Allen Loses 5-3, Game Recap, Coach's Comments, Tonight's Preview, Best of the Rest, Gaps Between #1 and #29 and More

 

 When things aren't going well teams find all kinds of ways to lose. Allen lost to Worcester last night 5-3 in a game where the Americans outplayed the Railers for the majority of the game. However, a disastrous two minutes and 31 seconds in the first period sealed Allen's fate and created a hill it could not climb. Worcester scored three goals on three consecutive shots from 8:59 to 11:30 of the first period and Allen could never recover. Worcester took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Allen's 2-18-2-0 record when trailing after the first period loomed large.

 

-  In the final two periods Allen outshot Worcester 28-20 and outscored them 3-1 before the Railers scored an empty net goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game. Allen was able to cut the Railers 3-0 lead to 3-2 with the only two goals of the second period. Artyum Kulakov scored his fifth goal of the season and Liam Gorman his fourth. 

- Allen had to kill 37 seconds of a penalty to start the third period, which it did. The back breaker came when Worcester scored just after the penalty had expired, 48 seconds into the period to take 4-2 lead. Allen cut the lead to 4-3 at the 16:42 mark on Liam Gorman's second goal of the game and fifth of the season, but could not get the equalizer. 

 

 - Once again the line that brought the most energy and scored two of the three goals was the fourth line on the lineup card. That has been a misnomer, because the line of Nault-Gorman-Blaisdell has been the top line for the Americans the last few games. Blaisdell had a goal and two assists in his first 28 games this season. In the last four games he has three goals and an assist. Gorman had three goals in his first 43 games this season, last night he had two goals. Allen has been outscored 27-10 in the four straight home losses in the last week. However, this line's combined plus/minus was just -2. The other three lines combined plus/minus in the last four games was -18, -12 and -12. 

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Worcester Railers:https://railershc.com/news/2025/02/seven-game-road-trip-opens-with-4-3-railers-win

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/worcester-spoils-americans-valentines-day-party

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

I had a chance to talk to coach Ferguson after the game. Here is what he had to say:

"We were the better team for 57 minutes of the game. We had a three minute lull that cost us three goals."

"On the fourth goal in the third period we killed the penalty and had a miscommunication coming out of the box. We had two players go to one position and the open guy put the puck in the back of our net."

"It was a great response by the guys after going down 3-0. The never quit and were never out of the fight."

"It was a physical game with a lot of play along the yellow (wall). If you look at a heat map of the game probably 85% of the game was along the yellow. They won a few more of those battles."

"We had a chance to tie the score at the end of the game with a good flurry and grade A opportunities. Gorman's line was excellent again. They bring a lot of energy and they are scoring. If we want to be successful we have to be a four line team."

 

TONIGHT'S PREVIEW

- First among equals in keys to the game tonight is a good start. Allen does not do well when it has to play from behind. The Americans record when they give up the first goal is 6-17-3-0 (.282). When they trail after the first period their record is 2-18-2-0 (.136) and when they trail after the second period is 2-23-2-1 (.125). 

- Both teams were 0-2 on the power play last night. While that is a special teams stalemate, Allen needs to score a power play goal and stop Worcester, who has the top road power play percentage in the league. During Allen's current five game losing streak the power play is 2-15 (13.3%). The opponents power play is 6-21 (28.6%). Allen needs to win the special teams battle tonight.

 

- The battle along the wall was a problem last night and is a strength of Worcester. Pay attention to those battles to see who is most often winning those puck battles.

 

-  There will be two referees working the game tonight. Sam Heidemann (#22), who was the lone referee last night will be joined by Luke Gagnon (#13) tonight. Would definitely bet the over in more penalties tonight than the four Heidemann called last night. 

- Here is the lineup for tonight. The only change from last night is Wells gets the start in goal. 

Forwards

#92 Watts-#26 Asuchak-#8 Duarte

#16 Crnkovic-#89 Polino-#91 Matikka

#14 Guy -#17 Jacobs-#9 Isaacson

#11 Nault-#84 Gorman-#24 Blaisdell

 

Defensemen

#5 Wilson-#82 Fraser

#3 Powell-#23 Brassard

#66 Kulakov- #2 Warmuth

 

Goalies

#39 Wells

#33 Richardson (Backup)

 

 

 

Here is the game preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-day-doubleheader-hockey-day-in-allen

OTHER COMMENTS

- The "Best of the Rest" results last night had Allen and Utah losing while Rapid City extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1-0). Here are the current standings with points out of a playoff spot in parenthesis:

• .447 - Rapid City (16 points)
• .404 - Utah (20 points)
• .362 - Allen (24 points)

 

- Here are the points earned in the last 10 games for each team in the Mountain Division. Easy to see the teams gaining ground and losing ground. The team's point percentage is in parenthesis:

• 17 points - Kansas City (.707)    
• 15 points - Rapid City (.447)
• 13 points - Tulsa (.615)
• 13 points - Wichita (.604)
• 11 points - Tahoe (.646)
• 11 points - Idaho (.585) 
  
• 11 points - Utah (.404)
• 7 points - Allen (.362)

 

-  It is a full schedule in the ECHL tonight with 28 teams in action. All eight teams in the Mountain Division will be playing the same teams as last night:

• Tulsa at Kansas City
• Tahoe at Wichita
• Worcester at Allen
• Maine at Rapid City
• Idaho at Utah

DID YOU KNOW: The gap between the ECHL #1 and #29 teams in the following stats is wide:

 

Goals For Gap - 74

#1 Norfolk: 178

#29 Indy: 104

 

Goals Against Gap - 100

#1 Florida: 100

#29 Allen: 200

 

Points Gap - 38

#1 Florida: 72

#29 Allen: 34

 

PIMS Gap - 405

#1 Iowa: 823

#29 Tahoe: 418

 

Power Play Percentage Gap - 13.5%

#1 Toledo: 25.5%

#29 Kalamazoo: 12.0%

 

Penalty Kill Percentage Gap - 14.9%

#1 South Carolina: 87.6%

#29 Utah: 72.7%

Allen Gets Player From Tucson, Allen vs Worcester Series Preview, ECHL All Time Coaching Leaders, Goalies Used by Each Team and More

 

Before I start the Allen vs Worcester series preview the Americans got some good news yesterday. Tucson has sent forward Miko Matikka to Allen. He is already in Allen, will wear #91 and I expect he will be in the lineup tonight, though I haven't been told that.

Matikka, who is from Helsinki, Finland, signed a three year entry level NHL contract with Utah last July. He was the 3rd round (#67 overall) pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL draft. The 21 year old is 6’3” and 201 pounds. He is a right shot which helps the Americans. 

