Walleye Are My Favorite, Kelly Cup Playoffs, Off-Season Transactions, Wichita Hires Coach and More

I am about to head to Canada (Ontario) on my annual fishing trip where for a week we will be off the grid and the daily agenda is very simple. Sleep, eat, fish, eat, nap, fish, eat and repeat. I am the camp cook and I have four different recipes for all of the walleye we will catch from fried Walleye, to Parmesan broiled walleye to tented baked walleye with vegetables to a seafood chowder with walleye, clams and shrimp for the cold rainy days. You can only bring four walleye each back home but you can eat 20 per day (four walleye times five fishermen) so lots of fish meals.


- The Kelly Cup finals won't be set until tomorrow (Wednesday) night when Tulsa and Toledo meet in game seven of the Western Conference finals. The Oilers went into a sold out (7542) Huntington Center last night and beat the Walleye 4-2 to force a game seven which will be in Tulsa. There have been just two seven game series in the 2019 Kelly Cup playoffs with both involving Tulsa. In the opening round the Oilers beat Kansas City in game seven (at home) after falling behind in the series 3-2. Can Tulsa use home ice advantage to advance to the Kelly Cup finals and bring a fifth straight championship to the Mountain Division?


- Awaiting in the wings are the Newfoundland Growlers who clinched the Eastern Conference championship on Saturday. It is already a given that Newfoundland will have home ice advantage in the Kelly Cup finals because they finished #3 during the regular season and are the highest ranked team remaining. Games one and two of the finals will be in Newfoundland on Saturday and Sunday. It will be the classic case of rest or rust as the Growlers will go a week between games while the winner of Tulsa vs Toledo will go from one series to the next.  


- Cincinnati and Florida dominated during the regular season. Cincinnati finished with 110 points which was 16 points more than third place Newfoundland and Florida finished the regular season with 106 points, 12 more than the Growlers. The fact that Cincinnati and Florida didn't make it to the Kelly Cup finals is not a huge surprise but the way they lost was a big surprise. Cincinnati lost to Toledo 4-1 in the Central Division Finals and Florida lost the Newfoundland 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.


- The Newfoundland Growlers are the story of the playoffs. A first year team affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies, the Growlers had their head coach (Ryane Clowe) step down in January for medical reasons. Assistant coach John Snowden was named the new head coach. Newfoundland won the North Division easily but struggled at the end of the regular season losing nine of their last 14 games. The Growlers won the first round of the playoffs against Brampton 4-2 but three of the wins came in overtime. Newfoundland improved each round and by the time they took on the favored Florida Everblades in the Eastern Conference Finals they were playing their best hockey. Newfoundland went to Florida to start the series and beat the Everblades twice and the series was essentially decided. It ended up going five games but the Growlers were dominate. Here are a few examples:

In their four wins against Florida the Growlers outscored the Everblades 16-1.

In 79 playoff games so far there has been nine shutouts, the last three have been by Newfoundland's Micheal Garteig against Florida who was #2 in the ECHL in the regular season averaging 3.83 goals per game.

Newfoundland was very disciplined in the series allowing only eight power play opportunities to Florida and the Everblades scored only one power play goal. Florida allowed 22 power plays to the Growlers that resulted in five power play goals.

Growler forward Zach O'Brien had his second hat trick of the playoffs in game four against the Everblades. There have been five hat tricks in the playoffs so far and Zach has two of them. He is tied for the lead in playoffs in goals (14) and is second in points (24). O'Brien leads the playoffs in game winning goals with five. By the way the ECHL record for most goals in one playoff year is 17.


- The Kelly Cup finals will be unique no matter who joins Newfoundland. The Growlers are a first year franchise and you have to go back to 1990 to find the last time that has happened. The Greensboro Monarchs won the 1990 ECHL championship (Riley Cup) as a first year franchise beating the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds 4-1.


- If Tulsa makes the finals it will be the first time since joining the ECHL in 2014. The Oilers missed the playoffs the last three seasons.


-If Toledo makes the finals it will be the first time since 1994. The Walleye won their division four years straight (2015-18) but never advanced to the finals. This season they finished second to Cincinnati in the Central Division but can advance to the championship finals with a win in Tulsa tomorrow night.


- Here is a story from the Toledo Blade about the disappointment of the Walleye losing game six at home and having to take a 15 hour bus ride to Tulsa for game seven: https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/walleye/2019/05/21/why-the-toledo-walleye-are-busing-to-tulsa-echl-playoffs/stories/20190521092


- The off season changes will pick up next month but several notable ones have already been announced. Allen captain Joel Chouinard and former players Peter MacArthur and Tyler Barnes have retired. Defenseman Etienne Boutet has signed to play in France. Utah's leading scorer (71 points, 32 goals), Caleb Herbert, has signed in Austria where his teammate will be Allen goalie C.J. Motte who signed earlier. Goalie Joe Cannata, who led the Colorado Eagles to the Kelly Cup in 2018 and played for Utah this season has signed to play in Sweden in 2019-20. If this off season is typical the majority of the top 10 ECHL scorers will not return to next season. If they don't get AHL deals they will head to Europe.


- The Wichita Thunder announced last week that their new coach will be Bruce Ramsay who Allen fans will remember from his six years (2009-15) as the head coach in Tulsa. There has been speculation that Wichita Thunder captain Dyson Stevenson could return to Allen. Since Dyson is now a veteran with 288 pro games he can become a free agent and sign with any ECHL team. Will Stevenson re-sign with Wichita now that the Thunder have selected Ramsay as their new coach? Ramsay played a similar style to Stevenson during his pro career. Ramsay played one season in Wichita (2000-01) and had 35 points in 60 games to go along with 364 penalty minutes. Stevenson could also look at playing in Europe. The bottom line is Dyson will have lots of option on where he will play next season and Allen is just one of them.


