Allen Americans Roster Update and Five Story Lines For Allen Fans to Follow

"We will have a very entertaining team in 2020-21. We will be more physical without sacrificing any skill. We are going to be a fun team to watch.".....Steve Martinson, July 27, 2020

There are many unanswered questions about the 2020-21 ECHL season but when it comes to the on ice product general manager Steve Martinson is putting together a roster that coach Steve Martinson is going to really like. Martinson wants teams that are big, fast, skilled, finish their checks and put the team first. A combination of guys that carry the water and guys that chop the wood. The one thing Martinson has said consistently since the 2019-20 season was canceled is he will have a more physical team in 2020-21.

- Let's look at where the roster stands today. There have been six players announced thus far. Look for another returning player to be announced tomorrow (Tuesday).

Spencer Asuchak - Mr. Allen American spent his franchise record seventh season with the team in 2019-20. Spencer is the all time leader in franchise history in games played (349) and goals (102). His 83 playoff games with Allen is also a record to go along with his three championship rings. Spencer will be a co-captain for the upcoming season.

Jared VanWormer - Jared finished his college career at Ferris State University in 2016-17 having scored a total of 25 goals in four seasons and never had a 10 goal season. He is a tenacious worker that never takes a shift off and despite his size lives in the dirty areas of the ice in front of the net and in the corners. He has improved in each of his three pro seasons. In 2019-20 he had 22 goals in 54 games, the best goal production of his pro career. Jared was named the team captain last season and will be a co-captain along with Asuchak in 2020-21.

- Josh Lammon - Josh was acquired by the Americans in a trade with Florida just before the start of the 2019-20 season. A smart player who is always in the right position, he was captain of his college team (Mercyhurst) and was voted the best defensive forward in the entire league as a senior. After scoring just one goal in the first three months of the season in Allen the dam broke on January 18 when Josh had two goals and an assist in a win over Kansas City. Over the next eight games Josh had 11 points (6G, 5A). Lammon finished the season with 27 points (8G, 11A) but you get the feeling he has just scratched the surface of what he can accomplish.

- Les Lancaster - Les got off to a great start last season with 13 points in his first 10 games with the Americans. At the time of his first loan to the AHL back in November he was leading all ECHL defensemen in scoring. Several ECHL stints limited his time in Allen. He played in 34 games and had 22 assists. Lancaster will undoubtedly get more AHL opportunities in 2020-21 but will be a big contributor during his time in Allen.

Cody Corbett - A six year pro, Cody was acquired by Allen in a trade with Atlanta in February. He is one of many Allen players that played their junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings he was part of two WHL championships and in his last season (2014) the team won the Memorial Cup. Corbett played only 11 games with Allen before the season was cancelled. Look for him to play a bigger role on 2020-21.

Braylon Shmyr - Braylon returns to Allen after finishing the 2019-20 season playing in England. As a rookie in 2018-19 Braylon had 44 points (20G, 24A) for Allen in 64 games. A strong skater, if Shmyr can improve his defensive play and look to make plays on offense by utilize his teammates more, he will be a a great addition to the Americans.


- The other big part of the Allen roster for 2020-21 will be the players signed to NHL/AHL deals by the Wild that are assigned to Allen. Steve Martinson has developed a great relationship with the Wild that has improved each season and that will be a big help as players are assigned to Allen. While the Iowa Wild did take three defensemen that Martinson recruited last season (Josh Atkinson, Matt Register, Turner Ottenbreit) the Americans were also assigned from the Wild the ECHL Defenseman of the Year (Alex Breton), the ECHL top goal scorer among defensemen (Stepan Falkovsky) and the Allen Americans team leader in plus/minus (Jack Sadek). The trend in the ECHL is having more NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to ECHL affiliates and Allen will be a part of this trend in 2020-21.


- While you never know what players will be assigned to Allen in 2020-21 the story below certainly provides some possibilities. Note Steve Martinson's quote about Jesse Mychan who Allen fans will remember from his time with the Colorado Eagles, "He (Mychan) is a hard nosed tough goal scorer who hits like a truck. He is the kind of player that opposing defensemen don't like to play against. Here is a link to the story from the Iowa Wild, "The Wild Wire: Meet the New Guys"  https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/the-wild-wire-meet-the-new-guys


- Martinson has been recruiting rookies that just finished their junior career in Canada. These are players that have AHL capabilities but have not secured an AHL deal because of the unusual situation this season. Martinson has shared with me he has recently come to terms with two of these rookies, a forward and a defenseman. Both are very skilled and also physical players.


