Allen Shut Out 5-0 by Idaho, Game Recap, Martinson Comments, Homer Rant of the Week, ECHL Week Video & Attendance Percent Capacity Stats

The best thing you can say about the Allen game last night is that it is over. You know it is trouble when the hope of the Allen fans that are watching and listening to the game is that the Americans avoid being shut out. The hopes of the Allen fans were dashed as the Idaho Steeleheads blanked the Americans 5-0 and swept the weekend series by a scoring margin of 11-3.


 - Allen has now lost their last four games and will try and break that streak at home against the Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday. I know coach Martinson and the team would never use it as an excuse but when you reflect back on the happenings over the last couple of weeks it makes you wonder why the only people held accountable are the players and coaches. The ECHL scheduled Allen to play four games in five days three times  this season but two of them were in back to back weeks just before and after the Christmas break. Then to make matters worse the second four games in five days was against the same team (Wichita) which everyone predicted would become a gong show because of the rivalry between the teams. When the gong show took place as predicted the league suspended three players from each team and didn't consider delaying or spreading out the suspensions which they have done many times in the past. In Allen's case they were already shorthanded because of injuries and callups so they were put in an untenable situation. I know it is the "homer rant of the week" but thanks for letting me share it because it is food for thought and you can only hope the ECHL schedulers will learn from what happened and the Allen Amercians will make a bigger issue if any schedule like this is proposed in the future.


- Props to the Idaho Steelheads who took it to the Allen Americans the last two games (6-3 & 5-0) before sellout crowds both nights. CenturyLink Arena has a capacity of 5006 and for the season Idaho has filled 86.8% of the seats which is one of the highest capacity percentages in the league.


- Idaho rookie Justin Parizek was one of the stars of the game both nights this weekend. Parizek, who is the Idaho representative on the ECHL All-Star game, just returned to the Steelheads after a stint with the San Jose Barracuda. The best game plan for the Americans would have been to ask the Allen AHL affiliate to keep Parizaek in San Jose over the weekend. Justin killed the Americans with a goal and assist on Friday, two goals on Saturday and was a +5 for the two games. And by the way he had a shorthanded goal both nights. Parizek has been trouble for Allen all season. He has played against the Americans six times and has scored at least one goal in five of the six games.


- Here are the video highlights from the game last night:

Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-blanked-idaho/


- Here is the game recap from the Idaho Steelheads: http://www.idahosteelheads.com/events/allen-americans-vs-idaho-steelheads-10/#gametab-2


- I had the chance to touch base with coach Martinson after the game and he shared two thoughts. First was, "It is just good to be done with this series without any more serious injuries." Secondly, he commented on the game misconduct penalty Olivier Archambault took late in the second period, "Archambault had enough of being slashed on the hands but didn't figure on the guy not fighting back."


OTHER COMMENTS

- If you can find any positive in a 5-0 shutout the Americans reduced the shots allowed to Idaho from 48 on Friday night to 29 last night. That was far out weighed by the fact that Allen was 0-8 on the power play and gave up a shorthanded goal for the second straight night. The penalty kill unit also struggled giving up two power play goals to Idaho on eight opportunities though one of them was a five-on-three.


- In other Mountain Division action last night Wichita lost and Colorado won so the standings now look like this. Here are the current Mountain Division standings with games played in parentheses:

52 points - Colorado (33 games)
45 points - Idaho (35 games)
44 points - Wichita (34 games) 
41 points - Allen (34 games)
34 points - Tulsa (33 games)
32 points - Utah (33 games)
19 points - Rapid City (31 games)

While the Americans are idle, Colorado is in Tulsa this afternoon to play the Oilers and Wichita hosts Kalamazoo.


- The San Jose Barracuda lost to the San Diego Gulls last night 3-2 after losing to the the Gulls 5-0 Friday night. The Barracuda have lost three straight and are now in seventh place in the Pacific Division standings. Maybe the most frustrating part of the two losses to San Diego is the Barracuda out shot the Gulls 94-59 and were outscored 8-2. By the way, I have had many questions about the status of Spencer Asuchak who is in San Jose but has not been playing. Tommy Daniels mentioned on the broadcast last night that Spencer is dealing with a couple of injuries. Asuchak's status won't be known until he is cleared to play as he cannot be reassigned to Allen while he is injured.


- Here is the latest edition of ECHL Week which covers the All-Star roster and coaches, some trades, the now ownership in Greenville and at the 6:20 mark the New Year's Eve warmup incident between Allen and Wichita. It provides a good view of the start of the fighting at the red line. 

DID YOU KNOW: One way to look at attendance is to measure the percent capacity. I am not sure how meaningful the percent capacity stat is with arenas as small as 4794 (Adirondack) and as large as Tulsa (17096). It does tell you which teams are coming the closest to filling their arena. Here are the top five and bottom five in percent capacity with the arena capacity in parentheses:

Top Five
100.2% - Toledo (7431)
94.5% - Colorado (5289)
86.8% - Idaho (5006)
81.9% - Worcester (5600)
77.8% - Kansas City (5800)

Bottom Five
24.4% - Norfolk (8701)
29.2% - Manchester (9852)
32.3% - Atlanta (10867)
33.9% - Wichita (13000)
35.0% - Tulsa (17096)

Allen is at 62.2% capacity with an arena capacity of 6200. 
 

Shorthanded Allen Loses to Idaho 6-3, Martinson's Comments, Rematch Preview, Americans, Barracuda & Sharks All Lose Allowing Six Goals & More

It was a tough night all the way around for the shorthanded Allen Americans last night as they lost 6-3 to the Idaho Steelheads before a sold out crowd of 5010 at CenturyLink Arena. To Allen's credit they fought back from 1-0 and 3-1 leads to tie the score 3-3 after two periods. Three unanswered goals by Idaho in the third period sealed the Americans fate.