DID YOU KNOW: There are so many stats you can look at to determine which of the three teams left in the playoffs will win the Kelly Cup. Here are a couple of comparisons looking at games played in the division and conference finals.

Goals Differential
+21 Newfoundland
+9   Toledo
-1    Tulsa

Goals Allowed Per Game
1.73 - Newfoundland
2.00 - Toledo
2.33 - Tulsa

    

Weekly Update - Martinson Returns from Iowa, Kelly Cup Playoffs, 2019-20 Schedule, Boutet Signs in France and More

 - Steve Martinson is back in Allen from a week in Iowa and reports that in addition to being involved in the "Black Aces" practices he had the opportunity to work with the Wild staff in planning for next season. He still expects to get more players assigned to Allen than last season. The recruitment process is still in the very early stages. Keep in mind the ECHL protected lists are not due until June 1, the season ending roster is not due until June 15, the first day to sign players isn't until June 16 and qualifying offers aren't due until June 30.


- If you have been following the conference finals of the Kelly Cup playoffs you have watched the lower seeded teams (Newfoundland in the Eastern Conference, Toledo in the Western Conference) take 2-0 leads.


Newfoundland vs Florida - This is the typical 2-3-2 series where the higher seeded team (Florida) started with two home games. The Growlers went to Florida and beat the Everblades 2-0 in game one and 5-1 in game two. Newfoundland now heads home for the next three games. NHL history paints a bleak picture for the odds of Florida coming back in this series. According to the website WhoWins, in NHL conference finals when a team starts on the road and takes a 2-0 lead they go on to win the series 95% of the time.


Tulsa vs Toledo - This series pits the Mountain Division champions (Tulsa) against the second place team from the Central Division (Toledo). Because of arena availability this series is 2-3-1-1 and the higher seeded team (Tulsa) had to start on the road. Toledo held serve at home beating Tulsa 6-2 in game one and 4-1 in game two. The series now moves to Tulsa for the next three games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. WhoWins shows in the history of the NHL, in the conference finals, when a team starts at home and takes a 2-0 lead they have gone on to win the series 90.2% of the time.


- The full ECHL schedule won't be published until sometime in June but teams can put out their home schedules whenever they want. The only announcement from the Americans thus far is they will open the 2019-20 season at home on October 11 against the Tulsa Oilers.


- Here are some of Allen's away games based on opponents releasing their home schedules:

Rapid City - Allen will make one trip to Rapid City for three games against the Rush on February 12, 14 and 15.

Kansas City - Allen visits Kansas City five times spread out throughout the season. It seems strange but they play just one game against the Mavericks on all five trips to Kansas City. Here are the dates:
November 19
January 18
February 8
March 6
April 1


- Based on home schedules released by other ECHL teams, Allen will not be visiting Indy, Fort Wayne, Brampton or South Carolina in 2019-20.


- The second official announcement about players from last season happened this past week. The first or course was the retirement of captain Joel Chouinard. The latest was the announcement that defenseman Etienne Boutet has signed to play in the top league in France (Ligue Magnus) for a team called Rapaces de Gap which translates to the Gap Raptors. Gap is an alpine town in the southeast of France with a population of just over 40,000. Former Allen players that have played in Ligue Magnus include familiar names like Brian McMillin and Jonathan Lessard. Here are some others that played briefly in Allen and went on to play in France:

Dallas Ehrhardt (2013-14)
Alex Quesnel (2010-11)
Spencer Edwards (2011-12)


- Dallas Ehrhardt has played in England the last three seasons for the Manchester Storm and is also a member of the Great Britain national team which for the first time in 25 years is playing in the top tier of the Hockey World championships against the elite teams in the world (United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland). A great experience for Dallas and his teammates playing against some of the best players in the world. Great Britain is the lowest ranked team in the tournament (#22) and has lost to Germany 3-1 and Canada 8-0.     


- Allen's AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, are on the verge of elimination in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. Iowa is trailing Chicago in the series 3-2 with game six (tonight) and game seven if necessary on Wednesday. Both games will be in Chicago. The Wolves took the lead in the series with a 7-4 win over the Wild in Iowa on Friday night.


- Former Allen Americans are playing a big role for the Toledo Walleye in the Western Conference finals against Tulsa. Toledo has taken a 2-0 lead in the series. Chris Crane had the game winning goal last night to go along with an assist in game one. Bryan Moore had a goal in game one, it was his sixth goal of the playoffs. Matt Register had three assists in the two games against Tulsa.


- Matt Register is going for his fourth straight Kelly Cup championship having won in Allen in 2016 and in Colorado in 2017 and 2018. Register is the only player in ECHL history that has won three straight Kelly Cup titles.


DID YOU KNOW: Allen's home opener in 2019-20 will be against Tulsa (October 11). It will be the third time in team history the home opener has been against Tulsa. The first two did not go well for the Americans. In 2011-12 Tulsa beat Allen 4-1 and in 2014-15 the Oilers beat the Americans 9-6. Here are the teams Allen has played in their first home game each season.

