A Loss, Injuries, Match Penalty Makes For a No Good Very Bad Night, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Costello Comments, and Some Miscellaneous Observations

 

It was the kind of game fans have come to expect when Allen plays Wichita, one of the biggest rivalries in the ECHL. A penalty filled game (71 combined minutes) that included six fighting majors, a game misconduct penalty and a match penalty. When the dust settled Wichita had stopped Allen's three game win streak, beating the Americans 3-1 in front of 6412 fans at INTRUST Bank Arena.

 - Allen came back from a two goal deficit last week in Wichita to beat the Thunder 3-2, but that is not the formula for success against the second best team in the division. Last night the Americans gave up the first and only goal of the opening period. Statistically that reduced Allen's chance of winning the game to less than 20%. 

 

- The Americans tied the score early in the second period when Colton Hargrove scored his 14th goal of the season and his 10th goal in his last nine games. It was a power play goal assisted by Hank Crone and Liam Finlay. Wichita scored late in the second period to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

- The third period magic that brought Allen victories twice last week in Wichita did not happen last night. Allen spent most of the period killing penalties. Zach Pochiro started off with a fighting major and match penalty for an illegal check to the head. Allen's penalty kill was able to kill off the 5 minute penalty. Two more minor penalties led to a brief (29 seconds) 5-on-3 power play for Wichita which Allen killed, but the penalties finally caught up with the Americans as the Thunder scored an insurance goal to make the score 3-1. Allen pulled goalie Chase Perry and along with a Wichita penalty the Americans had the final 1:48 of the game on a 6-on-4 power play but could not score. 

 

- Both teams had a player kicked out of the game, both killed off 5 minute major penalties, both scored one power play goal and the shot totals were close (38-35). The difference in the game was Allen's inability to score 5-on-5, granted there was not a lot of even strength time in the game with all of the penalties. The Americans had some good even strength chances but could not convert. It is only the second time since the end of November the Americans have scored only one goal in a game.    

- Here are the video highlights with all of the goals and the fights. The highlights also include the many grade A opportunities by both teams where goalies made great saves. These are highlights that the home team is responsible for posting to the ECHL website. While Wichita included the hit that resulted in Zach Pochiro getting a match penalty, they conveniently omitted the hit on Hank Crone that resulted in Michal Stinil getting a game misconduct penalty for elbowing. I would expect both players will get suspended a game or two for those hits:   https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/1/allen-americans-vs-wichita-thunder---jan-20-2023-x1jaUMkf    

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans:  https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-fall-to-wichita-3-1/

Wichita Thunder:  https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/thunder-opens-weekend-with-win-vs-allen

 

 - When I touched base with coach Costello this morning he noted how all of the penalties, especially in the third period, made coming back difficult. He hadn't heard yet on the suspensions. There were some injuries that will impact availability on Sunday. His last comment to me was, "We played hard, just not smart. We have to move forward to a big game in Kansas City Sunday afternoon."  

 

- The Americans traveled to Kansas City (200 miles) after the game last night and will have a rare Saturday off before playing the Mavericks on Sunday afternoon. While Allen rests today, Kansas City has to travel to Wichita to play the Thunder tonight. Hopefully the American can use that to their benefit. When the roles were reversed recently and Kansas City was in Allen resting while Allen was playing in Tulsa the Mavericks spanked the Americans 8-1 on Sunday afternoon. A chance for Allen to return the favor on Sunday.

 

- With injuries and the likely suspension to Pochiro the Americans might be very short players in Kansas City. Remember, suspended players must remain on the active roster so their salary counts against the salary cap. The Americans played short one skater last night (16). If Pochiro is suspended and a player or two can't play because of injuries the Americans could be down to 13 skaters.

OTHER COMMENTS

- The Mountain Division winners last night were Idaho, Wichita and Utah and the losers were Allen, Tulsa and Rapid City. Kansas City was idle. Tonight Kansas City is at Wichita, Utah is at Tulsa and Idaho is at Rapid City and Allen is idle. Because games played varies from 38 (Wichita & Rapid City) to 33 (Kansas City), here are the standings by points percentage with points in parenthesis:

• .819 - Idaho (59 points)
• .618 - Wichita (47 points)
• .561 - Kansas City (37 points)
• .513 - Rapid City (39 points)
• .443 - Utah (31 points)
• .426 - Tulsa (29 points)
• .414 - Allen (29 points

 

- There are 12 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/1/echl-today-jan-21

 

- The Worcester Railers are in a free fall after being the best team in the ECHL the first month of the season. Worcester started the season on a nine game win streak and won 13 of its first 15 games. The Railers have now lost 16 of their last 19 games. Worcester is still in fourth place in the North Division with a fairly comfortable lead (.539 vs .417) for the last playoff spot but they have to get it turned around soon. 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Some miscellaneous observations:

 

- Home teams were 5-6-0-0 last night.

