Barry The Blogger - Follow me on twitter at @allenamericans1 and/or like my Facebook page at Allen Americans Blog. This is the official blog of the Allen Americans.
Wasn't going to post a blog today, but a few things happened in the last 24 hours that are worth mentioning:
1. I am sure most of you have seen by now that the Iowa Heartlanders requested, and the ECHL Board of Governors has approved a voluntary suspension for the 2026-27 season. What does this mean? I am not an expert by any means, but here is what will and, more importantly, could happen:
For sure, Iowa will not operate next season (2026-27).
The suspension allows the team to keep its league membership.
Iowa does not fold and does not surrender its franchise rights.
This has happened many times before in the ECHL. While there are a few examples of teams returning to the same city, many more either relocate or fold and sell their franchise.
What does this mean with the Heartlander's not operating next season?
Player contracts are not retained. Players become free agents or are assigned elsewhere by their AHL/NHL affiliates.
The Minnesota Wild will be looking for a new affiliate for 2026-27. With the recall/ reassignment deadline a week from tomorrow (March 18), something to watch for is whether Minnesota reassigns some of their NHL/AHL contracted players currently with the Heartlanders to other ECHL teams.
With the New Mexico Goatsheads beginning play next season and Iowa not playing, there will be a shakeup in the Mountain and Central Divisions.
2. If you monitor AHL transaction you noticed that the Springfield Thunderbirds loaned forward Sam Stange to Florida yesterday. I am sure this was a disappointment to Coach Martinson, as I think there was an expectation that Stange would return to Allen. Florida is affiliated with AHL Springfield and NHL St. Louis, but my understanding is that it will be changing next season. I will try to get more details at practice today.
3. Defenseman Sam Sedley has been loaned to the Belleville Senators and will miss the series with Idaho. Sam certainly deserves the opportunity. Here is how Sedley ranks among ECHL defensemen.
#1- game played (56)
#3 - power play points (23)
#3 - power play assists (22)
#4 - assists (35)
#5 - points (41)
4. Coach Martinson is still working on adding to the roster before the weekend. Stay tuned!
DID YOU KNOW: With some ECHL players approaching 10 fights, a reminder:
When players reach 10 fighting majors, they’re suspended for one game. Each subsequent fighting major is a one-game suspension. At 14 fights, suspensions become two games. If the opposing player is assessed an instigator penalty, the fight doesn’t count.
The Allen Americans' offensive resurgence continued Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 victory over Tulsa. Combined with the six goals the Americans scored on Saturday, the 13 goals in back-to-back games are the most all season. The six-goal margin of victory matches the highest of the season, achieved once. On December 20, Allen shutout the Oilers 6-0 in Tulsa.
- If you described Steve Martinson's style of hockey to an unfamiliar hockey fan, it would include some combination of highly entertaining, lots of offense, commitment to defense, physical play, a fight or two, and never taking your foot off the gas. That is exactly what Allen fans witnessed Sunday afternoon.
Seven goals, including a hat trick by Harrison Blaisdell. He scored the first and only goal of the first period, and back-to-back goals in the third period.
Allen led 1-0 after the first period, 4-1 after the second period, and 7-1 after the third period. The team definitely didn't take its foot off the gas.
Allen outshot Tulsa 40-25, including 11-4 in the third period.
The game included a penalty shot. Colton Hargrove scored the 12th
penalty shot goal in 41 attempts (29%) in the ECHL this season. Colton
undressed the goal by faking a shot and then going forehand, backhand,
and sliding the puck into the open net.
There were a combined 66 penalty minutes in the third period alone.
Avery Smith was called up from Topeka (FPHL) for this series to add some toughness. Yes, he had a roughing penalty and a fight in the game. But he also scored his first ECHL goal, and it was the game-winner.
Allen won the special teams battle. Colby McAuley scored a power-play goal, and the Americans held Tulsa without a power-play goal for the third straight game. The Americans improved their league-leading home penalty kill percentage to 89.5%.
Marco Costantini came up big when the defense broke down, stopping 24 of 25 shots for a .960 save percentage to improve his record to 17-7-4-0. Allen has 31 wins this season, Marco has accounted for 55% of them.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Harrison Blaisdell (18,19,20), Avery Smith (1), Danny Katic (26), Colton Hargrove (18), and Colby McAuley (18). FYI, Katic has scored 26 goals on 104 shots; his 25.0% shooting percentage is #1 in the ECHL. His 26 goals are #3 in the league.
"It was a fun night behind the bench. There were a lot of nice plays, and we showed speed."
"I was joking that we had an ex-NHL dads line when Blaisdell, Sillinger, and Simmons-Fischer were out together as all of their dads played in the NHL."
"You could see Sillinger's vision and skill level on his two assists and how he moves his feet. He also had several seam passes where we didn't score. Remember, he hasn't played hardly at all since last year when he had surgery on his hip. He played a few games over a month between Iowa and Florida, then was off a month, then got hurt in his second game in Allen. I think he has just a ton of upside, and you saw some of that in the game today."
"We are being very cautious with Hank Crone's injury. Will see how he is next week and when he might be able to start skating."
"Next weekend against Idaho will be huge. I am happy with our lineup, but I would like to get one more forward in here this week, so we will see. I am looking forward to playing Idaho at home this weekend."