2009-10 - Corpus Christi 
2010-11 - Texas
2011-12 - Tulsa
2012-13 - Arizona
2013-14 - Wichita
2014-15 - Tulsa
2015-16 - Quad City
2016-17 - Missouri 
2017-18 - Orlando
2018-19 - Wichita
2019-20 - Tulsa




    

The Curse Strikes Again, Martinson Helps Out the Wild, Home Schedule Coming, Update on Former Ice Angel Brooklyn, Stories About Joel Chouinard, Rick Pinkston and More

- The Brabham Cup curse has struck again. The Toledo Walleye beat the Cincinnati Cyclones last night to advance to the Western Conference finals in the Kelly Cup playoffs. Toledo won the series 4-1. Cincinnati follows a long list of teams that have won the regular season championship and failed to win the Kelly/Riley Cup. The Cyclones won the Brabham Cup this season with 110 points which was four more points than South Division leader Florida, 16 more points than North Division leader Newfoundland and 20 more points than Mountain Division leader Tulsa. In the 31 year history of the ECHL only three teams have won the Brabham Cup and gone on to win the Kelly/Riley Cup. Alaska did it three times (2014, 2011, 2006), Cincinnati did it in 2008 and South Carolina in 1997. It has to be disappointing to be so dominating in the regular season and go out in the second round of the playoffs losing the series 4-1. The Cyclones lost only two games in regulation at home during the entire regular season but went 0-2 in the playoffs against Toledo. Congrats to Toledo who will now take on the winner of the Tulsa vs Idaho series for the Western Conference championship. Tulsa leads in that series 3-2 with game six in Tulsa tonight. If the series goes to a game seven it will be in Tulsa on Tuesday night.


- In the Eastern Conference the Florida Everblades have advanced and will play the winner of Newfoundland vs Manchester in the conference finals. Newfoundland leads the series 3-2 and has game six (Monday night) and game seven if necessary (Tuesday night) at home.


- Steve Martinson is in Des Moines, Iowa helping out the Wild who are still in the AHL playoffs. Martinson got a call last week to see if he would help out by conducting practice with the "Black Aces" for the Wild. When an NHL or AHL team makes the playoffs they will expand the roster by calling up players from their affiliates. According to the AHL website the Iowa Wild roster is at 32 players (3 goalies, 10 defensemen, 18 forwards). Typically the Black Aces do not see any playoff action. They do not practice with the team and do not travel on road games. They participate in a separate practice session reserved for extra skaters. The assignment as a Black Ace requires hard work and focus even though the opportunity to play is remote, barring injuries. Coach Martinson will be familiar with many of the "Black Aces" because of their time in Allen this season. The group includes C.J. Motte, Riley Bourbonnais, Dante Salituro, Nick Boka and Jack Sadek. Iowa is playing Chicago in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs and trails in the best of seven series 0-2. The next three games are in Iowa.


- The schedule for next season is under going the final revisions and ECHL teams have been given permission to release their home schedules on Monday (May 6). This will be done on a team by team basis so I would expect they will be announced by different teams on different dates. Some teams have already put out on social media the announcement will be made on Monday. The entire ECHL schedule will not be released until later. I would expect the Allen home schedule will be released in the next couple of days.


- The PHPA (Professional Hockey Players Association) recently did a profile on Allen's player representative the last two season, Joel Chouinard. The PHPA asks the retiring captain everything from how he became the player rep for Allen to his junior days to being drafted in the NHL to becoming a dad to his hidden talents and much more. You can check it out here:  https://www.phpa.com/news/1494


- Former Allen forward Bryan Moore was a major factor in Toledo's win over Cincinnati in the Central Division finals. Moore had two goals in game five and was the #2 star of the game. He followed that up with scoring the game winning goal in game six and being selected the #1 star. Another former Allen player, defenseman Matt Register, had a goal and three assists in the five game series against Cincinnati.


- I am sure many of you remember Brooklyn Rivera who was one of the Ice Angels for several years and also worked in the front office for the Americans. Brooklyn has gone on to great things as a business owner and mom. She was recently selected as Mrs. McKinney and last night competed in the finals of the Mrs. Texas Pageant and finished as the 1st runner-up.  Congrats to Brooklyn, her husband Eddie and their young family on mom finishing second in the Mrs. Texas Pageant.

Ice Angel Brooklyn

The Rivera family

Brooklyn, second from left was 1st runner up and won awards for best interview and most photogenic

- If you are not on social media you may have missed this story about former Allen defenseman Rick Pinkston having to retire after a serious infection as a result of something hockey players refer to as "Bauer Bump" which is a bony growth that develops on the back of the heel. Here is the story: https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/other-sport/fife-flyers-defenceman-rick-pinkston-retires-from-playing-after-hospital-scare-1-4917650




DID YOU KNOW:  In the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs all four division champions (Nashville, Calgary, Tampa Bay and Washington) lost in the first round and all four wild card teams are still alive. In the ECHL all four division champions (Newfoundland, Florida, Cincinnati, Tulsa) won their first round series and the bottom six teams were eliminated in the first round. While Cincinnati was eliminated last night the other three division champions have either already advanced (Florida) or are leading their second round series 3-2 with two games remaining at home. Anything can and does happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs but in the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs the champion always comes from one of the top regular season teams. Unless Manchester or Idaho pull an upset by winning two games on the road the final four in the Kelly Cup playoffs will be teams rank #2, #3, #4 and #5 in the regular season. 

  

Weekly Update - Allen Connections in Elite Eight, Brabham Cup Curse, Playoff Update, Tulsa's Unstoppable Line and More

- There is not much new on the Allen Americans recruiting front but it is important to remember it is still very early in the process. The NHL, AHL and ECHL are in the second round of their playoffs and in seven of Allen's 10 seasons they were still playing at this point. As a reminder here is the last game in each of the last 10 seasons:

May 4, 2010 - A 4-3 loss to Rapid City in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
May 8, 2011 - A 5-3 loss to Bossier-Shreveport in the CHL Berry Conference finals
April 10, 2012 - A 4-2 loss to the Texas Brahmas in the CHL Berry Conference semi-finals
May 11, 2013 - A 4-3 OT win over Wichita in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
May 10, 2014 - A 5-2 win over Denver in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
June 14, 2015 - A 6-1 win over South Carolina in the Kelly Cup finals
June 9, 2016 - A 4-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers in the Kelly Cup finals
May 9, 2017 - A 4-3 loss to Colorado in the ECHL Mountain Division finals
April 25, 2018 - A 4-1 loss to Idaho in the ECHL Mountain Division semi-finals
April 6, 2019 - A 4-1 loss to Wichita, out of playoffs


-  In talking to coach Martinson he is spending the majority of his time researching players at all levels and coordinating with the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild. The Wild have shared with Martinson they will be signing more players this season which will be of great help to Allen. 


