Coach's Corner With Steve Martinson, Stats Show Why Allen is the Most Entertaining Team in ECHL, Player Stats Last Five Games and More

 CORRECTION: Yesterday I incorrectly said Wichita was playing three games this weekend on the road in Rapid City. Those three games are actually being played in Wichita. Thanks to Angelia Blair for bringing that error to my attention. As I always say it takes a village to report on the Americans every day and I appreciate hearing from you on errors, questions, story ideas, interesting articles, scoops and any other information you share with me. You can DM me if you are on social media or email me at janssenfamily@msn.com.

 

The Allen Americans have a rare Friday off as they have chilled in Kansas City yesterday and today waiting for their game against the Mavericks on Saturday. Not much new to report but I did have a chance to check in with coach Martinson this morning. Here are some of his comments:

 "With the compressed schedule this season I am trying to give the players as many days off as possible going down the stretch and into the playoffs."

"We had the day off yesterday and will have a short practice today. We will work on the same things we worked on in our last practice (Wednesday morning in Allen) because we made the same mistakes in the game Wednesday night."

"I don't normally show video of our breakdowns (mistakes) to the entire team but I will do that today before practice." 

"We continue to have the advantage in puck possession even in the games we are losing so we have to do a better job of turning the puck possession into more shots."

"We have a couple of players listed as day to day that we hope will be ready for Saturday."

"We have made a lot of changes in the last month as we are heading to the playoffs and you can look for more."

"I am still looking for that combination of players, both forwards and defensemen, that can be that shutdown group you need for the playoffs when teams have their best players all on one line."

 

- The stat of the day shows why Steve Martinson plays the most entertaining style of hockey in the ECHL. The Americans have scored more goals (197) than any team in the league and also have more fighting majors (34) than any team in the league. Now that is an entertaining combination.

 

- Maybe the most impressive stat when it comes to entertaining hockey is Martinson's four championships in seven seasons (when there was a playoff) since becoming coach of the Allen Americans.

- Haven't used this stat before but here are the points and plus/minus in the last five games for each player on the Allen roster. It is the last five games the player was in the lineup:

Defensemen 

#5 - Phil Beaulieu - 5 points (2G, 3A), 0

#7 - Sam Ruopp - 3 points (1G, 2A), +2

#14 - Les Lancaster - 6 points (3G, 3A), -4

#16 - Darian Skeoch - 0 points (0G, 0A), +1

#18 - Kris Myllari - 1 point (0G, 1A), 0 

#20 - Ben Carroll - 2 points (0G, 2A), -3

#21 - Dominic Cormier - 0 points (0G, 0A), +1

#43 - Matt Register - 5 points (0G, 5A), 0

Forwards

#8 - Steve Owre - 1 point (0G, 1A), 0

#9 - Brett Neumann - 6 points (3G, 3A), +1

#11 - Collin Shirley - 2 points (1G, 1A), +1 

#15 - Corey Mackin - 6 points (4G, 2A), -3

#17 - Colby McAuley - 2 points (1G, 1A), -1

#19 - Chad Butcher - 4 points (1G, 3A), -1 

#25 - Kelly Bent - 0 points (0G, 0A), +1

#26 - Spencer Asuchak - 3 points (1G, 2A), -1    

#27 - Sam Laberge - 4 points (0G, 4A), -1

#29 - Josh Maser - 0 points (0G, 0A), -1

#40 - Josh Lammon - 2 points (0G, 2A), +2

#44 - Zane Franklin - 4 points (1G, 3A), +3 

#71 - Dyson Stevenson - 0 points (0G, 0A), +1 

#77 - Scott Conway - 5 points (4G, 1A), 0

One thing to keep in mind when looking at the plus/minus stats is some players play against the opposing team's top line most of the time. Other players play a lot of time against the opponents third line.

 

DID YOU KNOW: ECHL top 10 leaders in shots with shooting percentage in parenthesis:

 

235 - Adam Pleskach, Tulsa, (8.9%)

206 - Peter Quennville, Rapid City, (11.7%)

187 - Matthew Boucher, Utah, (11.8%)

183 - John McCarron, Florida, (14.2%)

182 - Brodie Reid, Kansas City, (12.1)

176 - Aaron Luchuk, Orlando, (13.1%)

173 - Stefan Fournier, Wichita, (11.6%)

173 - Matt Lane, Tulsa, (9.8%)

169 - Corey Mackin, Allen, (14.2%)

162 - Tristin Langan, Orlando, (13.6%)

 

Allen Blows 3-1 Lead, Game Recap, Coach's Corner, ECHL Defensemen with 20 Goal Seasons and More

 

The Allen Americans have played 60 games this season and only twice have they lost a game in regulation time when leading after the first period. Unfortunately both losses have come in two of Allen's last three games and against the two worst teams in the conference (by points percentage). Last night the Americans blew a 3-1 lead after the first period and lost to the Kansas City Mavericks 5-4 before a Wednesday night crowd of 1326 at the Cable Dahmer Arena. 