- Next up for the Allen Americans are two games against Idaho on Friday and Saturday. Allen's chance to finish in second place in the division, which would mean home ice for the first round of the playoffs, rests in this two-game series against Idaho. Less than a month ago (February 14), Allen trailed Idaho by 16 points, which at the time seemed insurmountable. Idaho has allowed Allen to get back in the race for second place by having the worst record in the division over the last 10 games. Here are the points earned for each team in the last 10 games:
17 points - Kansas City
15 points - Allen
11 points - Tulsa
9 points - Utah
9 points - Tahoe
8 points - Wichita
6 points - Rapid City
6 points - Idaho
Allen has managed to close the gap with Idaho to seven points with one game in hand. Best-case scenario, after Saturday, Allen could sweep Idaho and be three points behind second place. Worst case is Allen gets swept and falls 11 points behind with 14 games remaining and almost no hope of overtaking Idaho.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen has more players (8) with 35 or more points than any team other in the ECHL:
50+ Points
57 - Brayden Watts
40+ Points
47 - Hank Crone
45 - Danny Katic
45 - Colton Hargrove
41 - Harrison Blaisdell
41 - Sam Sedeley
30+ Points
34 - Michael Gildon
32 - Colby McAuley
- Harrison Blaisdell's hat trick last night was his second of the season and eighth by the Americans this season, which matches the all-time record set in 2022-23. Here are both lists:
2025-26
2 - Harrison Blaisdell
2 - Danny Katic
1 - Hank Crone
1 - Mark Duarte
1 - Colton Hargrove
1 - Brayden Watts
2022-23
3 - Hank Crone
2 - Liam Finlay
2 - Colton Hargrove
1 - Jakov Novak
- There is still over a month remaining in the regular season, but Kansas has become the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot. Fifth-place Wichita (55 points) is 36 points behind the Mavericks (91 points), and if Wichita wins all of its remaining games they would only have 89 points.
- The odds are that the final Mountain Division standings will end up in the current order: #1 Kansas City, #2 Idaho, #3 Allen, and #4 Tahoe. However, it is certainly possible that a tiebreaker could be involved in the end. The first tiebreaker is regulation wins (RW). The second tiebreaker is regulation and overtime wins (ROW). Here is how the teams in second through fifth place stand in the regulations wins:
#2 Idaho has 24
#3 Allen has 26
#4 Tahoe has 26
#5 Wichita has 20
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about game-winning goal leaders. Colton Hargrove and Brayden Watts lead Allen with four. A couple of familiar names on the list of ECHL leaders in the past
The ECHL leader in game-winning goals is a rookie. Here are the top five in-game winning goals this season:
10 - Jackson Jutting, Kansas City
8 - Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho
7 - Blake Murray, Fort Wayne
7 - Simon Pinard, South Carolina
7 - Andre Ghantous, Kalamazoo
Here are ECHL leaders in game-winning goals over the last 15 years. Jutting has already cracked the list with 16 games remaining:
Last night could not have worked better for the Allen Americans. They beat Tulsa 6-4, while the team just ahead of them in the standings (Idaho) lost, and the two teams just behind them (Tahoe & Wichita) lost.
- The difference between the game on Friday and last night could not have been more stark. From a slow, sluggish start on Friday to a dynamic start last night featuring speed, crisp tape-to-tape passes, playmaking, and goals. When the dust settled on the first period, Allen had a 4-1 lead and had chased Tulsa goalie David Tendeck, whom Allen traded to Tulsa earlier this week. Friday night Tendeck saved 37 of 38 shots (.974) to lead Tulsa to a 4-1 win. Last night, he saved 10 of 14 shots (.714) and was replaced after the first period.
- Allen scored the only goal of the second period to take a 5-1 lead into the second intermission, and it appeared the route was on. Tulsa spoiled the euphoria of the route by scoring three goals in less than seven minutes (9:33 to 16:14) in the third period to cut the score to 5-4 with almost four minutes remaining in the game. Allen put an end to the drama with an empty goal with 15 seconds left in the game to make the final score 6-4. Yes, it took the edge off the victory, giving up three third-period goals, but it didn't overshadow the Americans' scoring the most goals in two months
- Here are some of the positives from the game:
Allen scored the 1st goal and improved its record when scoring 1st to 19-2-3-0 (.854)
Allen's four 1st period goals tied the league high this season.
Allen's record when leading after the first period improved to 11-1-2-0.
Allen's record when leading after the second period improved to 20-0-2-0.
Five different players scored goals, and 12 had points.
Braiden Simmons-Fischer scored his first goal with the Allen Americans. It was announced in the arena as his first professional goal, but he had two goals last season in the FPHL.
Danny Katic's goal, his 25th, ties him for #3 in the ECHL. His 24.5% shooting percentage is #2.
Stick taps to Colby McAuley, who showed what being a team player is all about, and also that he is as tough as nails. Colby went right after Mike McKee when McKee injured Hank Crone on a hit to the head into the side boards. It didn't bother Colby that he was giving up 5 inches and 55 pounds to McKee.