- I've heard from many Allen fans they have lost interest in the Kelly Cup playoffs since the Americans are not participating for the first time in franchise history. There are some connections to the Allen Americans that have made it to the Division finals so if nothing else you can cheer for some of the players that have spent time in Allen in the past. Here is the list:

Cincinnati - none

Florida
Mitch Vandergunst - Mitch was in training camp with Allen this season.

Newfoundland
John Snowden - John is the Growler's head coach. He played in Allen in 2013-14.
Eric Levine - well traveled goalie (15 teams in six pro seasons) play five games in Allen (2013-14).

Tulsa
Steve Kaunisto - played 10 games in Allen in 2011-12.

Toledo
Chris Crane - played part of three seasons in Allen and was big part of the 2014-15 championship.
Bryan Moore - had 48 goals in two seasons with Allen (2016-18).
Matt Register - Matt had two stints in Allen, 2011-12 and 2015-16.

Idaho - none

Orlando
Matt Foget - Matt played in Allen briefly in 2017-18 and was in camp this season
Alex Schoenborn -  contracted player from San Jose played in Allen 2016-18.
Colby McAuley - contracted player from San Jose played in Allen 2017-18.
Mike Brodzinski - contracted player from San Jose played in Allen 2017-18.

Manchester
Pavel Jenys - contracted player with the Wild played nine games with Allen this season.
Stepan Falkovsky - contracted player with the Wild played 12 games with Allen this season.


- The second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs got off to a rough start for three of the division champions. Newfoundland, Cincinnati and Florida all lost at home in their opening game. However, they all bounced back in game two so the series are tied 1-1. Tulsa was the exception as they have a 2-0 lead heading to Idaho for the next three games.


- I saw a video where Tulsa head coach, Rob Murray, was talking about the team taking a 26 hour bus ride to Boise for the next three games of the Mountain Division finals. The Oilers have a 2-0 lead in the series and can close out the Steelheads in Idaho. The teams play on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It is bad enough Tulsa has to bus rather than fly to Boise. You can only hope they are not still using Allen's old bus, "Big Red" for this trip. Big Red hates mountains and getting over them has proven to be a 50-50 proposition in the past.      


- Because of arena availability the Central Division championship, Cincinnati vs Toledo, is a rare 1-3-3 format. The series is tied 1-1 with the road team winning the first two games. The next two games are in Toledo on Wednesday and Friday. The big question in this series is will Cincinnati follow a long list of teams that have won the regular season championship and failed to win the Kelly/Riley Cup? The Cyclones won the Brabham Cup this season with 110 points which was four more points than South Division leader Florida, 16 more points than North Division leader Newfoundland and 20 more points than Mountain Division leader Tulsa. However, in the 31 year history of the ECHL only three teams have won the Brabham Cup and gone on to win the Kelly/Riley Cup. Alaska did it three times (2014, 2011, 2006), Cincinnati did it in 2008 and South Carolina in 1997. Will the curse of the Brabham Cup bite Cincinnati this season?


DID YOU KNOW:  The top three scorers in the 2019 ECHL playoffs not only come from the same team, they are on the same line. The Tulsa Oilers line of Alex Dostie, Stephen Perfetto and Adam Pleskach have been unstoppable so far. They have combined for 45 points (23G, 22A) in Tulsa's first nine playoff games. They have scored 72% of the Oilers goals. Here are their individual stats:

16 points (10G, 6A) Alex Dostie
16 points (5G, 11A) Stephen Perfetto
13 points (8G, 5A) Adam Pleskach 

No other player in the Kelly Cup playoffs has more than 10 points or 6 goals.

Weekly Update - Joel Chouinard Retires, John Snowden's Most Memorable Day, ECHL Playoff Fun Facts and More

JOEL CHOUINARD

- Allen Americans captain Joel Chouinard made it official last night announcing his retirement from professional hockey. The 2008 sixth round NHL draft choice of the Colorado Avalanche finishes his pro career with 534 games played including 204 in the AHL. The term "class act" describes Joel Chouinard both on and off the ice. Joel's career in Allen spans just three seasons including two seasons wearing the "C" on his chest.


- How did Joel end up playing for the Allen Americans? You can thank his wife, Courtney. The story goes back to when he met Courtney when he was playing in Cleveland for the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) and one of his teammates was Justin Mercier. As Joel tells the story, "Justin's sister, Courtney, went to school at the University of Michigan and over spring break she came and visited her brother. Their parents are from Erie, Pennsylvania and Cleveland is a midpoint between Erie and Ann Arbor so Cleveland was the perfect spot for the whole family to meet. They would come to watch Justin play and after I met them, to watch me as well. That is how I met Courtney and it has been great ever since." Allen fans can thank Courtney for recruiting Joel for the Americans. While she was attending the University of Michigan Law School she took an internship in Dallas which led to a full time position after she graduated. Steve Martinson was the benefactor of the move to Dallas.


- Joel Chouinard played just three seasons in Allen and was one of the most effective defensmen in the ECHL. Here is how Joel ranks among all ECHL defensmen when you combine his three seasons in Allen.

