Do or Die, New Back Up Goalie Marc-Antoine Gelinas In Tonight, Details On No New Glass for the AEC

- Chapter one of the Allen Americans do or die story takes place tonight. The team has had the final practice to work on everything from bringing the puck out of the defensive zone, pucks in deep, guys to the net, the power play, accuracy of shots, the forecheck and much more. The video review has been accomplished. Now the game is up to the players. Who wants it more. The Quad City Mallards are the self admitted underdogs who have gotten to this position through teamwork and hard work. "It’s been a great run," said Mallard coach Terry Ruskowski . "I’m so proud of the guys and how they stuck together and how they played so hard. I want the best, I want them to win because they deserve it. We may not be the elite team in the league and maybe we’re not supposed to be where we’re at, but we are here." The defending champion Allen Americans also have something to prove and that is they are just as determined, just as hungry and are willing to put forth the effort to win the battle of the "want."

- Coach Martinson will have to decide the two players that will not play tonight. The last game it was Trevor Hendrikx and Kale Kerbashain. The decision will not be made until after the pregame skate this morning. Hendrikx and Daniel Tetrault did not participate in practice yesterday. If everyone is healthy enough to play it makes the decision that much harder. The most likely scenario is one defenseman and one forward are scratched. Amateur Cain Franson has been a healthy scratch in a couple of games but his recent good play should keep him on the ice for tonight's game. Stay tuned.

- Look for special teams to play a big role in the outcome of the game tonight. Allen did give up a power play goal to the Mallards in game five but that is the only one Quad City has scored  in the entire series and they are now 1-18 (5.56%). The Americans have a power play goal in every game thus far with the exception of game two and are 4-14 (28.6%) . If Allen can maintain this special teams advantage they will win the game tonight.

- I have had many questions about a new goalie for the rest of the playoffs and yes there will be a new backup goalie on the bench tonight. There are some details that were still being worked out so nothing was official as of yesterday but both the player and the player's agent put the information on social media and it is posted in one of the hockey data bases (Elite Prospects) so it is in the public domain. The back up goalie tonight will be Marc-Antoine Gelinas who has been in college the last two years but played professionally in 2010-2011 with both the Wichita Thunder (with Daniel Tetrault) where he played in 42 games and the Odessa Jackalopes where he had two games. Here are his stats courtesy of hockeydb:

Marc-Antoine Gelinas

Goalie -- shoots L
Born Feb 13 1989 -- St-Etienne-de-Lauzon, PQ
[25 yrs. ago]
Height 5.10 -- Weight 178

 

			Reg Season Scoring			Reg. Season Goalie Stats										Playoff Scoring
Season	Team	Lge	GP	A	PIM	Min	GA	EN	SO	GAA	W	L	T	Svs	Pct	GP	A	PIM
2006-07	Val d'Or Foreurs	QMJHL	2	0	0											2	0	0
2006-07	College St. Lawrence Lions	QJAHL	22	1	0
2007-08	Prince Edward Island Rocket	QMJHL	43	2	2	2192	134	6	0	3.67	16	18	3	1197	0.899	4	0	0
2008-09	Gatineau Olympiques	QMJHL	29	0	4	1443	83	2	1	3.45	13	10	1	644	0.886	10	0	2
2009-10	Saint John Sea Dogs	QMJHL	27	2	8	1524	65	1	2	2.56	21	5	0	686	0.913	-	-	-
2009-10	Shawinigan Cataractes	QMJHL	20	1	0	1041	46	1	2	2.65	9	10	0	505	0.917	6	0	2
2010-11	Wichita Thunder	CHL	42	3	2	2399	116	0	4	2.90	25	11	5	1021	0.898	5	0	19
2010-11	Odessa Jackalopes	CHL	2	0	0	119	6	0	0	3.02	1	1	0	43	0.878	-	-	-
2012-13	U. of Quebec Trois Rivieres	OUAA	15	0	6	907	42	2	0	2.78	10	5	0	404	0.906
2013-14	U. of Quebec Trois Rivieres	OUAA	18	2	10	1000	39	0	1	2.34	13	4	0	574	0.936

- Another issue I have been getting questions about is the new glass for the Allen Event Center. There was some hope that the new glass would be installed for tonight's game but that is not the case. While the new glass has arrived some of the other parts and pieces that make up the entire system were not manufactured correctly and will have to be remanufactured after the manufacturer visits the AEC. So the bottom line is the new glass will not be installed until after the season is over. While a bummer for the playoffs it will be nice to have new glass for the beginning of next season.

- Brad Treliving who was part owner of the CHL for many years before selling out last year to the team owners has been named general manger of the NHL Calgary Flames. He is in the CHL Hall of Fame and this is what was said by the CHL back in 2012 when he was inducted:
Brad Treliving, a native of Penticton, British Columbia, was one of the founders of the WPHL in 1996 and served as Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations for five years.  He also was key in the combining of the CHL and WPHL in 2001 which began his seven-year tenure as the President of the CHL.  During six of his season as the league’s President, the CHL led all North American ‘AA’ professional hockey leagues in attendance and each year, the league’s top executive is given the Brad Treliving Executive of the Year Award.  Treliving left the CHL to become the Assistant General Manager of the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes.

    

Courtesy CHL Memes

                        


DID YOU KNOW: Trevor Hendrikx, Jonathan Lessard and Quad City Mallard goalie Thomas Heemskerk as well as former Allen American's players Scott Langdon and Dylan King all played for the San Francisco Bulls last year.