- Allen was doubled up in shots on goal (48-24) including 21-6 in the first period and 15-5 in the crucial third period. Idaho took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission which was an ominous sign since the Steelheads haven't lost a game in regulation all season when leading after the first period (10-0-0-1).


- Jeremy Brodeur took the loss giving up six goals, two more goals than any of his 19 previous outings. One of the goals was scored from the neutral zone. Six goals is the most the Americans have allowed all season and that had happened only one other time prior to last night.


- The Allen penalty kill was pretty effective allowing one goal in six attempts. The Americans power play was 1-4 but allowed a shorthanded goal early in the second period to give Idaho a 3-1 lead. Watch the highlights below and you can see Joel Chouinard get knocked to the ice with an apparent cross check which led to a turnover and the shorthanded goal.


- The goal scorers for Allen were Eric Roy (8), Alex Schoenborn (5) and Bryan Moore (12). When you watch the highlights keep an eye on #91. Gary Steffes, playing in his first game since May 9th didn't get a point on the first goal but was in front of the net screening the goalie. Steffes assisted on the last two Allen goals. The backhanded pass Steffes makes on the Schoenborn goal was a thing of beauty.

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/three-third-period-goals-leads-idaho-6-3-win-americans/


- Here is the game recap from the Idaho Steelheads: http://www.idahosteelheads.com/events/allen-americans-vs-idaho-steelheads-9/#gametab-2



STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

 "I thought Gary Steffes was our best player tonight." (Steffes was just signed by the Americans and flew to Boise to meet the team from Minnesota where he works for FCA Hockey (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). Gary is helping out the Americans temporarily (10 days or so) while the team is short handed.

 "We lost the game tonight because of way too many turnovers." (Turnovers, especially in the neutral zone, leads to opportunities for the other team and reduces time of puck possession for the Americans which is a big factor in the disparate shots on goal).

"It is difficult playing shorthanded but we lost tonight because of lack of effort and the fact that some of our top players did not compete hard enough."



ALLEN VS IDAHO REMATCH PREVIEW

 - It is a cliche but the best thing about getting outscored 6-3 and out shot 48-24 is the Americans have the opportunity to do something about it with a rematch tonight against Idaho.


- In case you haven't been following closely over the last 48 hours a roster recap may be in order. Because of suspensions to Gunn, Thrower and Makowski, Allen headed to Idaho on Thursday with only 13 skaters available which is three short of the number that can dress for a game. To make matters worse, forward Colby McAuley was recalled by the San Jose Barracuda to reduce the number of skaters to 12. Coach Martinson added forward Gary Steffes and defenseman Anthony Calabrese who was loaned to Allen by the Pensacola Ice Flyers (SPHL). Calabrese has 17 points (4 goals 13 assists) and is +15 in 22 games with Pensacola. Allen played last night with 14 skaters (9 forwards 5 defensemen) rather than the typical 16 skaters. The Americans will play shorthanded again tonight. 


- In order to win tonight (8:10 CST), based on the comments from coach Martinson, the compete level needs to be a lot higher. What does that mean looking at the stats from last night?  The shot differential has to come down if Allen is to have any chance at all. Allen often wins when they are out shot by their opponent (10-6-3-1) but not when they are outshot by 24 shots. As mentioned earlier the Americans need to have fewer turnovers in the neutral zone and just inside the blueline. If there is no play they have to dump the puck in. That along with staying out of the penalty box will improve puck possession and reduce shots allowed.


-  Hockey is a game of mistakes but the defensive breakdowns last night included two deflections where Idaho players were parked in front of the net, two goals where the Steelheads got behind or went around the defense, the shorthanded goal and a soft goal from the neutral zone. Lot's of room for improvement.


- Allen has now played Idaho six times this season and has a record of 3-2-0-1. In the six games Idaho has out scored the Americans 22-18 and has the lead in shots 217-161. Allen is 7-33 (21.2%) on the power play. Idaho is 9-39 (23.1%) on the power play. Each team had one game where they scored four power play goals. Allen actually lost (in a shootout) the game they had four power play goals. The Americans have taken more penalties (62-49) and has more penalty minutes (216-136) than the Steelheads. Allen will be playing shorthanded tonight so keeping the penalties to a minimum will be crucial.


- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Sean MacFarlane (#4) and linesmen Scott DeBaugh  (#67 ) and Brendan Gormley (#38.). It will be the fourth time in the last five games MacFarlane has been the referee for Allen. In total he has refereed seven Allen games this season and the Americans have not fared well with a record of 2-5.




OTHER COMMENTS

- With the loss to Idaho the Americans are now in sole possession of fourth place in the Mountain Division with 41 points. Idaho is in third place (43 points), Wichita is in second place (44 points) and Colorado continues to lead the division with 50 points.


- Allen has now lost three straight games which is the second longest losing streak of the season. The Americans had a five game losing streak early in the season (October 22 - November 1). 


- The Rapid City Rush were playing in Utah last night and the game had to be postponed after the first period because of problems with the ice. Utah was leading 3-1. Here are the details from the Rapid City Journal: http://rapidcityjournal.com/sports/rush-game-postponed-to-sunday/article_b09a548f-3271-5230-879e-f3c05295bbf2.html


- The San Jose Barracuda lost last night 6-0 to San Diego even though they out shot the Gulls 46-26. San Diego was 4-5 on the power play. Colby McAuley, who was just recalled from the Allen Americans played and was credited with one shot on goal. Spencer Asuchak did not play and has only played in one of the last four Barracuda games. The Barracuda play in San Diego again tonight.