- There are a lot of players that were under contract with Iowa last season that are still unsigned. Tyler Sheehy, Jack Sadek, Alex Breton, Olivier Archambault, Stepan Falkovsky were mainstays in Allen as they all played more than 45 games with the Americans. It is hard to believe Iowa isn't trying to sign Sheehy, the ECHL Rookie of the Year and MVP runner-up.


- Nick Boka, who was under contract with Iowa last season and had his season ended when he broke his leg in January has signed with the Fort Wayne Komets where he will play with his brother, Luke.


- There was more hope than normal that Chad Costello would not return to Germany for the 2020-21 season and would sign with Allen. Looks like Allen fans will be disappointed again as eliteprospects.com has under "rumors" on their website that Chad is going to the Iserlohn Roosters, which is the team he played for when he first went to Germany in 2017-18.


- Without a doubt the question I get asked most frequently is when will the season start? The official ECHL answer is no decision has been made and many teams are still advertising an October start date. The conventional wisdom, however, is the season will be delayed. Here are five story lines I will be watching over the next few days, weeks and months:

1. When will the ECHL season begin?
2. What impact will Covid 19 have on home games once the season starts?
3. Will the Allen Americans be sold?
4. Will Steve Martinson, who is in the last year of his contract, get a contract extension?
5. Will the Minnesota Wild move their ECHL affiliate to Iowa City (Coralville) if a new ECHL franchise is established there.



DID YOU KNOW: Steve Martinson's regular season record since joining the Allen Americans in 2012-13 is a lofty 316-179-34-25 which is a winning percentage of .624. Over his 24 seasons as a coach Martinson has 1043 wins, second most all time in professional hockey in North America. 


      

Americans Re-Sign Lammon and Lancaster, Future Announcements, Wild Affiliation Rumor, European Leagues, More Costello Records and ECHL PPP Loans

The Allen Americans added two more players to the 2020-21 roster with the announcement today that Josh Lammon and Les Lancaster have re-signed with the team. When neither of these players were on the qualifying list that was released last week it was a foregone conclusion that they had re-signed with Allen. A couple of quality players, character guys that play both ways. Here is a short recap:

- Josh Lammon - Rookie Josh Lammon was acquired by the Americans in a trade with Florida just before the start of the 2019-20. A smart player who is always in the right position, he was captain of his college team (Mercyhurst) and was voted the best defensive forward in the entire league as a senior. After scoring just one goal in the first three months of the season in Allen the dam broke on January 18 when Josh had two goals and an assist in a win over Kansas City. Over the next eight games Josh had 11 points (6G, 5A). Lammon finished the season with 27 points (8G, 11A) but you get the feeling his second pro season will show he has just scratched the surface of what he can accomplish.

- Les Lancaster - The rookie defenseman got off to a great start with 13 points in his first 10 games with the Americans. At the time of his first loan to the AHL back in November he was leading all ECHL defensemen in scoring. Several ECHL stints limited his time in Allen. He played in 34 games and had 22 assists. Lancaster will undoubtedly get more AHL opportunities in 2020-21 but will be a big contributor during his time in Allen.


- Here is the press release issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-welcome-back-lancaster-and-lammon-for-their-sophomore-seasons/


- Allen has now announced four players, three forwards and a defenseman:

Spencer Asuchak - co-captain, 9th pro season
Jared VanWormer - co-captain, 5th pro season
Josh Lammon - 3rd pro season
Les Lancaster - 2nd pro season


- As reminder the Americans gave qualifying offers to just six players though they could have qualified as many as eight. The players receiving qualifying offers were:

Kayle Doetzel
Jacob Doty
Gabe Gagne
Turner Ottenbreit
Brett Pollock
Jordan Topping

These players either have AHL (Doty & Gagne) deals or are looking for AHL deals or looking to sign overseas. By issuing qualifying offers to these players the Americans retain their ECHL rights for the entire 2020-21 season.