 

- Last night the winning teams outscored the losing teams 43-16. 

 

- Maine is in third place in the North Division but is the hottest team in the league going 9-0-0-1 in the last 10 games.

 

- Idaho has scored the most goals (152) averaging 4.22 per game and allowed the fewest goals (73) averaging 2.03 per game. The Steelheads goal differential (goals for minus goals allowed) is +79. The next highest goal differential is +40 (Newfoundland).

 

- Iowa is 0-13-7-0 on the road, the 2nd longest winless streak in the history of the ECHL.

 

- Jacksonville is the ECHL’s best team for games that go beyond regulation time. The Icemen are 8-1 in overtimes and 1-0 in shootouts.

 

- ECHL average attendance is 4391 per game, up 456 per game from the 3935 average in 2021-22.

Allen Signs MacAuley, Trade Leppard for Gould - The Details and Connections, Allen vs Wichita Preview, Tonight's Lineup, ECHL Longest Win Streaks and More

 

A couple of big moves by Allen were announced yesterday as the Americans are bringing back two former players. Allen has signed Colby MacAuley and traded Jackson Leppard to South Carolina for Gavin Gould. Here is the Allen Americans press release with the details: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-trade-for-gould-sign-mcauley/

 

COLBY MACAULEY

Colby MacAuley

 - Colby MacAuley returns to Allen for the fourth time in his career which started in his rookie season (2017-18) when he was under contract with Allen's AHL affiliate at the time, the San Jose Barracuda. The following season MacAuley ended up in Orlando because the Americans lost their affiliation with San Jose. His second stint in Allen was in 2020-21 when he had signed with Idaho before the Steelheads opted out of the season. Idaho retained his rights so he resigned with Idaho in 2021-22. His third stint in Allen was last season at the tail end of the season under some interesting circumstances. Here is what I wrote about his arrival in Allen last season. I wrote this on April 1, 2022 and some thought it was an April Fools joke:

"I will call this the "Hail Mary" trade or Martinson pulling a rabbit out of a hat. This story starts when McAuley and teammate Evan Wardley were traded by Idaho to last place South Carolina on March 16 for forward Ryan Dmowski. You might remember, Dmowski scored five goals in his second game for Idaho. McAuley and Wardley made a decision not to report to South Carolina which set off a scramble among many ECHL teams to obtain their rights from the Stingrays. Nothing happened because the players decided they were going home rather than join a new team for the last few weeks of the season. Once McAuley was back home in Canada, I am sure everyone was convinced he was done for the year, but not Steve Martinson. A last minute call probably went something like this, we (Allen) are playing well, Colby was a piece Allen needed down the stretch (tough, gritty, skilled) and the Americans could face Idaho in the playoffs. It all happened quickly and Martinson was able to make a trade with South Carolina for McAuley's rights and he was once again an Allen American. A great last minute pickup that will help down the stretch and do you think McAuley might be motivated if Allen and Idaho should meet in the playoffs."

 

- What will Colby bring to the Allen Americans? It is no surprise to Allen fans, but every scouting report you read on Colby says the same thing, a hard working, tough, skilled player that  can score, will drop the gloves, plays both ends of the ice and is a leader. In 173 ECHL games Colby has 120 points (54G, 66A) and 330 penalty minutes. He has also played in 41 AHL games over four seasons with 11 points (4G, 7A). Here are his Allen stats by season:

• 2017-18: 34 games, 20 points (8G, 12A) 72 PIMS, +8
  
• 2020-21: 20 games, 16 points (8G, 8A) 38 PIMS, +4
  
• 2021-22: 4 games, 5 points (3G, 2A) 2 PIMS, +4
  

- Colby has worn several numbers in Allen over the years, #27, #17 and #29. He wore #29 last season and will be wearing it again tonight against Wichita.

 

GAVIN GOULD

Gavin Gould

 

- Gavin had a great season in Allen last year after the Americans acquired him in an early season trade with Greenville that sent Jackson Leef to the Swamp Rabbits. The speedy left shot forward (5'8" 160 pounds) had 26 points (9G, 17A) in 23 games before he was lost for the season with an injury that required surgery. Gavin was selected to play in the 2022 ECHL All-Star game and scored a goal.

It is ironic the return of  Gould and MacAuley happened on the same day. If you remember, when Allen acquired MacAuley from South Carolina at the end of last season it was for future considerations. It wasn't known until after the season (June 13) that Gould was the future consideration that brought MacAuley to Allen.

 

- When you look at the Jackson Leppard for Gavin Gould trade, to me it looks like a trade that could work out for both players. They both have much more potential than they have shown this season. Gould has played in 20 games and has eight points (0G, 8A) and is even on plus/minus. Leppard has played in 31 games with 10 points (3G, 7A) and had a plus/minus of -14. After 20 goals last season I know he was disappointed in his production this season.  