- In other AHL action Utica beat Laval 5-2 and Vincent Arseneau did play in the game. He didn't have any points or shots but did have nine penalty minutes including a fight. Here is a link to the fight: https://youtu.be/SnGtlbzdIYI




DID YOU KNOW:  It is the odd stat of the night as all three San Jose affiliated team lost last night and all three gave up six goals. Allen gave up three third period goals to lose 6-3, the Barracuda gave up two third period goals to lose 6-0 and the heart breaker belonged to the Sharks who gave up three third period goals when leading 5-2 and then lost 6-5 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators. The Senators scored the game winner just seven seconds into overtime. Aaron Dell was in goal for San Jose. Here are the details: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/7841911-181/sharks-cough-up-big-lead  

Roster Update, Allen vs Idaho Preview, All-Star Game Questions & Thoughts, Five Years Ago Remembered

It is game day as the Allen Americans are in Boise to kick off 2018 with a pair of games against the Idaho Steelheads. The biggest concern is what will the roster look like when the Americans take the ice tonight (7:10 pm MST). What is known for sure is defensemen Mike Gunn, Dalton Thrower and David Makowski won't play as they all begin multiple game suspensions handed out by the league for the warmup fracas on New Year's Eve.

- Things could always change sometime today but as of last night coach Steve Martinson planned to have 14 skaters for the game tonight which is two short. The lineup will include nine forwards and five defensemen. If you are keeping track of the numbers there are two adds (one defenseman, one forward) and one delete (forward) since the team was down to 13 skaters after the three suspensions were announced on Wednesday. Official announcements should be made by the team today. UPDATE: The delete is Colby McAuley who has been recalled by the San Jose Barracuda. The add (forward) is Gary Steffes who has come out of retirement (temporarily) to help out for 10 days or so. He will be in the lineup tonight wearing #91. The add (defenseman) is Anthony Calabrese who was loaned to Allen by the Pensacola Ice Flyers (SPHL).


- The game tonight will be the sixth of 10 times Allen and Idaho play this season. The teams played five times in November with Allen having the edge 3-1-0-1. The Americans won two of three games in Idaho. At the Allen Event Center (AEC) the Americans won a game and lost in a shootout in the other. Since joining the ECHL Allen's record in Idaho is 3-4-0-0.


- The teams are tied for fourth place in the Mountain Division with 41 points. Both have struggled recently. Allen has lost their last two games and is 5-3-2-0 in their last 10 games. Idaho has lost their last three games and is 5-4-0-1 in their last 10 games.


- Here is the series preview written by Brian McCormack of the Idaho Steelheads. Brian is the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the Steelheads. Hands down Brian puts together the best previews of any team Allen plays and his preview is always available the day before the game. This is a must read if you want to get a complete picture of the two games with Idaho: http://www.idahosteelheads.com/blog/steelheads-news/preview-allen-challenge/


- Here is a comparison between Allen and Idaho:

                                     ALLEN                            IDAHO

Team Record              18-9-4-1 (41 points)           18-10-3-2 (41 points)
Division Ranking         3rd - Mountain                   4th - Mountain
Conference Ranking  5th - Western                      6th - Western
League Ranking         8th                                      9th
Last Game                  4-2 Loss (Wichita)              5-4 Loss (Utah)
Goals For                    112                                     106
Goals Against             96                                        92
Power Play                 19.1% (26/136)                   19.8% (34/172)
Penalty Kill                  82.3% (26/147)                   84.0% (26/162)
Leading Scorer           Pierro-Zabotel (10-28-38)   Samuelsson (12-17-29)
Most PIM's                  Moore - 102                        Moroz - 88


-  Here is how Allen and Idaho rank in the ECHL in some statistical categories:

Penalty Minutes Per Game: Allen 1st (24.53) - Idaho 7th (17.85)
Goals Scored Per Game: Allen 6th (3.50) - Idaho 13th (3.21)
Goals Allowed Per Game: Allen 11th (3.00) - Idaho 4th (2.79)
Shots For Per Game: Allen 14th (32.69) - Idaho 2nd (36.73)
Shots Against Per Game: Allen 24th (36.94) - Idaho 3rd (28.76)
Power Play Percentage: Allen 10th (19.1%) - Idaho 7th (19.8%)
Home Power Play %: Allen 4th (20.5%) - Idaho 2nd (22.0%)
Road Power Play %: Allen 16th (17.0%) - Idaho 14th (17.3%)
Penalty Kill Percentage: Allen 16th (82.3%) - Idaho 11th (84.0%)
Home Penalty Kill %: Allen 4th (87.5%) - Idaho 11th (84.4%)
Road Penalty Kill %: Allen 27th (74.6%) - Idaho 13th (83.3%)



- Statistically these teams are pretty evenly matched. One exception is Idaho is ranked #2 in the ECHL in shots for per game (36.73) and #3 in shots allowed per game (28.76) for a differential of +7.97. Allen is ranked #14 in shots for (32.69) and #24 in shots allowed (36.94) for a shot differential of -4.25. The Americans will have to work hard, use puck possession, avoid penalties and play good defense to hold down the number of shots Idaho gets in the game tonight. The shot differential doesn't transfer to goal differential because Idaho has one of the worst shooting percentages in the league (8.5%). Allen's shooting percentage is much better at 10.6%.


- Allen has taken a lot more penalty minutes (785) than Idaho (589) but when it comes to minor penalties Allen leads the league with 200 but Idaho is second with 197. Allen racks up a lot of penalty minutes with major penalties, 10 minute misconducts and game misconduct penalties. Staying out of the penalties box will be key for Allen tonight. Playing two players short is reason to avoid any major penalties and you can be sure Idaho will be more than willing to engage given the Americans are shorthanded. When it comes to special teams the advantage goes to the Steelheads based on the percentages. On the power play Allen is 17.0% on the road while Idaho is 22.0% at home. On the penalty kill Allen is 76.0% on the road while Idaho is 84.4% at home. The last time these teams met (November 25) Allen was 0-6 on the power play while Idaho was 4-9. Allen visited Idaho for three games the end of November and won two of them, however, in those three games Allen was 2-16 (12.5%) on the power play while Idaho was 6-18 (33.3%). Avoiding the sin bin should be mandatory tonight.  


