Allen Routed South Carolina 7-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Martinson's History with Volunteer Coaches, Playoff Teams and More

 

The Allen Americans didn't just win on Sunday; they issued a firm reminder of who they can be if everything clicks. The Americans finally remembered they're allowed to score first and then never stopped. When it was all over, the Americans had the Stingrays tangled in their own net and salvaged the final game of the series with a 7-1 win. And they did it all playing shorthanded.

 

- All of the things that went wrong in the first two games of the series went right yesterday.

• Allen scored first after allowing the first goal on Friday and Saturday.
• Allen never trailed in the game after never leading in the first two games.
• Allen was outscored 2-1 in the 1st period in the first two games, but outscored South Carolina 3-1 on Sunday.
• Allen led 3-1 after the first period, 6-1 after the second period.
• Allen was 1-6 (16.7%) on the power play in the first two games and 3-6 (50%) on Sunday.
• Allen had the fewer penalty minutes yesterday. The Americans had 10 penalty minutes, South Carolina had 26. 
• Allen outshot South Carolina 17-6 in the first period on Sunday.
• Allen shut down the high-scoring South Carolina offense after it scored 10 goals in the first two games, allowing just one goal       

 

- Scoring first was huge for the Americans. Harrison Blaisdell scored his 22nd goal of the season at the 5:31 mark of the first period. Allen is dominant when they score first, which they have done only 44% of the time. The Americans are #2 in the league when they score first, with a record of 22-2-3-0 (.870).    

 

- The game really turned on back-to-back power play goals at 9:46 and 11:02 of the first period. Danny Katic scored his 31st goal of the season and 10th power play goal, followed by Colton Hargrove notching his 19th goal of the season and seventh power play goal. These two players account for 35% of Allen's power-play goals this season. Their goals yesterday were typical of their power play goals. Katic's was close to the net, and Hargrove's was a rocket from the top of the circle. 

 

- Allen had a 3-0 lead just over halfway through the first period and never looked back. Allen added three more goals in the second period by Harrison Blaisdell (23), Michael Gildon (23), and Colby McAuley (20). Gildon added his 19th goal of the season in the third period to make the final score 7-1. The six-goal margin of victory matched the largest of the season. Allen beat Tulsa 7-1 and 6-0 earlier in the season. 

 

- Here are the game recaps and video highlights. The highlights include all of the goals and the scrum in the third period that resulted in a bunch of penalties. Several of the Allen goals are highlight reel worthy. You can back them up 10 seconds to watch them over and over, and appreciate all of the skill.

• Video Highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-south-carolina-stingrays-mar-22-2026  
• Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/americans-crush-stingrays-7-1 
• South Carolina Stingrays game recap: https://stingrayshockey.com/news/2026/03/south-carolina-drops-final-meeting-with-allen-7-1 

 

COACH MARTINSON COMMENTS

I had a chance to talk to Coach Martinson before the team headed to the airport this morning. This is what he shared:

"Sedley is on his way back to Allen, and we could get an additional 1-3 players by Thursday. Simmons-Fischer will not return this week. Crone and Maxwell will not make the trip to Utah. Asuchak has started skating and could return for the Greensboro series.

 "I showed a video of the defensive breakdowns before the game, but the difference in the game is that we worked hard and tightened up the defense."

"We played well with the puck on Saturday, but did not work as hard on defense. That changed on Sunday, when we played harder when we didn't have the puck."

"Scoring on the power play early in the game is a big plus; it gives you energy and a great attitude. Those two power play goals back-to-back were big after we made some adjustments for the game. If we don't score on the first couple of power plays, the guys can get frustrated, and that isn't good." 

 

 

 OTHER COMMENTS

 - The Americans will fly home this afternoon and have the day off tomorrow. However, Coach Martinson has arranged an optional practice and will have Max Gratchev, who owns a well-known East Coast skills development company (MaxPro Hockey). He will work with any interested players at the optional practice tomorrow. It is a great opportunity for players to work on skating technique and skill development. Here is a little info about Gratchev:

• 4th round draft choice of the New York Islanders in 2004.
•  His MaxPro Skills program explicitly trains skating as a core pillar along with puck skills and gameplay.
• His methodology blends Russian-style skating (fluid edges, agility) with North American power skating (speed, strength). 
• He is not just a general skills coach, he is very much in that category of high-end skating and skills development coaches, even if he doesn't brand himself strictly as a "skating coach" like some specialists do.
• He works heavily on edge work and skating mechanics, and teaches skating within game situations. not just isolated drills. 

- Coach Martinson has always found resources in the community that provide volunteer time, which can help develop players over and above what most ECHL teams can provide. It has been a stepping stone to the NHL in the past. Here are some examples: 

• Luke Chilcott: Luke was Allen's skating coach for several years, starting in 2015 when the Americans won their first Kelly Cup. From his work with Allen, he became the skating coach of Allen's NHL/AHL affiliate (San Jose). Since 2022-23, Luke has been the Dallas Stars skating coach. 
• Thomas Speer: Thomas was Allen's goalie coach for their first three championships. He went on to coach in the US National development program, the AHL (Stockton Heat), and has been the goalie coach for the San Jose Sharks since 2023-24
• Jeremy Yoblonski: Jeremy had a 15-year pro career as one of the toughest enforcers in the AHL, ECHL, and KHL. He won a Calder Cup and Kelly Cup. Jeremy was also a novice boxing champion and mixed martial arts fighter. He has attended Allen practices many times over the years to work with players on fighting techniques. Jeremy now owns a security company. 
• Gratchev is yet another one of these great resources that Coach Martinson has found to help. He recently moved to North Texas. 