The rookie played for Denver University last season and won NCAA national championship. He was second on the team with 20 goals in 43 games. 

Matikka has struggled offensively in Tucson. He has been with the Roadrunners all season, played in 28 of 45 Tucson games and has just two assists. I am sure he has been sent to Allen to regain his confidence and scoring touch. You don't score 20 goals for the best college team in the nation last season and lose that ability. We have seen in the past where good players that are struggling get sent to Allen and have great success in the ECHL. With some top minutes and possibly power play time, he should be fun to watch.

 

  

Miko Matikka draft day 2022 - #67 overall

It always enjoyable when a team outside the Mountain Division visits the CUTX Event Center. It will happen just twice this season. The Worcester Railers are in town for games tonight, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Jacksonville will visits Allen for three games on March 6, 7 and 8.

 

- Allen will be trying to stop the bleeding from a four game losing streak tonight having been outscored 27-7 in the last four games. Wheeling is in fourth place in the North Division, four points ahead of fifth place Reading in a fight for the final playoff spot. The Railers have won four of their last five games and have an overall record of 20-20-2-4 (.500).

 

- Allen and Worcester have just one common opponent this season, the Wichita Thunder. Worcester visited Wichita for three games at the end of November and won two of them. Allen's record against Wichita this season is 3-7-2-0.

 

- I went back in the archives and found Allen has played Worcester twice in the past, once at home and once on the road. It is always fun looking back at old boxscores with the players from the past, one of which will be in the lineup tonight.

• 2018-19: On February 15, 2019 the Americans lost to Worcester at home by a score of 6-2. Allen scored the first goal of the game (Braylon Shmyr) and led 2-1 after a second period goal by Dante Salituro. Worcester scored five unanswered third period goals (all even strength) to win 6-2. Reminiscent of Allen games back then, there were three fights in the game. Emerson Clark, Jacob Doty and Braylon Shmyr all had five minute majors for fighting for the Americans.
  

 

• 2019-20: On December 18, 2019 Allen beat Worcester 5-4 on the road. The Americans scored the first three goals of the game on goals by Jack Sadek, Jared Van Wormer and Alex Breton. After Worcester cut the score to 3-1 Allen added two more third period goals by Jordan Topping and Cole Fraser to take a commanding 5-1 lead with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game. The Railers then scored a shorthanded goal, a power play goal and an even strength goal to cut the score to 5-4. Allen hung on to win the game and the game winner was scored by Cole Fraser. It is his only game winning goal in the 66 games he has played for the Allen American.  

- Allen is 3-6-0-1 over its last 10 games, Worcester is 6-3-1-0. Here is how Allen and Worcester rank in some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #24 (2.54) - Worcester #16 (2.91)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #29 (4.24) - Worcester #22 (3.43)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #21 (28.35) - Worcester #9 (32.00)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (38.78) - Worcester #19 (31.07) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #14 (19.1%) - Worcester #11 (20.7%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #22 (78.3%) - Worcester #27 (75.5%) 

 

 

- As is typical, Allen is ranked lower than its opponent in almost every category. Allen scores 0.4 fewer goals per game and allows 0.8 more goals per game then Worcester. The Americans take 3.7 fewer shots and allow 7.7 more shots per game than Worcester. The Railers have the better power play (20.7% vs 19.1%), but Allen has the better penalty kill (78.3% vs 75.5%).

 

 

 

- It is often more telling to compare road vs home special team stats rather than the overall percentages. Worcester has the #1 ECHL road power play percentage (27.0%) compared to Allen's home power play percentage of 18.6%. The opposite is true when you look at Worcester's road penalty kill percentage. It is ranked #28 at 74.1% compared to Allen's home power play percentage, which is ranked #21 (78.4%). 

 

 

 

- You have to expect there will be plenty of power play opportunities for both teams in this series. Worcester is ranked #4 in penalty minutes per game, Allen is ranked #13. Only eight ECHL teams have taken more than 200 minor penalties. Two of them are Allen (207) and Worcester (201). Worcester has taken 27 five minute major penalties compared to Allen's 18. What is the difference? Worcester has taken 20 fighting majors compared to Allen's 12. Odds are you will see some fisticuffs this weekend.

 

 

 

-  I asked coach Ferguson for a couple of his keys to the series with Worcester:

 

"Worcester is a big, strong team. We need to win battles along the walls and make sure to clear out the front of our net."

 

"They take a lot of penalties because of the way they play. We have to stay disciplined and capitalize on our power play opportunities.  

 

- Worcester's average height of 6'1" is the tallest in the ECHL, tied with eight other teams including Allen. The Railers are #1 in average weight (196 pounds) tied with Trois Riviéres. Coach Ferguson is correct that Worcester is a big strong team. 

 

 

 

- The players to watch for Worcester include Anthony Repaci (#81) who is #4 in goals in the ECHL (23). He was recently selected to the ECHL Midseason All-Star team. The Railers have a lot of guys that will drop the gloves, but keep any eye on their leaders in penalty minutes; Kolby Johnson (#12) and Matthew Boudens (#23).

 

 

 

- Playing with the lead is always a key to any series. Worcester is one of the better teams in the league in coming back after trailing. The Railers record when trailing after the first period is 6-12-0-1 and when trailing after the second period is 5-18-1-0. Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 2-17-2-0 and when trailing after the second period is 2-22-2-1. The Americans definitely don't want to be playing from behind in this series.

 

 

- There will be only one referee working the game tonight. Remember, half of Allen's 36 home games use two referees and the other half just one. The referee tonight will be Sam Heidemann (#22). The linesman will be Daniel Barnes (#76) and Aaron Schacht (#51).      

OTHER COMMENTS

 

- Rapid City had one of those rare third period comebacks last night in a 5-4 home win over Maine. It was the fourth straight win and fifth straight point game for the Rush. Rapid City was trailing 4-3 after the second period and scored two third period goals to take the win. The game winning goal was scored by former Allen player, Chaz Smedsrud. How rare is a third period comeback for Rapid City? With the win last night the Rush record when trailing after the second period is now 2-21-3-0.

 

 

- Here are the "Best of the Rest" standings with each team's current streak in parenthesis:

 

• .435 - Rapid City (4-0-1-0)
• .413 - Utah (2-0-0-1)
• .370 - Allen (0-4-0-0) 

- Here is the ECHL Today with the previews of the 10 games on the schedule tonight. All eight Mountain Division teams will be in action: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-14

 

• Tulsa at Kansas City
• Tahoe at Wichita
• Worcester at Allen
• Maine at Rapid City
• Idaho at Utah

 

 

- This was at the end of the ECHL Today and is a list of the winningest coaches in the history of the ECHL. Florida coach Brad Ralph is about to pass Steve Martinson for third place on the all-time list. FYI, Martinson has 1123 wins in AA hockey across four different leagues (ECHL, CHL, UHL, WCHL). Nobody is close to that record which may never be broken. 