- Despite the fact that Allen lost their last two games after scoring first and having a first period lead, getting off to a good start is always key. When leading after the first period Allen and Idaho have a combined record of 21-2-1-1.


- Players to watch tonight for Allen are Bryan Moore (6 points) and Joel Chouinard (5 points) who lead the team in points in the five games against Idaho. Olivier Archambault will be making his first start against Idaho and has at least one point in his last seven games with a total of 14 points.


- Coach Martinson has been alternating the goalies so that means Jeremy Brodeur should be in goal for the Americans. Brodeur's record is 9-3-2-1 and his .933 save percentage is the second best in the league. 


- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Sean MacFarlane (#4) and linesmen Scott DeBaugh  (#67 ) and Ryan Nevins (#86). MacFarlane was the referee in two of Allen's last three games against Wichita including the game on New Year's Eve.



OTHER COMMENTS

 - Congrats to David Makowski for his selection to the ECHL All-Star team. Here is the ECHL press release with details about the game and the complete roster: https://www.echl.com/rosters-set-2018-ccm-echl-star-classic


- Had a couple of questions about the All-Star team. One was why Indy had two players selected and the other was why goalie Etienne Marcoux, who plays for Indy in the Central Division and is the ECHL's leading goaltender in save percentage (.940), was named the goalie for the North Division. Thanks to Joe Babik, ECHL Director of Communications for the explanation.

With 27 teams and 28 roster spots there would obviously be one team with two representatives. The fairest and best way to handle that situation was to allow Indy, as the host, to be the team with two representatives. (Michael Neal & Etienne Marcoux).

As for Marcoux being on the North Division team, Pat Nagle had by far and away the most votes for a goaltender in the Central Division so he was the logical representative there. Marcoux was also high up in the Central Division votes and the decision was made to shift him to the North Division.


- The All-Star game always creates some controversy because many of the best players in the league including the league's leading scorer (Shawn Sydlowski), the league's assist leader (Casey Pierro-Zabotel) and the top scoring defenseman (Matt Register) aren't on the team. I always remember the year Chad Costello won the scoring title by the largest margin in league history (45 points) and had 125 points he didn't make the All-Star team. You just have to accept it is not an attempt to gather the best players in the league even though there will be many great players participating. It is a showcase game with all teams represented by only one player (except the host team) and it is an effort to expose some of the younger talent in the league. A first for this All-Star game is there will be three regular season games taking place while the All-Star game is in progress, which if you ask me is not good form. I understand this was done because the All-Star game was switched to MLK day to increase attendance and the league allowed teams that had traditional MLK games to continue but to me it diminishes the All-Star game plus the teams that play that day, including Allen, will be missing one their best players.




DID YOU KNOW: One of the most memorable regular season games in team history took place on this date (January 5) five years ago. If you look at the score it appears uneventful as the Allen Americans beat the Rapid City Rush 5-4 at the Allen Event Center on a Saturday night before a crowd of 4710. Here are a few things that may jog your memory of that game.

- The first of five fights in the game took place at the opening puck drop as two heavyweights dropped the gloves. It was Allen's Kip Brennan vs Rapid City's Justin Sawyer.

- Before the second period was over four other Americans would drop the gloves including Ryley Grantham, Mike Berube, Garrett Clarke and the diminutive Anthony Maiani who fought a guy five inches taller and 50 pounds heavier. It was one of only two fights Anthony had in his entire career.

- Clarke and Rapid City's Justin Faryna were given game misconducts.

- Alec Martinez, who won a Stanley Cup the prior season with the Los Angeles Kings and was playing with Allen during the NHL lockout scored his only CHL goal in the game. It turned out to be his last of three games with Allen.

- After a penalty filled second period (74 minutes) there were just two minor penalties in the third period. Allen did one of their famous third period comebacks scoring three unanswered goals to take the victory 5-4. The third period goal scorers were Jason Deitsch, Anthony Maiani and the game winner by Jamie Schaafsma assisted by Brian McMillin and Kip Brennan.

- In addition to having one NHL player in the lineup that night (Alec Martinez) a future NHL player also played as Aaron Dell was the winning goalie.

- Talk about a team with some toughness the Allen lineup that night included Kip Brennan, Ryley Grantham, Darryl Bootland, Garrett Clarke and Mike Berube. This group has over 800 fights in their hockey careers.

- There were many highlights but the fight at the start of the game between Brennan and Sawyer was rated the best fight of the year in the CHL and there were 531 CHL fights that season in the 10 team league. It was a toe to toe heavyweight battle that went over a minute. Both landed plenty of punches and it was a close fight but most had Brennan as a slight winner. Check out Brian McMillin clearing out of the faceoff circle as soon as the puck is dropped for this prearranged bout.

Roster Update, Americans Head to Idaho Shorthanded, Greger Hanson Signs in Europe, ECHL All- Star Team Announced Today & The Laval Rocket Story

I had a lot of discussions and a lot  of questions from fans yesterday all stemming from the warmup brawl on Sunday and the suspensions that followed. Coach Martinson is fond of saying once decisions are made by the ECHL regarding incidents like Sunday you may not like it but it is time to move on because there are games to be played. I think that is good advice so no more discussion about the warmup circus. What is more pertinent is what it all means for the weekend series with Idaho. Hopefully this will answer most of the questions.

-  The starting point for the discussion is the fact that coach Martinson can have a maximum of 20 players on the active roster but they all must fit under the salary cap.


- Suspended players must remain on the active roster so with Gunn, Thrower and Makowski suspended the maximum number of players Martinson could have available for the Idaho series is 17 which is one player short. The normal game lineup is 18 (10 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goalies).


- With injuries, suspensions and callups as of yesterday morning Allen had only 15 players available (9 forwards, 4 defensemen, 2 goalies) and that doesn't account for players that are out sick.