 

 - The Mountain Division standings are about the same after the results yesterday. Allen, Tahoe, and Utah won; Rapid City lost. Here is the update, game remaining in parentheses:

99 points - Kansas City (11)

80 points - Idaho (10)

71 points - Allen (11)

67 points - Tahoe (10)

58 points  - Wichita (13)

57 points - Utah (9) 

55 points - Rapid City (11)

47 points - Tulsa (11) 

 

   

- Allen players in the ECHL top 10:

• #2 goals - Danny Katic (31)
• #2 PP goals - Danny Katic (10) 
• #2 assists - Brayden Watts (41)
• #2 PP assists - Sam Sedley (22)
• #5 points - Brayden Watts (60)
• #5 save percentage (.925) - players with 1100+ minutes 
• #7 PP assists - Hank Crone (17) 
• #7 Defensemen assists - Sam Sedley (35) 
• #8 shots - Colton Hargrove (195)
• #8 Defensemen points - Sam Sedley (41) 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: 16 teams qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs. 10 teams are already locks to make the playoffs, even though only four teams have clinched spots (marked with an asterisk), and three of the four are in one division. Realistically, only six playoff teams remain to be decided. Games remaining in the regular season vary from 9 to 12. Here are the 10 teams that are locks to make the playoffs.

 

North Division

Wheeling

Maine

Adirondack

 

South Division

*Florida

*South Carolina

*Atlanta

 

Central Division

Toledo

Fort Wayne

 

Mountain Division

*Kansas City

Idaho

 

*clinched playoff spot

 

Allen Loses 5-4, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Today's Preview and Lineup, Katic Joins 30 Goal Club and More

 

The Allen Americans lost to the South Carolina Stingrays 5-4 last night in a similar fashion to the Americans' 5-3 loss on Friday. Anthony Rinaldi was acquired by South Carolina at the trade deadline and scored at the 3:48 mark of the first period on Friday. He bettered that last night, scoring at the 3.14 mark of the first period. Just like on Friday, the Americans spent the entire game trying to come back from deficits. 

• After trailing 2-0, they tied the score.
• After trailing 4-2, they cut the score to 4-3
• After trailing 5-3, they cut the score to 5-4

 

- Allen never gave up, worked until the end, but the bottom line was another loss. In six periods over two games, Allen has yet to have a lead. In 120 minutes of playing time, the Americans have been tied for 25 minutes and trailed for 95 minutes. Here are the stats from last night:

• Allen gave up the 1st goal, record is 11-21-2-0 (.353)
• Allen trailed after the 1st period, record is 5-17-2-0 (.250)
• Allen trailed after the 2nd period, record is 3-18-2-0 (.174)
• Allen was outshot 39-29
• Allen was 0-3 on the power play
• Allen was 1-4 on the penalty kill, but scored a shorthanded goal

It is hard to win under the circumstances above, even though Allen hung in right to the end of the game.  

 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Danny Katic (29, 30), Harrison Blaisdell (21), Michael Gildon (16). Andre Anania had two assists. Here are the video highlights and the goal-by-goal recaps from both teams: 

• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-south-carolina-stingrays-mar-21-2026 
• Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-recap-americans-lose-heartbreaker-in-south-carolina 
• South Carolina Stingrays: https://stingrayshockey.com/news/2026/03/stingrays-punch-ticket-to-postseason-with-5-4-win-over-allen 

 

COACH MARTINSON'S COMMENTS

"We didn't play as well last night as we did on Friday. We took 67 shots, 22 were blocked, 17 missed the net, and 28 were on goal. 

 "We managed only four shots on goal on three power plays and no goals. I am going to make some changes to the power play for the game today."

"We had too many breakdowns on the goals. Sometimes players just get beaten, and that happens. What we need to avoid is bad positioning and bad decisions. When a defenseman makes a mistake around the net, everyone notices, but usually, there have been several mistakes before the last one."

"I expect we will get more help before the Utah series next week."  

 

TODAY'S PREVIEW

- If Allen is going to salvage two points from this series, a few things will need to happen. Allen needs to score first and avoid playing from behind like in the first two games. The defense needs to be better. Giving up five goals like the first two games will spell defeat. Finally, the Americans need to be better on the power play. In the first two games, the Americans were 1-6 (16.7%), and South Carolina was 3-7 (42.9%).

The only lineup change today is Jackson Parsons will start in goal. The number of minutes to be qualified for league stats just went up to 1200 minutes. Parsons is at 1079 minutes and could be qualified by the end of next week. If he were qualified, Parsons' save percentage of .925 would rank #5 in the league. 

 UPDATE: Add Susuyev to the injured list along with Crone and Maxwell. Allen will be two forwards short this afternoon:

- Today's lineup:

Forwards

11 Barbashyov - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley 

9 Katic - 91 Gildon - 29 Watts

77 Sillinger - 18 Blaisdell -14 Gursoy  

4 Apollon

 

Defense

86 Anania - 22 Costantini

8 Prefontaine - 2 Warmuth

25 LeDonne - 21 Decker

 

Goalies

31 Parsons 

32 Mirwald (backup)

 

OTHER COMMENTS

 - Danny Katic joined the exclusive Allen Americans' 30-goal scorers club last night. It has happened 15 times since 2009-10. Chad Costello and Bruce Graham did it twice.  