667 - Jason Christie - Peoria, Utah, Ontario, Tulsa, Jacksonville

615 - Jeff Pyle - Moblie, Gwinnett, Evansville, Atlanta

518 - Steve Martinson - San Diego, Elmira, Chicago, Allen

518 - Brad Ralph - Idaho, Florida

491 - John Marks - Charlotte, Greenville, Pensacola, Augusta

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Was asked about the number of goalies used by each ECHL team this season. The range is from two to six. Here goes:

 

6: NOR

5: ALN, BLM, IA, REA

4: ADK, IDH, IND, JAX, KAL, ORL, SC, TAH, WHL, WIC, WOR

3: ATL, CIN, *FLA, GVL, *KC, MNE, RC, SAV, *TR, TUL, UTA

2: FW, *TOL

 

*The current division leaders (TR, FLA, TOL, KC) have all used only two or three goalies this season.

 

 

Another Loss to KC, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Worcester Next, ECHL Shootout Results and More

 

It certainly wasn't a surprise Kansas City beat Allen 6-2 at home last night. The game unfolded pretty much as the stats predicted with the exception of special teams:

• Kansas City improved its road record to 19-6-2-0 (.741) best in the ECHL
• Allen's home record dropped to 6-13-4-0 (.341), 2nd worst in the ECHL. 
• Kansas City scored first to improve it record when scoring first to 23-2-1-1 (.889) best in the ECHL
• Allen allowed six goals, which is below its average goals allowed over the last four games (6.75).
• Kansas City allowed two goals, which is above its goals allowed average over its last eight games (1.75). The Mavericks record is 7-0-1-0 in the last eight games.
• Allen has been outscored 27-4 during this four game losing streak.
• Kansas City has outscored its opponents 31-14 during its eight game point streak.
• Kansas City led 3-0 after the first period and improved its record when leading after the first period to 19-0-0-0. 
• Allen's record when trailing after the first period is now 2-17-2-0. 
• Plain and simple there were no comebacks happening in the game last night.
• Allen is now 1-6-0-0 against Kansas City this season and will play the Mavericks three more times, on the road on February 19, 21 and 22.
  

 

- I say special teams was the one stat that didn't go as predicted because Allen actually had a small  advantage over Kansas City in both the power play and penalty kill. Allen took a bunch of undisciplined penalties throughout the game and the Mavericks made them pay. Half of their goals were scored on the power play (3-6). Allen finally did score a power play goal with 35 seconds remaining in the game and finished 1-4.

 

- It may not be a popular take, but I thought the effort by the Americans was there last night. Allen is just not good enough to keep up with Kansas City, who has nine NHL/AHL contracted players on its roster. The season is 64% complete and it is clear Allen cannot keep up with the top five teams in the Mountain Division. After 46 games played the Americans have just five wins against the top five teams. A record of 5-20-5-0 and a points percentage of only .250.

 

- Allen's loss last night put the Americans even further behind in the "Best of the Rest" standings. Here is the latest with the number of remaining home (H) and road (A) games in parenthesis:

• .370 - Allen (13H, 13A)
• .413 - Utah (13H, 13A)
• .422 - Rapid City (15H, 12A) 

- Allen's goal scorers were Brayden Watts, who scored his team leading 45th point (16G, 29A) and Harrison Blaisdell who scored his fourth goal of the season and third in as many games. I heard this story at practice the other day. Not sure I have all the facts straight but the gist of the story comes through. When James Hardie was traded in January, Allen ended up with three of his custom sticks. Harrison Blaisdell really want to get a hold of those custom sticks. He proposed a bet to equipment manager, Matt Miletich. Harrison would buy Matt coffee for a month if he didn't score a goal that night against Wichita, but if he did score a goal Matt would give him the three custom sticks. It took Matt a nanosecond to take the bet, because at the time Blaisdell had scored a total of one goal in 28 games. Sure enough, Blaisdell beat the odds and scored a goal to win the custom sticks. With his goal last night he has now scored a goal in three straight games. Love those custom sticks!

 

- Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/kansas-city-mavericks-vs-allen-americans-feb-12-2025

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-recap-americans-fall-at-home-to-kc-6-2

 

-  Allen now has to prepare for three games against the Worcester Railers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Worcester is fighting for a playoff spot in the North Division with a record of 20-20-2-4 (.500). Allen has played Worcester before both at home (one game) and on the road (one game). More details in the series preview tomorrow.

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

"We talked about the importance of coming out strong to start the game but that just didn't happen. I thought we had a couple of good days of practice after last weekend, but that didn't translate to the game."

"We took too many undisciplined penalties and it cost us. Our power play has been coming along but let us down tonight. Half their goals were on the power play. You are not going to win many games when you are 3-6 on the penalty kill. Once again we end up on the wrong side of the special teams ledger."

"These are the types of games we should have no trouble getting up for because they are they are the standard we want to achieve."

"We don't know what Worcester will bring this weekend, but they are a team fighting for their playoff lives right now. We expect it will be a mini playoff series."

"I see the work the players are putting in on Monday and Tuesday at practice. The work that is happening, the details I am trying to hammer home. It sucks to lose, but we are looking for small incremental gains."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- As the ECHL approaches the final third of the season here is a breakdown of the league by point percentages:

• Above .700: FLA, TR, TOL, WHL, KC
• .600-.699: SC, NOR, TAH, JAX, TUL,WIC, FW
• .500-.599: IA, ORL, IDH, BLM, WOR, IND
• .400-.499: SAV, ATL, GVL, REA, CIN, RC, MNE, KAL, UTA
• Below .400: ADK, ALN

The top point percentage is .745 (Florida) and the bottom point percentage is .370 (Allen).

 

- Brayden Watts is tied for 12th in the ECHL in points with 45. The league leader is Brandon Hawkins with 63 points. Kyle Crnkovic is tied for 13th in the league with 30 assists. Brandon Hawkins is the league leader with 36 assists.

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about shootout records. Allen has only been invloved in one shootout this season which they lost. The Americans were 0-3 in that shootout.