Both players will get fresh starts with teams that really want them and I will predict they will both play better with their new team. For Leppard it is a move to the best team in the South Division (points percentage) with a chance for a deep playoff run plus the Charleston area is a great place to work and live. For Gould he will be reunited with Chad Costello and a system he thrived in last season. My reporting is he never wanted to leave Allen and is thrilled with the trade. This could easily be one of those win-win trades, only time will tell.  

 

- Gould will not join the team on the road, he is due to arrive in Allen on Monday. He wore #5 last year but will switch to #20 when he takes the ice for the Americans. 

ALLEN VS WICHITA PREVIEW

- Allen should go into the game tonight with plenty of confidence having beaten the Thunder in Wichita twice last week (3-2 and 4-3) and riding a season long best three game win streak. For the season Allen is 6-5-0-0 in its 11 games with Wichita. After tonight Allen won't see Wichita again until the last two games of the season (April 14 & 15) when they will play home and home.

- Wichita's record is 21-13-3-0 (.608) and Allen's record is 14-19-1-0 (.426). However Allen has been the better team recently. The Americans are 6-4-0-0 over the last 10 games, Wichita is 5-4-1-0. Allen has won three straight games and five of the last seven. Wichita has lost four of its last seven games. 

- If you look at season totals Wichita has the better stats. They score more (3.4 vs 2.9) and allowed fewer (2.9 vs 3.7) goals on average. The Thunder also have a better power play percentage (24.3% vs 19.4%) and penalty kill percentage (83.2% vs 81.3%). However, as Wichita coach Bruce Ramsay said in his pregame interview last week, Allen's team is much improved in the last few weeks. While it will be difficult for the Americans to win three straight in Wichita, they will have three lines tonight that can score. Here is the lineup:

• Crone-Hargrove-MacAuley
• Combs-Butcher-Finlay
• Bethune-Hebert-Pochiro/Young
• Myllari-Saucerman
• Massicotte-Bernard
• Skelly-Gagnon
  
• Peressini
• Perry (backup) 

 

- Allen and Wichita have had some legendary conflicts over the years and challenges back and forth have been frequent. Special teams will likely be a factor in the game tonight. 

 

- I wrote this yesterday but it is worth repeating.

- Allen has relied heavily on three players to provide the offense recently. Hank Crone has a six game points streak with 12 points (4G,8A). Colton Hargrove has scored nine goals in his last eight games. Jack Combs has a point in eight of the last nine games with a total of 13 points (5G, 8A). What Allen needs is more players contributing consistently. With Liam Finlay back from injury with his 1.09 points per game average, the addition of Grant Hebert (2 points in 3 games) and Colby MacAuley added to the lineup the Americans should get more scoring from up and down the lineup.

 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- If you watched the All-Star game on Monday you saw Liam Finlay was wearing #13. I asked him if that was a tribute to Chad Costello who will one day have the #13 retired by the Americans. Finlay told me it was a tribute to Costello but it was also the number he wore in college.

 

- If you are scoreboard watching tonight, tracking the battle between Allen, Tulsa and Utah who are all tied for last place with 29 points, all you have to do is watch one game other than the Americans. Utah is at Tulsa tonight, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The only hope for Allen fans is none of the games go to overtime.  

 

- There are a total of 11 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/1/echl-today-jan-20   

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about winning streaks. Allen's longest win streak (three games) is matched by three other Western Conference teams. Only Tulsa is lower with a two game win streak. At the other end of the spectrum only five of 14 Western Conference teams have winning streaks of more than four games. 

Long win streak’s don’t necessarily mean great success. Here is the longest win streak in each ECHL division this season. The team’s points percentage and rank in the division standings is in parenthesis:

 

NORTH

9 games: Worcester (.554, 4th)

 

SOUTH

7 games: Jacksonville (.643, 3rd)

 

CENTRAL

8 games: Fort Wayne (.545, 3rd)

 

MOUNTAIN

12 games: Idaho (.814, 1st)

It is Allen Getaway Day, Roster Update, Historical Allen Win Streaks, Bunch of Birthdays, Defensemen Assist Leaders and More

 

It is getaway day for the Allen Americans. The team will practice this morning and then get on the bus right after lunch for the 370 mile trip to Wichita. Allen plays Wichita tomorrow night (7:05 pm) and then will travel to Kansas City for a game Sunday afternoon (4:05 pm). 

- I have been getting a lot of roster related questions this week so here is an update from my reporting on the current status:

• Spencer Asuchak - he is still hoping to return to the lineup for the last part of the season. No specific target date.
• Stephen Baylis -  he is out for the season and back home in Canada where he will rehab after having surgery.
• Aidan Brown - still on IR after upper body injury. Expected to be out for a while longer.
• Dalton Gally - day to day
• Mikael Robidoux - still serving a seven game suspension. He has sat out four games and will miss the games in Wichita (Friday), Kansas City (Sunday) and at home against Kansas City on January 25. His first game back will be at home against Tulsa on January 27.
• I can confirm the additional player coach Costello has been referencing in interviews recently has arrived in Allen. The details should be made public today.