3rd - Assists (95)
4th - Points (123)
5th - Games Played (205)
10th - Goals (28)


- In 2016-17 Joel won the ECHL Plus Performer Award, leading the league in plus/minus at +47.


- Even though Chouinard played just three seasons in Allen he is near the top of the all-time record list for defensemen in every category. Joel was an Ironman his first two seasons playing in all 72 games. Here are the all-time leaders for Allen defensemen:

Games Played
247 - Tyler Ludwig
229 - Mike Berube
222 - David Makowski
205 - Joel Chouinard

Points
174 - David Makowski
172 - Tyler Ludwig
123 - Joel Chouinard

Goals
55 - David Makowski
51 - Tyler Ludwig
42 - Eric Roy
28 - Joel Chouinard

Assists
121 - Tyler Ludwig
119 - David Makowski
95 - Joel Chouinard


- If you look at single season records, Joel is the all-time leader for the Americans in plus/minus with +47 in 2016-17. In the 10 year history of the Americans no other defenseman has had a plus/minus higher than +28.


- Just two Allen defensemen have played in all 72 games in a season. Aaron Gens was the first in 2014-15. Joel accomplished the feat in 2016-17 and 2017-18.


- Joel had 51 points (12G, 39A) in 2017-18 which was the fourth highest single season point total by a defenseman in team history. His 39 assists that season is also the fourth highest total in team history.


- It has been quite a year for the Chouinard family with the purchase of their new home, a new pet, the arrival of their first child, and now Joel's retirement. I am sure all Allen fans join me in wishing Joel, Courtney, Julien and their dog Harley the best going forward. Here is what Joel posted on the Allen Americans Blog last night, "Thanks everyone! The last three years have been some of the best of my life. You guys were a big part of that!! And yes, to answer some of your questions, I will be around the AEC for games next year, just not on the ice."

Best Wishes to the Chouinards - Joel, Julien, Courtney and Harley

JOHN SNOWDEN

 You may remember John Snowden when he played 22 games for Allen during the 2013-14 season. John had a distinguished nine year pro career of over 700 games but my first memory of him was when he was playing for the Fort Worth Brahmas in 2013. On February 13, 2013 Snowden scored five goals in a game including four straight goals in the second period as Fort Worth beat Arizona 7-1.

- John retired after the 2013-14 season and moved to Orlando to attend the Golf Academy of America to pursue a degree in golf management and obtain his PGA teaching pro card. John was a scratch golfer. However, John never gave up on the idea of coaching for a living and coached youth hockey in Orlando while he was attending the golf academy. When the opportunity to become the assistant  coach for the Orlando Solar Bears for the 2015-16 season came up, John jumped at the chance. He was promoted to the associate coach in Orlando (2017-18). Orlando was affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs but that affiliation ended after the 2017-18 season when Toronto affiliated with the expansion Newfoundland Growlers. Toronto recruited John to move to Newfoundland to become the assistant coach with the Growlers. 2018-19 has been quite a season for the Snowdens. You can only imagine the logistics of getting family, pets, vehicles etc. from Florida to Newfoundland. Much of this fell to John's wife, Janelle, who was pregnant with their third child.


- In January Newfoundland Growlers head coach, Ryane Clowe, stepped down because of concussion related medical issues that date back to 2014 when his 10 year NHL career was cut short. In a real  vote of confidence John was named the permanent head coach and the team recruited a new assistant coach.


- Newfoundland won the North Division Championship and beat Brampton in the first round of the playoffs which included one of the most memorable days of John's life. Two days ago on Tuesday, April 23, John and Janelle welcomed their third child and first girl into the world as Rowan Elizabeth Snowden was born at 1:56 am. It was the start of a long day for John as at 9:45 pm his team beat Brampton 3-2 in overtime to advance to the second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs.


- I reached out to John to ask him what it was like dealing with his first ever playoff series as a head coach, traveling to Brampton while Janelle was about to give birth and all that happened on Tuesday. Here is what happened in John's own words. "Barry, to sum it all up it was a whirlwind. After game five in Brampton on Saturday I jumped on a late flight back to St. John to get back home as quick as possible. I knew Janelle was close and I was not missing it! I was able to get back to celebrate Janelle's birthday on Sunday and spend Easter with the boys. I held practice Monday morning and then went straight to the hospital. Early on Tuesday morning (1:56 am) we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Rowan Elizabeth, into the world. I got one hour of sleep, rushed home to check on the boys before heading to the rink to get our morning meetings prepared. My staff then delivered the meetings and morning skate while I went back to the hospital with the boys to meet their sister and see mom. After leaving the hospital we went home, I got the boys to a friends house, took a one hour nap and headed back to the rink for the game. Being able to win our first series as a team and franchise on the same day as having our daughter was amazing. I am a very fortunate man to have an amazing wife and family and being able to work with an elite organization with the Maple Leafs and Growlers that understand the importance of family. April 23 is a day I will never forget!


- It has been quite the year for the Snowden family and it could get even better with the Growlers going strong in the playoffs. Congrats to John and Janelle, big brothers Aiden and Keegan, and new arrival Rowan.

Big brothers Keegan (left) and Aiden meet sister Rowan

KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS

- The final piece of the second round playoff puzzle fell into place last night as Tulsa advanced by beating Kansas City 6-2 in the only series that went to a game seven.


- Unlike the NHL where all four division champions were defeated in the opening round of the playoffs, all four ECHL division champions advanced.


- The higher seeded team won seven of eight first round series. The one exception was Manchester who was the #3 seed in the North Division and beat #2 seed Adirondack 4-1.


