  Allen has a history of recruiting from the Western Hockey League (WHL) and Chad had a great career in the WHL including 103 points (27G, 76A) in 68 games in his overage year with the Medicine Hat Tigers where he spent his entire junior career. This is Butcher's second pro season as he was signed to an AHL contract last season with the Edmonton Oilers organization (Bakersfield Condors). Even though Chad was undrafted by the NHL he was outstanding in the Oilers prospect camp last September playing with the Oilers #1 draft pick Kailer Yamamoto. One headline (Edmonton Journal) read, "All Eyes on Yamamoto but Butcher Leads Oilers Prospects". If you read articles about Chad the consensus you get is he is a proven scorer that is a great playmaker, has a lethal shot and plays both ends of the ice. Butcher is a great skater with speed which may come from the fact he was a speedskater when he was younger. He had a pond behind his house growing up so he had plenty of practice time close to home. Finally, if you are an Allen Americans fan you have to be thrilled about signing a player from Kamloops, British Columbia, the same home town as Spencer Asuchak and Casey Pierro-Zabotel. Here is an interview with Chad at the Oilers prospect camp last September:

- The Americans will finally officially announce their new affiliation today after a long time getting all of the details/paperwork in place. From when coach Martinson first mentioned the possibility of this affiliation he was very excited about what it could mean for Allen in getting some good young players assigned to the Americans for development. The announcement will be via Facebook Live so you have an option to watch the annoucment if you can't make it to the AEC. You never know with coach Martinson you just may get some breaking news in addition to the affiliation announcement. UPDATE: ALLEN'S NEW AFFILIATION IS WITH THE MINNESOTA WILD (NHL) AND IOWA WILD (AHL).


- I know some fans are getting antsy about the roster for next season. I will have a roster update in the next few days after I have a chance to check in with coach Martinson who is still enjoying his waterfront home in Rockford. With this steamy weather in Allen a wise choice. One thing for sure is there are many more players signed than have been announced. Typically by this point in the season Martinson has at least 15 players under contract. Based on who was given qualifying offers, players that have not been signed elsewhere and other information I should be able to make some educated guesses on the roster.


- John Snowden spent part of the 2013-14 season with Allen Americans and has been an assistant/associate coach for the Orlando Solar Bears the last three seasons. John had a long pro career but I first noticed him in 2013 in the old CHL when he was playing for the Fort Worth Brahmas. John scored five goals on seven shots in a game that year against the Arizona Sundogs. John was just hired as an assistant coach for the new ECHL franchise, Newfoundland Growlers, who are affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Orlando was the Leafs' former ECHL affiliate. John's wife (Janelle) summed up the move to Newfoundland from Orlando this way, "We will be trading in our flip flops for snowshoes." Best of luck to the Snowden family on their new adventure. Here is the press release: http://www.thetelegram.com/sports/hockey/john-snowden-hired-as-newfoundland-growlers-assistant-coach-227592/


- If you are on social media you may have noticed that Garrett Clarke, who is the Allen Americans career penalty minutes leader (432) by over 100 minutes recently started writing a blog (http://garrettclarke.blogspot.com/). He says this in his first blog post, "After years of seeing or hearing other people tell my story, I figure it is my turn." Since I was one of those people telling his story when he arrived in Allen as a 19 year old in his first pro season I look forward to what he has to say. Here is my my story about Garrett from 2012 which was intended to be from his perspective. http://allenamericansblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/garrett-clarke-player-profile.html    



DID YOU KNOW: Garrett Clarke is the career leader in penalty minutes for the Allen Americans with 432. Did you know tied for second all-time at 331 penalty minutes are David Makowski and Bryan Moore.

The all-time leader in average penalty minutes per game is Derek Mathers who had 274 penalty minutes in 59 games with the Americans for an average of 4.64 penalty minutes per game.

No Allen American can top coach Steve Martinson who averaged 5.11 penalty minutes per game in his 179 games played in the AHL and 4.98 penalty minutes per game in his 49 NHL games. 