- There were many players that were on the season ending roster that did not get qualifying offers. Remember players that have already signed do not need qualifying offers. It is just a guess on my part but you have to expect non-veterans who were on the season ending roster but did not get a qualifying offer have been signed but not announced. Here is that group:

Forwards
Corey Durocher
Colton Heffley

Defensemen
Ben Carroll
Cole Fraser
Cody Corbett


-  I saw a post on social media that indicated the Minnesota Wild were considering placing their ECHL affiliate in a new arena in a suburb (Coralville) of Iowa City, Iowa. This would potentially happen for the 2021-22 season. Steve Martinson has spent the last two seasons developing a relationship with the Wild and despite being selected as the ECHL General Manager of the Year for 2019-20 he has not been signed to a contract extension. 2020-21 is the last year of his current contract. The timing does make you wonder what could be in store in the future. With the ownership in Allen possibly changing it is hard to predict what will happen. When I asked Steve Martinson if he has ever had a conversation with the Minnesota Wild about them putting their ECHL affiliate in Iowa City he said yes, but did not elaborate. 


-  The Small Business Administration (SBA) just released the list of businesses that received PPP loans. Mark Burns, who covers hockey for the Sports Business Journal posted this information:

Number of AHL/ECHL clubs in the PPP loan data, all in the $150K-$350K range. 

ECHL: Indy Fuel, Worcester Railers, KC Mavericks, Allen Americans, SC Stingrays, Jacksonville Icemen. 

AHL: Utica Comets, Syracuse Crunch, Springfield Thunderbirds, Milwaukee Admirals.


- It looks like the NHL is scheduled to start their playoffs around August 1st with the estimates of the Stanley Cup being awarded in October. If that is the timeline it would be an almost certainty that the ECHL season would not start until December or January.


- I saw where the DEL in Germany is unlikely to start before November 1. Many of the European Leagues will have a delayed start. If you are on Twitter give EuropeanHockeyClubs a follow (@EHCAlliance) as they provide the chart below on the status of the leagues:

 
  
DID YOU KNOW: Here is my ECHL Stats and Information post for today. Another example of how good Chad Costello was during his three seasons in Allen. Not only did he have a point in over 86% of the games he played over a three year period he never missed a game. That is the definition of consistency! Everything will have to fall just right to get Chad back in Allen for the 2020-21 season but there is a chance:

In 1985-86, Wayne Gretzky played in 80 regular season games and scored (goal or assist) in 78 of them for a percentage of 98%. Here are the stats and percentages for the last six ECHL scoring leaders:

81% - Josh Kestner, 47 of 58 games, (2019-20)

68% - Jesse Schultz, 42 of 62 games, (2018-19)

73% - Shawn Szydlowski, 47 of 64 games, (2017-18)

86% - Chad Costello, 62 of 72 games, (2016-17)

82% - Chad Costello, 59 of 72 games, (2015-16)

89% - Chad Costello, 64 of 72 games, (2014-15)

Qualifying Offers, Player Signing Announcement, More Interviews, Update on 2020-21 Season, Could Chad Costello Return, An ECHL Record Full of Allen Americans

Today is a critical day for Steve Martinson as he continues to put together the Allen Americans roster for the 2020-21 season. The deadline for making qualifying offers is this afternoon 3:00 pm EDT.

- Here is the list of players on the season ending roster that could be given a qualifying offer. Remember, only eight players can be given qualifying offers and this is a way to retain the rights to players.

Defensemen 
Turner Ottenbreit
Ben Carroll
Cole Fraser
Les Lancaster
Kayle Doetzel
Cody Corbett
Matt Register*

Forwards
Jake Doty
Brett Pollock
Jared VanWormer
Spencer Asuchak - signed and announced
Jordan Topping
Corey Durocher
Josh Lammon
Gabe Gagne
Colton Heffley
Josh Brittain*
Alex Guptill*
Shawn O'Donnell*

*veterans



- Typically coach Martinson does not extend qualifying offers to veterans because the rules allow them to become unrestricted free agents on August 1st as long as they don't sign with another team prior to that date. If Martinson does qualify a veteran it would be Matt Register who spent the majority of last season in Iowa.


- I would expect qualifying offers will be extended to Jake Doty, Gabe Gagne and Turner Ottenbreit just to retain their ECHL rights as they are expected to play in the AHL in 2020-21.