- Goal scorers for the Americans were Simmons-Fischer (1), Gildon (15), Blaisdell (17), Watts (19), Prefontaine (7), and Katic (25). Here are the video highlights with the goals, great saves, and fight: https://echl.com/videos/tulsa-oilers-vs-allen-americans-mar-7-2026
- Steve Martinson signed a goalie last night after the game, and he will be the backup goalie this afternoon. His name is Brett Mirwald, He just finished his second season at the University of British Columbia, where he had a record of 11-1-2, a GAA of 2.27, and a .907 save percentage. He is 6'1" 180 pounds, and catches left. Before college, he played his junior hockey in the WHL. He was the Goalie of the Year in 2023-24, playing for the WHL Vancouver Giants. He was just selected as the Goalie of the Year in his conference, Canada West.
Brett Mirwald
- The lineup changes for today:
Kevin Gursoy replaces the injured Hank Crone, who left the game in the first period last night.
Jackson Decker is in for Trevor LeDonne.
Marco Costantini starts in goal.
Brett Mirwald makes his pro debut as the backup.
Forwards
14 Gursoy - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley
11 Chiasson - 91 Gildon - 9 Katic
29 Watts -18 Blaisdell - 77 Sillinger
19 Maxwell - 3 Smith - 6 Simmons-Fischer
Defense
86 Anania - 22 Costantini
8 Prefontaine - 23 Sedley
21 Decker - 2 Warmuth
Goalies
33 Costantini
32 Mirwald (backup)
TODAY'S PREVIEW
- If Allen can match the speed and intensity of the first period last night, the Americans will be just fine. Sunday games are different, especially when you play the same team three times in about 46 hours. Players are tired, and the game often becomes more about will than skill. Allen's Sunday record this season is 3-2-1-0.
- Obviously, scoring first will be key, as will the special teams battle. The referees will be the same for the third straight game, and they haven't called a lot of penalties. There were just five power plays in both games.
- Coach Martinson was very pleased with the first period, but not so much with the weak defensive plays in the third period.
"It was nice to score some goals, and there were some good ones in the first period."
"Friday night was our worst faceoff night of the season, so we worked on that at the pregame skate."
- Being from Minnesota, I am biased, but there isn't a week of hockey anywhere that is better than the State High School Hockey Tournament. Last night was the Class AA championship, and it was an epic game between the #1 seed, Minnetonka, and the #2 seed Moorhead. The attendance for this classic high school game was 17,954, which is a sellout. Moorhead rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4 in double overtime for its second straight Class AA championship. Here is a game recap with a long video (28 minutes) that is well worth watching and will give you the feel of the championship game. https://kstp.com/minnesota-sports/boys-state-hockey-moorhead-makes-it-back-to-back-state-titles-with-thrilling-double-overtime-win-over-minnetonka/
- Allen got plenty of help last night in the standings. The Mountain Division winners were Kansas City, Allen, and Utah. The losers were Idaho, Tahoe, Wichita, Rapid City, and Tulsa. Here is an update with points percentage in parentheses:
91 points - Kansas City (.813)
74 points - Idaho (.649)
65 points - Allen (.591)
61 points - Tahoe (.545)
55 points - Wichita (.509)
49 points - Rapid City (.445)
49 points - Utah (.438)
41 points - Tulsa (.380)
- There are eight games on the schedule today. Just four Mountain Division teams are in action. In addition to Tulsa at Allen, Utah is at Cincinnati, and Wichita is at Toledo. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-8
- Here are three more player updates from the Alumni weekend. You can see all the alumni interviews (7 so far, with a few more to load) and a few other videos by going to my Allen Americans Blog YouTube Channel. Please subscribe, and for the record, I make no money from the channel; I would just like to have more subscribers as encouragement to do more videos. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Bruce Graham
Mike Berube
Joel Rumpel
DID YOU KNOW: ECHL Stats post today is about teams with the most 35+ point scorers and 50+ point scorers. Notice the Mountain Division dominates both lists:
Teams with the most 35+ point scorers this season. Of the seven on the list, five are from the Mountain Division:
Welcome to another version of Allen Americans' inconsistency. The good was back-to-back wins in Kansas City last weekend, against the best team in the ECHL, which had won 25 of 26 games. The bad was a 4-1 loss at home last night against Tulsa, the worst team in the Mountain Division.
- Lack of scoring has been the hallmark of Allen's recent play. The Americans have lost five of their last 10 games, by scores of 4-1, 4-3, 3-2, 2-0, and 2-1. Allen's five wins in the last 10 games include three scores of 2-1, two of which were in overtime. You add it all together, and Allen has scored two or fewer goals in seven of the last 10 games.
- In the last three games against Tulsa, the Americans lost 4-1, won 2-1 in overtime, and won 5-1. Allen scored a total of seven goals in the three games in regulation time. Six of the seven goals were power-play goals; just one was scored even strength. Last night, Allen's only goal was a power play goal.
- It was another slow start that cost Allen last night. For the 31st time in 54 games (57%), the Americans gave up the first goal. Allen's points percentage when giving up the first goal is .387. Allen fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but cut the score to 2-1 with just 29 seconds remaining. It was a power play goal by Danny Katic, his team's 24th goal and eighth power play goal of the season. Assists went to Colton Hargrove and Sam Sedley.