- By my count there have been over 10 roster changes in the last month as coach Costello tries to improve the roster. There is no reason to believe he is done making more changes if it will strengthen the roster.

- Allen has relied heavily on three players to provide the offense recently. Hank Crone has a six game points streak with 12 points (4G,8A). Colton Hargrove has scored nine goals in his last eight games. Jack Combs has a point in eight of the last nine games with a total of 13 points (5G, 8A). What Allen needs is more players contributing consistently. With Liam Finlay back from injury with his 1.09 points per game average, the addition of Grant Hebert (2 points in 3 games) and the new player that will be announced today, the Americans  have added a lot more firepower to the lineup. 

 

- Allen will try and extend its three game win streak in Wichita tomorrow night. The last time the Americans won four straight games was over a year ago (January 2, 2022). Long win streaks are rare with the ECHL schedule. In Allen's 2015-16 Kelly Cup winning season the Americans longest win streak was only four games, but they had four of them. Here is Allen's longest win streak for each season since joining the ECHL:

• 3 games: 2022-23
• 5 games: 2021-22
• 6 games: 2020-21
• 6 games: 2019-20
• 4 games: 2018-19
• 6 games: 2017-18
• 8 games: 2016-17
• 4 games: 2015-16*
• 9 games: 2014-15*

*won Kelly Cup

 

OTHER COMMENTS

 - Lots of celebrations in the Allen locker room this week and next with a flurry of late January birthdays. Happy birthday to all:

• January 18 - Jackson Leppard (22)
• January 20 - Jared Bethune (26)
• January 25 - Chad Butcher (27)
• January 26 - Jack Combs (35)
• January 26 - Dalton Gally (25) 

- Former Allen defenseman Cole Fraser, who has been in Toledo the last two seasons, has left the Walleye   after signing with the Dundee Stars (Scotland) in the EIHL. Dundee is in eighth place in the 10 team EIHL.  

- The longest win streak in the ECHL this season is 12 games (Idaho) and the longest winless streak is also 12 games (Norfolk).

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL stats post today is about defenesemen that lead their team in assists. It doesn't happen often. In 2020-21 Matt Register (41) and Les Lancaster (38) finished #1 and #2 in assists for the Americans. In 2019-20 defenseman Alex Breton tied with Tyler Sheehy for the team lead in assists with 44.

 

ECHL defensemen that currently lead their team in assists:

Tristan Thompson (18) - Savannah 

Andrew Nielsen (20) - Utah 

*Josh Maniscalco (20) - Wheeling

 

*Maniscalco also leads Wheeling in points (28).

 

 

Last season (2021-22) four defensemen led their team in assists:

51 assists: Ben Finkelstein, Newfoundland

41 assists: Marcus Crawford, Kansas City

35 assists: Mike Brodzinski, Orlando

33 assists: Tim Davison, Atlanta

 

  

ECHL Record Book and the Allen Americans - Team, Players and Coach Plus Allen Records that Will Never be Broken

 

The Allen Americans return to practice today after a few days off for the All-Star break as they prepare for two road games this week, in Wichita on Friday and Kansas City on Sunday. The Americans have won three straight games, five of their last seven and have a better road winning/points percentage (.450) than home percentage (.393). Allen is tied with Tulsa and Utah for the fewest points (29) in the Mountain Division and tied with Utah for the lowest points percentage (.426) in the division. The Americans can't afford to stumble on the road this weekend. 

- The team has been hinting about the addition of a forward for a while. If all goes as planned that announcement should happen today. 

 

- I was looking at the ECHL record book yesterday while researching the fastest skaters all time at the ECHL All-Star game skills competition. The list includes former Allen defenseman Alex Breton who has the fifth fastest time ever. Looking through the record book reminded me of something I have intended to do for a long time. With a slow news day today it is a perfect time to list many of the categories in the record book that include the Allen team, players or coach. You look at this list and it is easy to see a big part of  the Allen Americans success can be attributed to what should be a Hall of Fame forward in Chad Costello, a Hall of Fame goalie in Riley Gill and a Hall of Fame coach in Steve Martinson.  All of these stats are rankings all time from the ECHL record book.