-  Players like Lancaster and Topping may have to be qualified because they are still awaiting deals with an AHL club or clubs in Europe before they re-sign with Allen.


- Coach Martinson has already agreed to terms with many players on the team from last season. The young players from last season that are not on the qualified list are most likely already signed but not announced.


- The bottom line is Martinson has more than enough slots to qualify everyone he wants to qualify. He will not have to use all eight qualifying offers. You may see some individual teams put out press releases prior to the ECHL issuing the complete list.


- The Americans will be announcing their second player this afternoon (Tuesday) and another key piece of the puzzle will be added.


- Tommy Daniels is trying to do two video interview per week, on Wednesday and Sunday. It wasn't finalized when I talked to him yesterday but his plan was to interview the Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin and post that interview on Wednesday. Guerin was the Assistant GM in Pittsburgh for five years before getting the GM job in Minnesota so he has a lot of experience dealing with the relationship between an NHL club and their AHL and ECHL affiliated teams. This should be a informative interview.


- Here is Tommy's latest interview with Jake Doty with a special appearance by Jake's young son, Dallas:

 


- There is much uncertainty about the start of the 2020-21 ECHL season with a reluctance to suggest the season will be delayed. Yesterday the Fort Wayne Komets issued a letter to their fans and season ticket holders that provided an update which covered some topics of interest. It would be helpful if all teams would issue such a letter to reassure fans of their approach to 2020-21.  https://www.komets.com/en/news/2020/6/season-update


- I was doing some research for my ECHL Stats and Information post yesterday and was reminded why Steve Martinson has said many times his 2020-21 team will be more physical than last season. The Americans finished the shortened 2019-20 season ranked #18 in average penalty minutes per game (12.02), #14 in minor penalties (285), #15 in major penalties (21), #15 in misconduct penalties and #24 in game misconduct penalties (1). When the Americans won their two Kelly Cups (2015 & 2016) they were top five in almost all of these categories. When they won their first Kelly Cup in 2015 Allen was #1 in penalty minutes with 1644.


- This is my ECHL Stats and Information post from today. It just reinforces how tough it was when Allen won back to back Kelly Cups in 2015 and 2016.  Going back 10 years, five of the top nine players with the most games played in one season are Allen Americans.

Most combined regular season and playoff games played in a single season in the last 10 years, since 2010–11:

‬
‪98 - Brett Stern, Wheeling (15-16)‬
‪97 - Chad Costello, Allen (14-15)‬
‪97 - Jamie Schaafsma, Allen (14-15)‬
‪97 - Aaron Gens, Allen (14-15)‬
96 - Chad Costello, Allen (15-16)
96 - Matt Register, Colorado (17-18)
96 - Jake Marto, Colorado (17-18)
96 - Kevin Young, Allen (14-15)
96 - Mathew Maione, Brampton & Wheeling (15-16)



DID YOU KNOW: With the rumor or maybe better described as wishful thinking, there is more talk than normal about the possibility of Chad Costello not returning to Europe for the 2020-21 season because of all the issues surrounding Covid 19. Unfortunately there is as much uncertainty surrounding the ECHL as the leagues in Europe. If the stars aligned and Chad would sign with Allen and he was called up to Allen's AHL affiliate he would be playing in front of all of his friends and family in his hometown of Des Moines.

A reminder of what Chad Costello can do in the Steve Martinson offense. Scoring more than 110 points in a season has happened 26 times in ECHL history but 23 of the 26 took place prior to the turn of the century. Here are the three exceptions:

125 - Chad Costello, 2014-15, Allen Americans
122 - Chad Costello, 2016-17, Allen Americans
114 - Tyler Donati, 2009-10, Elmira Jackals

Steve Martinson was the coach for all three of these achievements. Also, Chad Costello is one of only 12 players who have scored 120+ points in one ECHL season. Chad's 125 points in 2014-15 is #9 all-time and his 122 points in 2016-17 is #10 all-time. The eight players ahead of Costello on the single season point list all set their marks between 1989 -1996 during the high scoring years of pro hockey.  
 