- I posted this a couple of weeks ago and wanted to update the info:

 So much for the idea once you make the Kelly Cup playoffs any team can win. In the last 14 seasons the Kelly Cup champion has never finished worse than seventh in the regular season. In 12 of the last 14 seasons the Kelly Cup champion finished in the top five during the regular season. Here is the regular season rank of the 16 teams that made the playoffs. The teams marked with an asterisk have advanced to the second round.

*1. Cincinnati
*2. Florida
*3. Newfoundland
*4. Tulsa
*5. Toledo
*6. Idaho
*7. Orlando
8. Adirondack
9. Utah
*10. Manchester
11. Fort Wayne
12. Brampton
13. Kansas City
14. Kalamazoo
15. South Carolina  


- The second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs get underway tonight as Cincinnati takes on Toledo in the Central Division finals. Cincinnati's record against Toledo in the regular season was 5-2-2-0.


- Getting players added to the roster for the playoffs who spent the majority of the season in the AHL can be the difference in winning and losing. Tulsa is a prefect example. The #1 seeded Oilers fell behind to #4 seeded Kansas City in the Mountain Division semi-finals 3-2 and had to win two games at home to advance. Tulsa was led in the two wins by Alex Dostie who played only five games with Tulsa during the regular season, just enough to qualify to play in the playoffs. Alex was selected the #1 star in games six and seven. In game seven last night Alex had a hat trick including the game winning goal. Dostie is leading all ECHL players in the playoffs in points (13) and goals (9). 

         

DID YOU KNOW: It you had to look at one stat from the first round of the playoffs to help predict second round success it might be goal differential. Here is the list:

+13  Manchester
+11  Toledo
+9    Florida
+8    Cincinnati
+6    Orlando
+4    Tulsa
-2     Idaho
-5     Newfoundland

Allen Americans Update with Steve Martinson, Thanksgiving Day Playoff Prediction Results, Allen Players to the AHL, Playoff Update, Costello's Postseason Records and More

It has been two weeks since Allen's season ended and it is time to bring everyone up to date on a variety of topics. I want to start with a recap of a conversation I had with Steve Martinson yesterday. He is in Rockford taking care of flood damage to some of his boat docks. We covered a myriad of topics and here are some of the highlights:


- If there is an overriding theme to the recruitment process for the upcoming season it is team speed and team defense. From veterans to rookies, Allen needs to improve team speed. Team defense this season was by far the worst since joining the ECHL. Here are the goals allowed the last five season:

Goals Allowed
269   2018-19
232   2017-18
203   2016-17
204   2015-16
203   2014-15


- There were times during the last season when Allen didn't have enough players that could kill penalties. Part of better team defense is recruiting more players that have experience killing penalties in addition to offensive skill.


- Coach Martinson has been working with the Wild and they have some things in the works that will help Allen and the Wild. The current Wild management wasn't fully in place until well into the off season last year. They have shared with Martinson they will be signing more players this season which will be of great help to Allen.


- Martinson is in no hurry to sign players for next season until he has a better idea of what is happening with the Wild, the AHL playoffs and the ECHL playoffs. It doesn't mean he is just waiting as there is plenty to do before making signing decisions. Remember the first day players can be signed for the 2019-20 season isn't until June 16. Qualifying offers for any players Martinson wants to retain aren't due until June 30.


- During the next 60 days it will become more apparent what players from last year's Allen roster will get AHL deals, sign in Europe and retire. Allen fans should expect some players in all three categories.


- Coach Martinson emphasized to me what he said after the last game of the season, he is looking forward to building a new team for the 2019-20 season.



THE PLAYOFFS

Each season at Thanksgiving I list the teams that will make the Kelly Cup playoffs. This is based strictly on what teams are in playoff spots on Thanksgiving day. Historical data proves somewhere between 75% - 80% of playoff teams are already decided by Thanksgiving.
  

- It is strange to think with a little more than 20% of the ECHL season complete you can predict who will be in the playoffs with close to 80% accuracy. Here are the teams that were in the top four spots in each division at Thanksgiving and the final results:



North Division
1. Newfoundland
2. Adirondack
3. Reading
4. Brampton

Three of four made the playoffs. Reading finished fifth just one point out of the playoffs. Manchester made the playoffs.



South Division
1. Jacksonville
2. Norfolk
3. Florida
4. Orlando

Three of four made the playoffs. It was predictable Norfolk would end up out of the playoffs and be replaced by South Carolina but these were the standings at the time. 



Central Division
1. Cincinnati
2. Toledo
3. Indy
4. Fort Wayne

Three of four made the playoffs. Kalamazoo nipped Indy by two points for the last playoff spot.



Mountain Division
1. Utah
2. Tulsa
3. Kansas City
4. Idaho

All four teams made the playoffs.


History repeated itself again this season as 13 of the 16 teams in the Kelly Cup playoffs were in a playoff spot at Thanksgiving. That means 81% of the playoff teams were decided by Thanksgiving.



OTHER COMMENTS

- You may have noticed Braylon Shmyr was loaned to the AHL after Allen completed their season. Braylon played the last two games of the season for San Antonio who was out of the playoff picture. San Antonio brought in players so they could send players back to their affiliate (Tulsa) who was starting their ECHL playoffs.


- Alex Breton finished his time in Springfield (AHL) in style by scoring two goals in the last game of the season. Breton played in 10 games with Springfield after being loaned on March 1. In those 10 games he had four points (3G, 1A) and was +5. Springfield did not make the playoffs. If Alex is not signed to an AHL deal by Springfield it is hard to believe he won't get a deal with some AHL team next season. You can be assured Martinson will give Breton a qualifying offer so he will have his ECHL rights for next season if he does sign an AHL deal.