 

PLAYERS

• Chad Costello
• #6 - career assists (389)
• #3 - highest average assists per game, career (1.11)
  
• #4 - single season assists (89)
• #2 - longest consecutive assist scoring streak (19 games)
• #4 - most playoff assists, career (63) 
• #1 - most playoff assist, one playoff year (29)
• #1 - most playoff assists, final series (10)
• #3 - most playoff assists final series, career (13)
  
• #9, #10, #46 - most points in single season (125, 122, 103)
• #2 - most 100+ point seasons (3)
• #1 - most consecutive 100+ points seasons (3)
  
• #5 - highest average points per game, career (1.58)
  
• #1 - most shorthanded goals in a game (3)
• #5 - most playoff points, career (87)
• #2 - most playoff points, one playoff year (36)
• #3 - most playoff points final series one playoff year  (13)
• #4 - most playoff points final series, career (18)

• Riley Gill
• #8 - regular season career wins (147)
• #2 - most 30+ win seasons (2)
  
• #3 - regular season career shutouts (21)
• #4 - most shutouts, season (7) 
• #1 - most playoff games, career (90)
• #1 - most playoff shutouts, career (8)
  
• #1 - most playoff minutes, career (5095)
• #2 - most playoff shutouts, one year (4)
• #1 - most playoff shutouts, final series (2)
  
• #1 - most playoff wins, career (53)
• #1 - most playoff wins final series, career (11)
  
• #2 - most championship, career (3)

• Gary Steffes
• #4 - most goals final series, single playoff (6)
• #2 - most goals final series, career (10)
   

• Matt Register
• #1 - most playoff games, career (131)
• #1 - most playoff assists, career (74)
• #2 - most championships, career (3)
• #2 - most playoff assists final series, career (14)
• #3 - most playoff points final series, career (19)

 

• Greger Hanson
• #6 - most goal one playoff year (15)
  

•  Les Lancaster
• #3 - most goals defenseman single season (26)

 

TEAM

• #4 - highest playoff winning percentage (.582, 46-33)
• #3 - highest road playoff winning percentage (.595, 22-15) 
• #3 - most power play goals, single playoffs (28)
• #4 - most championships (2)
  

 

COACH

• Steve Martinson
• #4 - most regular season games coached (926)
• #3 - coaching wins, career (518)
• #3 - most playoff games coached (104)
• #3 - playoff wins, career (54)
• #3 - playoff appearances, career (10)
• #2 - most ECHL championships (2)

 

DID YOU KNOW:  As I was putting together the data above I started thinking about Allen Americans records that will never be broken. Here are a few that came to mind. I am sure I am missing many others. Allen Americans records that I think will never be broken.

- Six players have won three consecutive championships in Allen (Spencer Asuchak, Greger Hanson, Trevor Ludwig, Tyler Ludwig, Brian McMillin, Jamie Schaafsma). It will never happen again.

 

4: Most Consecutive Championships by a Coach - Steve Martinson (2013-16). Four of Martinson's 10 career championships came in consecutive years in Allen. Will never happen again. 

 

3: Most Consecutive 100 Point Seasons - Chad Costello (2014-17). This is also an ECHL record that will never be broken.

 

125: Most Single Season Points - Chad Costello (2014-15). No other Allen player has ever scored more than 88 points.

 

89: Most Single Season Assists - Chad Costello (2016-17). No other Allen player has ever had more than 55 assists.

29: Most Single Season Fights - Derek Mathers (2016-17). When you consider last season there were 10 ECHL teams that had fewer than 30 fights and the new rules suspending players after 10 fights, this record is safe forever. 

175: Most games played regular season and playoffs, goalie - Riley Gill (2014-18). Riley has 63 more games played then any other goalie. Includes two Kelly cups.

 

577: Most games played regular season and playoffs. Spencer Asuchak's current games played. When Spencer hangs up his skates he will have an unbeatable number of games played. No other Allen player has played more than 230 games. 

276: For three season (2014-17) Chad Costello did not miss a single game during the regular season or playoffs. A total of 276 straight games played over three seasons An average of 92 games per season including two Kelly Cups. Allen will never see that record duplicated. 

ECHL All-Star Game Rant, ECHL All Time Best and Worst Records at Risk, Jersey Reversal Date Arrives and More

 

The ECHL All-Star game took place last night and as I wrote yesterday it is a huge undertaking for the host team, this year the Norfolk Admirals. The amount of time and effort the Admirals staff put into the game should be commended and the attendance (5067) was respectable. 

- I didn't pay much attention leading up to the game itself but noticed there was some technical issue with ticketing for the Hall of Fame exhibit (which was resolved) and the Stanley Cup's arrival was delayed because of an airline issue. The issues hit closer to home last night when I tuned into FloHockey to watch the game and there was no audio. Again, not sure where the problem was but there is no excuse for a game with a nationwide audience, for which fans pay plenty to go for a couple of hours with no audio. I am sure most of the audience was lost before the audio was restored. I heard there were also problems with the NHL Network broadcast. I turned the no audio FloHockey broadcast off after the fastest skater skills event and didn't check back in until the final game and caught the tail end of that game.