 

- Kansas City scored the first goal of the game on its first shot of the game just 89 seconds after the opening puck drop. That should have been a heads up on what would be the final result. The Americans have a record against the Mavericks this season of 6-3 and in the three losses Kansas City scored the first goal of the game.

 

- After allowing the first goal of the game Allen came roaring back with three unanswered goals including one with nine seconds left in the first period. The Americans took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission and had the game well in hand. With a record of 19-1-2-1 when leading after the first period and the fact the Mavericks played in Wichita Tuesday night, lost 5-2 and had to travel overnight back to Kansas City all looked good for the Americans.

 

- What actually happened is Kansas City scored four straight goals including two in the second period and two more in the first half of the third period to take a 5-3 lead. Allen scored a power play goal at the 12:12 mark of the third period to close the gap to 5-4 but that is as close as they could get. Two penalties late in the period hampered Allen's ability to get the goal to tie the game.

 

- The loss spoiled a four point performance (2G, 2A)  by rookie Brett Neuman and Les Lancaster's 20th goal of the season. Lancaster is just the fourth ECHL defenseman to score 20 goals in a season in the last 12 years and he still has 12 more regular season games to play. 

- Goals scorers for Allen were Scott Conway (9), Brett Neumann (4,5) and Les Lancaster (20). For Conway it was his fourth goal in the last five games and his fifth straight game with a point. Lancaster has goals in five of the last seven games including three straight. Les has 10 points (5G, 5A) in the last seven games and is #7 in points with 51 (20G, 31A) among all ECHL players. I looked back 15 years and no defenseman has ever finished in the top 10 in scoring. Matt Register is the only player that came close when he finished #11 overall in scoring in 2017-18 with 65 points (17G, 48A). 

 

- You can find some video highlights at this ECHL link which were obviously posted by Kansas City: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2021/5/allen-americans-vs-kansas-city-mavericks-may-12-2021-0lEKwE5d

 

COACH'S CORNER

"After we had the 3-1 lead going into the second period we had too many turnovers which led to breakaways."

"We still want to be aggressive but too many players were gambling, turned the puck over, were out of position and then took penalties by taking down guys from behind."

"In our last two losses we let teams come back from behind and in both games we had full possession of the puck turned it over and the game winning goal was scored."

"I say don't cheat with the lead and we cheat. Scoring seems to be more important than winning to some players. They make bad decisions and it usually to create more offense."

"Our rookies played better than some of the more experienced players last night when it came to turning over the puck and being out of position."

"We won't skate today but I will work on video clips to show to the players tomorrow."

"I am still working on improving the roster looking at all of the alternatives still available."   

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The Iowa Wild play their last game on Saturday against the Texas Stars. As AHL teams finish the season, players that are qualified for the ECHL playoffs (minimum 5 ECHL games played) could be sent to the ECHL. Turner Ottenbreit and Tyler Sheehy are the only players on the Iowa Wild roster that have played five games in Allen. Because Turner and Tyler are on AHL Standard Player Contracts (SPC) they will have to agree to being assigned to Allen after the end of the AHL season. I have heard podcasts and read articles recently that say many AHL players just want to go home after this strange AHL season and have no interest in going to ECHL teams. The other thing to remember is AHL players that come to the ECHL for the playoffs don't make their AHL salary because the AHL season is over, they only make the $525 per week allowed by the ECHL CBA. The bottom line is the movement of AHL players to the ECHL may be more of a trickle than the downpour many may expect.

 

- Two other sources for ECHL teams improve the roster are players that have just finished their junior/college careers and players in the AHL that are on a PTO (tryout contracts). My understanding of the rules is amateurs who sign ATO contracts don't need to play five ECHL games and players on PTO's in the AHL have to play five games in the ECHL but have until the end of the ECHL season to get in the five games.    

 

- If you are on social media you may have seen memory photos from fans show up the last couple of days of the celebrations of the Allen CHL championships. Thought I would post the dates and scores for all of Allen's four championships. You can look for more memory photos next month celebrating the Kelly Cup championships. Here are the dates and scores when Allen won championships:

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 

- Even though Texas had one of the most liberal attendance policies during the pandemic the Americans have had trouble selling out the pandemic limited attendance. The AEC limit was stated as 2150 at one point and that number has been reached just eight times in 32 home games. Allen has drawn 2000+ just 10 times this season, 31% of the games. Allen's average attendance for the 32 home dates is 1818 which is ranked #10 of the 14 teams playing this season. Average attendance varies from a high of 3321 (Florida) to a low of 983 (Wheeling). 

 

- Wichita was idle last night but managed to extend its lead in the Western Conference standings because both Allen and Fort Wayne lost. The points percentages are now .672 for Wichita, .650 for Fort Wayne and .642 for Allen. The Americans need some help to gain ground this weekend because they play just once (KC on Saturday) while Fort Wayne place twice at home (Wheeling on Friday, Indy on Sunday) and Wichita plays three games on the road (Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Rapid City). Standing could look different come Sunday evening.

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL stats post today shows just how good of a season Les Lancaster is having for the Allen Americans. It is amazing he wasn't given a chance in the AHL but that shows how strange this season has been.