- Riley Bourbonnais did not play down the stretch for Iowa as they got players assigned from the Minnesota Wild (NHL) and were battling for a playoff spot. Since he was loaned to Iowa on March 1st, Riley played in 10 games and had one goal. Riley is another player that coach Martinson will definitely qualify so whether he signs with Allen, signs with an AHL team or goes to Europe, Allen will retain his ECHL rights.


-  Iowa will take on Milwaukee starting on Sunday in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. It is a best of five series. There are some familiar names on the Iowa Wild playoff roster. According to the AHL website the playoff roster includes 19 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goalies. Five players on the roster spent time in Allen. Goalie C.J. Motte, defensemen Nick Boka and Jack Sadek and forwards Riley Bourbonnais and Dante Salituro. Not sure how much if any playing time these five players will get but they are in the playoffs.


- The first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs are well underway and there have been a lot of close games already with nine games taking overtime to decide. The only division champion that is behind is Tulsa who trails Kansas City 2-1 with game four in Kansas City tonight. The Central Division champs, Cincinnati, is ahead of Kalamazoo 2-1 with game four in Kalamazoo tonight. In the North Division the #1 seed Newfoundland took a 3-0 lead over Brampton but lost to the Beast 4-1 last night. The Growlers will have another chance to close out the series on Saturday. In the South Division the #1 seed, Florida, won the first two games at home against Jacksonville but the Icemen won last night 4-3 at home to make the series 2-1. Game four is tonight in Jacksonville.


- The only team that can advance tonight is Manchester who is the #3 seed in the North Division. The Monarchs have a 3-0 lead over the #2 seed (Adirondack) with game four tonight in Manchester.
 


DID YOU KNOW: I posted on my ECHL Stats Twitter account (@ECHLStats) this morning the players with the most assists in one playoff year in the last 15 seasons. Chad Costello was at the top of the list with 29 assists. When you look at the all-time record book Chad is all over the postseason records. Here are a few examples:

1st, Most Assists, One Playoff Year, 2016, (29)
1st, Most Assists in Final series, 2016, (10)
2nd, Most Points, One Playoff Year, 2016, (36)
3rd, Most Points in Final Series, 2016, (13)
3rd, Most Assists in Playoffs, Career, (61)
4th, Most Points in Playoffs, Career (83)
  
    

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You - Barry the Blogger Style

 For the first time since I started writing the Allen Americans Blog seven years ago the season has ended without making the playoffs. No time for sorrow or disappointment. It is time for me to say my thanks to all involved in making Allen Americans hockey the best fan experience anywhere. While I will still be posting blogs during the summer when there is news to report, it will no longer be each day.


It is quite an undertaking to write about the team seven days a week during the season and it does indeed take a village to make it all possible. So please indulge me for this once a year post about the blog and all of the people that help me. It seems like as the years go by more and more blog readers help me out with information, ideas for stories, ask questions and let me know about errors I make in the blog so I can get them corrected.


It wouldn't be right to have a blog post without some stats so here are a couple that amaze me. I write somewhere around 250,000 words during the hockey season. As of this morning the total number of page views since October of 2012 is 1,541,143 and this number doesn't include fans that read the blog on the Allen Americans website or The Sin Bin where it is also posted.  Who would have imagined a blog started for the Heritage Ranch Allen Americans fan club now reaches people all over the US and Canada as well as the hockey hotbeds in Europe on a daily basis.  It proves fans of the Allen Americans are all over the world.


It is hard to put into words my appreciation whether you read the blog every day or are a casual fan that stumbles across my daily musings. It has been my pleasure to meet many of you and your words of encouragement in person, comments at the end of each blog, posts on Twitter, Facebook, message boards, and email have been very satisfying and inspiring.


Thanks to the many fans, bloggers, and media from all over the league that have promoted the blog as fair and balanced and have also shared information with me about their teams. One of the unexpected benefits of writing the blog has been getting to know all of the broadcasters, writers, bloggers and passionate fans from other teams.


There are a lot of you on Twitter that like and/or retweet the blog. There are a lot of you that like and/or share the blog on Facebook. I notice each and every one and appreciate it so much because it is a way to spread the word about the Allen Americans. I am extremely fortunate that Hall of Fame sports writer and Allen Americans supporter, Rick Gosselin has become a friend and mentor. Rick has kindly retweeted the blog every day to his 25,000 followers. With the great stories he has written about the Americans and publicity he has given to the team along with retweeting the blog each day I call him a one man marketing department.   
 

Thank you to the players who have never said no to a single request I have made of them for a chat, an interview or a question. I have gotten to know most of these young men both professionally and personally and they have represented the Americans in an outstanding manner. You see the players at their best when they are visiting schools and hospitals or are interacting with the young fans in any environment. 


One of my goals when I started the blog was to share the personal stories of the players. It is something I didn't do enough of this season so hope to do more next season. The wives/girlfriends, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and friends I have met have been great about sharing family stories which I have then been able to share in the blog. This season as part of the 10th anniversary celebration I did a series called, Where Are They Now. A special thanks to all the players (and their wives) from the past who were kind enough to share their personal stories and to super fan Wendy Ellis who helped me contact players from the past. 


Thanks to Steve Martinson and his staff  (Assistant Coach Jason Deitsch, Player/Coach Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Trainer Phil Dolan, Equipment Mananger Tim Abbott, Skating Coach Luke Chilcott, Goalie Coach Chris Johansen) for always being willing to talk to me and help educate me. A special thanks to coach Martinson, for allowing me to stop by his office after every game and every practice to ask questions and talk about the team. It is his openness and trust that has allowed the blog to have information you can't find anywhere else.