- The first period has been the Achilles heel for Allen all season. The Americans' first-period goal differential of -12 is one of the worst in the league (45 goals scored, 57 allowed). Allen entered the second period with the momentum and the knowledge that it had been its best period all season. The second period goal differential is +15 (68 for, 43 allowed), but Allen wasn't able to score, despite a 15-8 shot advantage. The second period ended with Tulsa leading 2-1, and the odds of a loss for the Americans became very high. Allen's point percentage when trailing after the second period is .190 (3-16-2-0). Tulsa's point percentage when leading after the second period is .735 (12-4-1-0).
- There was still hope that Allen could come back until the 8:03 mark of the third period when Tulsa extended its lead to 3-1. That was followed (16:54) by an empty net goal to make the final score 4-1. To add insult to injury, goalie David Tendeck, who was traded to Tulsa by Allen earlier this week, assisted on the empty net goal to go along with his .974 save percentage.
- Here are the game recap from Tulsa and the video highlights with the goals and great saves:
"I was frustrated this week in practice because we weren't shooting the puck very well, and that carried over to the game. To have 38 shots and one power play goal is all you have to show for it is not good enough."
"I thought their forwards showed more speed at times than ours. Some of our 40+ point guys were non-factors out there tonight."
"It is pretty disappointing when you have a good week in Kansas City and then come back home and lose to the last-place team."
"When you aren't scoring goals, the defensive mistakes we made on the first two goals were very costly."
"We scored on our second power play opportunity, and then we didn't try what was successful again. It seems like when we score on the power play, we think we have to score a different way, rather than doing the same play over and over until they take it away."
"I think our biggest problem is that we didn't show much speed, especially outside speed. Some of our defensemen showed speed carrying the puck into the zone. Tomorrow I am going to show the line rushes to show the lack of speed."
"The NHL trade deadline was today, and the AHL deadline is next Friday. I expect to get some contracted players assigned after the AHL deadline. The number will depend on what trades are made next week. I also expect to sign a college goalie this week."
"The bottom line is, it will get a lot more competitive around here over the next week or two. The guys I will bring in are not 4th line players."
TONIGHT'S PREVIEW
- Coach Martinson mentioned this several times in his comments to the STMs after the game. To be successful, the team needs to use its speed, especially through the neutral zone.
- It can't be overstated how important it is to get off to a good start and avoid playing from behind. If Allen can do that tonight, a win is likely.
- Allen had 38 shots last night, and they scored a power play goal. That should be enough to win. However, to go with the positive, the Americans gave up a shorthanded goal and had a 2.6% shooting percentage. Based on their season-long shooting percentage of 10.0%, 38 shots should generate 3 or 4 goals. Allen has one even-strength goal in the last three games against Tulsa. That has to change tonight.
- The game tonight will be a two-referee game, with the same officiating crew as last night. The referees will be
Jamie Pavia (#26) and Logan Gruhl #29). The linesmen will be Daniel
Barnes (#76) and Aaron Schacht. They only called five minor penalties last night in the game without much physicality. I would definitely bet the over 5 on the number of penalties tonight.
- Here is the lineup tonight. Only changes are Avery Smith in for Gursoy and Ledonne in for Decker.
Forwards
67 Crone - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley
11 Chiasson - 91 Gildon - 9 Katic
29 Watts -18 Blaisdell - 77 Sillinger
19 Maxwell - 3 Smith - 6 Simmons-Fischer
Defense
86 Anania - 22 Costantini
8 Prefontaine - 23 Sedley
25 LeDonne - 2 Warmuth
Goalies
31 Parsons
33 Costantini (backup)
OTHER COMMENTS
- Idaho, Kansas City, Tulsa, and Wichita were the Mountain Division winners last night. The losers were Allen, Rapid City, and Utah. Here are the standings with points earned in the last 10 games in parentheses so you can see who is gaining ground and losing ground to the teams close to them:
89 points - Kansas City (17 points)
74 points - Idaho (8 points)
63 points - Allen (11 points)
61 points - Tahoe (11 points)
54 points - Wichita (9 points)
49 points - Rapid City (9 points)
47 points - Utah (9 points)
41 points - Tulsa (12 points)
- If you look at the points earned in the last 10 games in the list above, a few things stand out:
10 games is about a month of play
It is hard to gain or lose a lot of points in a month. A gap of six or more points will be very hard to make up by the end of the season.
The top two teams over the last 10 games are first-place Kansas City (17 points) and last-place Tulsa (12 points).