Allen Americans Weekly Update, Player Announcement, Road Schedule, New ECHL Streaming Service and More

- It has been a week since ECHL players could be signed and undoubtedly many have been inked to a contract but announcements have been few and far between around the league. Just five or six ECHL teams have issued press releases on players that have signed for the 2020-21 season. You can expect the pace will quicken this week.


- The Allen Americans will make their first player announcement tomorrow (Tuesday). They were teasing the annoucment over the weekend and you can expect more teases today. The first player announced each season is always well received and that will certainly be the case tomorrow.


- It is still unknown when the 2020-21 ECHL schedule will be released as decisions will have to be made by the Board of Governors (BOG) on how to proceed. They will be meeting this week (virtual meeting) so it will be interesting to see what is made public after the meeting.


- As part of the BOG meeting the ECHL will announce the winners of 13 individual and team awards given to front office personnel. This will be live on Facebook on June 24th (Wednesday) at 3:00 pm CDT. Best of luck to Allen's two nominees, Ali Addikson for Sales Rookie of the Year and Tommy Daniels for Broadcaster of the Year. 


- With the uncertainty about the start of the ECHL season many teams have not released their home schedules. Allen will obviously visit the other six Mountain Division teams (Idaho, Kansas City, Rapid City, Tulsa, Utah, Wichita). I did a quick search around the league to find teams that had released their home schedule and Allen was included. I was able to find 11 of the 36 road games:

Idaho - December 2, 4, 5 and January 6 & 8
Rapid City - November 11, 13, 14 and January 22 & 23
Cincinnati - January 17
Toledo - January 30 & 31  


- The ECHL will have a new provider for televised streaming services when the season does begin. One can only hope with Neulion out, the cost and quality that the AHL and NHL enjoy will be available to ECHL fans. Stay tuned.


- For the many Allen Americans fans that are always wishing for the return of Chad Costello you probably noticed that the Costello's returned to the US from Germany this past week. From what I have read the league Chad played in (DEL) has been delayed until the end of October at the earliest, they typically start in August. It doesn't mean Chad won't return to Europe as other countries/leagues are planning to play as scheduled. I am sure coach Martinson is saving some money in case Costello decides he wants to stay in the US for the upcoming season. Unfortunately the situation in the ECHL is also very much unsettled.


- Tommy Daniels latest interview is with the Allen Americans Fan Club. This group does a lot to support the team. Take a look at the video for the details on what they do and how you can get involved:

 


DID YOU KNOW: I came across this stat recently and it is one of the most impressive in the record book. It is a page that shows the Kelly Cup playoff overtime records of all current ECHL teams. Allen is by far the best with a OT playoff record of 7-0 which includes 3-0 at home and 4-0 on the road. Here is the playoff overtime record of all current ECHL teams with a minimum of seven OT games.

7-0 - Allen
6-4 - Greenville
4-3 - Manchester
20-17 - Toledo
19-16 - Idaho
18-16 - Florida
18-16 - Cincinnati
15-13 -Wheeling
12-14 - Reading
9-11 - Fort Wayne
25-33 - South Carolina
6-13 - Atlanta
2-5 - Kalamazoo
3-13 - Utah

        

Allen Americans Update, Signing Date Arrives, Zoom Interviews With Lukin, Whitley, Lammon, Front Office Awards and More

The day has finally arrived, today is the first day for ECHL teams to sign players for the 2020-21 season. Because of the uncertainty surrounding what will happen with the NHL and AHL seasons, it creates some unique issues for Allen general manager, Steve Martinson. Here is my take on what is taking place.


- The season ending rosters for all ECHL teams were released this morning. For the Allen Americans the season ending roster looks very much like the protected list that was released two weeks ago. Just two players from the protected list are not on the season ending list (Jake Paterson & Josh Atkinson). Here is the ECHL press release with all of the season ending rosters:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2020/6/echl-announces-season-ending-rosters


- Martinson will quickly sign players from last season that are ready to sign now. If players wait there might not be a spot available. Some players will wait to see if they can get an AHL deal.


- Each team is entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight players from the season ending roster 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.


- Because only eight qualifying offers are available and players that sign before June 30 don't have to be qualified, there is incentive to sign players before the end of June. It is almost certain Martinson will extend qualifying offers to two players that have already signed AHL deals to retain their ECHL rights for next season. Jake Doty and Gabe Gagne have AHL deals but if they are given qualifying offers by Allen, their AHL team will have to send them to Allen if they are sent down to the ECHL. That would leave just six qualifying offers for players waiting to see what will happen with possible AHL deals.