 

Allen Americans defenseman Les Lancaster scored his 20th goal of the season last night which is eight more than the 2nd place defenseman. Here are the most recent ECHL defensemen with 20+ goals in a season:

 

2020-21: Les Lancaster, Allen (20)

2016-17: Stepan Falkovsky, Adirondack (21)

2011-12: Aaron Schneekloth, Colorado (20)

2009-10: J.C. Sawyer, Toledo, (21)

2006-07: Jon Awe, Gwinnett, (24)

2006-07: Jamie Milam, Gwinnett (22)

 

Allen vs Kansas City Preview, Coach's Corner with Steve Martinson, Best Home and Road ECHL Teams

 

If you divide the Allen schedule into segments the next ten games will be critical. Nine of the games will be on the road and will determine if the Americans finish in the top two in the Western Conference. The top two teams will have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

- The top three teams (Wichita - .672, Fort Wayne - .667, Allen - .653) have separated themselves from the bottom four teams in the conference and will fight it out for the top three seeds in the playoffs. Allen plays Wichita one more time (June 2 at home) and doesn't play Fort Wayne at all so the Americans will need some help if they are going to move up in the standings. Fort Wayne and Wichita play three times in Fort Wayne (May 21,22,23). 

- Allen has won seven of its last eight games but only one of the wins was on the road. The challenge for the Americans is whether they can improve on their .556 road points percentage in this upcoming nine of 10 games on the road. 

 

- While the top three teams in the conference are battling for playoff positions, the bottom four teams are battling for the fourth and final playoff spot. Even last place Kansas City, Allen's opponent in its next three games, has a shot at the playoffs and will be playing desperate. The Americans and Mavericks play tonight and Saturday in Kansas City and in Allen Monday night.

 

- Allen was flying to Kansas City this morning for a game with the Mavericks tonight (7:05 pm CDT). Kansas City played in Wichita last night and lost 5-2 so they had a long night traveling back home (200 miles) after the game. The Thunder had a 4-0 lead before the Mavericks got on the scoreboard. 

 

- The game tonight will be ninth of the season between Allen and Kansas City with the Americans winning six of the first eight. The last series between these teams was four games in Allen in April. The Americans swept all four games.

 

- The Americans are coming off a four game series with Tulsa where they won three of four games. In the last 10 games Allen has a record of 8-2-0-0. Kansas City has a record of 2-6-2-0 in its last 10 games. The Mavericks have lost three straight and five of the last six games.

 

- In the eight head to head games Allen leads in goals 25-20 and has a slight edge in shots 264-261. The totals are deceiving since in one game Allen held the Mavericks to 16 shots in a 3-0 win and the very next night gave up 42 shots in a 4-2 loss.

 

- Kansas City has played much better on the road than at home this season with a record of 8-13-6-0 at at home and 15-13-2-2 on the road. Allen on the other hand has played much better at home with a home record of 22-7-2-1 compared to a road record of 15-12-0-0. 

 

- In the eight head to head games Allen was 7-34 (20.6%) on the power play and Kansas City was 6-28 (21.4%). If you look at season averages, Allen's power play percentage on the road is ranked #1 at 25.3% and the road penalty kill is ranked #10 at 80.4%. Kansas City's home power play percentage is ranked #7 at 18.3% and the penalty kill is ranked #9 at 81.8%.  

- I am sure it doesn't come as a surprise that the two games Allen lost to Kansas City this season the Mavericks scored first. Allen's points percentage when it scores first is .764 and Kansas City's is .712. That first goal as usual will be critical.

 

- If any of the three games against Kansas City go extra time the advantage is with Allen who has the best record in the ECHL in these games. The Americans have gone extra time in 12 of 59  games (20%) and has a record of 5-2 in overtime and 4-1 in shootouts. That equates to a points percentage of .750. Kansas City has gone extra time in 16 of 59 games (27%) and has a record of 5-8 in overtimes and 1-2 in shootouts. That equates to a points percentage of .375.

 

COACH'S CORNER

"We will take 20 players on the trip to Kansas City which is every healthy player on the roster. Josh Lammon and Zane Franklin are not available this week."

"With Lammon and Franklin out and the fact we don't have last change on the road I will have to change up the lines to get better matchups."

"We had a good practice yesterday working on some of the areas we need to improve. The plan with two days between games in Kansas City is to take Thursday off and practice on Friday."

"Our goal is to get everyone used to playing with each other and have everyone in sync. We have so many young players that were leaders on their teams and have shown the ability to score as amateurs. With more games played I expect to get our guys playing at their max ability."

"Justin Kapelmaster will get the start in goal tonight and Jake Paterson will start on Saturday."

 

CURRENT ROSTER

- Here is the current roster excluding players out for the season. All of the players that are not injured are on the trip to Kansas City.