 

3 ECHL teams have zero shootouts this season (Maine, Savannah, Cincinnati). Here is the shootout record and conversion percentage for the 4 teams with the most (3) shootout wins:

 

Toledo: 3-0

75.0% (6-8)

 

Greenville: 3-2

57.1% (8-14)

 

Wichita: 3-1

35.3% (6-17)

 

Trois Rivières: 3-1

26.7% (4-15)

 

 

Worst shootout record:

Worcester: 0-4

8.3% (1-12)

Allen vs Kansas City Preview, Tonight's Lineup, Best of the Rest, Attendance as Percentage of Arena Capacity, 3rd Period Comebacks and More

 

Anyway you slice it the Allen Americans will have their work cut out for them tonight as they take on the best team in the Mountain Division, the Kansas City Mavericks. The stats don't lie and they tell a pretty bleak story and it started from the beginning of the season and it has never stopped:

• In Allen's home opening weekend Kansas City shutout the Americans 4-0 and 9-0.
• Allen is 1-5-0-0 against Kansas City this season.
• Allen scores one goal per game less than KC (2.6 vs 3.6).
• Allen allows 1.6 goals more per game than KC (4.2 vs 2.6).
• Allen takes 5.5 shots fewer per game than KC (28.5 vs 34.0).
• Allen allows 12.9 more shots per game than KC (38.9 vs 26.0).
• Allen's home record is 6-12-4-0 with 5 of the six wins against Rapid City and Utah.
• Kansas City's road record is 18-6-0-2, 2nd best in the ECHL.
• Allen has lost three straight games while being outscored 21-5.
• Kansas City is 6-0-1-0 in its last seven games, allowing and average of 1.71 goals per game.

 

- Positive news is very scant, but there is a little:

• Allen has beaten Kansas City one time all season, but it was the last time these teams played and the Americans won handily, It was an afternoon road game and a Brayden Watts pure hat trick led Allen to a 5-2 win. One of the Kansas City's two goals was scored with five seconds remaining in the game.
•  Allen's home penalty kill percentage (80.5%) is better than Kansas City's road penalty kill percentage (77.2%).
• Allen's home power play percentage (18.2%) is better than Kansas City's road power play percentage (17.2%).
• Kansas City's best goalie, Victor Ostman, who is an NHL contracted goalie (Seattle) and has accounted for 18 of the Mavericks 28 wins was just recalled to the Kraken. I heard even though the NHL is shutdown during the 4-Nations tournament until February 22, each NHL team must have a minimum roster. Ostman is occupying one of the goalie slots even though there no games. Since the AHL is still playing, I assume this is a way of preventing NHL teams from sending a bunch of players to the AHL during the 4-Nations tournament. I also assume it is a big payday for Ostman, whose NHL salary is $775,000 versus his minor league salary of $82,500 according to the website Puckpedia.

 

- How important will the first goal be tonight? Hard to overstate this stat. Kansas City and Allen are at different ends of the scoring first spectrum. The Americans have the worst record in the league when scoring first, 7-9-4-1 (.492). In contrast, Kansas City has the best record in the league when scoring first, 22-2-2-1 (.885). The conclusion you can draw from this stat is Allen won't necessarily win if it scores first, but Kansas City will almost certainly win if the Mavericks score first. FYI, the team that scored first has won all six games these teams have played this season.

 

- Playing with the lead is a big advantage for both of these teams. Allen is 5-2-3-1 when leading after the first period and 10-1-2-0 when leading after the second period. Kansas City is almost unbeatable when it has the lead. The Mavericks are 18-0-0-0 when leading after the first period and 20-1-2-0 when leading after the second period. If Allen gets behind tonight it will most likely mean defeat.

 

- Special teams may play key role tonight. Kansas City leads the division in points percentage but also in penalty minutes. Against most teams Allen has taken more penalties and given up more power play opportunities than its opponent. Checkout how close these two teams are in penalty minute stats:

• Penalty minutes: 543 Allen, 608 Kansas City
• Minor penalties: 199 for both teams
• Major penalties (5 minute): 17 Allen, 20 Kansas City
• Misconduct (10 minute): 4 for both teams
• Misconduct (game): 1 Allen, 6 Kansas City  

Odds are both teams will get plenty of power play time tonight. It will be imperative the Americans win the special teams battle. 

 

- Kansas City has nine NHL/AHL contracted players on its roster including six forwards. The six forwards are the Maverick's #1, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7 goal scorers and the #1, #2, #4, #5, #7 and #9 point scorers.  Maybe as important as all of the contract players assigned to Kansas City the team has stayed healthy. As of yesterday the Mavericks don't have any players on the 3-day or 14-day injured reserve.

 

-  In the six head to head matches between Allen and Kansas City the Americans have been outscored 29-11 and outshot 247-131. Allen has had three of its lowest shot totals of the season against the Mavericks (16, 18, 18) while allowing three of the highest shots totals of the season against Kansas City (51, 48, 45). Needless to say Allen will have to keep the shots close to stay in the game.

 

- Brayden Watts is the Allen player to watch for tonight. He is the only Americans player with a point per game average against Kansas City (3G, 4A) in six games. Kansas City, on the other hand has seven players averaging a point a game against Allen. The leader in points is #44 Max Andreev (3G, 8A) and the leader in goals is #9 Cam Morrison (5G, 4A). 

 

- The game tonight will be a one referee game. #29 Logan Gruhl will work the game. He worked the two games these teams played in Allen at the end of December and called just five minor penalties in each game. 

 

LINEUP TONIGHT

Forwards

#92 Watts-#26 Asuchak-#Duarte

#16 Crnkovic-#89 Polino-#14 Guy

#25 Westcott-#17 Jacobs-#9 Isaacson

#11 Nault-#84 Gorman-#24 Blaisdell

 

Defensemen

#5 Wilson-#82 Fraser

#3 Powell-#23 Brassard

#21 Van Unen-#66 Kulakov

 

Goalies

#39 Wells 

#35 Thornton (backup)

 

OTHER COMMENTS   

- A bunch of loaned/contracted NHL/AHL players have been sent down to ECHL teams the last few days with the NHL shutdown. While NHL teams do have to keep a certain number of players on their rosters, they have some sent down to the AHL rich provides the trickle to the ECHL. I count 13 players sent to ECHL teams in the last two days. Rapid City got three players from Calgary and Kansas City got a defenseman (Charlie Wright). Wright will be in the Kansas City lineup tonight.