• 49 goals - Hank Crone (2022-23)
• 44 goals - Gary Steffes (2014-15) 
• 41 goals - Chad Costello (2014-15) 
• 39 goals - Colton Hargrove (2022-23) 
• 36 goals - Jack Combs (2022-23)  
• 35 goals - Greger Hanson (2016-17)  
• 34 goals - Bruce Graham (2010-11)
• 34 goals - Nino Musitello (2010-11)
• 34 goals - Zach Pochiro (2018-19)
• 33 goals - Chad Costello (2016-17)
• 33 goals - Colton Yellow Horn (2010-11)
• 33 goals - Liam Finlay (2022-23) 
• 31 goals - Bruce Graham (2009-10)
• 30 goals - Corey Mackin (2020-21)
• 30 goals - Danny Katic (2025-26) - 12 games remaining

 

- Sam Stange scored four goals in the second period last night as Florida beat Orlando 9-2. Stange's goal-scoring pace is the second-best in the league (see DID YOU KNOW below). Sam had five goals in eight games with Allen and has eight goals in 10 games in Florida. Oddly enough, he has only scored in three of his 10 games in Florida. His four-goal game last night, a hat trick and a one-goal game.

 

- Tahoe beat Toledo last night and has closed the gap to third-place Allen to four points. Allen has 12 games remaining, Tahoe 11. Here are the remaining schedules with home (H) and away (A) plus the opponents' points percentage:

• ALLEN
• 1 game (A) - South Carolina (.680)
• 2 games (A) - Utah (.444)
• 3 games (H) - Greensboro (.350) 
• 3 games (1H, 2A) - Wichita (.492)
• 2 games (H) - Tahoe (.533)
• 1 game (H) - Kansas City (.811)

• TAHOE
• 1 game (A) - Toledo (.683)
• 5 games (3H, 2A) - Rapid City (.458)
• 3 games (H) - Cincinnati (.517)
• 2 games (A) - Allen (.575)

The battle for third and fourth place may come down to the last games of the season. Allen has seven of its 12 remaining games at home. Tahoe has six of 11 at home. Mark your calendar for April 10 &11 when Tahoe comes to Allen for two games. Those two games could very well decide playoff seedings. 

 

- It is a busy Sunday afternoon in the ECHL with 11 games on the schedule. Four Mountain Division teams are in action, all against opponents from other divisions and all on the road:

• Allen at South Carolina
• Rapid City at Kalamazoo
• Utah at Indy
• Tahoe at Toledo  

Atlanta can become the fourth team to qualify for the playoffs with a win today and a Greenville loss. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-22 

 

- Kansas City has 48 wins and will likely hit 50 wins next week. It will be just the 11th time since 2008-09 that a team has had 50 regular-season wins. The Mavericks had 54 wins in 2023-24 and 52 wins in 2015-16. The odd stat is that none of the 11 teams that have hit the 50-win milestone since 2008-09 went on to win the Kelly Cup.    

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Seven ECHL players are averaging .50 or more goals per game (minimum 13 goals). In parentheses are the total goals for a full season (72 games) at the player’s pace:

 

.73 - Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho (53)

.72 - Sam Stange, Florida (52)

.68 - Josh Bloom, Fort Wayne (49)

.60 - Danny Katic, Allen (43)

.58 - Bobo Carpenter, Kansas City (42)

.51 - Kyle Crnkovic, Wichita (37)

.51 - Sloan Stanick, Tahoe (37)

Allen Loses 5-3, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Preview for Tonight's 5:05 PM CDT Start, Assists Stats, and More

 

The Allen Americans traded goals with the South Carolina Stingrays the entire game last night. Unfortunately, the goals started and ended with the Stingrays and led to a 5-3 Allen loss. The game was not decided until an empty net goal put the nail in the coffin with just over two minutes remaining in the game. 

 

- In the series preview yesterday, two of the biggest keys were scoring first and winning the special teams battle. Allen didn't accomplish either:

• Allen's record when they score first is one of the best in the league, 21-2-3-0 (.865). When they give up the first goal, the Americans' record is a paltry 11-20-2-0 (.364).   
• Allen hadn't given up a power-play goal in the last four games before last night. While the Americans scored a power-play goal (1-3), they gave up two (2-3) and lost the special teams battle. More often than not, that spells defeat, and it did last night. 

 

- Allen fell behind early in the first period (3:48) but struck back at the 7:00 minute mark. Danny Katic scored a power play goal to tie the score 1-1. Assists went to Andre Anania and Colby McAuley. It was Katic's 28th goal (#3 in the ECHL) and ninth power play goal (#3 in the ECHL). It was his 28th goal on 112 shots, which is a shooting percentage of 25.0% (#1 in the league).

 

- South Carolina struck again in the back-and-forth battle at the 16:57 mark of the first period and carried a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. It was another bad sign from the keys to the game. South Carolina's record when leading after the first period is 19-3-1-0 (.848). Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 5-16-2-0 (.261).

 

- Despite the odds, Allen fought back in the second period, outshooting the Stingrays 15-9. The Americans scored the only goal of the second period to tie the score 2-2. Kevin Gursoy scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Brayden Watts and Katic. 

 

- The back and forth continued in the third period. South Carolina took a 3-2 lead at the 8:10 mark on its second power-play goal of the game. Allen responded just 20 seconds later (8:30) on Colby McAuley's 19th goal of the season, assisted by Colton Hargrove, and the score was tied once again (3-3). Two minutes after the McAuley goal the Stingrays took the lead for the final time. The Americans could not get the equalizer and pulled goalie Jackson Parsons early (17:52). It took South Carolina just 17 seconds to score into an empty net and make the final score 5-3.

 

- Allen showed they could play with South Carolina. They outshot the Stingrays 31-23 and came back from 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 deficits to tie the game. The Americans could never grab the lead once they fell behind, but they do have something to build on for the game tonight. 