Goalies 

#31 - Frank Marotte (injured)

#34 - Jake Paterson

#39 - Justin Kapelmaster

 

Defensemen 

#5 - Phil Beaulieu (injured)

#7 - Sam Ruopp

#14 - Les Lancaster

#16 - Darian Skeoch 

#18 - Kris Myllari

#20 - Ben Carroll

#21 - Dominic Cormier

#43 - Matt Register

Forwards

#8 - Steve Owre

#9 - Brett Neumann 

#11 - Collin Shirley

#15 - Corey Mackin

#17 - Colby McAuley (injured)

#19 - Chad Butcher 

#25 - Kelly Bent

#26 - Spencer Asuchak    

#27 - Sam Laberge

#29 - Josh Maser

#40 - Josh Lammon (injured)

#44 - Zane Franklin (injured)

#71 - Dyson Stevenson 

#77 - Scott Conway

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The ECHL released the 2021-22 schedule yesterday which is very early by historical standards. With Brampton not returning (announced earlier) and the addition of franchises in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec and Coralville, Iowa the ECHL will be comprised of 27 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces. The ECHL will return to four divisions for the 2021-22 season. The Mountain Division returns with the same seven teams as in the past before Covid. Fort Wayne, who was in the same conference as Allen this season, will be in the Central Division as will the new franchise in Iowa.

- If you haven't had a chance to see the Allen schedule for 2021-22 here is the press release from the Americans which includes the schedule in calendar format:  https://allenamericans.com/news/general/americans-announce-full-72-game-schedule-for-13th-season-of-pro-hockey-in-allen/

 

 

DID YOU KNOW:  Two ECHL teams have 20+ home wins, no other team has more than 17 home wins. Just one team has 20 road wins, no other team has more than 15 road wins. Here are the records for teams with most home and road wins: 

 

Home Wins

22-7-2-1: Allen

21-6-2-2: Florida

17-6-3-3: Utah

17-10-3-1: Wichita 

 

Road Wins

20-6-3-1: Wichita

15-8-5-2: Greenville

15-12-0-0: Allen

15-13-3-1: Orlando

15-13-2-2: Kansas City

 

 

Allen Starts a Light Week, A Preview of the 2021-22 Schedule Which Will Be Released Today, ECHL Overtime Goal Leaders and More

 

By ECHL standards this is a light week for the Allen Americans. ECHL weeks are measured from Monday thru Sunday and in each of the last three weeks Allen has played four games. This week the Americans will play just two games but they better rest up because next week Allen will play a season high five games. Next week Allen plays at home on Monday and in Utah on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

-  The only games for the Americans this week are tomorrow (Wednesday) and Saturday in Kansas City. Haven't been able to figure out the two day gap between games. A scheduling conflict at the Kansas City arena (Cable Dahmer Arena) would be the expected cause but its calendar does not show a conflict. It adds a lot of expense to have two days between games.

- The Americans will practice today and fly to Kansas City tomorrow. They will have two down days in Kansas City between the games on Wednesday and Saturday. The Mavericks play in Wichita tonight and will travel back to Kansas City (200+ miles) after the game. 

2021-22 ECHL SCHEDULE

- The 2021-22 ECHL schedule will be released this afternoon (1:00 pm CDT) and should be a return to normal after a season with all but three Allen games played within the division. The 2021-22 season will open on Friday, October 22, 2021 and run through April 17, 2022.

 

- I haven't seen the complete schedule but I do know the Americans will have home games against the new franchise in Iowa, the Orlando Solar Bears and the Newfoundland Growlers. 

 

- Among Allen's road games next season will be trips to Cincinnati and Toledo.

- The traditional New Year's Eve home game is on the 2021-21 schedule.

OTHER COMMENTS

- The ECHL announced yesterday that the Fort Wayne vs Indy game scheduled for May 4 was forfeited by Fort Wayne pursuant to Rule 66.1 which says if a team fails to comply with rules and regulations they will forfeit the game 1-0. According to the statement from the Komets the Fort Wayne players opted not to travel for the game even though all ECHL protocols that had been agreed to prior to the season had been met. Here is the complete statement from Fort Wayne:

 

 

- One of Steve Martinson's coaching strengths is his ability to identify players with potential and put them in a position to thrive. There are so many players that have had their best offensive season in Martinson's system. I was looking at Joe Garreffa's stats last night and noticed the difference between his stats in Allen versus in Orlando. Garreffa started the season in Allen and played in 11 games before he was recalled by San Jose. In those 11 games Joe had 13 points (6G, 7A) and was named ECHL Player of the Week (Dec. 28 -Jan. 3). Garreffa returned to Allen for seven more games before all San Jose players were pulled from Allen and sent to Orlando. In total, Garreffa played 18 games for Allen and had 21 points (9G, 12A) with a plus minus of +6. Since arriving in Orlando, Joe has played in 27 games and has 14 points (1G, 13A) with a plus minus of -7. Garreffa is one of those players that thrived in Martinson's system. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Allen has won five overtime games this season with five different players scoring the game winning goal (Tyler Sheehy, Brett Neumann, Joe Garreffa, Spencer Asuchak and Corey Mackin. Here are some stats on overtime goals:

 

ECHL leaders in overtime goals since 2017-18:

 

2020-21

4: *Matt Marcinew, Indy

 

2019-20

3: Gabe Gagne, Allen

3: Derian Plouffe, Indy

3: Justin Taylor, Kalamazoo

3: Alex Kile, Maine

 

2018-19

3: Kyle Blaney, Kalamazoo

 

2017-18

3: Micheal Joly, Colorado

3: Desmond Bergin, Adirondack

 

 

*Matt Marcinew is just the fourth player in the last 15 years to have four overtime goals in a season. Here are the other players to have four overtime goals in a season. FYI, the ECHL increased overtime from five minutes to seven minutes starting with the 2019-20 season:

2013-14: Mickey Lang (Orlando & Fort Wayne)

2013-14: Mike Ratchuk (Wheeling)

2016-17: Tommy Thompson (Greenville)

    

Allen Back on Winning Track, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Corner, Long Homestand Results, ECHL Shorthanded Goals Leaders and More

 

The Allen Americans defeated the Tulsa Oilers 5-3 on Sunday afternoon before a Mother's Day crowd of 1588 at the Allen Event Center. It was the last of a four games series against the Oilers in which the Americans earned six of eight points. It also was the last of 13 games Allen and Tulsa play this season. The Americans record against the Oilers (9-3-1-0) is the best of any team they play this season. 

 

- Allen's long homestand has come to an end. For the rest of month the Americans play nine of 10 games on the road. The lone remaining May home game will be next Monday (May 17) against Kansas City). Allen will end the season with three home games the first week in June.  

- The game yesterday had a little bit of everything. The first four goals of the game were an even strength goal, a power play goal, a shorthanded goal and a penalty shot goal. For good measure a fight was sandwiched in between the four goals. 

- Allen seemed to have the game well in hand scoring the first goal of the game on Sam Ruopp's first professional goal and took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. The Americans had a 3-0 lead midway through the third period and a 4-1 lead at the second intermission. However, two quick Tulsa goals early in the third period closed the gap to 4-3 and the thought of a second Tulsa comeback was in the air. The Oilers had scored three goals in the third period on Saturday to defeat the Americans. It wasn't to be on Sunday afternoon as Allen put the game away late in the third period on a great defensive play by Spencer Asuchak who stripped the puck from a Tulsa player for an odd man rush and then made a perfect pass to Corey Mackin who scored his team leading 24th goal of the season.

- The goal scorers for Allen were Sam Ruopp (1), Les Lancaster (19), Corey Mackin (23, 24) and Scott Conway (8). Here are the video highlights from the Allen Americans YouTube channel:

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap/americans-take-series-win-with-5-3-victory-over-the-oilers/

- Allen came away with a 5-3 win but made it tough on goalie Jake Paterson for the second straight game. The Americans were out shot yesterday 42-28 including 29-14 in the last two periods. Under normal circumstances, after Paterson had to face 47 shots in the loss on Saturday and the short turnaround with the early start on Sunday, Frank Marotte would have played on Sunday. That wasn't an option for coach Martinson as Jake was the only healthy goalie. Paterson had a great game stopping 39 of 42 shots on Sunday. His totals for the weekend were 82 saves on 88 shots for a save percentage of .932. That is facing a lot of shots especially when you consider the elapsed time from the start of the game on Saturday until the end of the game on Sunday was only 21 hours and 23 minutes. Paterson's season save percentage is .926 which is #2 in the ECHL and his GAA is ranked #3 (2.41). 

- Special teams were the difference in the game yesterday even though each team had only one power play chance. Allen converted on its chance as Les Lancaster scored his seventh power play goal which leads all ECHL defensemen. Matt Register assisted on Lancaster's goal to increase his league lead in power play assists to 22. Allen not only stopped Tulsa on its lone power play attempt but Corey Mackin scored his league leading (tied) fourth shorthanded goal. 

 

 COACH'S CORNER

 "We continue to have more puck possession even in periods when we are being outshot. We need to produce more shots from our puck possession." 

"Justin Kapelmaster is back after his stint with Cleveland. Justin played in two games, won them both, had a GAA of 1.95 and a .933 save percentage."

"Frank Marotte will not be available for our trip to Kansas City this week."

"With a compressed playoff schedule this season we will have three goalies on the playoff roster. I would expect all playoff teams will carry three goalies."

"After a day off today we will have a practice on Tuesday and won't fly to Kansas City until game day on Wednesday."

"Our schedule is unbalanced again as it has been most of the season. We play a road heavy schedule (9 of next 10 games) the rest of May."

"Our team should continue to improve as all of the young players we have recently acquired get more game experience. Most of them played very few games in the past year."

"We have won seven of our last eight games and we need to keep that momentum going forward." 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The odd stat of the day is after 394 games played in the ECHL this season there have been only four successful penalty shots and the Allen Americans have factored in three of the four. Spencer Asuchak (January 31) and Les Lancaster (February 13) converted on Allen's only penalty shot attempts and in the game yesterday Tulsa's Matt Lane scored on a penalty shot against Jake Paterson. 