 

- In the race for the "Best of the Rest" the Utah Grizzlies had a 2-0 lead in Wichita last night well into the third period, but ended up losing in a shootout. Utah has a three game point streak (2-0-0-1) and Rapid City has a four game point streak (3-0-1-0). Allen has a three game losing streak (0-3-0-0). What makes it even more disappointing is Rapid City and Utah's streaks were on the road, while two of Allen's losses were at home. Here are the "Best of the Rest" standings with games this week in parenthesis:

• .378 - Allen (4 home games vs Kansas City tonight, Worcester on Friday, Saturday, Sunday).
• .413 - Utah (at home vs Idaho, Friday, Saturday, Monday)
• .422 - Rapid City (at home vs Maine, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

 

- Kansas City is the only team in the ECHL with eight wins in the last 10 games. Three teams have seven wins in the last 10 games. Here are the hottest teams in the league right now:

• 8-1-1-0: Kansas City
• 7-1-2-0: Toledo 
• 7-2-0-1: Trois Riviéres
• 7-3-0-0: Jacksonville 

- There is only one ECHL team in the top five in average goals scored and goals allowed. Maybe a surprise that team is the South Carolina Stingrays. They are #2 in average goals scored (3.75) and #3 in average goals allowed (2.50). The Stingrays have been under the radar to some of the more high profile teams, but have the #6 best point percentage (.670) in the league. South Carolina is in the tough South Division, so a deep playoff run will be a challenge, but don't count them out. 

- It is a light schedule around the ECHl tonight with just four games on the schedule:

• Florida at Indy
• Adirondack at Trois Riviéres
• Cincinnati at Iowa
• Kansas City at Allen

Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-12 

- Seven former ECHL players are taking part in the 4 Nations Faceoff. Here is the ECHL press release with the details: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/seven-former-echl-players-two-coaches-participating-in-4-nations-face-off 

- I posted this info on my ECHL Stats page yesterday so wanted to share it here if you haven't seen it. It is the average attendance as a percentage of arena capacity. It is always controversial when I compute these numbers. Fans/teams question the capacity numbers (I take the numbers from the ECHL website) and also question exactly what is included in the attendance figures. My take is these numbers are a decent indicator, especially the teams at the top. 

ECHL arena capacities range from 17096 (Tulsa) to 4200 (Tahoe). Here is each team’s average attendance as a percentage of arena capacity. Arena capacity is in parenthesis:

 

109% - Savannah (6876)

107% - Jacksonville (8500)

107% - Toledo (7431)

105% - Idaho (5006)

93% - Florida (7181)

93% - Adirondack (4794)

91% - Cincinnati (6955)

82% - Tahoe (4200)

78% - Maine (5527)

77% - Indy (7500)

76% - Kansas City (5800)

74% - Allen (6200)

74% - Fort Wayne (10500)

73% - Kalamazoo (5113)

72% - Orlando (9049)

68% - Worcester (5600)

67% - South Carolina (7250)

66% - Greenville (7044)

64% - Rapid City (5119)

59% - Trois Rivières (4390)

58% - Wheeling (4700)

53% - Norfolk (8468)

46% - Utah (10207)

44% - Tulsa (17096)

43% - Reading (7160)

41% - Atlanta (9119)

38% - Bloomington (7000)

33% - Iowa (4878)

26% - Wichita (13400)

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL stats post today is about 3rd period comebacks. Allen did this recently but it is still a rarity. The Americans record when trailing after second period is 2-21-2-1:

 

ECHL 3rd period comebacks are rare. The combined ECHL record when trailing after the 2nd period is 60-417-42-9:

 

- Florida has the best record, 7-7-2-0 (.500) when trailing after the 2nd period:

 

- Five teams are winless when trailing after the 2nd period:

0-17-0-1: Kalamazoo

0-16-0-1: Indy

0-14-4-0: Cincinnati

0-13-1-1: Idaho

0-8-4-0: Toledo

Allen Loses 9-3, Game Recap, A Look Ahead, Record Against Top Five, Monthly Record, Stats Spell Doom and More

 

Best of the Rest
.422 - Rapid City
.411 - Utah
.378 - Allen 

- Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse after Allen lost Wichita 7-3 on Friday night, Saturday night happened. The Americans scored the first goal of the game early in the first period (2:07) when a pileup in the blue paint ended up with the puck just crossing the red line. The referee immediately ruled no goal but a video review changed his mind and Allen took a 1-0 lead on Patrick Polino’s fifth goal of the season.   

- Just when there was some optimism and the puck luck was goinmg the Americans way, things went south. When the dust settled Wichita had scored seven straight goals on the way to a 9-2 victory. It wasn’t the worst defeat of the season, which was a 9-0 loss at home to Kansas City back on October 26, but it was every bit as embarrassing. Allen's only other goal came late in the game when Harrison Blaisdell made a power move, took the puck to the front of the net and scored his third goal of the season and second in as many nights.

 
To make matters worse, while the Americans were losing back to back games at home to Wichita, Rapid City was winning three straight games in Idaho and Utah was winning back to back games in Tulsa. Rapid City’s and Utah’s point percentage has now risen above .400, the Americans point percentage has fallen to .378. How bad is that point percentage?

- It is last in the Mountain Division
- It is last in the Western Conference
- It is last in the ECHL
- Allen is the only team in the league with a point percentage below .400

 
- It is tough to draw this conclusion but the stats don’t lie. After 45 games this season the Americans don’t have a roster that is good enough to win consistently against the top five teams in the division. Allen has won only 13 games all season, but just five times against the top five teams. With the loss last night the Americans record against the top five teams is 5-19-5-0 (.259). Here is Allen’s record against  each of the top five teams with games remaining in parenthesis:

• 0-1-0-0 (.000) - Idaho (2H, 3A)
• 0-1-1-0 (.000) - Tahoe (0H, 3A)
• 1-5-0-0 (.167) - Kansas City (1H, 3A)
• 1-5-2-0 (.188) - Tulsa (4H. 0A)
• 3-7-2-0 (.333) - Wichita (0H, 1A)

 

- Allen was outscored 21-5 in the last three games, 5-0 in Tulsa followed by 7-3 and 9-2 the last two nights against Wichita. With those one-sided losses Allen now has managed to become both the lowest scoring team in the Mountain Division with 115 goals (2.56 average)  and the team that has allowed the most goals with 189 (4.20 average). 

- It will be another big challenge for Allen next week with four games in five days. The four home games will conclude a streak of nine out of 10 games at home. Allen entertains Kansas City on Wednesday and then plays Worcester three straight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Mavericks have the fifth best point percentage in the league (.693). Worcester is fighting for a playoff spot in the North Division. The Railers are currently in fourth place with a .500 points percentage. Allen needs to get four of the possible eight points next week just to stop the bleeding.