- Because of the uncertainty of when the AHL season will start it is hard to know when they will sign players. Martinson will have to plan for two different scenarios, one which would have no NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to Allen and one where contracted players are assigned.


- Look for the Americans to announce their first player signing sometime this week. While players can be signed today, the contracts must be sent to the league office for approval and then the team has to decide when to make announcements. I would expect the first player announced will be one of the popular players from last season.


- Tommy Daniels will have a video chat with Steve Martinson tomorrow so stay tuned for that as I am sure they will cover the recruiting process in detail and what is happening now that the player signing date has arrived.



- Here are some of the more recent Zoom interviews Tommy Daniels has posted in case you haven't seen them. Former players Jarret Lukin and Chris Whitley from Allen's first team and Josh Lammon from last season:

    

- The ECHL will announce the winners of 13 individual and team awards given to front office personnel live on Facebook on June 24th at 3:00 pm CDT. There are five nominees for each of the 13 categories with awards ranging from Community Service Team to Marketing Team to Broadcaster of the Year to Sales Rookie of the Year. Congrats to the two Allen nominees, Ali Addikson for Sales Rookie of the Year and Tommy Daniels for Broadcaster of the Year.


- I took a look at which teams received the 65 nominations for the ECHL Awards with some interesting results for Mountain Division fans. Eight of the 26 ECHL teams received no nominations with four of the eight (Wichita, Utah, Kansas City, Tulsa) being from the Mountain Division. All six teams in the Central Division received nominations and they had a total of 28 of the 65 nominations (43%). Just three of the seven teams in the Mountain Division received nominations and had a total of 9 of the 65 nominations (14%). FYI the North Division also had nine nominations while the South Division had 19. Cincinnati led all teams with nine nominations.


- This is just my opinion but unless social distancing recommendations are relaxed going into the fall and the AHL/NHL start their 2020-21 seasons on time, the ECHL season will be delayed. I know it is a topic that teams don't want to deal with right now but they will have to soon.



DID YOU KNOW: I saw a lot of posts on social media this week with memories of Allen's past championships. Here are the dates and results of those four championship games which were amazingly all won at home.

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

Allen Americans Weekly Update, Video Interviews with Jack Gulati, Ryan Crelin and Brian McMillin, Iowa Wild Season Recap, Allen's Rookie Scoring Leaders and More

 - Not much to report on recruitment for next season. It has been wait and see for so long with the ECHL season suspended and then canceled in the middle of March. Things are about to change as the first day for coach Martinson to sign players for the 2020-21 season is now just three weeks away (June 16).  


- Tommy Daniels continues with his video interviews. The latest are with Allen Americans owner Jack Gulati, ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin and former Allen forward Brian McMillin who is one of six players that was part of three championships with the Americans. Here are those videos if you haven't seen them:

 

- The AHL waited until 10 days ago to cancel their season and Allen's affiliate, the Iowa Wild, were in a similar position to the Americans when the season ended. The Wild were second in the AHL in points and fourth in winning percentage (.651). They had a talented team with a great chance for a deep playoff run and the Calder Cup. Here is a recap of the Iowa Wild season which sounds a lot like the Americans story. https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/a-team-where-everything-clicked 


- The NHL is getting closer to resuming play to determine the winner of the 2019-20 Stanley Cup. There is still plenty to be negotiated but there is an agreement on a 24 team playoff to start later this summer. Here are the details:  https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29211505/nhlpa-board-approves-league-plan-24-team-playoffs-coronavirus-return


 - The Allen Americans Memorial Day Weekend Clearance Sale is now going on with some great deals on merchandise. You can find these deals at the DASH auction sight but you don't have to bid on the merchandise, you can go to the DASH site and buy the items at a fixed discounted price. You can buy military replica jerseys for $80 (youth) and $91 (adult). There are a lot of hoodie sweat shirts in various colors (red, blue, grey) at only $29. Sizes vary from small to 3X. This sale ends tonight.  