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams and the video highlights:

• Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-recap-americans-fall-5-3-in-south-carolina 
• South Carolina Stingrays: https://stingrayshockey.com/news/2026/03/stingrays-skate-by-americans-5-3 
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-south-carolina-stingrays-mar-20-2026 

 

- I had a chance to check in with Coach Martinson this morning to get his thoughts on the game. He had already gone through all of the InStat analytics and was going through all of the goals to put together the video clips he will use in his pregame meetings. Here is what he had to say:

"We should have won that game. The analytics show we had a 57% to 43% advantage in puck possession. We took more shots, 74-45, had more shots on goal, 39-24."

"Faceoffs, especially at critical times, have been hurting us. Faceoffs were 32-23 (58% to 42%) in favor of South Carolina."

"I want our defensemen to be aggressive and pinch to keep puck possession, but they can't do that if all three forwards are low. One forward should be high to help out the defenseman, but if they are not, you can't pinch. That happened several times in the game and led to 2-on-one rushes."

"Our penalty kill wasn't very good, and the penalties we took weren't very smart. The referees were calling slashing penalties, and we slashed guys."

"We have a couple of guys who are doubtful for the game tonight. We will see how they are this morning. We could be playing short tonight."    

 

- I often get comments about which goalie is playing or should be playing in a particular game. I know Martinson sees save percentage as a big factor in looking at goalies. But there are other factors he considers in addition to straight save percentage when he is comparing goalies. One of these is the number of power plays. Because Allen has a good penalty kill, a lot of penalties will improve the save percentage. On the flip side, a power play goal like the 5-on-3 in the Idaho game also factors in. I also know, after all these years of writing the blog, that Martinson also factors in the intangibles when comparing players at all positions. Work ethic is an important value, as well as being a good teammate.  

 

- Marco Costantini will get the start in goal tonight. If Allen can clean up the penalty kill, still be aggressive pinching, but at the right times, score the first goal, and improve the faceoff percentage, they will win. I will post the lineup for tonight later today.

UPDATE: Here is the lineup for the game tonight. Crone and Maxwell are out. Martinson has added a player from the FPHL Pee Dee Icecats. Divyne Apollon is a 20-year-old, 6'3", 249-pound forward who will drop the gloves.  

Forwards

77 Sillinger - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley 

9 Katic - 91 Gildon - 29 Watts

11 Barbashyov - 18 Blaisdell - 44 Susuyev 

4 Apollon -14 Gursoy

 

Defense

86 Anania - 22 Costantini

8 Prefontaine - 2 Warmuth

25 LeDonne - 21 Decker

 

Goalies

33 Costantini 

32 Mirwald (backup)

 

- Here is the game preview/notes from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-day-preview-earlier-start-time-in-sc 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

-  Allen got some help despite the loss last night. Tahoe lost to Toledo, so the Americans maintain their six-point lead for third place in the division and have a game in hand. However, any hope of reaching second place continues to evaporate. Idaho won last night and is now 10 points ahead of Allen. Here are the Mountain Division standings with games remaining in parentheses. I think it is possible, and will go out on a limb and say it is probable that the final standings order will be exactly the same as today:  

     

99 points - Kansas City (11)

79 points - Idaho (11)

69 points - Allen (13)

63 points - Tahoe (12)

58 points  - Wichita (13)

55 points - Utah (11) 

53 points - Rapid City (13)

45 points - Tulsa (12) 

 

- Here are some stats that continue to amaze:

• Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho, still leads the ECHL in goals (32) even though he has been in the AHL since February 11. 
• Marcus Crawford, Kansas City, continues his march toward the ECHL MVP. As a defenseman, he leads the league in points by 14 (77-63). He leads all defensemen by 29 points (77-48). 
• Danny Katic leads the league in shooting percentage at 25.0%. You don't normally see a player with a lot of shots maintain a 25% average (28-112). Danny also led the league in shooting percentage last season when he played for Bloomington. You only need 34 shots to qualify for this stat, and he had 43 shots. He scored 13 goals on those 43 shots for a league leading 30.2% shooting percentage.

 

-  It will be another busy night in the ECHL with 14 games on tap. South Carolina can become the third team to clinch a playoff spot tonight, joining Kansas City and Florida.  Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-21 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today highlights two impressive things. First, the season defenseman Marcus Crawford is having is historic. This highlights his assist totals. Second, it reminds us of yet another stat that shows Chad Costello as one of the best ECHL players of all-time. I could list a bunch of stats that show why he should be in the ECHL Hall of Fame. 

ECHL players with more than 60 assists in a single season since 2013-14. Marcus Crawford, the only defenseman on this list, already has 64 assists this season with 11 games remaining:

 

64 - Marcus Crawford, Kansas City, 2025-26

64 - Zach O’Brien, Newfoundland, 2022-23

*89 - Chad Costello, Allen, 2016-17

68 - Shane Berschbach, Toledo, 2016-17

64 - Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Colorado, 2016-17

79 - Chad Costello, Allen, 2015-16

84 - Chad Costello, Allen, 2014-15

 

*4th highest assist total all-time. The top three were in the 1990’s. Costello has the #4, #7, and #13 highest single-season assist totals all-time. He is the only player on the top 15 list more than once.

 

Allen vs South Carolina Series Preview, 2015 Kelly Cup Finals Revisited, Tonight's Lineup, Defensemen Used By Each ECHL Team, Transactions Breakdown and More

 

Before I start the blog today, I wanted to let everyone know that if you access the blog on X (Twitter), my account has been suspended. I'm not sure why, and there's no way to talk to anyone. I have filed a written appeal and am awaiting a response from X. Here are the options for getting the blog.