 

- I am posting the blog early today as I have to take my wife and daughter to the airport at 7:45 for as transatlantic cruise they are taking. The Americans haven't posted the game recap to their website. I will add it if it is posted, when I return from the airport. Wichita did post the game recap overnight and as always it is very thorough with all of the details. https://wichitathunder.com/news/2025/02/wichita-ties-season-high-with-nine-goals-vs-allen

 

- Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans-feb-8-2025

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen once again scored the first goal of the game and lost. Hard to figure out how the Americans are the only team in the league with a losing record, 7-9-4-1 (.452) when scoring first. FYI, the point percentage for the entire league is .741.

 

- With the big losses this weekend Allen is now #29 in the ECHL in both average shots allowed per game (38.91) and average goals allowed per game (4.20).

 

- It is a rarity to have no Sunday games on the ECHL schedule, but a wise choice with the Super Bowl taking front and center. Here is a map that shows who each state picks as the winner:

And the Winner Is

  

- It was a strange weekend for some of the top teams in the Mountain Division. Hers is a standings update by point percentage with points and games played in parenthesis:

• .693 - Kansas City (61 points, 44 games)
• .638 - Tahoe (60 points, 47 games)
• .628 - Tulsa (59 points, 47 games)
• .609 - Wichita (56 points, 46 games)
• .576 - Idaho (53 points, 46 games)
• .422 - Rapid City (38 points, 45 games)
• .411 - Utah (37 points, 45 games)
• .378 - Allen (34 points, 45 games)

 

- There wasn't a post game press conference with the season ticket holders after the game last night because they use the conference room for renting/changing into skates whenever there is a post game skate with the players. That was the case last night. 

 

- Here is Allen's record this season by month:

• 0-3-1-0 (.125) - October
• 7-3-2-0 (..667) - November
• 1-10-2-0 (.115) - December
• 4-5-2-1 (.417) - January
• 1-3-0-0 (.250) - February (4 of 12 games played)

 

DID YOU KNOW: This won't be an issue for the Allen Americans this season, but always interesting to look at all of the tiebreakers in the ECHL:

With so many close ECHL races it won’t be long before tiebreakers become a topic of conversation. Games remaining in the regular season varies from 21 (Orlando) to 30 (Indy).

Here are the ECHL tiebreakers. Don’t think the league has ever gone beyond the top few. A very thorough list ending in a coin flip:

 

1. Regulation wins

2. Regulation + OT wins

3. Goal differential

4. Points, head-to-head 

5. Winning percentage, division

6. Winning percentage, conference

7. Goals for, regular season

8. Goals against, regular season

9. Coin toss

Another Big Loss for Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Tonight's Lineup, Inconsistency by the Numbers, Top Goalies and More

 

If someone had told me before the game against Wichita last night the Allen Americans would accomplish the following, I would expect a victory would be certainly be the likely outcome:

• Set a season record for shots on goal (45).
• Hold Wichita to under 30 shots (28).
• Outshoot Wichita in all three periods (16-13, 18-9, 11-6).
• Have the largest shot differential of the season (+17).
• Outshoot an opponent for just the fifth time all season.
• Take fewer penalties than Wichita (4 vs 6).
• Have more power play opportunities than Wichita (6 vs 4).
• Have more power play goals than Wichita (1 vs 0).
• Start Dylan Wells in goal with a save percentage of .957, .969, .952 his last three games.

 

-  Allen not only didn't win the game the Americans were never in the game. Wichita scored first and often taking a 4-0 first period lead and never looked back. The Thunder took a 5-0 lead early in the second period before Allen got on the scoreboard but it was too little, too late. Every time Allen would score Wichita would respond. The Thunder had leads of 5-0, 6-1 and 7-2 before a late Americans goal made the final score 7-3. 

 

- With the loss and wins by Rapid City in Idaho and Utah in Tulsa, the Allen Americans went from a tie for the "Best of the Rest" to all alone as the "Worst of the Rest" in one night. These three teams are so close Allen could be back on top with a win tonight. Current standings with points behind a playoff spot in parenthesis:

• .409 - Rapid City (18 points)
• .398 - Utah (19 points)
• .386 - Allen (20 points)

 

- It is no secret Allen has struggled against the top five teams in the Mountain Division. The Americans have 13 wins in 44 games played. Eight of the wins have come against Utah and Rapid City. Allen's combined record against these two teams is 8-3-1-0 (..692). Against the top five teams in the division Allen's record is 5-18-5-0 (.268). If you add the games outside the division to the top five in the division, Allen's record is 5-20-6-0 (.258). 

 

- Allen has no games remaining against Rapid City and four remaining against Utah (three of them on the road). For the Americans to make up any ground in the standings they will have to do it against the better teams with point percentages of .698 (KC), .630 (TAH), .630 (TUL), .620 (JAX), .600 (WIC), .589 (IDH), .511 (WOR). A tall task for sure.

 

- The loss last night was a combination of great play by Wichita and numerous defensive breakdowns by the Americans. That led to odd man rushes and players being left alone in front of Dylan Wells. Michal Stinil, who scored Wichita's first goal showed why he leads the entire league in average points per game (1.33). The Thunder had six different players score goals.

 

- Goals scorers for Allen were Mark Duarte (17), Harrison Blaisdell (2) and Spencer Asuchak (18). Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans-feb-7-2025

 

- If you are interested in a goal by goal recap of the game with plenty of detail checkout this game recap issued by the Wichita Thunder: https://wichitathunder.com/news/2025/02/big-first-period-lifts-thunder-past-americans  

 

- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/americans-fall-to-wichita-7-2

COACH'S COMMENTS

"We got punched in the mouth early. I actually liked our recovery after we got down 2-0. We were coming and coming and had some good chances, but the next thing you know a bad decision, poor puck management and the puck is in the back of our net to go down 3-0."

"At the end of the first period we go to sleep and puck management gets us in trouble again. We talked last week about puck battles taking place all over the ice. We didn't win enough of them in the first period."

"We were a little off tonight and seven ended up behind our goalie and that is not ideal. We had a goal of 30+ shots and we hit it. We had a goal of giving up less than 30 shots and we hit that. That is hockey. 
We will be ready to go tomorrow night. There are a lot of pissed off hockey players in the locker room."

"We will come back with Wells again tomorrow. He deserves it for how he has been playing to have a response to tonight. I am not a goalie, but I think there are some of those goals he would want back."

"I thought about changing goalies after the first period, but I also know he gives us a chance to win. I have seen the fight we have on our team the last 10-12 games. There was belief on that bench and in that dressing room that we were going to get one goal and then two goals and then things can happen. I really felt there was belief. Then in the second period we had a terrible pinch by a defenseman and an unfortunate circumstance of the center having a broken stick. It ended up with a 2-on-1 and a goal. Their second goal that period was a bad pinch that ended up in another 2-on-1 and goal."