- The ECHL can't be happy with the results of the All-Star game. Remember there were four teams in this 3-on-3 multiple round, running time tournament that included skills competitions that added to the score. Two of the teams were from the host team Norfolk Admirals, the other two were one each from the two ECHL conferences (Eastern & Western). Coincidentally, Norfolk is the worst team in the league and on pace for the worst season in ECHL history. You take Norfolk's team and divide it in half against the best players in the league and everyone I am sure assumed the final game would be between the Eastern Conference All-Stars and the Western Conference All-Stars. The Eastern Conference didn't even make it to the final game and the Western Conference got shutout 2-0 in the finals by the Destroyers (half of Norfolk's team). Congrats to the winners but not a good look for the league. It is not the first time the local team beat the All-Stars. One time between 1993 and 2010 the ECHL All-Stars played the local team and that was in 1997. The Charlotte Checkers beat the All-Stars 7-6. The next year the ECHL went back to conference against conference.

- Its time for the ECHL to step up and have a real All-Star game like the big boys. Here is the AHL format: Four teams made up of All-Stars from the four AHL divisions (12 players per team). A full scale stand alone skills competition takes place on Sunday night followed by the game on Monday night. The four teams participate in a 3-on-3 round robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each. The two teams with the best record after the round robin face off for the championship, a six minute 3-on-3 game. 

- I am sure the ECHL will say the AHL format is too expensive despite the fact for most of the league's history local players did not participate in the All-Star game. Find a way to make it work with just All-Stars or don't have an All-Star game at all. After all there wasn't an All-Star game in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2021.

 

- Here is the press release about the ECHL All-Star Classic with the detailed results:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/1/all-star-recap   

- The fastest skater winner last night was Lincoln Griffin of the Cincinnati Cyclones with a time of 12.90 seconds. That is the second fastest time ever in the skills competition. A fellow Cincinnati Cyclone holds the all time record. In 2018 Justin Danforth set the record at 12.75. Danforth is now in the NHL (Columbus Blue Jackets).

- Norfolk's Callum Fyrer won the hardest shot competition at 97 MPH. The all time record is 102.7 MPH set by Josh Godfrey of the South Carolina Stingrays in 2011.

 

- Liam Finlay had a goal and an assist for the Western Conference All-Stars.  His team started out very strong but were shutout 4-0 in the semifinals by the Eastern Conference. They still made the finals because it was a cumulative score (including skills competition points) tournament until the finals. The Western Conference lost to one of the Norfolk teams 2-0 in the finals. Finlay wore #13 at the All-Star game, not sure if it was a tribute to his coach or a coincidence he was wearing Chad Costello's #13. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- It seems odd the ECHL would schedule regular season games the same day as the All-Star game but that is always the case. There were four games yesterday, Jacksonville beat Atlanta (OT), Maine beat Reading, Utah beat Idaho and Rapid City beat Kansas City (OT).

 

- Idaho has played Utah 15 times in its first 35 games (43%) and has a record against the Grizzlies of 11-4-0-0. After playing all these games against each other they will not play again until April 5 when they will play three more times.

 

- Iowa's road winless streak has reached 20 games which ties the Heartlanders for the second longest winless streak in ECHL history. Because of a six game homestand coming up, Iowa won't have a chance to take over second by themselves until it plays Wheeling on February 3. The all time record winless streak is still a ways off. In 1992-93 Roanoke Valley had a 26 game winless streak. Iowa has had plenty of opportunities to break the winless streak. They have lost seven of the 20 games in overtime. 

 

- The ECHL season is almost 50% complete and there is still a chance the all time best record and worst record in a single season could fall. Idaho has a points percentage of .814 which is slightly ahead of the all time record of .806. Norfolk's points percentage is .208, ahead of the all time lowest record of .227.

 

DID YOU KNOW: It’s that time, ECHL jersey reversal date has arrived:

As of this Friday (Jan. 20), ECHL teams will switch and start wearing their dark jerseys at home and their white jerseys on the road through the end of the regular season. During the Playoffs, home teams will continue wearing their dark jerseys and visiting teams will continue to wear their white jerseys. There are some exceptions, usually related to games when specialty jerseys are involved.

The Week Ahead, ECHL All-Star Game, Allen All-Stars from the Past, Allen's Unique February Schedule and More

 

With the ECHL All-Star game taking place tonight (more on that later) it will be a quiet week for most ECHL teams. The official All-Star break is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but every team handles the break differently because of the schedule. Eight teams have a regular season games today (Jacksonville at Atlanta, Maine at Reading, Rapid City at Kansas City and Idaho at Utah. There are no games scheduled tomorrow (17th), one game scheduled on Wednesday (18th) and one game on Thursday (19th). Each team will give the players the time off required by the All-Star break but at different times because of game and travel conflicts. The ECHL is not shutdown like the AHL which has no games scheduled during their All-Star break. The are no AHL games scheduled from February 5 through the 9th. The All-Star game takes place on February 5 (skills competition) and February 6 (All-Star Game.).