• Bookmark "Allen Americans Blog" on Google or whatever search engine you use.
• Go to the Allen Americans website (allenamericans.com) and click on News & Info, and there will be a drop-down menu. Click on Janssen on Hockey, and it will take you to the blog.
• Facebook is still working, so Allen Americans Blog for those with Facebook.
• If you are on X, make sure you are following the Allen Americans (@AllenAmericans) as they will be posting the blog on their X account while I am trying to resolve this suspension.  

 

- Enough about social media, let's talk hockey. The Americans are in South Carolina to take on the Stingrays tonight (6:05 pm CDT), Saturday (5:05 pm CDT), and Sunday (2:05 pm CDT). The Allen Americans and their longtime fans have fond memories of the North Charleston Coliseum, where the Stingrays have played since it opened in 1993. In 2015, Allen won its third straight championship and its first Kelly Cup (first season in the ECHL), beating South Carolina in the finals in seven games. What many don't remember is that the series was a 3-3-1 series with Allen having home ice advantage.

 

- Allen opened the series at home, and it did not go well. The Americans lost game one (4-3), won game two (5-2), and lost game three (4-1). South Carolina headed home with a 2-1 series lead and needing to win two of three at home to win the Kelly Cup. Here is how the three games at the North Charleston Coliseum went in June of 2015:

• Allen won the first game 3-2 in double overtime to tie the series 2-2. 
• Allen won the second game in overtime to take a 3-2 series lead.
• South Carolina won the third game 4-1 to tie the series and set up game seven back in Allen.
• Allen made no doubt winning game seven 6-1. 
• Here is the blog after that win, which is a great trip down memory lane from how the league didn't want the upstart CHL team to win, to how the veterans dominated game seven. Many household names to this day on that team: https://allenamericansblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/allen-wins-kelly-cup-you-will-walk.html  

 

- Tonight will be the first time back in the North Charleston Coliseum since 2015, and it will be quite a challenge for the Americans. South Carolina had been one of the best teams in the ECHL all season. The Stingrays are ranked #4 in points (79) and #5 in points percentage (.669). Their home record is even better at .726 (22-8-0-1). South Carolina has been at or near the top for the most NHL/AHL contracted players assigned all season. As of this morning, that number is at a peak for the season. 16 contracted players are currently assigned to South Carolina

 

- Allen can't match South Carolina's numbers, but the Americans have added two contracted forwards who were assigned yesterday. Here is the press release with the details: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/news-americans-receive-two-ahl-contracted-players  

 

- Coach Martinson didn't make a move at the trade deadline, which was yesterday, because to get a good player in a trade, you have to give up a good player as part of the future considerations. Martinson didn't want to give up a player for next season to get a player this season. Instead, Martinson has been dealing with four different AHL teams to get players assigned this season, which could lead to an affiliation next year. I wouldn't be surprised to see General Manager Martinson working with more than one NHL/AHL team next season. The two players assigned yesterday are just the beginning of more players being assigned from now, all the way until the playoffs begin. In addition to the contracted players, look for Martinson to add college/junior players finishing their careers and looking to turn pro. 

 

- Every healthy player on the Allen roster made the trip to South Carolina, including all three goalies. The good news is Allen has a full lineup. Here is the lineup for tonight: 

Forwards

6 Crone - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley 

9 Katic - 91 Gildon - 29 Watts

77 Sillinger - 18 Blaisdell - 14 Gursoy

11 Barbashyov - 19 Maxwell - 44 Susuyev 

 

Defense

86 Anania - 22 Costantini

8 Prefontaine - 2 Warmuth

25 LeDonne - 21 Decker

 

Goalies

31 Parsons 

33 Costantini (backup)

  

- Here are some comparison stats between Allen and South Carolina:

• Allen's record is 32-21-5-0, South Carolina is 38-18-1-2. 
• Allen is 6-3-1-0 over the last 10 games, South Carolina is 7-1-0-2.
• Allen is 14-12-3-0 on the road, South Carolina is 22-8-0-1 at home.
• Allen's goal differential is +26 (198-172), South Carolina's is +24 (183-159).
• Allen's team plus/minus is +47, South Carolina's is +90.
• Allen's team save percentage is .915, South Carolina's is .910.

 

- Here is the more traditional statistical comparison between the two teams. The league rank is in parentheses: 

• Goals scored average: Allen, 3.41 (#6) - South Carolina, 3.10 (#12)
• Goals allowed average: Allen, 2.97 (#14) - South Carolina, 2.69 (#9)
• Shots for average: Allen, 33.66 (#2) - South Carolina, 27.75 (#28)
• Shots against average: Allen, 35.07 (#28) - South Carolina, 29.54 (#10)
• Power play percentage: Allen, 19.9% (#10) - South Carolina, 19.5% (#13)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen, 84.5% (#6) - South Carolina, 86.4%% (#3) 

 

- Looking at the stats above, they are surprisingly close. Allen scores a little more, and South Carolina has a little better defense. This is typical of the Western Conference vs. the Eastern Conference. The top seven ECHL teams in average goals scored are in the Western Conference. Eight of the bottom 12 in average goals allowed are in the Western Conference. 

 

- Special teams will play a big role in this series. Both teams have top-notch penalty kill units and they could be the difference. It should be noted that South Carolina is the most penalized team in the league (947 minutes) compared to Allen, ranked #7 (777 minutes). Here is how the teams compare by type of penalty. South Carolina leads in every category. The game tonight will be a two-referee game, so I would expect more than a few penalties.