 

- Les Lancaster scored his 19th goal of the season yesterday and now has eight more goals than any other defenseman in the ECHL. In the last 10 ECHL seasons only one defenseman has reached the 20 goal plateau and that was former Allen defenseman Stepan Falkovsky who had 21 goals in 2016-17 when he played for Adirondack.  

 

- How did Allen fare during the last six weeks when it played the majority of games at home? Since March 24 the Americans played 21 homes games and just four road games. Here is what I wrote back in March, "The next six weeks will be a great opportunity for Allen to make up ground and take the lead in the Western Conference. Between March 24 and May 9 the Americans will play 21 home games and just four road games. This is clearly the sweet spot of the schedule for Allen after all of the road games early in the season. To give you an idea of the opportunity this presents for the Americans, their road points percentage this season is .565 with a record of 13-10-0-0 compared to their home points percentage of .818 with a record of 8-1-2-0."

 

- The results after the 21 home games are good but not great. Allen's record was 14-6-0-1 for a points percentage of .690, a far cry from the .818 in the first 11 home games. The hope for being in first place at this point is gone as Allen is still in third place in the conference. 

 

- Allen has arguably the toughest schedule in the conference the rest of the season because it has the most road games remaining (9) and the fewest home games remaining (4). The Americans road points percentage is just .556  compared to their home points percentage of .734. Allen will need to outperform on the road if it expects to challenge Wichita and Fort Wayne for the top two spots in the Western Conference and home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Remember, the playoffs are all best of five series this season. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Corey Mackin scored his fourth shorthanded goal of the season yesterday. The only Americans player to score more shorthanded goals since Allen joined the ECHL was Greger Hanson who had five shorties in 2014-15. Here is the ECHL Stats post for today with some shorthanded gosl stats.

ECHL leaders in shorthanded goals this season:

4 - Corey Mackin, Allen

4 - Travis Barron, Utah (includes shorty hat trick on 5/4/21)

4 - Joe Pendenza, Florida

3 - Spencer Smallman, Fort Wayne

3 - Lawton Courtnall, Wheeling

3 - Spencer Dorowicz, Wichita

 

 

 

Shorthanded goal leaders last five seasons:

 

2019-20

5 - Micheal Huntebrinker, Florida

5 - Nic Pierog, Worcester 

 

2018-19

6 - Chris Collins, Kalamazoo

6 - Wacey Rabbit, Jacksonville 

 

2017-18

5 - John McCarron, Florida 

 

2016-17

4 - Vincent Arseneau, Wichita

4 - Shawn Szydlowski, Fort Wayne

4 - Matt Garbowsky, Colorado

4 - Brandon Marino, Brampton 

 

2015-16

4 - Jacob MacDonald, Elmira

 

      

Tulsa Flips the Script on Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Corner, Game Four Preview, ECHL Goal Differentials and More

 

Tulsa flipped the script on Allen last night before a disappointed crowd of 2021 at the Allen Event Center (AEC) who watched as the Americans lost to the Oilers 4-2. On Friday night in Tulsa the Americans defied the odds with three third period goals to pull out a come from behind victory. Last night Tulsa defied the odds with three third period goals to pull out a come from behind victory.  Here are a few of the odds Tulsa was able to overcome in its win last night:

Allen scored first:  The Americans record when they score first was 26-7-1-0.

Allen led 1-0 after the first period: Allen's record with a first period lead was 18-0-2-1. Last night was the first time this season, after 58 games played, the Americans lost a game in regulation time when leading after the first period.

Allen led 2-1 after the second period: The Americans record when leading after the second period was 23-1-1-0.

Tulsa trailed 2-1 after the second period: The Oilers record when trailing after the second period was 2-19-1-2.

- Any way you cut it the third period was a disaster for the Americans. Maybe they ran out of gas after spending so much time on the bus after it broke down on the way home from Tulsa after the game on Friday. Allen was out shot in the third period 17-11 and outscored 3-0. It all came apart quickly as Tulsa scored the goal to tie the game at the 14:24 mark of the third period, scored the game winner two minutes later (16:36) and put the game away with an empty net goal at the 18:10 mark. To add insult to injury the Americans had a rare 6-on-3 power play for the final 41 seconds of the game but could not score.  

 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Les Lancaster (18) and Brett Neumann (4). Here are the video highlights from the Allen Americans YouTube channel:

  

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/general/oilers-third-period-rally-ends-americans-winning-streak/

 

- It was a tough way to have the Americans six game win streak come to an end. While Allen had the lead with less than six minutes remaining in the game they didn't play that well in the first two periods. The Americans gave up 30 shots in the first two periods and if it wasn't for the outstanding play of goalie Jake Paterson there is no way Allen leads 2-1 after the second period. You can't expect to win giving up 47 shots like the Americans did last night.

 

- Both teams had one power play goal but the Americans were just 1-6 after going 3-3 on Friday night. They sure could have used another power play goal. Allen has struggled recently scoring when playing 5-on-5. The Americans have scored a total of 13 goals in the last four games with just three scored 5-on-5. The other ten goals were scored on the power play (8) or 3-on-3 in overtime (2).