- The financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic hit an already struggling Division I hockey school when the University of Alabama Huntsville announced last week they are dropping their hockey program. They have had a Division I hockey program since 1988-89. Three former Allen Americans played at Alabama Huntsville. Here is the list with the season they played for the Americans:

Mike Salekin: 2009-10
David Nimmo: 2010-11
Tyler Poulson: 2017-18



DID YOU KNOW: Tyler Sheehy had 70 points in his rookie season with the Allen Americans which earned him Rookie of the Year honors. Here is the top scoring rookie for each season since Allen joined the ECHL. Notice two of the top scoring rookies (Roy and Baker) were defensemen.

70 points - Tyler Sheehy (2019-20)
44 points - Braylon Shmyr (2018-19)
35 points - J.C. Campagna (2017-18)
30 points - Zach Hall (2016-17)
30 points - Eric Roy (2015-16)
39 points - Justin Baker (2014-15)

Remembering Allen Americans Photographer Kimberly Sauer

Kimberly Sauer

I returned from my daily bike ride this morning to find out long time Allen Americans photographer, Kimberly Sauer, lost her long and courageous battle with cancer last night. I know many of you know Kimberly personally and many others remember her from her spot on the Allen bench, complete with a red Allen Americans hockey helmet, taking photos of game action. It was her faith, spirit, kindness, positive attitude and smile that will always be remembered by those that were lucky enough to know her.

I first met Kimberly and her husband Nathan (they were truly a team) when I started writing the blog back in 2012. They were kind enough to approach me and ask if I would like to use Kimberly's photos in the blog. That started a long and wonderful relationship. I get up at 4:00 am to write my blog and typically on game nights Kimberly and Nathan would be up until 1:00 or 2:00 am editing games photos to send to me for my game recap.


I did a feature story about Kimberly in 2016. Here is part of that story.

 Kimberly really doesn't need an introduction as she has been taking photos at the Allen Americans games since the beginning. She and Nathan have gone out of their way to help me over the years. Here is Kimberly's story in her own words:

Photographer Kimberly Sauer

I was raised in a small town in west Texas that had a population of about 600.  While growing up I spent the majority of my time outside enjoying nature.  In 1986, I met my best friend and husband, Nathan. We enjoy camping and hiking with our four dogs.   I currently work for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (formally EDS).  I became interested in photography when my aunt gave me my first camera at about the age of 10.  We did not have enough money to process film, so I pretended to take pictures of the deer, cattle, rattlesnakes and anything else I could find.  When I started working, I made sure film was in my budget even if it was just one roll.  I was in hog heaven when Nathan gifted me my first digital camera. 

When the Allen Americans opened up their franchise in 2009, Nathan purchased our season tickets and received special permission to bring in my camera.  In 2011, I became the team photographer and was able to take pictures from the bench.  The greatest pleasure was capturing the passion of the players while winning 4 championships. How did a country bumpkin who had never seen hockey become interested in the game?  It occurred about 25 years ago.

I became a hockey fan when flipping through TV channels and came across a Dallas Stars game.  Razor and Ralph were teaching the rules and explaining what was happening on the ice.  They had me hooked within the first few minutes.  When taking hockey pictures, my focus is on the player’s strength, dexterity, balance, speed,  hand-eye coordination and the overall effort they put into the game. In addition to sports photography, I also take family portraits, landscapes and wildlife.

Here is a sample of Kimberly's photos from the last two games against Cincinnati.

The shootout game winner

I got a few souvenirs

Let me out of here!

How's your mom and dad?

Oops!

These warm ups are strenuous 

Hey Rick, want to catch a bite to eat after the game?

The scouts at their best

Trainer Jaime Garcia tending to Riley Gill

Cyclone's Jack Downing ties the score with 12.7 seconds left in the game

DID YOU KNOW: When I wrote the story about Kimberly I asked her for something most people didn't know about her to use for the "Did You Know" for the day. Here is what she shared with me.

My dad was a rattlesnake hunter and I would go with him.  Every winter we had to keep the snakes warm, so we stored them under our beds.  I had two cages under my bed that held about a 1000 snakes each.


My thoughts and prayers go out to Nathan and Kimberly's loved ones and I am sure the same can be said for the entire Allen Americans family. Her legacy will live forever in the people she touched and the thousands of photos she has published of the Allen Americans players and fans. Rest in peace Kimberly, job well done!

Kimberly & Nathan