- Allen gave up its sixth shorthanded goal of the season last night. The Americans have only scored two shorties themselves. Here are the Allen shorthanded goals for (F) and against (A) since joining the ECHL. The net shorthanded goals (shorties scored minus shorties allowed) are in parentheses
2025-26: 2F, 6A (-4)
2024-25: 4F, 6A (-2)
2023-24: 8F, 9A (-1)
2022-23: 6F, 6A (0)
2021-22: 7F, 20A (-13)
2020-21: 11F, 3A (+8)
2019-20: 9F, 3A (+6)
2018-19: 8F, 5A (+3)
2017-18: 7F, 10A (-3)
2016-17: 9F, 13A (-4)
2015-16: 9F, 10A (-1)
2014-15: 8F, 8A (0)
- A light load for a Saturday night with only 20 of the 30 ECHL teams in action. The Mountain Division matchups are the same as last night: Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2026/03/echl-today-march-7
Wichita at Indy
Idaho at Norfolk
Utah at Bloomington
Wheeling at Rapid City
Tahoe at Kansas City
Tulsa at Allen
ALUMNI GAME
- I haven't heard of any more changes to the roster. For those planning to attend, here are the times:
4:30 pm - doors open
4:35 pm - 10-minute warmups
4:45 pm - player introductions
5:00 pm - puck drop
Format: Three 15-minute periods with one-minute intermissions
- As I ran into the players from the past at the game last night, I asked them for an update on their families. I will load more of them tomorrow. Here is a sample:
Yesterday was a big day for Adam Pineault:
DID YOU KNOW: Truly outstanding performances. Here are some ECHL stats where #1 is way better than #2.
Average Attendance
#1 - 9431, Jacksonville
#2 - 8055, Toledo
Points Percentage
#1 - .809, Kansas City
#2 - .727, Florida
Overall Points
#1 - 68, Marcus Crawford, Kansas City
#2 - 59, Brandon Hawkins, Toledo
Points by defensemen
#1 - 68, Marcus Crawford, Kansas City
#2 - 46, Chad Nychuk, Atlanta
Goals
#1 - 32, Brendan Hoffmann, Idaho
#2 - 28, Reed Lebster, Utah
The difference between #1 & #2 doesn’t seem so large until you consider Hoffmann has been on loan to the AHL since February 10.
I mentioned yesterday that there would likely be some changes to the alumni roster, and that has been the case. The good news is Darryl Bootland will be able to attend the alumni game. The bad news is that Riley Gill and
Ben Owen will have to miss the alumni game. Riley is the head coach, and
Ben is an assistant coach for one of the Allen High School hockey
teams. They have a game scheduled at 3:00 pm on Saturday. From what I
was told, they will be at the Allen game, but will miss the alumni
game.
- Before I get into the details of the Allen vs Tulsa series preview and the three games against the Oilers (tonight, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon), I want to bring everyone up to date on the roster changes over the last week.
David Tendeck - Last Sunday, it was announced that Tendeck was traded to Tulsa for forward Mitchell Russell, whom Tulsa had acquired from Savannah on February 25. Russell did not report to Tulsa, so he was suspended. Russell was in Savannah before Tulsa, and Savannah is a Zawyer property. Allen can't trade with Zawyer teams because there are minority owners of the Americans who also own minority interests in other Zawyer teams. Initially, the league mistakenly let the trade go through, but it was corrected to a future-considerations trade the next day. Why did Martinson trade Tendeck to Tulsa? "I wasn't going to hold him back from an opportunity to play, and it was the best opportunity, factoring in the costs and the benefits." Martinson has been doing a lot of recruiting of college players as their seasons have ended, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a college goalie take over that third goalie spot down the stretch.
Colby McAuley - Colby was injured when hit by a puck in Allen's last home game (2/21) and missed the three-game series in Kansas City. He is good to go and will be in the lineup tonight.
Lukas Sillinger - Lukas was also injured in Allen's last home game, his second game with the Americans. He has been cleared to play and will be in the lineup tonight.
Andre Anania - Andre was loaned to Iowa on 2/25 and returned to Allen on 3/2. He missed the last two games in Kansas City and did not play in Iowa. He will be back in the Allen lineup tonight.
Sam Stange - Sam Stange was recalled by Springfield (AHL) on Monday and will miss his first game tonight. He played eight games in Allen and scored five goals. You add the three goals in four games with Florida earlier, and his season total is eight goals in 12 games. The good news is Sam has qualified for the ECHL playoffs. Hopefully, Stange will return to Allen at some point in the regular season and for the playoffs.
Avery Smith - Coach Martinson brought Smith back from Topeka (FPHL), just in case he needs some additional toughness against Tulsa. The Oilers' Keegan Iverson was suspended for five games for leaving the penalty box to join an altercation on Wednesday, so he will miss the Allen series. They still have Cade McNelly and Dakota Seaman, who add toughness. McNelly has a goal in one game in his 64-game ECHL career. Unfortunately, it was a hat trick against Allen on January 17. The Americans lost 5-2. Seaman, who played six games with Allen last season, has no points and 20 penalty minutes in 16 games with Tulsa this season. I just got the lineup, and Smith will not be in the lineup tonight.
- Allen’s lineup tonight vs Tulsa:
Forwards
67 Crone - 7 Hargrove - 92 McAuley
11 Chiasson - 91 Gildon - 9 Katic
29 Watts -18 Blaisdell - 77 Sillinger
19 Maxwell - 14 Gursoy - 6 Simmons-Fischer
Defense
86 Anania - 22 Costantini
8 Prefontaine - 23 Sedley
21 Decker - 2 Warmuth
Goalies
31 Parsons
33 Costantini (backup)
- Allen's record against Tulsa this season is 7-4-1-0. The Americans lost three straight to start the season, then reeled off five wins and have split the last four games. The three home games this weekend will be the last between these teams.