• 271 vs 251 - minor penalties
• 35 vs 23 - major penalties (mostly fighting majors)
• 14 vs 10 - 10-minute misconduct penalties
• 7 vs 6 - Game misconduct penalties
• 2-0 - match penalties

  I did notice South Carolina must take a lot of chances on the penalty kill because they have given up 10 shorthanded goals and have scored five. Allen has given up six shorthanded goals and scored just two.

 

- Beware the team that scores the first goal in this series, as both teams are lethal when they score first.  

• Allen: 21-2-3-0 (.865)
• South Carolina: 22-4-1-1 (.821)

 

- Playing from behind is also a sure way to defeat. Here are the records with a lead after the second period:

• Allen: 22-0-2-0 (.958)
• South Carolina: 27-1-0-1 (.948)

 

 OTHER COMMENTS

- It is another big night in the ECHL with 14 games on the schedule. After tonight, teams will have between 10 and 14 games remaining in the season. If South Carolina wins tonight and Greenville loses in regulation  (they play in Savannah), the Stingrays will become the third team (Kansas City and Florida are the others) to clinch a playoff spot. Speaking of Kansas City, if the Mavericks win tonight and Idaho loses in regulation, the Mountain Division title will belong to Kansas City for the third straight season. Here is the ECHL Today with all the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-20  

 

- Here is my ECHL Stats post from a few days ago, showing the defensemen used by each ECHL team:

The ECHL has used 343 defensemen this season. Number used by each team:

18: MNE, UTA

17: RC, WOR

16: REA, SC

15: GSO, IA, ORL, TUL

14: ADK, CIN, FW, IND, JAX, NOR, TAH

13: ALN, *WHL*

12: ATL, *FLA*, IDH, SAV, TR, WIC

11: BLM, KAL

10: GVL, *KC*, *TOL*

 

*Division Leaders*

 

 

Last season (2024-25), four teams used 20+ defensemen:

24: Utah

21: Tahoe

20: Bloomington

20: Reading

 

   

DID YOU KNOW: There were 142 ECHL transactions in just the last two days. In addition to the many players moving off and on reserve and 3-day IR, here are some of the other player transactions affecting rosters. It is that time of the season when there are lots of roster moves, even though the trade deadline passed yesterday. Lots of players finishing their collegiate or junior careers are signing amateur tryout contracts (ATO) and standard player contracts (SPC). Here is the list, just for the last two days:

21: Players Signed (SPC & ATO)

11: Players Traded

11: Players Recalled

11: Players Placed on 14-day IR

10: Players Released

6: Players Assigned by NHL/AHL

  

Two Late Whistles, 5-on-3 Goal Spells Defeat, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Jersey Stats, Looking Ahead and Impressive Stats

 

In what was arguably the most important game of the season, the Allen Americans lost 2-1 to Idaho last night, and all but eliminated any chance to catch the Steelheads for second place in the division. What is the benefit of finishing in second place? The team earns home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs and would only need one trip to Idaho, versus a possible two. That is a savings of $15,000. How steep is the hill to catch Idaho now? If the Steelheads play .500 hockey in their remaining 13 games, Allen will have to have a record of 11-3-0-0 (.786) in their last 14 games to pass Idaho. That is possible, but certainly not probable.

 

- The way Allen lost last night was the real kick in the teeth. For two and a half periods last night, the referees seemed committed to staying out of the spotlight. After all, these were the same referees who called one penalty on Allen in the game on Friday and two through the first two periods last night. But with the score tied 1-1 late in the third period, let the players play went into early retirement. Two debatable penalties on Allen, 44 seconds apart, gave Idaho a long 5-on-3 power play. The Steelheads cashed in for a 2-1 win,  as the officials went from letting the players decide to playing a significant role in the outcome of the game. Up until the 5-on-3 penalties, it looked like the game might actually be settled by the players.    

 

- All the Americans can do now is overperform in the last 14 games of the season and see where the chips fall. The team will take their "All-Star" break and be off for the next three days. The team will practice on Wednesday and Thursday morning, and fly to South Carolina on Thursday afternoon, where they take on the Stingrays on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It will be a challenge, as South Carolina is the third-best home team in the ECHL. The Stingrays home record is 22-8-0-1 (.726). 

 

- Allen hasn't received a lot of help from the affiliate, but the two players who have spent the most time in Allen, Danny Katic and Jackson Parsons, have been outstanding. Katic scored again last night, his 27th goal in just 44 games. His goals per game average is .563 which is outstanding. None of Allen's other top goal scorers is above .375. Katic is #3 in the league in goals. Danny is #2 in the league in shooting percentage at 24.5%; the leader is at 24.6%. Katic has scored 27 goals on 110 shots.

 

- Jackson Parsons had another great night last night, stopping 36 of 38 shots, and one of the two goals he allowed was the 5-on-3 power play game winning goal. His save percentage was .947 last night after a .978 on Friday night. His season stats are 2.29 GAA and .929 save percentage. Parsons hasn't played enough minutes to be qualified; he has 1021 minutes, and it takes 1140 minutes to be qualified, but that 1140 is a moving target and will increase. If Jackson plays in two of the three games in South Carolina, he will likely be qualified.  FYI, if he were qualified, his .929 save percentage would rank him #2 in the league.

