This And That - 11/4/2014

 - The Allen Americans have a few days of practice before they take on the Tulsa Oilers on Saturday (7:05) and Sunday (4:05) so plenty of time to work on some of the issues coach Martinson has discussed recently including stick penalties, gap control and puck support. The team may even get a day off since they have a week between games.

- With a 2-2 record in their first four games the Americans are tied for fourth place in the ECHL Central Division. Tulsa leads the division (tied with Rapid City) with seven points and play Missouri tonight (Tuesday) in Tulsa. It will be important for Allen to get four points this weekend.

- Brampton is 0-4 and still looking for their first win of the season. They do have one point from an overtime loss but are the only team in the ECHL without a victory. They are now at home for five consecutive games, all against the Quad City Mallards.

- Other than one game on December 7th when the Wheeling Nailers travel to Brampton the seven new ECHL teams will not have a game against the old ECHL teams until December 29th.

- After four games the Allen team leaders include:
Points (7) - Greger Hanson
Goals (4) - Greger Hanson, Jack Combs, Ian Schultz
Assists (4) - Chad Costello
Plus/Minus (+3) - Ian Schultz

- Allen is ranked #11 of 28 teams in the ECHL in average attendance however that is based on only one home game which was the home opener when the championship banner from last year was raised. It will be difficult to maintain the average based on that one game (5006). After 87 games across the ECHL the average attendance is 4465. There are two teams (Brampton & Elmira) who are averaging fewer than 3000.

-  Allen is only four games into the season but it is interesting the difference from last year to this year in scoring from rookies and the defensemen. Allen had the top scoring rookie (Alex Lavoie) and defenseman (Tyler Ludwig) in the CHL last year. This year Tyler is tied for 28th among defensmen and Allen has no rookie in the top 75 in scoring by rookies in the ECHL. These numbers will obviously improve but it sure is a different start from last year. As a reminder Allen started the season last year by winning seven of their first eight games.

- With an average age of 26.45 years the 2014-2015 Allen Americans are the oldest in team history. The youngest team was the 2010-2011 team with an average age of 24.77.

- Not sure what it means as the "reserve" in the ECHL can be used for many different purposes but yesterday Spencer Asuchak was activated from reserve and Devin Di Diomete was placed on reserve. Remember, there is no minimum time you must stay on reserve so this does not say anything about what 18 players will be playing this weekend.

- Have mentioned this before but in retrospect what an amazing group of leaders Allen had on the championship team last year. Four guys who had worn the "C" in the CHL (Berube, Lukin, Rouleau & Tetrault) plus many more who were alternate captains. Here is a list of players from last year that are in leadership roles this year. It says a lot when a player joins a new team and is selected as an on ice leader.
(C) - Jamie Schaafsma, Allen
(A) - Trevor Ludwig, Allen
(A) - Tyler Ludwig, Allen
(A) - Darryl Bootland, Colorado
(A) - Daniel Tetrault, Rapid City
(A) - Bruce Graham, Nottingham
(A) - Trevor Hendrikx, Cardiff
(A) - Garrett Klotz, Indy
(A) - Jarret Lukin , Evansville

DID YOU KNOW: There have only been four 30 goals scorers in the history of the Allen Americans and three of them happened in the same year. In 2010-2011 Bruce Graham and Nino Musitelli had 34 goals and Colton Yellow Horn had 33 goals.  The fourth 30 goal scorer was Bruce Graham who scored 31 goals in Allen's first year (2009-2010). With six extra games in the ECHL a good chance Allen will have one or more 30 goal scorers this year.