 

- What does this all mean for the Allen Americans this week? The team is taking a break after the win in Wichita on Saturday. Practice will resume on Wednesday and the team will practice Thursday morning before they leave for Wichita in the afternoon. Allen plays Wichita Friday night, is off Saturday night and plays in Kansas City Sunday afternoon (2:05 pm).  

 

- Allen has only two games this week while all of the teams around the Americans in the standings (Utah, Tulsa, Kansas City, Rapid City) will play three games this week. Makes the two road games all the more important for Allen.

 

- Yesterday I was looking ahead at the Allen schedule for February and it will be unique for sure. It will also allow Allen fans to see the Kelly Cup champions from the last two seasons. Here are the facts:

• Allen will play 12 games in February
• Allen will play only 3 teams and just one Mountain Division team the entire month
  
• Every team Allen plays will be a three game series
• Allen plays Utah six times, all on the road
• Allen plays two non-division teams in back to back weeks at home
• The month starts and finishes with road trips to Utah
• The middle two weeks Allen plays Fort Wayne and Florida at home 
  

 

 ECHL ALL-STAR GAME 

- Liam Finlay is off to the All-Star game which takes place tonight in Norfolk. I know it is difficult to find teams to host the All-Star Classic because it takes a lot of time and effort to pull it off and can be very expensive for the host team. It is great that Norfolk stepped up but unfortunate the team is on pace to have the worst season in ECHL history. The Admirals record is 6-27-1-2.  The format for the game tonight includes four teams of which two of the teams will be players from Norfolk. Here are the details about the game.

- The ECHL All-Star game tonight (7:00 pm EST) will be televised on the NHL Network and streamed on FloHockey. The game will feature four teams (two made up of Norfolk players and one each from the Eastern and Western Conference) competing in a multiple round 3-on-3 running time tournament.

 

- The first round will be round-robin style, with each team competing against the others in six consecutive eight-minute running clock games. All four teams will advance to the second round and will be re-seeded based on each team’s total score. The second round will feature two eight-minute running clock games with the #1 vs. #4 seeds and the #2 vs. #3 seeds. The top two highest-scoring teams after Round 1 and Round 2 will meet in the third round for the final match-up. The finals will feature the #1 vs. #2 seed in a 10-minute running clock game to determine the tournament champion.

 

- A skills competition will take place between rounds with results counting towards cumulative score. The skills competition will feature three events: Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot and Accuracy Shooting. Each competition will feature one player from each team, with the winning player earning points for his team.

- As I wrote yesterday the 3-on-3 format should fit Liam Finlay's style of play very well. I haven't heard if he will be in the skills competition. Only three players from each team will be in the skills competition, one for each event.

DID YOU KNOW: Was asked yesterday who were Allen's prior All-Star game participants. Here are the Allen players that have participated in the ECHL All-Star game since the Americans joined the league in 2014-15:

• 2023 - Liam Finlay*
• 2022 - Gavin Gould*
• 2021 - Game not held
• 2020 - Tyler Sheehy*
  
• 2019 - Alex Breton*
  
• 2018 - David Makowski
• 2017 - Chad Costello
  
• 2016 - Game not held
• 2015 -  Jack Combs was selected but left for Europe and was replaced by a familiar name from the Alaska Aces, Olivier Archambault. 

*Rookies

Allen With More 3rd Period Magic, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, ECHL All-Star Game, NHL, AHL, ECHL, SPHL Playoff Formats and More

 

It was just a Saturday night game in the middle of the season but it is hard to overstate the importance of Allen's win last night in Wichita. A disappointed crowd of 5226 at INTRUST Bank Arena watched as the Americans beat the Thunder 3-2. Why was this win so important, let me count the ways:

• Allen came back from a 2-1 deficit, scoring twice in 61 seconds late in the third period to win the game.
• Allen won despite not playing its best. On Friday night Allen scored first, outshot Wichita and won the special teams battle on the way to a 4-3 win. Last night the Americans did none of those and still found a way to win. 
• Allen beat the second best team in the Mountain Division back-to-back on Wichita's home ice. 
• With the two road wins in Wichita after a home win against Tulsa on Wednesday the Americans  jumped a big hurdle. For the first time all season Allen has won three straight games. 
• Winning three straight doesn't sound like a lot but the fact is only three ECHL teams have a longer winning/points streak than Allen.
  
• For the first time since before Thanksgiving, Allen is not in last place in the division in points or points percentage. 

 

- The three wins this week are just a small step but a very important small step. Despite all of the injuries and having very few AHL contracted players on the roster, coach Costello has consistently said he believes in the team and Allen will get better and will start winning consistently. The Americans have started climbing that mountain and the results are starting to show. Allen has won three straight, five of the last seven games and six of the last 10. Slow and steady improvement that needs to continue.