 

- Here are the detailed recaps from both teams, plus the video highlights:

• Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-recap-americans-fall-short-on-wizard-night 
• Idaho Steelheads: https://idahosteelheads.com/news/2026/03/steelheads-round-up-americans-in-2-1-win 
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/idaho-steelheads-vs-allen-americans-mar-14-2026 

 

 

MARTINSON COMMENTS

"It was a frustrating way to lose a game on a 5-on-3 power play, when the hooking call on Anania was just him lifting his stick. As long as you are lifting the stick, you can pull and yank and hook their stick, and it is not a penalty as long as you don't hook the arm or the hand." 

"Our lineup isn't as strong as it will be in a couple of weeks, but they played hard tonight and didn't deserve what happened at the end."

"We were so so in the first period, but came out great in the second period and had a lot of great chances, we just couldn't get the puck in the net."

"The players will have the next three games off as we delayed our All-Star break. I will be spending a lot of time on the phone. I am dealing with a lot of teams and agents in trying to improve the roster. We will have a better lineup next weekend and add more players the week after next."  

    

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Whenever the Americans lose on a Saturday night with a big crowd wearing a specialty jersey, I always get asked about the curse. Thanks to team President, Jonny Mydra, I have plenty of stats today on the 29 home games played thus far:

• Record by Jersey 
• 4-0 (1.000) - White
• 3-1 (.750) - Black 
• 3-2 (.600) - Red 
• 5-5 (.500) - Specialty
• 3-3 (.500) - Texas
• 18-11 (.621) - HOME TOTAL

 

• Record by Day of Week
• 7-3 (.700) - Friday
• 5-3 (.625) - Wednesday
• 5-4 (.556) - Saturday
• 1-1 (.500 - Sunday

Of the five specialty jersey wins, only one was on a Saturday night with a big crowd (5790). It was Military Night (November 1st) against Rapid City. The Rush jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Americans roared back. The 6-3 victory was highlighted by a pure hat trick in the second half of the third period by Harrison Blaisdell. 

FYI, last night was the last of the specialty jerseys for this season. The Americans will be in one of their four regular jerseys for the rest of the season.  

 

- The points gap between the top five teams in the Mountain Division remains wide enough that the odds of any position changes are slim to none:

• Kansas City is 18 points ahead of Idaho
• Idaho is 8 points ahead of Allen
• Allen is 6 points ahead of Tahoe
• Tahoe is 5 points ahead of Wichita 

 

- Here are the schedules this week with opponents' points percentage:

• Allen plays three games in South Carolina (.672) 
• Tahoe plays three games in Toledo (.684)
• Idaho plays three home games vs Tulsa (.377)
• Wichita plays one game vs Kansas City (.805)

 

- There are only seven games on tap in the ECHL this afternoon. The only Mountain Division teams in action are Tulsa visiting Utah. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-15

 

 -  Kansas City defenseman Marcus Crawford added two more assists last night to increase his points lead to 15 points. He now has 75 points with 13 games remaining. An ECHL defenseman has not scored 75 points in the modern era. Allen's record is 64 points, set by Les Lancaster in 2020-21. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Some impressive stats from the ECHL daily report today:

 

21-3-1-1 (.846) road record, Kansas City

11-3 OT, 1-0 SO (.800), Cincinnati

33-2-2-0 (.919) scoring 1st record, KC

14 shorthanded goals, Toledo

2.03 goals allowed per game, Florida

91.8% road penalty kill, Kansas City

6 of 9 (.667) shootout goals, Allen

+25 (74-49) 3rd period goal differential, Wheeling

24-0-0-0 when leading after 2nd period, Wheeling

 

     

Allen's Stays Perfect in Shootouts, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Comments, Tonight's Lineup, Playoff Teams Set, Each ECHL Team's Point Leader and More

 

On a night when superstition said expect the unexpected, the Allen Americans simply did what they’ve been doing all season—find a way to win. In a tense Friday the 13th showdown with the Idaho Steelheads, the first period passed quietly with no scoring before Allen struck first, early in the second period (1:47). The Americans' best period all season has been the second, a +29 goal differential compared to a -8 in the first period. 

 

- Andre Anania was the goal scorer, assisted by Lukas Sillinger, and Braidan Simmons-Fischer   Allen took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission, and the Americans are nearly automatic when leading after two periods, now 22-0-2-0. However, Idaho managed to tie the score 1-1 in the third period to force overtime. After a scoreless overtime, the shootout belonged to Allen. Michael Gildon and Colton Hargrove both buried their chances, while Jackson Parsons slammed the door on Idaho’s attempts to seal a 2–1 victory. Parsons was spectacular all night, turning aside 44 of 45 shots for a sparkling .978 save percentage and proving that if anyone was cursed on Friday the 13th, it definitely wasn’t Parsons or the Americans.

 

- There are a lot of ways to analyze a hockey game, but the predictability of scoring first and having a lead after the second period is hard to beat. After last night, Allen's record when scoring first is 21-2-3-0 (.865). It is hard to believe that 57 games into the season, the Americans have yet to lose a game in regulation with a second-period lead (22-0-2-0). FYI, Wheeling is the only ECHL team that has not lost a game when leading after the second period (24-0-0-0).