- If coach Martinson can fit them under the salary cap he could add two players to the 15 that are available and have 17 players (15 skaters) in Idaho. Most likely he would add one forward for a total of 10 and one defenseman for a total of five. So best case scenario Allen could play in Idaho short one defenseman.


- When I talked to Martinson after practice yesterday he had the forwards pinned down and was working on the defenseman but there has been no official announcement by the Americans.


- The team left early this morning on their trip to Boise and will be flying rather than taking the bus thanks to owner Jack Gulati. The weather in Boise is decent with lows in the 20's and highs in the 30's. There is a slight chance of rain/snow mix on Saturday with a high temp of close to 40 degrees. Game time on Friday and Saturday is 7:10 pm MST (8:10 Allen time).


- There will be a complete game preview tomorrow but this two game series in Idaho is critical for both teams. They are tied for fourth place in the Mountain Division standings with 41 points. Both have struggled recently. Allen has lost their last two games and is 5-3-2-0 in their last 10 games. Idaho has lost their last three games and is 5-4-0-1 in their last 10 games.


- Any way you look at it the games in Idaho will be a challenge for the Americans. They will be short players, it is just a matter of how short. There may be players meeting the team in Boise who haven't skated with the team all season. There are players that are sick, just getting back to health after being sick and maybe guys that are about to get sick. It is definitely not ideal and the team won't be at their best for sure. However, this team has faced similar situations in past years and always seems to perform best under adversity. I look for two big efforts by the team this weekend.


OTHER COMMENTS

 - Greger Hanson was released from his contract with San Diego (AHL) yesterday because he has signed to play for the Krefeld Pinguine in the top German league (DEL). This is the same league that Chad Costello and Jack Combs play in.  Krefeld is a city (pop. 225,000) in western Germany that is about 30 minutes northwest of Dusseldorf and is a few kilometers west of the Rhine river. Krefeld Pinguine is currently in last place in the 14 team DEL. Best of luck to Greger and Andrea on this new adventure.


- Chad Costello has been playing well since returning from his knee surgery. He is now fourth on the team (Iserlohn Roosters) in scoring with 22 points (7 goals 15 assists) in 26 games. He missed 12 games earlier in the season. Chad leads the team in average points per game (.85). The Roosters have also been playing better and have moved up to fifth place in the 14 team league. Chad's team will play Greger's team on January 23 so that will be be one to keep an eye on.


- The ECHL will announce the All-Star team today and I would expect one member of the Allen Americans will make the team. As I wrote in the blog back on December 27 there are several worthy players including Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Joel Chouinard and Jeremy Brodeur but if you look at the numbers my vote would go to David Makowski who at the time (when voting was taking place) had the following stats:

- Second leading scorer on the team as a defenseman with 26 points (7 goals 19 assists)
- Second on the team in assists (19)
- Leads the team in penalty minutes (80)
- Leads the team in shots on goal (90)
- Leads the team (tied) in power play goals (3)
- Leads the team (tied) in power play assists (9)
- #1 in points per game among all ECHL defensemen (1.08)
- #1 (tied) in points among all ECHL defensemen (26
- #1 (tied) in shorthanded points among all ECHL defensemen (2) )
- #2 (tied) in plus/minus (+18) among all ECHL defensemen (Chouinard leads with +19)
- #2 (tied) in assists among all ECHL defensemen (19)
- #4 in shots among all ECHL defensemen (90)
- #4 (tied) in power play assists among all ECHL defensemen (9)
- #5 (tied) in goals among all ECHL defensemen (7)

The selection for the All-Star team is done by a vote of the coaches, team captains, media relation directors, broadcasters, and members of the media.


- The ECHL  announced yesterday that the Board of Governors had approved the sale of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. I doubt this is the only ownership transaction in the ECHL this season. Here is the ECHL press release on the Greenville ownership change:  https://www.echl.com/board-governors-approves-sale-greenville-swamp-rabbits


- For those interested in how Spencer Asuchak (San Jose Baracuda) and Vincent Arseneau (Utica Comets) are doing their next opportunity to play is tomorrow (Friday) night. Utica is at home to take on the Laval Rocket and San Jose is on the road against the San Diego Gulls.



DID YOU KNOW: If you are not familiar with the Laval Rocket you are one of many. They are in the first year of operation as the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. The franchise operated last season as the St. John's IceCaps and was moved to Laval this season. Laval is north of Montreal and is the largest suburb of Montreal. A name the team contest was held and the winning name (by fan vote) was Laval Rocket. It was a tribute to Canadiens's legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Rocket garnered 51% of the fan vote. The other top contenders were Rapides (25%) and Patriotes (24%).

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day - Injuries, Callups, Sickness and Now Suspensions for the Allen Americans

When our kids were young back in the early 1980's before computers, smart phones and iPads the house was full of children's books, but when it came to story time there were just a few favorites. One of them was "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day" which tells the story of everything going wrong the entire day for Alexander. It has been many years since I have read that book but I do remember from the time he woke up to the time he went to bed nothing went right for Alexander. As he woke up the gum that was in his mouth the night before was in his hair. His two brothers found prizes in their breakfast cereal and he didn't. He didn't get a window seat in the car pool going to school. His mom forgot to put dessert in his lunch bag. He went to the dentist after school and had a cavity. He visited his dad at his office and accidentally dialed Australia while playing with the phone. He had lima beans for dinner (which he hated). There was kissing on TV (which he hated). His mom made him wear his train pajamas (which he hated). And in the final incident of the night the cat chooses to sleep with his brother.


- I share the Alexander story because the book actually popped into my head last night as I was thinking about what to write in the blog this morning after a long day covering the Allen Americans. It started out in the early morning yesterday when I calculated how many games players had missed this season for any reason. I only included 11 players and the games missed was over 150. Here it is again in case you missed it yesterday, a list of how many games key players have missed of the 32 Allen has played thus far.