"Our recipe is there to score more. On our last goal Spencer scores it because he is standing in front of the goalie, the point shot gets through and he bangs home the rebound. On our goal off the rush by Blaisdell we crashed the net. It was actually J.C Brassard, a defenseman trying to be involved in the offense. He drives the net hard and puts pressure on the goalie and it ends up in the back of the net. So our recipe is there. We need to capitalize on more of our chances and keep a few more out of our net."

 

LINEUP TONIGHT

The only change from last night is defenseman Mike Van Unen replacing Kenny Johnson:

Forwards

#16 Crnkovic-#26 Asuchak-#92 Watts

#25 Westcott-#89 Polino-#8 Duarte

#14 Guy-#17 Jacobs-#9 Isaacson

#11 Nault-#84 Gorman-#24 Blaisdell

 

Defensemen

#5 Wilson-#82 Fraser

#3 Powell-#23 Brassard

#21 Van Unen-#66 Kulakov

 

Goalies

#39 Wells 

#35 Thornton (backup)

- It will be back to one referee tonight. #10 Anthony O'Rourke will call the game. The linesmen with be #76 Daniel Barnes and #48 Trent Williams. 

- Here is a game preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-day-preview-oreilly-mcdonalds-night-in-dfw

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Inconsistency has been a hallmark of Allen's season and the last five games prove the point. Yes, some can be attributed to the opponents, but it is more than that. In the three home games against Rapid City,  Allen never allowed more than two goals in a game and outscored the Rush 10-4. In the two games since Allen has been outscored 12-3, giving up five goals to Tulsa and seven to Wichita.

 The Americans have scored the fewest goal in the division (113), 50 goals fewer than the top teams. The defense isn't any better. Allen has allowed 180 goals, 68 more than division leading Kansas City. In the last six games the Americans have allowed two or fewer goals three times which is great, but the other three games gave up eight, five and seven goals. Inconsistency personified.

 

- Kansas City is starting to inch away from the pack for the Mountain Division lead. The Mavericks only have a two point lead over Tahoe and Tulsa (60 vs 58), but Kansas City has three games in hand. 

 

- It will be another full schedule in the ECHL tonight with 14 games on tap. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-8 

 

- Rapid City has only 14 wins all season, five of them have come against Idaho, all on the road. The Rush have played eight games in Idaho with a record of 5-1-2-0 (.750). The teams play for the last time this season tonight in Idaho.

 

- Hank Crone has been back in the lineup the last four games for Idaho since missing a month due to injury. He has seven points (2G, 5A) in the four games. Colton Hargrove leads Florida in assists (20) and is second in points (29). Florida is so deep in its effort to four-peat. The Everblades have eight players with 20+ points and have overcome a bunch of injuries. Florida has had six or seven players on the 14 day IR for the last several weeks, but has the second best point percentage (.733) in the league.  

DID YOU KNOW: Stick taps to the five qualified ECHL goalies (840+ minutes played) who have save percentages above .925:

 

.931 - Luke Cavallin, Trois Rivières*

.930 - Cam Johnson, Florida*

.927 - Alexis Gravel, Orlando

.926 - Garin Bjorklund, South Carolina

.926 - Mark Sinclair, Bloomington

 

*Trois Rivières (.750) and Florida (.733) are the top two ECHL teams by point percentage.

Allen vs Wichita Series Preview, Shutout History, Two Best Allen Teams Never Won a Championship, Points Per Game Leaders, Europe Deadlines and More

"Best of the Rest" Standings

• .395 (34 points) - Allen
• .395 (34 points) - Rapid City
• .384 (33 points) - Utah

 

- It is game day for the Allen Americans as they start a two game series (Friday and Saturday) against their long time rival, the Wichita Thunder. I have talked before that Allen has most of its 13 wins this season against Rapid City and Utah, eight wins. That leaves just five wins against the top five teams in the division. The good news is of those five wins there was one each against Tulsa and Kansas City and three against Wichita. 

- The game tonight will be the 11th of 13 times these teams will play this season. After this weekend Allen will play the Thunder just one more time (April 6). Allen's record against Wichita is 3-5-2-0 (.400). That  is not great, but better than its record against the other top Mountain Division teams.

 

- Allen is 3-4-2-1 over its last 10 games, Wichita is 5-4-1-0. Here is how Allen and Wichita rank is some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #23 (2.56) - Wichita #10 (3.30)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #28 (4.02) - Wichita #13 (2.84)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #22 (28.07) - Wichita #11 (31.41)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (39.49) - Wichita #27 (34.66) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #16 (19.2%) - Wichita #17 (18.5%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #20 (79.4%) - Wichita #18 (79.8%) 

You can see from the stats above the Americans and Thunder are fairly close given their position in the standings with the exception of the most important stat, goals scored and allowed. On average Allen scores 0.74 goals fewer than Wichita per game and allows 1.18 more goals per game than Wichita.

 

- Here are the cumulative stats in the 10 games these teams have already played:

• Wichita has outscored Allen 36-25
• Wichita has out shot Allen 378-299
• Allen's power play is 5-24 (20.8%)
• Wichita's power play is 6-37 (16.2%)
• Allen took 47 penalties for 116 minutes
• Wichita took 37 penalties for 120 minutes

The stats are skewed because in one game (December 20) the teams combined for 22 penalties and 96 penalty minutes. The 96 penalty minutes included four fighting majors and four 10 minutes misconduct penalties. You never know what kind of game you are going to get against Wichita. They teams combined for 96 penalty minutes in one game and two penalty minute two weeks prior.

Staying out of the penalty box has been an issue in many games this season and you can see Allen has a better power play percentage in the head to head games (20.8% vs 16.2%). However the Thunder has one more power play goal because Wichita has had 13 more power play opportunities. A key in the series will be staying out of the penalty box and avoiding so many stick penalties. Allen must remember Wichita only takes and average of 10 penalty minutes per game, the third lowest in the league.

 

- Scoring first is normally a big advantage, but not when these teams play. The team that scored first has lost seven of the 10 head to head games. If you look at the season totals Allen has scored first in 20 of 43 (47%) of its games but has the worst record in the league and is the only team with a losing record, 7-8-4-1 (.475). Wichita has scored first in 23 of 44 (52%) games with a record of 16-5-2-0 (.739). 