Allen Americans Update, Casey Pierro-Zabotel First Signee, Former Americans Sign Contracts, ECHL Meeting, Vet Status as Defined by CBA

 I am headed on vacation so wanted to do one more update before no blog posts for a month. Here is the latest:


The official start of the 2018-19 season took place on Saturday with the first day players could be signed. Allen got out of the gate early with the announcement that player/assistant coach and leading scorer for the Americans (69 points in 72 games), Casey Pierro-Zabotel, will return. Here is the press release announcing Casey's return and the involvement of former player and assistant coach Erik Adams as the Ambassador for the tenth anniversary celebration which will include an alumni game. https://allenamericans.com/casey-pierro-zabotel-returns-erik-adams-named-ambassador-for-10-year-anniversary-team/



The Allen Americans just issued their season-ending roster. This roster can contain up to a maximum of 20 players and cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract for 2017-18. Each team is entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight players from the list of 20 by extending a qualifying offer no later than June 30. Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to June 30. Here is a link to the press release with all of the details: https://www.echl.com/echl-announces-2018-season-ending-rosters

Here are the 20 players on the Allen season ending list:

Goalies
Jeremy Brodeur

Forwards
Olivier Archambault
Vincent Arseneau
Jared Bethune
JC Campagna
Matt Foget
Alex Guptill
Jonathan Lessard
Zach Pochiro
Tyler Poulsen
Braylon Shmyr
Casey Pierro-Zabotel

Defensemen
Gordie Ballhorn
Joel Chouinard
Mike Gunn
Miles Liberati
Eric Roy
Josh Thrower
Dalton Thrower
Micheal Webster



- It is important to note that players on AHL contracts last season cannot be on the season ending roster and are free agents. Here are the players that were on AHL deals so are missing from the list above.

Spencer Asuchak
Thomas Frazee
David Makowski
Bryan Moore
Jake Paterson


- The next 10 days will be very busy for coach Martinson as he tries to sign players on the season ending roster. Since there are only eight qualifying offers for the 20 players on the list it is important to get as many players as possible signed prior to June 30. Martinson has already come to terms with many of the players on the list with more to get done this week. Some players may not want to sign because they think they can get an AHL deal or are looking to sign in Europe.


- The bottom line is much will be known by the end of the month. The 20 players on the season ending roster will have to be signed or given a qualifying offer or they will become free agents. However, there are many other moving parts in putting together the roster. Once the new affiliation is announced (my guess is in the next week) coach Martinson will get a better idea of what players will be assigned by the AHL team to Allen. He is also recruiting free agents around the ECHL and AHL and of course talking to the five players above who were on AHL deals last season.


-  When players are signed and when they are announced are two different things. History says the Americans will spread out the announcements throughout the summer.



OTHER COMMENTS

- Several former Allen Americans signed contracts this week. Tanner Eberle, who played in Jacksonville last season has signed to play for the Sheffield Steelers (England). Harrison Ruopp, who didn't play pro hockey last season, has signed with the Manchester Storm (England). Jake Marchment re-signed with the Utah Grizzlies where he ended the season and Dyson Stevenson was the first player announcement by the Wichita Thunder. Here is a video the Thunder used to announce the return of their captain. The video starts with some Dyson highlights (goals & fights) and then he talks about his return to Wichita.

 

-  The ECHL league meetings are taking place this week. Have not heard much about potential rule changes but apparently one topic of conversation is whether the first round of the playoffs should be the best of five rather than a best of seven series.


- This time of year the definition of veteran status frequently comes up so it is always good to review. The definition of a veteran from the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is, "Veteran shall mean any player, other than goaltender, who has played in at least 260 regular season games in any recognized professional hockey league as defined by the rules." Here are the defined leagues from the CBA:

North America
- NHL
- AHL
- ECHL
- CHL (defunct but games played count toward veteran status)

Europe
- Czech Extraliga (Czech Republic)
- Liiga (Finland)
- DEL (Germany)
- KHL (Russia)
- Slovak Extraliga (Slovakia)
- SHL (Sweden)
- National League (Switzerland)



DID YOU KNOW: It is hard to quantify the value Casey Pierro-Zabotel brings to the Allen Americans. He is a two way player that plays in all situations. He has led his team in scoring in Allen, Colorado and Atlanta. Casey has not missed a game in two years and even though he has only played 130 regular season games for Allen he is already 10th all-time on the Americans career assist list. If all goes well this season Casey will be #2 all-time on the career assist list. 