30 games - Riley Gill (still on injured reserve)
22 games - Olivier Archambault
21 games - Zach Pochiro (still on injured reserve)
13 games - Vincent Arseneau (still on loan to Utica)
13 games -  Bryan Moore
12 games - Zach Hall (out with an injury)
10 games - Spencer Asuchak (still recalled to San Jose)
10 games - Peter MacArthur (season ending injury)
8   games - Mathieu Aubin
8  games - Dalton Thrower
4  games - David Makowski


- As I headed to practice I was thinking that you could have the nucleus of a really good team just with the guys that won't be at practice (Gill, Asuchak, Arseneau, MacArthur, Pochiro, Hall) but at least the defense is intact.


- It was a really light practice conducted by the players themselves and when I arrived they were playing three on three cross ice from the blue line to the end boards, just having fun. The first player off the ice greeted me with, I'm sick, I have to get to the locker room. The next player I talked to shared they were starting to feel better but got sick in Wichita. At that I point I decided to not ask anymore players how the were doing. At this time of year when the players are tired and energy depleted after playing so many games in a short period of time they are susceptible to getting sick and once it starts it spreads because the players are in such close quarters all of the time. The hope is the worst of it is behind the team before the weekend.


- The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day ended with the announcement that three Allen players would be suspended for the warmup incident on Sunday. Mike Gunn was given a seven game suspension, Dalton Thrower a three game suspension and David Makowski a two game suspension. Wichita players suspended were Guillaume Lepine (7 games), Dyson Stevenson (2 games) and Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin one game.


- Allen fans were obviously upset, especially those that come early to  each game to watch warmups. Everyone I talked to felt the the incident was initiated by Wichita and the fact the entire Thunder team ended up inside the Allen blue line, when both teams are supposed to stay on their side of the red line, would mean the league would treat Wichita more harshly than Allen. The ECHL clearly didn't see the incident the same way.


- I contacted coach Martinson to get his reaction to the suspensions and he was as surprised as the fans that witnessed the altercation. He had this to day, "I was shocked at the suspensions. My only conversation allowed by the league was a statement that it was started by Dyson Stevenson and it was all on our side of the red line. I wasn't expecting any suspensions. We had a fight in warmups two years ago after which I sent the video to the league and they didn't do anything. In a game, if another player is the aggressor, you are allowed to defend yourself without being thrown out of the game. Common sense says it would apply to warmups as well."


- Having covered many disciplinary incidents over the years there are two things I have never been able to understand and both of them would make it more understandable/acceptable when the league hands out suspensions and fines. The first is the fact that players get no opportunity to give their side of the story before the league makes a decision. I realize there are too many disciplinary cases to do this on everyone but when you are going to suspend a player for multiple games it would be nice if the player had a few minutes to tell what happened from their perspective. Maybe the PHPA should try and address this in the upcoming CBA negotiations. Secondly, it would be helpful if the league would explain why they make the decisions to suspend. There is some reason the ECHL decided two Allen players should be suspended longer than two Wichita players. Why not an explanation? When it appears discipline is being handed down by a dictator and the league is judge, jury and executioner some transparency for those that support the ECHL (the fans) would be helpful.


- Because the three Allen players suspended were all defensemen it really puts coach Martinson in a bind. With only seven defensemen on the roster he now has just four available for the games this weekend in Idaho (Chouinard, Roy, Josh Thrower, Liberati). The solution is not as simple as bringing in a couple of defensemen temporarily to replace the players that are suspended. You can't take players off the active roster when they are suspended so the three suspended defensemen still take up an active roster slot and their salary still counts toward the salary cap. It is possible Martinson may not be able to add any players for the weekend. He may have to move an injured player to the 21 day injured reserve. There are no easy solutions and it is pretty certain unless Martinson can pull a rabbit out of the hat (he is the best in the business at doing that) the Americans will be playing shorthanded in Idaho.


- Maybe the most pressing question in the Allen locker room this morning will be who has played defense in the past? It will be interesting to see if any of the forwards are in the defense line during drills at practice.



OTHER COMMENTS

- Through all of the ups and downs of the season with the injuries, callups, loans, sickness, healthy scratches and suspensions the Americans are down to three "Iron Men" and the value of these players cannot be overstated. The three players to have played in all 32 Allen games are Joel Chouinard, Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Eric Roy. A stick tap to all of them!


- Last night was a special night for Allen fans as they had the opportunity to watch the two players that started their professional careers with the Americans and make it to the NHL go head to head. Aaron Dell stopped 30 of 31 shots to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 win in Montreal over Jordie Benn and the Canadiens.


- An under reported and under appreciated stat speaks highly of the Allen goalie group. When Riley Gill was injured on October 21 and has yet to return, who would have thought the Allen Americans would have the best team save percentage in the ECHL on January 1. Allen's #1 ranked save percentage of .920 not only leads the ECHL but is better than the Kelly Cup championship teams in 2016 (.909) and 2015 (.906). Rookie goalie Jeremy Brodeur leads the way with a .933 save percentage which is the second best in the ECHL.  


DID YOU KNOW: Jordie Benn played in Allen in their first season (2009-10) after playing for the Victoria Salmon Kings (ECHL) in his first professional season. In 45 regular season games Jordie had 18 points (9 goals 9 assist). Allen went to the CHL championship finals in that first season before losing to Rapid City. Jordie had 11 points (2 goals 9 assists) in 20 playoff games. In 2010-11 Jordie spent the entire year with the Texas Stars (AHL) and made his NHL debut in 2011-12, just two years after playing in Allen. He now has 354 NHL games to his credit.

Aaron Dell signed his first professional contract out of the University of North Dakota with the Colorado Eagles in 2012-13 but was waived in training camp. He then signed with Allen, where two University of North Dakota alumni (Ed Belfour & Craig Ludwig) had just started working with the Americans. He was supposed to be the backup goalie to a veteran Kelly Cup MVP (Steve Silverthorn) but won the starting job and led the Americans to their first championship, playing in all 19 playoff games. Through hard work and perseverance Dell has now made it to the NHL where he has 35 games to his credit. He has played in 15 games for the Sharks this season with a GAA of 1.98 and a save percentage of .934 which are both ranked #3 in the NHL. 