 

- Allen (2-0) and Idaho (4-0) were both undefeated going into the shootout. After last night, Allen has converted on 6 of 9 shootout attempts, far and away the best percentage in the league. Here are the top five:

• .667 - Allen (6 of 9)
• .444 - Rapid City (4 of 9)
• .409 - Idaho (9 of 22)
• .375 - Adirondack (6 of 16)
• .348 - Indy (8 of 23)

 

- I was asked after the game last night who had taken the shootout shots this season. Here are all nine of them:

• 3 for 3 - Michael Gildon
• 1 for 1 - Colton Hargrove (also scored on a penalty shot)
• 1 for 1 - Danny Katic
• 1 for 2 - Hank Crone
• 0 for 1 - Brayden Watts
• 0 for 1 - Mark Duarte

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams and the video highlights:

• Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/game-recap-americans-take-down-idaho-in-a-shootout 
• Idaho Steelheads: https://idahosteelheads.com/news/2026/03/steelheads-pick-up-point-in-shootout-loss-to-americans 
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/idaho-steelheads-vs-allen-americans-mar-13-2026 

 

- If you want all of the preview stats, look at the blog from yesterday, but it is pretty clear that the team that scores first and maintains the lead has a huge advantage and will win the game tonight. Goalie play at both ends of the ice was key last night. They will be a big key again tonight.

 

- Here is the lineup tonight. Playing short a forward, look for Coach Martinson to mix and match lines all night. Allen had only one penalty kill last night, which helped. The same referees as last night will work the game tonight, James Craft (#50) and Dominic Cadieux (#3). They really let the players play last night, so assume more of the same tonight, but have to believe there will be more power plays tonight. 

 

Forwards

7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley - ??????

29 Watts - 91 Gildon - 9 Katic

77 Sillinger - 18 Blaisdell - 6 Simmons-Fischer

19 Maxwell - 14 Gursoy - 3 Smith 

 

Defense

86 Anania - 22 Costantini

8 Prefontaine - 2 Warmuth

21 Decker - 25 LeDonne 

 

Goalies

31 Parsons 

33 Costantini (backup)

MARTINSON COMMENTS

 

"A win is better than a loss, but I would rather beat them in regulation. That was a big point we gave them."

 

"To be honest, the game was kind of frustrating, but a win is a win. We gave up too many shots, and our power play sucked."

 

"We didn't have all of our top guys going tonight. It is good to get a win when you don't play your best game. We need everyone on their "A" game tomorrow as it is the biggest game of the year."

 

"Parsons was lights out tonight. He was really good, and even on the one goal Idaho scored, he got his leg over and would have made the save if the puck hadn't been lifted over his pad."

 

"I will add to the roster before next weekend. I am still talking to teams, so I don't know how many players, but we will have more than tonight. At a minimum, we should get Sedley back and one other defenseman assigned." 

 

 

 

  

OTHER COMMENTS

- Here are the game notes issued by the Allen Americans for the game tonight: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/03/wizard-night-in-dfw 

 

- Allen, Kansas City, and Wichita won last night. The losers were Idaho, Tahoe, and Rapid City. Here are the Mountain Division standings by points with games remaining in parentheses: 

 91 points - Kansas City (14)

 75 points - Idaho (14)

 69 points - Allen (15)

 63 points - Tahoe (14)

 58 points  - Wichita (15)

 52 points - Utah (14) 

 51 points - Rapid City (15)

 41 points - Tulsa (16)

 

 - Kansas City defenseman, Marcus Crawford, had a goal and an assist last night in the Mavericks' win over Tahoe. Crawford is averaging 1.26 points per game, 73 points (13G, 60A) in 58 games. He has a 13-point lead in the scoring race over Brandon Hawkins, who won the scoring title the last two seasons. Crawford is the big favorite to win the MVP award this season, which would be quite an accomplishment. The one and only time a defenseman won the ECHL MVP Award was in 1999, when Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Valicevic, was the MVP.

 

- It is a big night in the ECHL with 28 of 30 teams in action, including all eight Mountain Division teams. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-14 

 

- It looks like three of the four divisions are set for playoff teams. Lots of teams still have a mathematical shot of making the playoffs, but realistically, only the Central Division is still in play. Here are the likely playoff teams:

• North Division - Wheeling, Maine, Adirondack, and Reading are in. Fifth-place Trois Riviéres is seven points behind Reading. 
• South Division - Florida, South Carolina, Atlanta, and Savannah are in. Fifth-place Orlando is nine points behind Savannah
• Mountain Division - Kansas City, Idaho, Allen, and Tahoe are in. Fifth-place Wichita is five points behind Tahoe.   
• Central Division - the top three spots are set: Toledo, Fort Wayne, and Indy. Three teams, Bloomington, Kalamazoo, and Cincinnati, are separated by just one point and are battling for the final playoff spot.     

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The points leader for each ECHL team varies from 28 to 73. Here is the list of leading scorers in alphabetical order:

 

53: Brannon McManus, Adirondack

57: Brayden Watts, Allen

50: Alex Young, Atlanta

44: Nikita Sedov, Bloomington

48: Ryan Kirwan, Cincinnati

50: Anthony Romano, Florida

50: Austin Magera, Fort Wayne

35: Tyler Weiss, Greensboro

39: Keaton Mastrodonato, Greenville

51: Brendan Hoffman, Idaho

40: Matt Petgrave, Indy

29: Matthew Sop, Iowa

36: Bennett MacArthur, Jacksonville

48: Quinn Preston, Kalamazoo

73: Marcus Crawford, Kansas City

48: Brooklyn Kalmikov, Maine

48: Brady Fleurent, Norfolk

51: Reece Newkirk, Orlando

54: Ryan Wagner, Rapid City

35: Ben Meehan, Reading

40: Nicholas Zabaneh, Savannah

57: Simon Pinard, South Carolina

52: Devon Paliani, Tahoe

60: Brandon Hawkins, Toledo

38: Anthony Beauregard, Trois Rivières

28: Drew Elliot, Tulsa

58: Danny Dzhaniyev, Utah

44: Logan Pietila, Wheeling

53: Peter Bates, Wichita

42: Anthony Repaci, Worcester