Martinson Playoff Record, Game Preview, Scoring Depth, Upsets In The Making?, 1983-1984 Tulsa Oilers

- All the talk over the last week is almost over as it is game day in Brampton as the Beast take on the Allen Americans at 6:00 pm central/Allen time. A chance for the Americans to take a commanding 3-0 lead and and show the Brampton organization that guaranteeing victories doesn't sit well with the Americans. And for the Beast a chance to live up to the guarantee of a win and also get themselves right back in the series. Either way you look at this is an important game for both teams.

- It is hard to draw too many conclusions after just two playoff games but one that is really telling is the scoring depth shown by the Americans thus far. In the two games, nine different players have scored goals and that doesn't include top scorers Graham, Lavoie & Lessard who have yet to get a goal. Coach Martinson will set up the lines for the game tonight in such a way all three of them could be the top line. Depth with an edge is a tough combination.

- Special teams advantage in the first two games also goes to Allen. On the power play Allen is at 37.50% and Brampton is at 14.29%. Allen has killed penalties at 85.71% and Brampton has a 62.50% penalty kill percentage. These numbers will have to change in Brampton's favor if the Beast expect to win.

- Tyler Ludwig was recognized as the #1 star of the week for his play in the first two playoff games. Tyler not only leads the Americans in scoring but he is tied for the league lead in scoring with five points.

- Make sure you are tuned in early to the game tonight as the first period has seen lots of action in the first two games. These two teams have scored 17 goals in the first two games and 11 of them have come in the first period. Brampton has scored a total of five goals in the series and has yet to score a goal in the second or third period.

- Could be some upsets in the making as #1 Missouri lost to #8 Arizona last night in Arizona by a score of 3-1. The Sundogs now lead the series 2-1. The next two games are in Arizona. In the Rapid City (#4) vs Quad City (#5) series the Mallards won last night 5-1 and lead that series 2-1 with the next two games in Quad City.  Denver (#2) beat Tulsa (#7) 3-2 in overtime and lead that series 2-1 with the next two games in Denver. These three series play their next two games on Friday and Saturday.

- It is playoff time and the goaltenders are finally getting some love when it comes to naming the three stars of the game. Something that didn't happen so much during the season. The winning goalie in all three games last night made the three star list and in the Denver vs Tulsa game the losing goalie also made the three star list.

- Thought it would be interesting to look at Steve Martison's playoff record as a coach. He has won seven championships during his coaching career and has only failed to make the playoffs one time as a coach and that was because of some unusual circumstances. Over his eighteen years of coaching he has won 60% of his playoff games with record of  102-68. A .600 win percentage is outstanding in the playoffs. Here are the top fifteen all time in the NHL for comparison.
Playoff coaching win percentage Minimum 25 games coached
 

1. Glen Sather, .705
2. Toe Blake, .689
3. Claude Ruel, .667
4. Scotty Bowman, .632
5. Jean Perron, .625
6. Hap Day, .613
7. Tommy Gorman, .600
8. Larry Robinson 596
9. Mike Babcock, .595
10. Al Arbour, .589
11. Bob Hartley, .583
12. Mike Milbury, .575
13. Fred Shero, .573
14. Craig MacTavish, .567
15. Randy Carlyle, .565

Courtesy CHL Memes

DID YOU KNOW: Steve Martinson was a member of the Tulsa Oilers team in the old CHL that suspended operations on February 16, 1984, playing only road games for the final six weeks of 1983-84 season. Despite this adversity, the team went on to win the league's championship.