- Playing with the lead will also be key in this series. Here are the facts:

• Allen's record when leading after the first period is 5-2-3-1. The Americans have 34 points this season. 14 of the 34 points earned (41%) Allen led after the first period. Allen's record when leading after the second period is 10-1-2-0. That means in 77% of its games Allen had the lead after the second period. Allen has only won three games all season when tied or trailing after the second period. 
• Wichita's record when leading after the first period is 12-4-1-0 and when leading after the second period the Thunder record is 17-1-1-0. 
• Bottom line is playing with the lead is a big key for Allen in this series.

 

- No surprise in the players to watch in this series. In the head to head games, Spencer Asuchak leads the team with 14 points in the ten games (3G, 11A). Mark Duarte leads in goals (6) and Brayden Watts has five goals in nine games played. Peter Bates (#22) has been Wichita's leading scorer against Allen with 16 points (6G, 10A) in the 10 games. Wichita's leading scorer, #22 Michal Stinil, who is averaging 1.31 points per game, has only played three of the 10 games against Allen but had four points (3G, 1A) in the three games.  

- The lineup tonight is the same as the last game with he exception of  Wells in goal. Wells will be trying to extend his three game home win streak where he had a save percentage of .957, .969 and 952. 

Forwards

#16 Crnkovic-#26 Asuchak-#92 Watts

#25 Westcott-#89 Polino-#8 Duarte

#14 Guy-#17 Jacobs-#9 Isaacson

#11 Nault-#84 Gorman-#24 Blaisdell

 

Defensemen

#5 Wilson-#82 Fraser

#3 Powell-#23 Brassard

#55 Johnson-#66 Kulakov

 

Goalies

#39 Wells 

#35 Thornton (backup)

- Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-day-preview-red-out-night

 

 - It will be a two referee system for the game tonight. Remember, half of the 36 homes games will use two referees and half just one. Rocco Stachowiak (#28) and James Kraft (50) will work the game tonight. The duo worked the Allen at Wichita game on January 10 and called just six minor penalties, four against Allen, two against Wichita. Five of the six penalties including all of the Allen penalties were stick penalties. As coach Ferguson has said several times recently, "No more stick penalties!"  

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen was shutout 5-0 in its last game against Tulsa. It was the fifth time this season the Americans have been shutout. How do the number of shutouts compare to prior seasons. I went into the archives to find the number of shutouts for each season since Allen joined the ECHL:

• 5 - 2024-25 (thru 43 games)
• 2 - 2023-24
• 2 - 2022-23
• 1 - 2021-22
• 1 - 2020-21
• 3 - 2019-20
• 9 - 2018-19
• 5 - 2017-18
• 2 - 2016-17
• 2 - 2015-16*
• 1 - 2014-15*  

*Won Kelly Cup

 

- As I was putting together the shutout list above I was reminded of what I have always thought were the two best teams in Allen franchise history and neither of them won a championship. For all of you old timers that read the blog, I would be interested in your opinion. The 2016-17 Allen team was going for a three-peat and was ranked #2 in the league during the regular season with a .722 point percentage. The Americans were the #2 offensive team averaging 4.08 goals per game and the #2 defensive team allowing 2.82 goals per game. Allen lost in the second round of the playoffs to Colorado after taking a 2-0 series lead. Colorado went on to win the Kelly Cup. 

The 2010-11 Allen team won the CHL regular season title by 13 points and regular season conference title by 20 points. The Americans scored 271 goals that season (4.10 average) which was 21 more goals then any other team. Allen had three players with more than 30 goals (Bruce Graham - 34, Nino Musitelli - 34, and Colton Yellow Horn - 33). Allen was a big favorite to win the championship as the #1 seed but lost in the Conference finals to Bossier-Shreveport who went on to win the championship.   

 

-  I have had several questions about the chances of Allen signing a player from Europe before the deadline which is 10 days away. When I talked about this issue a few blogs ago it might have sounded like this could happen. Just to clear up any misunderstanding the Americans will not be signing any players from Europe before the deadline.

 

- Watching game results day-to-day makes it difficult to see when teams are gaining or losing ground in the standings. I think this stat is the best indicator. Here are the number of points earned over the last 10 games by each Mountain Division teams. Maximum possible would be 20 points. Each team's total points is in parenthesis:

• 16 points - Tulsa (58 points)
• 14 points - Kansas City (58 points)
• 13 points - Idaho (52 points)
• 11 points - Wichita (52 points)
• 9 points - Tahoe (56 points)
  
• 9 points - Rapid City (34 points)
• 9 points - Allen (34 points)
• 8 points - Utah (33 points)

You can see the bottom three teams in the standings (Allen, Rapid City, Utah) gained no points on the top five teams in the last 10 games. When you consider the bottom three teams have to pass two top five teams to make the playoffs and they are currently 18 points behind, the task is almost impossible. I don't think I am risking another crow chili meal by saying none of the bottom three teams will make the playoffs.

 

- There are 13 ECHL games on the schedule tonight with all eight Mountain Division teams in action. 

• Wichita at Allen
• Rapid City at Idaho
• Utah at Tulsa
• Adirondack at Tahoe
• Kansas City at Cincinnati  

Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/02/echl-today-feb-7

 

 

- Many of you may have seen this on my social media accounts, but wanted to post here for those of you not on social media. It includes the ECHL leader in average points per game for the last 10 seasons. Amazingly, an Allen player was the leader 50% of the 10 seasons:

- ECHL current points leaders based on average points per game (minimum 25 games played):

1.31 - Michal Stinil, Wichita

1.29 - Brandon Hawkins, Toledo

1.28 - Neil Shea, Utah

1.27 - Brady Fleurent, Norfolk

1.26 - Hank Crone, Idaho

1.24 - Cade Borchardt, Kansas City 

 

Here were the ECHL average points per game leaders the last 10 seasons (minimum 40 games played):

1.38 - Hank Crone, Allen (2023-24)

1.52 - Hank Crone, Allen (2022-23)

1.56 - Ryan Kuffner, Iowa (2021-22)

1.15 - Anthony Beauregard, Wichita (2020-21)

1.49 - Tyler Sheehy, Allen (2019-20)

1.28 - Zach O’Brien, Newfoundland (2018-19)*

1.34 - Justin Danforth, Cincinnati (2017-18)

1.69 - Chad Costello, Allen, (2016-17)

1.43 - Chad Costello, Allen, (2015-16)*

1.74 - Chad Costello, Allen (2014-15)*

 

*Team won Kelly Cup

DID YOU KNOW: ECHL players going to & from Europe is about to end:

 

GOING TO EUROPE

Most deadlines have already passed, January 31 deadline for most leagues. A few, mostly in Scandinavia, have a mid February deadline.

 

RETURNING FROM EUROPE

To play in the ECHL players must return by Feb. 17.