What Will January Bring for the Allen Americans - A Look at the Schedule, the Roster and the Performance

With December in the rear view mirror and 45% of the season completed it is time to take a look at the month of January and see what lies ahead for the Allen Americans. The team will be back at practice today after ending December playing eight games in 13 days and finishing the year with two losses.

- The month of January will be crucial for the Americans in their quest to move up in the Mountain Division standings. They play 12 games in January and are on the road the first three weekends of the month, starting with Idaho this weekend. The Americans finish the month with a weekend series at home against Wichita.


- Last season Allen was 7-2-1-1 in January on their way from last place in the division at the beginning of December to first place by April. How the Americans perform in January will go a long way in telling if they can make a similar move this season. For the record seven of the 12 games this month are on the road.


- Whenever I have conversations with fans it is always interesting to hear what they think is going well with the team and where they see problems compared to last season. The best way to compare season to  season is to look at the hard facts, the numbers. So I dug out the numbers from January 1st last season to compare to where Allen is today. These numbers are as of January 1, 2017 compared to January 1, 2018.

Standings - Allen was in second place in the division last year compared to a tie for third place this season. However, the Americans winning percentage is higher today (.641) than last season (.600).

Penalty Minutes - Allen led the ECHL a year ago and are doing the same again this season. They averaged 20.66 penalty minutes per game last season compared to 24.53 this season. Last season at this time Allen had been involved in 45 fights (14 were Derek Mathers) and this season the number is 32.

Goals Scored - Last season at this time Allen was ranked #6 in the league scoring an average of 3.66 goals per game. This season they are ranked #5 averaging 3.50 goals per game.

Goals Allowed - Last season Allen was ranked #2 allowing 2.71 goals per game. This season they are ranked #11 allowing 3.00 goals per game.

Power Play - A year ago the Allen power play was ranked #10 at 17.6%. Today the power play is ranked #11 at 19.1%.

Penalty Kill - Last year the penalty kill was ranked #7 at 85.5% compared to this year when it is ranked #16 at 82.3%.


- The Mountain Division is always strong, after all they have won the Kelly Cup the last three years, but this season the division has been really strong . There are eight ECHL teams with 40 or more points and four of them are in the Mountain Division. Here are the range of points from first place to fourth place in each division, the playoff teams as of January 1.

34-44 - North Division
31-47 - South Division
37-43 - Central Division
41-50 - Mountain Division


- The bottom line is Allen is similarly situated today as they were in January last season and they have dealt with a lot of players in and out of the lineup because of injuries and call ups. Here is a list of how many games key players have missed of the 32 Allen has played thus far.

30 games - Riley Gill (still on injured reserve)
22 games - Olivier Archambault
21 games - Zach Pochiro (still on injured reserve)
13 games - Vincent Arseneau (still on loan to Utica)
13 games -  Bryan Moore
12 games - Zach Hall (out with an injury)
10 games - Spencer Asuchak (still recalled to San Jose)
10 games - Peter MacArthur (season ending injury)
8   games - Mathieu Aubin
8  games - Dalton Thrower
4  games - David Makowski

Allen has a tall task if they want to match the success of last year from January to the end of the season. From this point to the end of the season last year the Americans had a record of 29-4-3-1. Allen has a history of getting better as the playoffs get closer. If they can keep their nucleus together and healthy, add a piece or two, you can expect that to happen again this season.



OTHER COMMENTS

- This is the week the ECHL usually announces the All-Star team. The All-Star game takes place in Indy on January 15 at 1:00 pm EST. - The ECHL is adopting a format similar to the AHL and NHL for the All-Star game. It will feature four teams, one from each division, that will compete in a three-on-three tournament. If you are interested here are all of the details: https://www.echl.com/format-revealed-for-2018-ccm-echl-all-star-classic


- Because the All-Star game is schedule on MLK day this year in an effort to increase attendance the ECHL gave teams the option to schedule regular season games to be played on MLK Day, with the understanding that teams that play that day would send their all-star selection to the game, and as such, they would not be available for the regular season game. Allen opted to schedule their traditional MLK game so they will be playing Tulsa on January 15 (1:05 CST).


-  Don't be surprised if the Americans announce the signing of a player or two this week. Coach Martinson mentioned he was looking to add to the team with Peter MacArthur out for the season. MacArthur is a veteran so Martinson has a vet slot available but he also mentioned when addressing the season ticket holders after the NYE game he is looking at bringing in a player from a Canadian college. One thing is certain, if you stand still with roster changes this time of year you may very well lose ground. General manager Martinson is always trying to improve the roster and with the number of injuries and callups so far this season it is something he will continue to do.


- I heard former Allen captain Jamie Schaafsma has been out of the lineup the last few games for Fort Wayne because of an illness. I asked his wife, Nicole, for an update and she told me Jamie has been battling severe stomach pain for over a week. It was so bad as they were driving back to Fort Wayne from home after Christmas that Jamie ended up in the emergency room at 4:00 am and was put on pain medication. He has had some tests and is awaiting the results. Nicole reports he is hopefully on the mend as yesterday was the first day he hasn't had the terrible stomach pain. I know all Allen fans hope everything turns out for the best and he is back in the lineup soon.



DID YOU KNOW: Continuous improvement is always a key to success and one of the reasons for Allen's turn around last season which allowed them to have a record of 29-4-3-1 from January 1 to the end of the season. The power play was a big part of that continuous improvement. Here is the power play percentage and league rank for last season at the beginning of the month as the season progressed:

7.8% - December  (#26)
17.6% - January (#10)
18.6% - February (#10)
22.3% - March (#6)
24.4% - April (#3)

After a disastrous start the power play was converting at over 30% by the end of the season. 