 

COACH'S CORNER

"It was another game where poor defending cost us. We gave up way too many quality scoring chances." 

"Even when we had the 2-1 lead it was like we had our finger in the dike hoping it would hold."

 "We wasted a win for Paterson who saved our ass time and time again. Jake deserved better."

 "On the game winning goal we made a low percentage pass that would not have given us the advantage even if had been successful. We passed the puck and it is intercepted by the fastest skater on their team and it was in the back of our net on a breakaway." 

 "The best thing about losing the way we did last night is we don't have to wait very long to do something about it."

"I hope our poor play last night had something to do with spending all night on the bus after it broke down. We have no excuse if we play like that again this afternoon."  

"With Frank Marotte out with an injury, Jake Paterson will start the game this afternoon and we will have an EBUG again."

"Based on my last conversation with Cleveland, Justin Kapelmaster will be returning to Allen later today."

"Collin Shirley will be back in the lineup this afternoon and any other changes will have to wait until I get to the rink and check everyone's status."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

 - Allen has the shortest turnaround time in the league from Saturday to Sunday because of the early puck drop on Sundays (2:05 pm). It computes to playing two complete games in less than 22 hours.

 

- It was a mixed bag in the Western Conference last night with Fort Wayne and Allen losing while Wichita and Utah were winning. Utah finished its sweep of Rapid City winning four straight at home against the Rush to move back into the fourth and final playoff spot. Here are the current conference standings with games remaining, home (H) and away (A) in parenthesis:

.684 - Fort Wayne (12: 7H, 5A)

.667 - Wichita (12: 6H, 6A)

.647 - Allen (14: 5H, 9A)

.551 - Utah (13: 7H, 6A)

.517 - Rapid City (12: 7H, 5A)

.508 - Tulsa: (12: 6H, 6A)

.483 - Kansas City: (14: 9H, 5A)

 

- One thing to note in the info above is Allen's remaining schedule. After spending most of the season playing many fewer home games than the other teams in the conference the Americans have now caught up and have the fewest remaining home games. After the game this afternoon Allen will have just four home games remaining (fewest in the conference) and nine road games remaining (most in the conference).

 

- Just one of the AHL divisions (Pacific) opted for a playoff this season. All seven teams in the division qualify for the playoffs. The bottom four teams will play a single elimination play-in with the winner joining the top three teams for two best of three semifinal series. The winners play a best of three series for the Pacific Division championship (John D. Chick trophy) which has been awarded since 1961-62. The play-in games start May 18 and the playoffs will conclude no later than May 29. That is a fast playoff considering all seven teams qualify.

 

DID YOU KNOW: I am always surprised by the low number of  ECHL teams that have a positive goal differential this season. Here is the latest:

Just four ECHL teams have a positive goal differential (goals scored minus goals allow) this season. Florida leads the ECHL but is the only team in the Eastern Conference with a positive goal differential. Here is the goal differential for all 14 teams:

 

+40: Florida

+39: Fort Wayne

+29: Wichita

+27: Allen

0: Indy

-2: Jacksonville

-7: Greenville

-9: Orlando

-13: South Carolina

-15: Utah

-17: Kansas City

-18: Rapid City

-21: Tulsa

-33: Wheeling

     

A Comeback of Comebacks, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Corner, Today's Preview and ECHL Shooting Percentage Leaders

 

It was a tough start but a great ending for Allen last night in Tulsa as the Americans beat the Oilers 6-5 in overtime. It is rare to come back from a three goal deficit in the third period but that is what the Americans accomplished against the Oilers. Allen defied plenty of odds in this game including overcoming the fact the Americans allowed a goal with 30 seconds remaining in the first period and 53 seconds remaining in the second period. Allen trailed in the game 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2 before it mounted a comeback. Here are just a few of the other odds Allen was able to overcome last night.

Tulsa scored first: The Oilers record when scoring first was 20-5-4-0.

Allen trailed 2-0 after the first period: The Americans record when trailing after the first period this season was 1-10-0-0.

Allen trailed 5-2 after the second period: The Americans road record when trailing after two periods was 0-9-0-0.

 

- Erasing any deficit in the third period is very difficult when you consider the record for all ECHL teams when trailing after the second period is 27-130-9-5. Erasing a three goal deficit in the third period is almost unheard of.

 

- It was the tale of two games last night when comparing the first two periods to the third period and overtime. In game one (first two periods) Tulsa out scored Allen 5-2 and out shot the Americans 26-15 including 18-9 in the second period. In game two (third period and overtime) Allen out scored Tulsa 4-0 and out shot the Oilers 18-7 including 13-4 in the third  period.

 

- Special teams played a big part in the game. Even though the Allen penalty kill gave up two power play goals the Americans power play was outstanding going 3-3 in its best performance of the season. The Allen power play percentage is now 20.8% (48-231) and is ranked #2 in the league. Allen's road power play percentage is tops in the ECHL at 25.3% (25-99).