Thanks to Tommy Daniels, the voice of the Allen Americans, who has been a big help to me. Tommy is the one who encouraged me to start the blog, made me feel like part of the media team, answered many questions, publicized the blog to attract new readership, and invited me to be part of the between periods conversation on his radio broadcast to talk hockey and promote the blog. Tommy is the best broadcaster in the business and is always willing to share his knowledge with others.


Thanks to Tommy's radio sidekick, Maurice Fitzgerald, for all the between periods chats on the radio broadcast. Maurice has forgotten more about hockey than I will ever know but we are a good combo with all of my day to day information/stats about the team.
 

Maurice and myself are two of a big volunteer army that devotes time to the Allen Americans because of their love of the team and love of hockey. Photographers, writers, interns, fan club members and fans too numerous to mention. Certainly an under appreciated group of volunteers.


This was my first season as the official blogger of the Allen Americans and in that capacity I posted the blog each day on the Americans website (allenamericans.com). Because I use a different software to write the blog than the Americans use on their website my daily post has to be converted from one software to another. It was clearly a case of teaching an old dog (me) new tricks which is never easy. Thanks to Kamen Kessler, who handles digital marketing for the team for all the help he gave me in learning how to use WordPress and get my blog posted to the Allen website. Kamen also created all of the graphics I have used this season.


 Joe Babik, Director of Communication for the ECHL has once again spent more time with me this season than I deserved to help educate me about the policies, rules, procedures and records of the ECHL. Joe has gone above and beyond the call of duty and seems to respond to questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


Thanks to the entire Team Sin Bin group which has welcomed me into their group for the fifth year and made it very easy for me to get my stories on their website (thesinbin.net). A special thanks to Editor-in Chief Matt Harding (SinBinThunder).


Unlike most writers, bloggers, and other media types that cover the Americans I have a dual role as in addition to being a blogger I also coordinate the activities of the fan club (over 200 members) at Heritage Ranch where I live. In this capacity I spend a lot of time in the front office of the Americans arranging for season tickets, suites, individual game tickets, seats for soldiers tickets, and other promotions. I want to thank the entire front office staff, led by Matt Canavan, who have gone out of their way to help me with tickets as well as provide content for the blog. A special thanks to Chase Richardson (Ticket Operations Manager) who was my go to guy this season and would drop whatever his was doing to help me out.


Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't thank my lovely wife of 40 years, Nancy, who is kind enough to proofread the blog each morning. It is a tireless task. Despite our best efforts we miss plenty of errors in both substance and form. Luckily many of you are kind enough to let me know of these errors so corrections can be made promptly. The volunteer proofreader list has gotten long but special thanks to John Weithman and Mary Betz who are the best of the best. Blog posts live forever on the internet and can always be corrected so I really appreciate when you let me know about errors.


This will be the last daily blog post for the season. I will still blog on an as needed basis as new information becomes available. If you are on Facebook or Twitter you can see whenever there is a new post on the blog by liking my page on Facebook at "Allen Americans Blog" or following me on Twitter at @allenamericans1. Maybe the easiest way to stay in touch is by making allenamericansblog.blogspot.com one of the favorites on whatever search engine you use and checking in periodically. Remember, it is only 187 days until Allen Americans hockey starts again.


I started a new Twitter account this season called ECHL Stats (@EchlStats) where my goal is to post interesting and insightful stats pertaining to the ECHL. I plan on posting throughout the summer on ECHL Stats so if you are on Twitter give @EchlStats a follow. I also hope to post the info on Facebook (Allen Americans Blog). 


Finally, on a personal note you may know I have been taking a two week fishing trip to Ontario for over 20 years with some buddies from Minnesota. The trip is always the last week of May and first week of June. This worked fine when Allen was in the Central Hockey League as the playoffs were always over by the time the fishing trip started but that is not the case since joining the ECHL. In 2015 I missed the finals series and in 2016 I flew home early to catch the championship finals. The last two seasons I made the tough choice to forego the fishing trip as it made no sense to cover the team every single day and then miss the playoffs. My fishing buddies told me I was making a big mistake by not going on the fishing trip. The Americans won four straight championships when I went on the trip and then the last two season when I didn't go on the fishing trip the team lost early in the playoffs. My superstitious Allen fans (you know who you are) said it was all my fault the Americans lost because I decided to not go on the fishing trip. Even though I am not a superstitious person, last fall I made the decision to once again join my friends on the fishing trip at the end of May, just to make sure the Americans would get back to the Kelly Cup finals. Bottom line it is not my fault Allen didn't make the playoffs because I am going fishing next month.  



DID YOU KNOW: It is hard to believe it is early April and the Allen Americans are not playing hockey. April 6th is the earliest the Americans have played the last game of the season in the seven years Steve Martinson has been the coach but also the earliest in the ten year history of the franchise.  Here is the date of the last game played in each year of the Allen franchise along with the results.

May 4, 2010 - A 4-3 loss to Rapid City in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
May 8, 2011 - A 5-3 loss to Bossier-Shreveport in the CHL Berry Conference finals
April 10, 2012 - A 4-2 loss to the Texas Brahmas in the CHL Berry Conference semi-finals
May 11, 2013 - A 4-3 OT win over Wichita in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
May 10, 2014 - A 5-2 win over Denver in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
June 14, 2015 - A 6-1 win over South Carolina in the Kelly Cup finals
June 9, 2016 - A 4-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers in the Kelly Cup finals
May 9, 2017 - A 4-3 loss to Colorado in the ECHL Mountain Division finals
April 25, 2018 - A 4-1 loss to Idaho in the ECHL Mountain Division semi-finals
April 6, 2019 - A 4-1 loss to Wichita, out of playoffs