 

Allen Loses To Wichita 4-2, Warmup Brawl, Game Recap, Martinson's Comments, Injury Update & More

It was the last of four games in 96 hours between Allen and Wichita, both teams had traveled over night to return to Allen for a 4:05 pm start and everyone was exhausted after three very physical games. The only question that remained was would this final game turnout to be tame and boring because everyone had enough and was exhausted or would it turn into a debacle/circus. It didn't take long to answer that question as a brawl broke out in warmups and the bad blood carried over to the game. There were 90 penalty minutes assessed in the first period including six roughing penalties, four fighting majors, two 10 minute misconduct penalties and a game misconduct to Wichita captain Dyson Stevenson. Don't know if it was a coincidence or not but once Stevenson was gone everything settled down and the teams played hockey. Over the last two periods there were just three minor penalties.


- I buried the lead with all the talk about fisticuffs as the important thing was the outcome of the game and Wichita prevailed with a 4-2 win over the Americans to gain a split in the four game set. A disappointing outcome for Allen who won the first two games only to turn around and lose the last two games.


- For the second straight game Allen lost after scoring the first goal. To give you an idea of how rare it is for Allen to lose when scoring first you have to go back to the beginning of last season. Allen has scored the first goal of the game 53 times and lost in regulation just four times. Two of the four were the last two games against Wichita.


- Olivier Archambault scored both Allen goals in a losing cause. It was his sixth and seventh goals of the season to go along with 14 assists and he has only played in 10 games. Archambault is leading the ECHL in average points per game at 2.10. With only 10 games played his 21 points places him fourth on team scoring.


- There is a great ECHL Rewind highlight package of over six minutes that covers some of the warmup brawl, first period fights, all of the goals and many of the missed scoring opportunities.  It also shows the turnovers that led to the Wichita goals. https://www.echl.com/


- Here are the two Archambault goals from Sporfie. There were no cameras behind the net so these are broader angle views. The first goal is all Olivier dangling his way to the net and beating the goalie. The second goal is a one-timer but watch how Archambault keeps moving to find open ice and the great play Joel Chouinard makes to get him the puck.

Archambault goal #1: https://sporfie.app.link/0YZMx6TTkJ
Archambault goal #2: https://sporfie.app.link/veSQt5aYkJ


- Here is the game recap issued by the Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/news/press-release/thunder-wins-penalty-filled-contest-at-allen.html



STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

- Sorry I am late, I was just on the phone trying to get a player from a Canadian college. Knock on wood we get him. He would bring some skill we can use right now. Peter MacArthur is done for the season so he won't be back. Zach Hall is out with an injury and we are still missing Zach Pochiro.

- Obviously I didn't like the outcome of the game. I thought they took advantage of their chances and we didn't. We had plenty of chances including a five-on-three. Not getting a goal then was a big blow as we could have been up 2-0.

- Right now we need to get healthier and get a lineup together for next weekend.

- Our power play let us down tonight (0-7) but our go to guys had to play a lot this week because of the injuries, sickness and penalties. I am not going to look at these two losses as the end of the world. We had them in position to put them down and we didn't.

- The league will review the video to see what happened in warmups. With so many players involved something will happen.  

- We will have tomorrow off and then practice on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We then leave early Thursday morning to fly to Boise. It is great that Jack Gulati is flying us to Boise. The team and the staff all got Christmas bonuses from Jack for the first time since I can remember and he gave everyone the maximum the league allows. For a team that isn't making any money it was a pretty good gesture.


OTHER COMMENTS

- It is hard to tell what action the league will take after they review the warmup activities. It could be a fine for the team or individual players and/or there could be suspensions. Last season when a player from Alaska came over the red line to start a fight there was no suspension. My reporting is the Allen perspective is the incident was started by Wichita and everything happened on the Allen side of the red line.  


- It was a strange turn of events for the Americans in the last two losses to Wichita. Prior to the two losses Allen was getting out shot by their opponents but scoring in bunches and winning games. The Americans went seven games being out shot but averaged almost 4.5 goals per game and never scored fewer than three. The last two games the Americans out shot Wichita in both but managed to score only three goals in the two losses. Go figure!


- The Americans have been playing shorthanded with injuries, sickness and call ups. Things could get worse depending on the ECHL's review of the warmup activities last night. With Asuchak and Arseneau in the AHL, MacArthur gone for the season, Pochiro still a few weeks away and an injury to Zach Hall, any suspensions would really be problematic.


- Attendance last night was 4545 which improved the average attendance this season (17 home games) to 3884 which ranks Allen #14 in the league. Fort Wayne leads the league in attendance (7650) and Norfolk is #27 (2185).


- It will be another important weekend coming up with two games in Idaho. Allen and Idaho are tied for third place in the Mountain Division with 41 points. Wichita moved into second place (42 points) after their win against Allen last night. Wichita plays three games this week, all at home. The Thunder play Quad City on Friday followed by Kalamazoo on Saturday and Sunday.


- Congrats to three New Years babies. Happy Birthday to Riley Gill, Josh Hepditch who played in Allen in 2011-12 and the voice of the Wichita Thunder, Jason Mals.


-  Allen's second period has been the worst period all season. The Americans lost the second period 2-1 last night and 2-0 on Saturday and blew leads in both games. For the season Allen's goal differential is +14 (40-26) in the first period and +8 (37-29) in the third period. In the second period the goal differential is -5 (33-26). 


- The one thing I think everyone can agree on is the ECHL is asking for trouble if they schedule four regular season games in 96 hours between the same teams, especially Allen and Wichita with the history of these teams. I don't think it was a big surprise what happened in warmups. 



DID YOU KNOW: On a day the Allen Americans lost a New Years Eve game for the first time in team history (nine years) the real odd stat of the day belongs to the Dallas Stars and Dallas Cowboys who both won their NYE games by the identical score of 6-0. Now that is a record that will never be matched.