A Busy Week for Critical Dates, Martinson to Make Big Announcements Saturday, Salary Numbers in New CBA, Player Updates and ECHL Attendance Increase

If you are an Allen Americans fan it has been rather quiet since their first round playoff exit but that is about to change with several critical dates this week. The future considerations deadline was yesterday.  Friday (June 15) the season-ending rosters are due to the league office (3:00 pm EDT) and Saturday (June 16) is the first day to sign players for the 2018-19 season.

- Season-Ending Rosters - This roster can contain up to a maximum of 20 players and cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract for 2017-18.


- Each team is entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight players from the list of 20 by extending a qualifying offer no later than June 30. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional games played). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to June 30.


- Future Considerations - There was a flurry of activity around the ECHL yesterday as all future consideration trades had to be completed by 3:00 pm EDT. The Americans only outstanding future consideration trade was with Quad City when Allen acquired Tristan King at the end of the season but the Mallards ceased operations so Allen was out of the future considerations activity. One former Allen player was involved yesterday as Rapid City forward Daniel Leavens was sent to Wichita to complete the trade just prior to Christmas when the Thunder sent goalie Shane Owen to Rapid City.


- I have had numerous questions about the release the Allen Americans issued on Tuesday with the title, "Big Announcements Coming from Coach Martinson this Saturday."  Everyone wants to know what will be announced on Saturday. I doubt it is a coincidence that Saturday is the first day players can be signed for the 2018-19 season so a player announcement has to be in the works. As I have reported for the last couple of weeks the hope was the new affiliation would be announced prior to the ECHL summer meetings which will be in Las Vegas next week so maybe that will be one of the big announcements. Whatever the announcements are it will be worth the trip to the Allen Event Center to get the latest information. Announcements scheduled for 12:30. Here is the info issued by the Americans: https://allenamericans.com/big-announcements-coming-from-coach-martinson-this-saturday/  


- The exodus of ECHL players heading overseas continues. Two former Allen Americans made the move in the last few days. Defenseman Garrett Clarke who played for the Indy Fuel last season will play in Romania next season and goalie Joel Rumpel, who started last season in Wichita and finished the season in Utah has signed to play in Scotland.


- Rookie Allen defenseman Gordie Ballhorn has decided to forgo professional hockey and will pursue a college career at the University of Saskatchewan. Ballhorn joins Jared Bethune to go the college route. The other two late season rookie additions (Braylon Shymr & Matt Foget) are expected to return.


- Here is a story about what is next for the Colorado Eagles as they transition from the ECHL to the AHL. The story covers who will be the coach, the schedule, how the roster will be built and affiliation possibilities. https://www.milehighhockey.com/2018/6/13/17457084/whats-next-for-the-colorado-eagles-ahl-avalanche


- A new five year Collective Bargaining Agreement will take effect July 1 and run through June 30, 2023. The weekly salary cap will increase from $12,800 last season to $13,000 per week for the upcoming season. For the duration of the CBA the salary cap will go to $13,300 in 2019-20, $13,600 in 2020-21, $13,900 in 2021-22 and $14,100 in 2022-23. If you figure 20 players on the active roster the average salary over the five years of the CBA will go from $650 per week in 2018-19 to $705 per week in 2022-23.


- Other dollar figures for the 2018-19 season include rookie maximum salary ($550 per week), rookie minimum salary ($470) and minimum salary for non-rookies ($510).


- Last season per diem when the team was on the road was $42 split between breakfast ($9), lunch ($12) and dinner ($21). Next season per diem will rise to $43 and will thereafter increase $2 per year so in the final year of this CBA (2022-23) per diem will be $50 per day. 



DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL reversed a a four year decline in attendance this season which has to be good news for the league. Average attendance was the largest since the 2014-15 season. Here is average regular season attendance over the past five years according to the ECHL website:

2017-18  -  4424
2016-17  -  4252
2015-16  -  4386
2014-15  -  4598
2013-14  -  4764

Allen Americans Update and Musings of Barry the Blogger

It has been over six weeks since the Allen Americans played their last game (April 25) but today is one to remember because it was two years ago today (June 9, 2016) the American won their second Kelly Cup and fourth consecutive championship. There have been a lot of great moments as the Americans begin their 10th year as a franchise but it is very hard to top winning four straight championships and winning all of them on home ice.


