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| Big Red to the Rescue |
There were two heroes in Allen's 5-3 win over the Wichita Thunder last night before a crowd of 3846 at the Allen Event Center. The first hero was "Big Red" and bus driver Monty Williams who rescued the Wichita Thunder team somewhere around the Texas-Oklahoma border after their bus broke down. A 1995 Prevost bus with over two million miles is an unlikely hero, but Big Red came thorough in the clutch. The puck drop was delayed about 30 minutes because Wichita was late to arrive to the AEC.
- The on ice hero was Bryan Moore who was credited with four goals and in one of the classiest and most unselfish plays you will ever see passed up his fifth goal. With an empty net at the end of the game Chad Costello put the puck right on Moore's stick but instead of putting the puck in the empty net for his fifth goal Bryan surprised everyone in the AEC including Chad and passed the puck back to Costello who was right at the goal mouth. Chad had no choice but to put the puck in the net. Moore had this to say after the game, "I knew that Costello needed one more for his 300th point with the Americans and I wanted to see him score that goal."
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| Moore with the puck on his stick passes up fifth goal to pass back to Costello (out of frame) - photo by Dianne Webster |
- As it turns out Moore didn't get his fifth goal but assisted on Costello's 300th point as an Allen American. Having 300 points in two and a half seasons is remarkable. Chad is the all time points scorer in franchise history and sets a new record every time he gets a point. He is 65 points ahead of second place Bruce Graham who had 235 points in his Allen career.
- The official scoring hasn't been changed but Bryan Moore will not only miss out on a five goal night he will also miss out on a four goal night. On the third Allen goal Moore's shot went off Spencer Asuchak so that goal will be changed and credited to Spencer.
- Bryan Moore has a goal in 12 of his last 14 games and has two hat tricks in the last week. Bryan has averaged over a goal a game (16 goals in last 14 games) for over a month. It is hard to believe an AHL team hasn't already given him a chance. Maybe San Jose will give him a look. You have to think something will happen soon. Moore is not just a goal scorer as he brings toughness and defense as well. He is a +17 over the last 14 games to go along with 44 penalty minutes.
- As usual you can see all of the goals and fights in the highlights package on ECHL Rewind. Pay special attention to the empty net goal as Bryan Moore passes up what he thought would have been his fifth goal and gives the puck back to Costello. http://www.echl.com/
- There will be a big crowd at the AEC tonight with a 7:05 pm puck drop. It is Star Wars night plus there is a college game between Texas and Texas A & M that starts at 4:05 pm. Come early and take in the college game. Two games for the price of one.
- The Wichita Thunder has given Allen all they can handle the last two Friday nights. Despite their record Wichita is playing better hockey. They got down 2-0 last night but didn't give up and had many opportunities to tie the score before Allen got an empty net goal to put the game away. Wichita out shot Allen 36-26, scored a power play goal and a shorthanded goal and had numerous quality scoring chances. The Thunder power play is 6-14 (42.9%) over the last three games.
- Officials scheduled for the game are referee Stephen Thomson (#27) who was the referee last night and linesmen Brian Bull (#49) and Aaron Schacht (#31).
COACH'S CORNER
Here is Steve Martinson's pregame chat with Tom Manning.
Here are coach Martinson's post game comments:
- It is a good thing Moore showed up tonight. Asuchak will get credit for the third goal as Moore's shot went off Spencer's leg.
- I wasn't in love with the game we played tonight. It seemed like we forgot about the jersey reversal and we aren't wearing the white jerseys at home any more. We passed the other team the puck maybe a dozen times tonight. One line after another kept passing Wichita the puck. We are lucky we didn't give up two shorthanded goals on that one shift.
- When it was 4-1 I was thinking this might be one of those games we win even though we aren't playing well. It was a frustrating game to watch from the bench because we just turned over the puck too many times.
- It is possible Dyson Stevenson will be back in the lineup tomorrow but bringing in any new players is not happening right now. I am talking to a few people but keep in mind we are not the only team in this position this time of year. It is an opportunity for other guys to step up and capitalize on more playing time.
- We have a lineup that can win every night and we just need to play to our potential. I will show the players a few things on video tomorrow. Sometimes when you are winning some bad habits start to creep in. We can certainly play better but it is time to start playing smarter.
- Our equipment is being bused to Florida after the game on Sunday so we can't practice on Tuesday and we wouldn't practice on Monday after three games in a row. After three games in three days with a short lineup the guys can use the two days off.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Here is the latest on the Columbus Cottonmouth's trying to rebuild their team after the bus crash on Thursday. The plan is to play the game as scheduled tonight in Peoria. http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20170120/sphl-and-rivermen-help-columbus-rebuild-roster-after-bus-crash
- Aaron Dell won another low scoring game for the San Jose Sharks Thursday night making 24 saves as the Sharks defeated Tampa Bay 2-1. Aaron's record is now 5-2 with a GAA of 1.84 and a save percentage of .933. Here is Aaron's latest post from his blog, "World's Okayest Blog" where he talks about his family: https://www.nhl.com/sharks/news/worlds-okayest-blog--family-matters/c-285917714
- The San Diego Gulls beat the San Jose Barracuda last night 5-1. Jake Marchment was not in the lineup for San Jose. Greger Hanson was playing for San Diego and had four shots on goal but no points.
- It was a good night for former Allen Americans last night. J.P. LaFontaine had a goal for his third straight game as Toledo beat Indy 4-1. Tristan King scored for Greenville as they beat Atlanta 4-3. Kyle Follmer had a goal and Jamie Schaafsma got the game winner as Fort Wayne beat Cincinnati 4-2.
- It was definitely a milestone night for Chad Costello last night. According to the website eliteprospects.com Chad scored his 300th point as an Allen American in his 500th professional game. Chad has been on a scoring tear recently with nine straight multi point games. In those nine games he has 25 points (6 goals 19 assists). Costello is now averaging 1.76 points per game which is higher than the 1.74 points per game in averaged in 2014-15 when he finished with 125 points. Chad has pushed his ECHL scoring lead to 19 points.
- Allen's combined record against Wichita last season and thus far this season is now at an unbelievable 20-0-1-0.
DID YOU KNOW: The one all time offensive record Chad Costello does not own is goals scored. He trails Bruce Graham in that category and has Greger Hanson coming up from behind. Here are the top ten all time goal scorers in franchise history:
97- Bruce Graham
88 - Chad Costello
83 - Greger Hanson
75 - Gary Steffes
74 - Jarret Lukin
67 - Colton Yellow Horn
62 - Jamie Schaafsma
59 - Nino Musitelli
53 - Brian McMillin
52 - Spencer Asuchak
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