- Here are some comparison stats between Allen and Tulsa:
Allen's record is 29-19-5-0, Tulsa's is 17-30-5-0
Allen is 6-3-1-0 over the last 10 games, Tulsa is 5-3-2-0.
Allen is 15-7-2-0 at home, Tulsa is 5-16-1-0 on the road.
Allen's goal differential is +21 (181-160), Tulsa's is -56 (132-188).
Allen's team plus/minus is +35, Tulsa's is -153.
Allen's team save percentage is .914, Tulsa's is .896.
- Here is the more traditional statistical comparison between the two
teams. The league rank is in parentheses:
Goals scored average: Allen 3.4 (#6) - Tulsa 2.5 (#28)
Goals allowed average: Allen 3.0 (#15) - Tulsa 3.6 (#26)
Shots for average: Allen 33.4 (#3) - Tulsa 32.3 (#8)
Shots against average: Allen 35.1 (#28) - Tulsa 34.8 (#27))
Power play percentage: Allen 20.3% (#9) - Tulsa 17.5% (#21)
Penalty kill percentage: Allen 84.1% (#8) - Tulsa 74.2% (#29)
-
Here are the cumulative stats against Tulsa.
Allen has outscored Tulsa 43-33
Tulsa has outshot Allen 399-394
Allen is 28.3%% on the power play (13-46)
Tulsa is 19.2% on the power play (5-26)
Allen scored 1st in 7 of the 12 games.
Allen took 48 penalties (119 minutes), Tulsa took 69 penalties (202 minutes)
-
If you look at all of the stats above, it is clear that Tulsa has
outperformed when playing Allen this season. The Oilers overall points percentage is .375. Against Allen, it is .458. The Oilers have 17 wins this season, 30% on them (5) have been against Allen. It should also be noted that if you look at points earned in the last 10 games, the top three in the division are Kansas City (17), Allen (13), and Tulsa (12). Tulsa comes into the Allen series having won four of its last five games, with the only loss coming in Kansas City on Wednesday. Bottom line is Tulsa plays well against Allen, and the Oilers have been playing good hockey lately. This looks like it will be a great series.
-
As usual, special teams will play a key role in this series. Allen has
the advantage in overall stats and head-to-head stats. The most stark stat is road vs home penalty kill. The Americans have the #1 ranked home penalty kill percentage (88.8%), and the Oilers have the #30 ranked road penalty kill percentage (68.7). Tulsa has taken a lot more penalties than Allen in the 12 head-to-head games (69 vs 48). If the Americans can take advantage of special teams, it will be a big help.
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Across the ECHL, the team that scores first wins 75% on the points.
Allen is one of the best in the league with a points percentage of .848 (18-2-3-0) when scoring first. Tulsa's record when scoring first is 11-8-1-0 (.575). As usual, the first goal will be key in this series.
- Playing with
the lead is also a key to this series. Here is Allen's record that
tells the story of why the Americans can't be playing from behind in
this series.
10-1-2-0: leading after 1st period
19-0-2-0: leading after 2nd period
14-4-1-0: tied after 1st period
7-4-1-0: tied after 2nd period
5-14-2-0: trailing after 1st period
3-15-2-0: trailing after 2nd period
- The game tonight will be a two-referee game. The referees will be Jamie Pavia (#26) and Logan Gruhl #29). The linesmen will be Daniel Barnes (#76) and Aaron Schacht.
OTHER COMMENTS
-
Anyway you slice it, the Americans will be the favorite in all three
games this weekend. A sweep would give Allen some distance between
themselves and fourth-place Tahoe. On February 14, Kansas City and Idaho had checked out over the rest of the division. Allen was tied for third place with Tahoe, but trailed Idaho by 16 points and Kansas City by 22 points. Today, Allen is two points ahead of Tahoe and 24 points behind Kansas City. However, what looked like an impossible 16-point deficit to Idaho has shrunk to nine points, and the Americans have two games in hand. Thanks to a slump by Idaho, which has lost six of the last eight games (4 of them at home), what was an impossible task a few weeks ago is now just a long shot for the Americans.
- Two critical dates that were shown as to be determined after the ECHL season was extended because of the players' strike are now set:
Recall/Ressignment Deadline
Wednesday, March 18 (11:59 p.m. local time)
Refers to NHL/AHL contracted players being recalled from one ECHL team and assigned to another (not players currently in the AHL).
- There are 11 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. All eight Mountain Division teams are in action, but four of them will be playing teams outside the division.:
DID YOU KNOW: Notice below the best team in the ECHL by far, Kansas City (.806 points percentage), has no players on the 14-day injured reserve. Allen has three, and its series opponent this weekend, last-place Tulsa, has a league-leading seven, including one NHL and one AHL contracted player.
Injuries can play a key role in team success down the stretch. Here are the number of players currently on the 14-day injured reserve for each ECHL team. The total number is 96.
UPDATE - Since I posted this yesterday, there have been a few changes. The good news is Darryl Bootland will be able to attend the alumni game, and his info has been added below. The bad news is that Riley Gill and Ben Owen will have to miss the alumni game. Riley is the head coach, and Ben is an assistant coach for one of the Allen High School hockey teams. They have a game scheduled at 3:00 pm on Saturday. From what I was told, they will be at the Allen game, but will miss the alumni game.