 

- Last night it didn't look good for Allen early in the game. It took Wichita just 77 seconds after the opening puck drop to take the lead. The Americans were lucky to get out of the first period only trailing 1-0 since they were outshot 17-8. Luke Peressini kept Allen in the game with some great saves.

 

- The hole got deeper when Wichita took a 2-0 lead midway through the second period on a power play goal a second before the penalty expired. It started to look like it was not going to be Allen's night. Everything changed for the Americans late in the period when the old reliables, Combs and Crone, combined to give the Americans life. A slick short drop pass from Crone set up Combs for a one timer from the faceoff dot that Jack blasted by the goalie. That goal energized the Americans and that momentum carried over to the third period. However, Wichita had a 2-1 lead after the second period and had to feel good given the Thunder's record when leading after the second period prior to last night was 14-1-1-0 and Allen's record when trailing after the second period prior to last night was 1-16-0-0.

 

- Allen dominated the third period outshooting Wichita 15 -7. Allen had plenty of opportunities but could not get the equalizer until rookie Grant Herbert, playing in his second pro game, made a great play by stealing the puck in the slot and making a perfect pass to Chad Butcher at the near circle. Butcher buried the puck in the back of the net. Just 61 seconds later (16:11)  Hargrove, Combs and Finlay combined for the game winner. Finlay took a nifty pass from Combs and found himself all alone on the side of the goalie. A little dangle and a top shelf game winner. It was Finlay's second game back after missing three weeks with an injury.

- Allen out shot Wichita 15-7 in the third period but what was key is the Americans had 10 of the last 12 shots. Once Allen took the lead the defense took over, even after Wichita pulled its goalie.

- Goal scorers for Allen were Jack Combs (20), Chad Butcher (2), and Liam Finlay (12). Combs is now tied for the league lead in goals. Here are the video highlights with all of the goals and some of the saves including the 2-on-0 Allen opportunity: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/1/allen-americans-vs-wichita-thunder---jan-14-2023-WVIFDM6a

 

-  Here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans:  https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-sweep-two-game-series-in-wichita/   

Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/allen-climbs-back-to-knock-off-wichita-3-2  

 

 

CHAD COSTELLO COACH'S COMMENTS

"I am proud of our team. We never quit. We always believed we were coming back to win this one. Our big players stepped up their game in the third period."

"I love that we have been through so much and we are still standing and fighting back. We feel this will help us in the long run."

"We have had a lot of players raise their games to a higher level, that is leadership."

"I give all credit to our leaders in the locker room."

"We can't be satisfied with our recent success, we have to continue to raise the bar."

"Great goaltending was a big key to our success this weekend."

"We don't play again until we return to Wichita next Friday, we still have some improvements we can concentrate on."

"Liam Finlay leaves tomorrow for the All-Star game. I wish Finns best of luck."

"We will be adding another player to the roster on Wednesday and will be an even stronger team." 

 

 OTHER COMMENTS

- I was listening to the pregame interview with Wichita coach Bruce Ramsay last night and he acknowledged what coach Costello has been saying. Ramsay's comment,  "Allen is a much better team than they were a couple of weeks ago, they have made some great additions. Other teams are going to find that out as well, when they start playing against them." 

- Liam Finlay is off to the All-Star game today. It is always a great experience, especially for young players. The format for the game should fit Finlay's style like a glove. The tournament will be a series 3-on-3 running clock timed rounds with the skills competition taking place between rounds. The skills competition results will count toward the cumulative score. The game will be televised live on the NHL Network and streamed on FloHockey. The game is tomorrow night (Monday) and starts at 7:00 pm EST. 

- The #1, #2 and #7 teams in the Mountain Division lost last night. The four teams in between won. Because the number of games played varies from 32-36, points percentage is the best way to look at the standings. Here is the latest with points in parenthesis. The only Mountain Division teams in action today are Tulsa at Wichita.

• .838 - Idaho (57)
• .597 - Wichita (43)
• .563 - Kansas City (36)
• .514 - Rapid City (37)
• .453 - Tulsa (29)
• .426 - Allen (29)
• .409 - Utah (27) 
  

 

DID YOU KNOW:  Here are the 2023 playoff formats by league. It includes the number and percentage of teams that qualify plus some details:

 

NHL

16 of 32 (50%) of teams make the playoffs

4 rounds, all best of 7

No byes but do have wildcards

 

AHL

23 of 32 (72%) of teams make the playoffs

5 rounds

1st round is best of 3

2nd & 3rd rounds are best of 5

4th & 5th rounds are best of 7

9 teams get byes into the 2nd round

 

ECHL

16 of 28 (57%) of teams make the playoffs

4 rounds all best of 7

No byes or wildcards

 

SPHL

8 of 11 (73%) of teams make the playoffs

3 rounds all best of 3

No byes or wildcards, all 11 teams are in one division