Americans Storm The Thunder & Other Thoughts

With Two Goals And An Assist Brian McMillin Was Named #1 Star Of The Game - photo by SceneByKimberly.com

Brian McMillin led the way last night as the Allen Americans beat the Wichita Thunder 6-2. I saw the game described as a statement game, the best two points of the year, the most important game of the year, and the most impressive win of the year.  When you beat the team with the best home record (24-5-2) in the league after they just beat you in your building, you are playing in a close to sold out arena (7212), before the fans voted the most annoying in the league, you are playing for first place, and you silence the crowd you have accomplished something. But with all that said, the win won't mean anything unless the team comes back tonight with another great effort.

- How about the 3M boys from Minnesota (McMillin, McKenzie, & Montgomery) who all had a great game last night. They are used to cranking it up this time of year from their college days. And how about on the same night Brian McMillin is the number one star of the game his unranked  Colorado College Tigers (CC) who finished 8th in the 12 team league,  score an upset for the second game in a row (University of North Dakota Thursday and University of Minnesota Friday). CC will meet the University of Wisconsin tonight for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title which is the last WCHA title as the league, which was started in 1951, is breaking up after this year.

- The Americans have out shot their opponents in the last three games by a total of 60 shots (122-62). Just so happens Todd Robinson arrived three games ago.

- Speaking of Robinson he has seven points (1 goal & 6 assists) in the three games he has played for Allen.

- Happy birthday to Chris Doyle who celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday. Next up is Trevor Hendrikx who turns 28 on Friday (3/29).

- The battle for 6th, 7th, and 8th in the league continues between Quad City (70 points), Arizona (69 points) and Denver (69 points) as all three won last night. Quad City has the advantage as they are up by one point and have a game in hand over the other two. These three team are going to be a handful in the playoffs for the teams at the top. Quad City has the best record in the league in March and is 8-2 in their last ten games while Arizona is 6-2-2 and Denver is 4-4-2.

- I am sure most of you are aware of this but in case you are not you can see many of the game video highlights  by clicking on the "game live" under the CHL scoreboard. In addition to the goals from last night you can see how close Brian McMillin came to getting a hat trick as his shot barely missed the open net after Wichita pulled their goalie.

- It will be a tough turnaround for tonight's game as the team had a long ride home last night. If it is any consolation Missouri had about three hours further to travel than the Americans after beating Tulsa 5-1 at home last night.

- Speaking of tough turn arounds, Tommy Daniels gets the "above and beyond the call of duty" award as he was driving Todd Robinson's car back to Allen after the game last night so Todd could get some sleep on the bus on the way home. Todd went back to Evansville to retrieve his car and belongings after the Tuesday game in Allen and met the team in Wichita. Short night for Tommy. Hope all went well.

- Allen is 3-2 against Missouri this year with the Mavericks winning the first two games (November & December) and the Americans winning the last three (February & March).

- Look for special teams to make the difference tonight as Allen has the best penalty kill in the league while Missouri has the worst.

- I noticed Kevin Curtis, the referee who was injured (concussion) during a game at the Allen Event Center on March 1st returned last night as he worked the Missouri vs Tulsa game. Good to see Kevin back on the ice.