Allen fans are in for a real treat on Saturday. The Allen Americans' third alumni game will take place at 5:00 pm, just before the Allen vs Tulsa game. The rosters will be a mix of former Allen players and some friends and family to fill out the rosters. There have already been some changes from the press release issued by the Americans on Tuesday. Darryl Bootland, Dylan King, and Dayn Belfour have conflicts and will not be playing. One or two players could still be added. The count stands at 21 former players as I put this together.
As a group, they have won 19 championships in Allen.
Ages range from 46 (Erik Adams) and 45 (Jason Deitsch) to 32 (Ben Owen) and 33 (Corey Durocher).
The majority live locally, 14 of 21.
Others have traveled a long way: New Brunswick & Alberta, Canada, Florida, California, and Minnesota.
One way to describe the alumni game is many players from the past, with half the speed and twice the stories. Where former pros prove they still have the hands, but left their lungs and legs in the past. Game time is 5:00 pm.
Here is a little something about each of the former Allen players. Many had outstanding careers before and/or after playing for the Americans. The stats shown are just the time that was played in Allen. And, yes, several players will be wearing #5 and #9. A couple of players don't have a number assigned yet.
I will provide the latest on the alumni game as part of the Allen vs Tulsa series preview tomorrow (Friday).
TEAM RED - Captain, Tyler Ludwig
D #32 ERIK ADAMS - 2009-12
107 games
53 points (10G, 43A)
2014-15 - Allen Americans Assistant Coach
Long-time Allen High School Coach
D #6 MIKE BERUBE - 2010-14
229 games - #16 all-time
59 points (6G, 53A)
2013-2014 CHL Champion
2013-14 Team Captain
F #91 JUSTIN BOWERS - 2009-10
49 games
73 points (23G, 50A)
Led team in PPG (1.49)
Led the league in playoff points (20 games, 30 points, 12G, 18A)
F BRITT DOUGHERTY - 2009-10
45 games
3 points (1G, 2A) 85 PIM
One of several "enforcers" on the inaugural team.
season cut short by injury
Highlight of season: meeting his future wife, Kelly Sklar, Allen ticket representative
F #10 COREY DUROCHER - 2019-20 & 2021-22
49 games
23 points (9G, 14A)
F #21 BRUCE GRAHAM - 2009-2014
184 games - #16 all-time
235 points (97G, 138A) - #3 all-time
Twice led the team in points and plus/minus
2014 CHL Champion
3-time CHL All-Star
F #22 LIAM HUCULAK - 2009-11
110 games
39 points (19G 20A)
219 PIM
2nd on the team in PIM in both of his seasons
Power forward (6'5" 225 lbs) who would drop the gloves
D #3 TYLER LUDWIG - 2001-15
247 games - #3 all-time
172 points (71G, 151A) - #10 all-time
2013, 2014 CHL Champion
2015 Kelly Cup Champion
Among defensemen: #1 games played, #2 points, #2 goals, #1 assists
2014 CHL Most Outstanding Defenseman
G #41 DAVID MCKEE - 2009-10
5 games
3.95 GAA
.897 Save Percentage
G #35 JOEL RUMPEL - 2014-2016
43 games - #9 All-Time (Goalies)
2.69 GAA
.907 Save Percentage
2015, 2016 Kelly Cup Champion
TEAM BLUE - Captain, Jason Deitsch
F #9 MATHIEU AUBIN - 2017-18
48 games
20 points (7G, 13A)
F #27 DARRYL BOOTLAND - 2012-14
100 games
85 points (40G, 45A)
280 PIM
2012-13 was #1 points, #2 goals, #2 plus/minus, #2 PIM
2013, 2014 CHL Champion
D #72 JOEL CHOUINARD - 2016-19
205 games
123 points (28G, 95A)
All-Time Among Defensemen - #3 assists, #4 points, #5 goals, #6 games
2017-19 Team Captain
2016-17 Led ECHL in Plus/Minus +47, All-Time Allen Record
F #19 JASON DEITSCH - 2011-13
132 games
100 points (27G, 73A)
Never missed a game in two seasons with Allen
Team Captain, both seasons in Allen
2013 CHL Champion
Served as Assistant Coach from 2017-2021
Returned as Assistant Coach in 2025-26
D #7 NOLAN DESCOTEAUX - 2014-2017
84 games
22 points (4G, 18A)
2015 Kelly Cup Champion
D #5 AARON GENS - 2014-17
155 games
92 points (19G, 23A)
All-Time Among Defensemen - #6 assists, #7 points, #9 goals, #10 games
2014-15 Led all ECHL defensemen in points (56)
48 Assists in 2014-15 is the All-Time Allen Record for Defensemen
2015, 2016 Kelly Cup Champion
G #30 RILEY GILL - 2014-2018
124 games (45 more than any other goalie)
2.50 GAA
.921 Save Percentage
#30 Jersey Retired
2017 ECHL Goaltender of the Year
2017 ECHL Best Save Percentage (.935)
2015, 2016 Kelly Cup Champion
ECHL Hall of Fame (2026)
D #24 TREVOR LUDWIG - 2011-15
171 games
62 points (20G, 42A)
All-Time Among Defensmen - #8 games, #8 goals, #10 assists
2013, 2014 CHL Champion
2015 Kelly Cup Champion
F #9 BRIAN MCMILLIN - 2010-15
215 games - #9 all-time
126 points (53G, 73A)
Had more goals (53) than penalty minutes (45) in his Allen career.