 

- There were a lot of great individual performances in the game with six players having multiple points and three players having three point games. Chad Butcher (1G, 2A), Zane Franklin (1G, 2A) and Les Lancaster (0G, 3A) led the team in points. Corey Mackin had two goals including a spectacular spin-o-rama backhand, top shelf, bar down game winner in overtime.

 

- With the win the Americans extended their win steak to six games which is the second time this season they have won six straight. The other was back in February when Allen won six straight road games. There have been only two win streaks longer than six game all season in the ECHL. Florida won nine in a row and Fort Wayne won seven straight back in February.

 

- The goal scorers for Allen were Corey Mackin (21, 22), Spencer Asuchak (19), Chad Butcher (6), Zane Franklin (8) and Scott Conway (7).  Here are the video highlights from the Allen Americans YouTube channel: 

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/press-release/third-period-rally-leads-americans-past-tulsa/

 

 COACH'S CORNER

- It was a tired coach when I talked to Steve Martinson this morning and with good reason. Here are his comments;

"The sleeper bus we normally use was in an accident so we had to drive a bus to Tulsa on with passenger seats. On the sleeper bus guys can lay down and take a nap on the way to Tulsa. That is hard to do on a passenger bus."

"We got off to a slow start in the game and it was a combination of not skating with speed, poor defending, turnovers at the blue line, okay goaltending and overall weak play."

"Our power play kept us in the game and allowed us to come back."

"That goal Corey Mackin scored in overtime to win the game is a shot he practices all the time. Corey is our best player for puck possession down low because he is so good at changing directions."

"Jake Paterson will get the start in goal tonight."

"Not having a sleeper bus was also a factor coming home as the bus broke down (tire issue) and instead of arriving back in Allen around 2:30 am we didn't get back to the AEC until 7:30 am."

"I won't know until I get to the rink what changes we will have for tonight but we have a couple of players dinged up and Laberge played his first game in a couple of weeks last night."

"We have virtually a new team with 12 players (including goalies) who have played fewer than 20 games with us this season."

"Games like last night are good for team building and also builds character on a team."

"The comeback last night reminded me of some of our championship teams who never quit and always believed they could come back no matter the score."

 

GAME THREE PREVIEW

- It wasn't easy but the Americans have earned four points in the first two games of the series against Tulsa but the job is only half completed. If Allen wants to compete for the top spot in the Western Conference they need to have a good performance tonight despite sitting on a bus all night.

 

- Allen needs a better start tonight and they need to get back to the team defense that they played in game one against Tulsa on Wednesday. Jake Paterson will have to be on the top of his game when there are defensive breakdowns.

 

- You can't expect the power play to go 3-3 every night so the Americans will have to play better on the penalty kill. Tulsa was 2-4 on the power play after going 0-2 in game one. Granted one of the Oilers power play goals was 5-on-3 but it is imperative Allen wins the special teams battle tonight if the expect to win.   

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Spencer Asuchak had another goal last night. He now has 12 goals in the last 16 games and nine points (6G, 3A) in his last six games. Spencer has also taken the ECHL lead in shooting percentage (see below). Asuchak has scored 19 goals on 81 shots for a shooting percentage of 23.5%. 

 

- In the game last night Zane Franklin scored a power play goal at 16:53 of the third period to cut the score to 5-4. Coach Martinson had pulled the goalie with Allen down two goals and the 6-on-4 worked. The goalie was not pulled when Scott Conway scored the goal to tie the game 5-5. I asked coach Martinson about the whys and wherefores of these moves and got a five minutes lesson on end game strategy when you are trailing. It once again proved to me Martinson is playing chess while others are playing checkers.

 

- Utah beat Rapid City 5-1 last night at home. It was the third straight win for the Grizzlies over the Rush. The teams are battling four the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. They play again tonight.

 

- Matt Register and Les Lancaster combined for five points last night and continue to lead all ECHL defensemen in points. Lancaster is #1 with 48 points and Register is #2 with 46 points. They are quickly closing in on several Allen records. As a duo their 94 points is within six points of the only defensive duo to ever score a combined 100 points in a season. Aaron Gens and Kevin Young combined for 100 points in 2014-15. With 15 games remaining Lancaster and Register both have a shot at the individual record for most points in a season which is 56 held by Aaron Gens (2014-15). 

 

- Corey Mackin has thrived in Steve Martinson's offense. He has 22 goals in 52 games this season. Last year he scored 20 goals in 58 games. 

 

  

DID YOU KNOW: Efficiency personified, ECHL leaders this season in shooting percentage (minimum 30 shots). Shots and goals in parenthesis:

23.5% - Spencer Asuchak, Allen (81 shots, 19 goals)

22.2% - Austin Fyten, Wheeling (99 shots, 22 goals)

22.2% - Jake Coughler, Orlando (63 shots, 14 goals)

21.9% - Morgan Adams-Moisan, Fort Wayne (32 shots 7 goals)

21.2% - Craig Martin, Jacksonville (33 shots, 7 goals)

20.0% - Zach Pochiro, Fort Wayne (55 shots, 11 goals)