- Two of Allen's four championships (2013 & 2015) were decided in game seven and hockey can't get more exciting than game seven. That will be the case tonight as the Florida Everblades play the Colorado Eagles in game seven of the Kelly Cup finals. It will be the fifth time in ECHL history the title will be decided in game seven. By the way in the four prior Kelly Cup finals that went to game seven the home team is 2-2. However, if you are looking for a home team game seven advantage check out these stats. The game tonight will be the 44th game seven in ECHL post season history. The home team is 31-12 in game sevens and has won 18 of the last 23.


-  There are a lot of stats you could look at to predict the outcome of the game tonight in Florida but two old standbys are pretty powerful. The first goal of the game is so important as combined the Everblades and Eagles are 22-2-1 when scoring first in the playoffs and Florida is 13-0-1. The team leading after the first period stat shows these teams are a combined 14-2 and Florida is 9-0 when leading after the first period. Getting that good start will be the key to victory tonight.


- There were a lot of great story lines coming out of the Stanley Cup finals with the Capitals finally winning the championship but none better than that of  Washington's forward Jay Beagle who became the first player ever to win the Kelly Cup, Calder Cup and the Stanley Cup. Beagle has played close to 500 NHL games (all for Washington) as a hard working fourth liner. His story is one of inspiration for any young hockey player. When he was 18, Jay tried out for his hometown Western Hockey League (WHL) team, the Calgary Hitmen and was cut. He ended up playing for a tier II junior team and then attended the University of Alaska - Anchorage as a grinding forward for two years where his stat line after 67 games was 30 points (14G 16A), 133 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -18. With his academics failing he left school at the end of his sophomore season and signed with the Idaho Steelheads at the end of the 2006-07 season. He played eight regular season games and 18 playoff games as Idaho went on to win the Kelly Cup. Beagle had one goal and two assists in his 18 playoff games with Idaho. The next season he ended up in Hershey (AHL) where he won two Calder Cups. How he got to the AHL is also an interesting story. Check it out here: https://wtop.com/washington-capitals/2018/06/jay-beagles-journey-comes-full-circle-as-capitals-eye-stanley-cup-in-vegas/


- Blake Sebring of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel did a Q&A with incoming ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin. Here is that interview where Crelin talks about his background, his goals for improving the ECHL, shortening the season or playoffs, the all-star game and balancing the desires of ECHL fans while serving as a developmental league for the AHL. http://www.news-sentinel.com/sports/2018/06/07/qa-with-incoming-echl-commissioner-ryan-crelin/


 - The Allen Americans recently issued their protected but it is not a very meaningful list since you can put an unlimited number of players on the list as long as they meet the criteria which is very broad. Here is a link to the press release with all of the details: https://allenamericans.com/americans-announce-protected-list-2/

Here are the 24 players on the Allen protected list:

Goalies
Jeremy Brodeur

Forwards
Olivier Archambault
Vincent Arseneau
Jared Bethune
JC Campagna
Alex Carrier
Matt Foget
Alex Guptill
Tristan King
Jonathan Lessard
Peter MacArthur
Wade MacLeod
Zach Pochiro
Tyler Poulsen
Braylon Shmyr
Casey Pierro-Zabotel

Defensemen
Gordie Ballhorn
Joel Chouinard
Mike Gunn
Miles Liberati
Eric Roy
Josh Thrower
Dalton Thrower
Micheal Webster

Don't read too much into this list as it represents those players that meet the criteria for being on the list and nothing more.

It is important to note that players on AHL contracts cannot be protected. Here are the players that were on AHL deals so are missing from the protected list.

Spencer Asuchak
Thomas Frazee
David Makowski
Colby McAuley
Bryan Moore
Jake Paterson
Alex Schoenborn


- The next list that will come out is the season ending roster which must be submitted to the league on June 15 (3:00 pm EDT). This list can be no more than 20 players and can only include players that signed an ECHL contract in 2017-18.


- The first day to officially sign players for the 2018-19 season is June 16. You can expect coach Martinson will sign a lot of players between June 16 and June 30 when qualifying offers are made. Only eight players can be given qualifying offers. It doesn't mean players signed will be announced. If you see your favorite player not getting a qualifying offer when the qualifying offer list is released (June 30) it could mean they are already signed.


