Mavs Win, Brahmas Lose, & More

Mike Clemente stopped 27 of 29 shots - photo by Scott Thomas

The Americans saw a series victory slip away last night as Andrew Courtney scored with 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and then again 34 seconds into overtime to lead the Missouri Mavericks to a 3-2 win over Allen. Allen now takes a 3-2 series lead back to Allen for game six and game seven (if necessary).

- The Americans could have used one of those extra goals from the eight goal outburst on Friday. They had several great chances to add to the 2-1 lead in the third period and put the game out of hand including a couple of chances at an empty net goal after Missouri pulled Clemente.

- Speaking of pulling the goalie it seems like we have had trouble with the extra attacker during the playoffs. If I remember correctly we have given up three extra attacker goals.

- Missouri out shot Allen 39-29 for the game and really put the pressure on in the third period outshooting the Americans 13-6.

- Brian McMillin continued his great play and had what looked like the game winning goal until the last second Mavericks heroics. Brian won a battle in the offensive zone and put a snap shot by Clemente unassisted. Brian continues to lead the team in goals (6) and points (12).

- The attendance last night was 4518 which gives the Mavericks an average for the playoffs of 4360 which is the best average in the league. The 4360 average is 1162 below their regular season average.

- Allen is averaging 3732 in the playoffs which is second in the league. The playoff average is 425 below the regular season average of 4157. Allen has been hampered by not having very good dates for their home games despite being the number one seed. Scheduling problems at the AEC is the major culprit. It is going to be tough getting tickets sold for games 6 and 7 (if necessary) with the short turnaround time and Monday & Tuesday dates.

- Despite the disappointing loss it will be great if we can win the series in game six at home.

- The Whichita Thunder defeated the Fort Worth Brahmas 3-1 Saturday night, and swept the Brahmas four games to none. Whichta also swept Arizona in the first round. This is the second time in the WPHL/CHL era that a team has won two consecutive series by way of a sweep. The last time such a feat was accomplished, was in the 2001 playoffs by the Lubbock Cotton Kings. It is worthy to note that the 2001 Cotton Kings were coached by none other than Bill McDonald. It is also worth noting that after sweeping the first two series the Cotton Kings lost in the finals to the  Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs four games to one.

- Here is another piece of information in the ongoing saga of the future of the CHL. This is an excerpt from an article written by Joe Deacon at pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington Blaze team president David Holt envisions “a perfect situation” where the U.S. Cellular Coliseum-based hockey franchise has local ownership and a Peoria rival in the same league.
The status of the Peoria Rivermen is in limbo after the St. Louis Blues sold the American Hockey League franchise to the Vancouver Canucks’ ownership group on Thursday. The AHL’s statement on the sale said “no determination has been made on the operation of the franchise” for next season.
“I know that Peoria and that market, they want hockey,” Holt said Friday. “Every league in hockey other than the NHL is talking about getting into that market.”
The Vancouver group still could keep the Rivermen as an AHL team for one year. If not, Holt said “anything is possible,” such as a franchise relocating or a league expanding to Peoria.
“My hope is that we would be able to have Peoria in whatever league we play in,” he said. “To be able to have a natural rival and have them 40 minutes away, there’s just no telling how much that would benefit Bloomington hockey.”
But the Rivermen situation isn’t the only one that must be resolved ahead of any such scenario. Holt said he and the Central Hockey League are actively seeking Illinois investors to take over the Blaze from New Jersey-based owner Sandra Hunnewell and Hockey Sensations, LLC.
“I think it’s really important for us to have a local presence in whatever we do,” said Holt. “Somebody from Central Illinois has got to be invested in this, because having an out-of-state owner, as you can tell from this last year, is just not going to work.

- Happy Birthday to Jason Deitsch who turns 33 today. I hope he remembers growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.

- Want to close today with a shout out to super fans John Weithman and Mike Stiney who made the long trek to Independence just to see game five and the possible series win. Despite the frustrating loss Mike tweeted it was not the outcome they were looking for but they had a good time, the facility was nice and the Missouri fans were great.