I am without internet for almost a day now (AT&T network problem) so no desktop this morning. I am trying to write the blog on my IPhone. This will be short and sweet today and I apologize up front for any errors.
- The Allen Americans won the game (5-2) and the series against Kansas City last night and head back home with four of six points. Until last night the Mavericks had lost one series all season and that was back in late October.
- The Americans have struggled to score goals recently and even strength goals have been even harder to come by. The last time the Americans scored more than three goals was February 14 against Tulsa. Allen won 5-3 and all five goals were power play goals. Last night was just the opposite. The Americans ended up 0-7 on the power play and scored five even strength goals.
- Allen got off to a great start, scoring the only goal (Danny Katic) of the first period at the 5:37 mark. It was the 23rd time in 53 games (43%) the Americans have scored first, with a record of 18-2-3-0 (.848).
- Allen added to its lead scoring the only two goals (Sam Stange & Brayden Watts) of the second period to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission. That was an excellent sign considering the Americans’ record when leading after the second period was 18-0-2-0.
- Kansas City scored early in the third period to cut the score to 3-1, but Allen got its three goal lead back just 51 seconds later on a Colton Hargrove goal and added a fifth goal at 9:41 on a Quinn Warmuth rebound goal. Allen took a couple of penalties in the last half of the period which led to a Mavericks’ power play goal. It was the only power play goal of the game by either team (1-14). The final score was 5-2.
- Jackson Parsons was outstanding in goal again stopping 40 of 42 shots. His stats for the weekend are 3 goals allowed in 124:53 minutes, 1.46 GAA and a .956 save percentage. Those are ECHL Goalie of the Week numbers if you ask me.
- I had a chance to swap messages with Coach Martinson as the team was bussing back to Allen late last night. His message to me was, “Obviously it is nice to get four points on the weekend. The big takeaway is our attitude going forward. Will it be it was ‘nice to beat the 1st place team’ or will it be ‘we are coming and let’s f***ing go.”
- Allen will be even stronger going forward as McAuley and Sillinger should be available for the three game series against Tulsa next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And if you know General Manager Martinson, he is always trying to add pieces down the stretch in anticipation of the playoffs. Stay tuned!
OTHER COMMENTS
- Quinn Warmuth’s 6th goal of the season last night ties him with Sam Sedley and Ty Prefontaine for the team lead in goals by a defenseman. Points are another story, The top four defensemen in points are Sedley (40), Anania (27), Prefontaine (15) and Warmuth (13).
- The Mountain Division playoff picture is getting clearer every day. While it is still a long way before the four playoff teams are mathematically assured, the gaps are getting to a point they will be very hard to close. After the games last night the Mountain Division teams have between 18-22 games remaining. Here are the standings by points. In parentheses is points earned in the last 10 games which shows how difficult it is to make up points:
85 points - Kansas City (17 points)
72 points - Idaho (10 points)
63 points - Allen (13 points)
61 points - Tahoe (11 points)
52 points - Wichita (11 points)
48 points - Rapid City (9 points)
47 points - Utah (9 points)
37 points - Tulsa (11 points)
You can see over a 10 game span the most any team has gained is 3 points, which Allen gained on Idaho. The Steelheads still have a nine point lead and there are only two 10 game periods left in the season. Unless a team wins or loses 8 out of 10 games it is almost impossible to makeup gaps more than a few points. My prediction is the only contest left is for #3 and #4 between, Allen and Tahoe, to see who plays Kansas City in the first round of the playoffs.
- Jackson Parsons has played 777 minute for the Allen Americans and to be qualified needs 1020 minutes. He is four games short of becoming qualified, but the 1020 minutes to become qualified increases as the season progresses. By the end of the season it will reach 1440 minutes played. If Parsons doesn’t get recalled, he needs to be in goal for 11 of Allen’s remaining 21 games to be qualified. That is a long drawn out way to say if Jackson were qualified, his .928 save percentage would be the third best in the ECHL.
- Last night was an outstanding attendance night for the ECHL. 15 games totaled 121,564, with an average of 8104 per game:
15,199: Tulsa
14,268: Jacksonville*
9763: Fort Wayne*
9354: Cincinnati
8668: Orlando
8300: Toledo*
7485: Savannah*
6828: Reading*
6723: Utah
6572: Indy
6532: Greensboro
5720: Worcester
5460: Adirondack*
5425: Kansas City*
5267: Idaho*
*published arena capacities aren’t always accurate, but by my review these teams had sellouts or close to sellouts. Stick taps to all of the sales and marketing staffs for one of the highest ECHL attendance nights ever.
DID YOU KNOW: ECHL players going to & from Europe is about to end:
GOING TO EUROPE
Dates vary by league but final deadline was February 15 according to International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rule.
RETURNING FROM EUROPE
To play in the ECHL players must return by tomorrow, March 2 (3:00 pm EST).