- It is all speculation at this point but if you attended the get together at the Allen Event Center a couple of weeks ago and listened carefully to what coach Steve Martinson had to say and made a few assumptions it sounds like there is a good chance that the rookies that came in at the end of last season will return (Ballhorn, Shmyr, Foget) with the exception of Jared Bethune who is headed to college (Queen's University). You have to also assume the four veteran spots will go to Chouinard, Pierro-Zabotel, Asuchak and Frazee.


- Until the new affiliation is finalized and it is determined how many players will be assigned to Allen the number of players Martinson will have to re-sign or recruit is an unknown. The last I heard was hope the affiliation would be announced prior to the ECHL summer meetings in Las Vegas which start June 18.


- Congrats to Vincent Arseneau who signed a one way contract with Utica (AHL) this week.


 - If you follow social media you most likely saw recently that former Allen Americans forward Wade MacLeod signed with a new team in Germany (Dresden) back in April after playing for Frankfurt this past season. Wade finished the 2017-18 season with 49 points (25G 24A) in 49 games. Last week it was announced that Wade will not be playing in Dresden because he has had a reoccurrence of a brain tumor that will require surgery. Wade has gone through this surgery two times before. Wade is a fighter and he will come through this battle in the relentless way he plays hockey. Here is the "Google Translate" version of the German press release issued by the team.


"Wade MacLeod has to undergo surgery again

Shattering news for the Dresden Ice Lions: Striker Wade MacLeod, the first newcomer to the Blue-White, can not get into the preparation as planned. The 31-year-old striker will have to undergo surgery again in the weeks following a recurrent tumor. In mutual agreement, a contract was agreed. MacLeod's shirt number 19 will not be awarded this season.

Over the next few weeks fans and supporters will have the opportunity to write down the best wishes for recovery on a special jersey print in the EnergieVerbund Arena, which will then be forwarded to the striker. The start date for the action is in the communicates the next few days.

Wade MacLeod: "Of course the re-operation is a setback for me. I'm extremely disappointed, but I'm not giving up. I can promise everyone that I will fight back again this time."

Thomas Barth, sports manager at the Dresden Ice Lions: "The fate of Wade touches us very much. We wish him all the best for the healing process, we are in close contact with him. His health is the focus and he should be able to focus on that for the next few months alone. In consultation with him and his advisor, we have therefore agreed to dissolve the existing contract. When Wade signals that we want to return to the ice, we are of course his point of contact."


- The pace of ECHL players signing overseas has really picked up over the last two weeks. Here is the list:

Adam Vay (G)                Rapid City to Kazakhstan
Gabriel Desjardins (F)    Fort Wayne to Sweden
Scott Jacklin (F)             Brampton to France
Mason Baptista (F)         Fort Wayne to Germany
Jordan Smotherman (F)  Manchester to Germany
Kyle Bonis (F)                Toledo to Norway
Paul Geiger (D)              South Carolina to Italy
Dylan Olsen (D)             Adirondack to England
Matt Caito (D)                Rapid City to Austria
Colin Sullivan (D)           Atlanta to France
Simon Denis (D)             Toledo to South Korea
Micheal McNicholas (F)  Indy to Norway
Ben Marshall (D)            Atlanta to Slovakia
Garrett Thompson (F)     Fort Wayne to Norway
Nolan Zajac (D)              Reading to Sweden
Josh Pitt (F)                     Kalamazoo to England
Kevin Schulze (D)          Wheeling to Sweden
T.J. Moore (F)                 Norfolk to Denmark
Evan Jasper (F)              Greenville to Denmark
Mark MacMillan (F)        Wichita to Sweden
Scott Tanski (F)               Reading to Scotland



DID YOU KNOW:  There is just one game remaining in the ECHL playoffs and David Makowski is still #3 in goals scored in the playoffs by defensemen. Jake Marto (Colorado) is #1 with seven goals in 23 games and Daniel Maggio (Fort Wayne) is #2 with six goals in 12 games. David is third in goals scored with four goals in seven games. Makowski also leads all defensemen in the playoffs in points per game average at 1.00. In seven games David had seven points (4G 3A).