Allen Wins, Tulsa's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and More Press Conference Thoughts

One of the few children's books I remember reading to our two kids over 30 years ago was called, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. As I watched the Allen Americans beat the the Tulsa Oilers 9-1 at the BOK Center last night that book came to mind after not thinking about it for many years.

The "very bad" day for Tulsa started long before the game as soft ice conditions caused by equipment failure overnight threatened to cancel the game before it started. It wasn't until after warmups that the ice was declared acceptable to play. The playing surface was just the beginning of the "terrible, horrible" day for Tulsa. Here is a list:

- According to the Tulsa broadcaster the Oilers couldn't wear their military specialty jerseys during the game because they did not have fighting straps on them. So the Oilers wore the specialty jerseys during warmups and then switched to their regular jersey for the game. The specialty jerseys were auctioned off after the game.
- The 9-1 loss at the hands of the Americans was the most lopsided defeat of the season for Tulsa.
- Tulsa played their worst game of the season on a night where they had one of their biggest crowds of the season as 9582 were in attendance to support Military Appreciation Night.
- You know it is a "very bad" day when the hometown newspaper headline recapping the game is an easy cliche, "Oilers get drilled by Allen 9-1."
- Terrible and horrible would be good words to describe the Tulsa defense. Starting goalie Colin Stevens played 32 minutes and gave up five goals on just 12 shots and most were not his fault.
- Things didn't get any better for backup goalie Jay Williams who played the last 28 minutes of the game. He allowed four goals on nine shots.
- You add up all the shots and and goals and Allen's shooting percentage for the game was 43%. That equates to a "no good" day for Tulsa.
- Allen was 50% on the power play (2-4) while Tulsa was 0% (0-2).
- Tulsa didn't fare any better when they tried to change momentum with a fight. Danick Paquette took on Derek Mathers and didn't land a single punch while taking quite a few.
- Things got worse later in the game for the Oilers and Paquette when he seemed to suffer a shoulder injury and had to leave the game.

You add that all together and you can see why it was a "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" for Tulsa.


- A bad day for Tulsa meant a good day for Allen and it certainly was. Scoring nine goals anytime is impressive but to do so with Greger Hanson, David Makowski and Eric Roy out of the lineup is even more impressive. It shows the skill and depth of this team when they play to their potential.


- You know things are going well for Allen when they score nine goals and Chad Costello doesn't get a single assist in the game. Chad did however, lead the way with his first hat trick since December 5, 2015 against Utah.


- One of the most encouraging things about the win was the balanced scoring. Six different players scored goals and 13 of the 16 skaters had at least one point. Eight players had multiple points led by Bryan Moore with four points (1 goal 3 assists), Josh Brittain with three points (2 goals 1 assist) and Chad Costello with three goals. 


- Goals scorers for Allen were Costello (29,30,31), Asuchak (23), Moore (20), Steffes (15), Brittain (7,8) and Kerbashian (4). The video highlight package is on ECHL Rewind and it includes all nine goals. Here is the link: http://www.echl.com/


- Here is the recap of the game from the Tulsa World which includes quotes from Tulsa coach Jason Christie. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/oilers/oilers-get-drilled-by-allen/article_ef0d14a9-ba4b-5166-9133-811298181742.html


- Coach Martinson's message to me after the game was short and sweet. "We had lots of traffic and numbers at the net which really paid off. We had some great passes which set up some great goals." I would say he was pleased.


OTHER COMMENTS

- I highlighted a few items in the blog yesterday from the Jack Gulati press conference on Thursday. I know many of you were there or have seen it somewhere on line but I wanted to highlight a couple more items from the press conference. Jack talked at length about being a visionary not an operator. He hires good people and lets them do their job. He said the on ice product was excellent but a lot of work needs to be done to "put more butts in the seats." To me that says he will be bringing in some new people to add to the current staff. It will be interesting to see the title and duties of the staff that are added. Jack also mentioned he has asked the commissioner to add games for Allen that would take the Americans on a road trip to the northeast to play Reading as well as teams like Elmira and Manchester. Commissioner McKenna said his goal was to get more variety in the teams that play in Allen. However, he made it clear no matter what division realignment takes place Allen will continue to play the majority of their games against Tulsa, Wichita and Missouri. 


- Allen didn't gain any ground on Colorado with their win in Tulsa last night. The Eagles beat Utah 5-3 to extend their winning streak to 14 games. Allen remains three points behind Colorado in the Mountain Division standings.


- Poor ice conditions were not  limited to Tulsa last night. The game between South Carolina and Rapid City at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center had to be postponed due to an ice issue in the arena. They expect the problem to be fixed for the two teams to play their scheduled game tonight.


- Greger Hanson was loaned to the Binghamton Senators yesterday and had quite a first game last night. Greger didn't have a point but had seven penalty minutes including a rare fight. Hanson had one shot on goal and was a -1 as the Senators lost to Toronto 6-3. Binghamton plays at home against Utica tonight and at Hartford on Sunday so hopefully Greger gets to play a couple more games this weekend.


- Talk about winning streaks, the San Jose Barracuda beat Tuscon 4-3 last night for their 13th straight win. They lead the Pacific Division of the AHL by six points.


- The Americans start their three day all-star break today. There will be no practice until next Tuesday. Time for a few days of fun, rest and relaxation.



DID YOU KNOW: Derek Mathers and Chad Costello are on pace to break all time single season records for the Allen Americans. Mathers had seven penalty minutes last night and has moved into third place all time for single season PIM's with 224 minutes. Derek only trails Brett Lyon (256 minutes) and Garrett Klotz (257 minutes). Derek is on pace to end up with close to 300 penalty minutes this season. Costello is on pace to break his own single season points record which is 125. With his hat trick last night Chad now has 103 points which is tied for second all time with himself as he finished with 103 points last season. Chad is currently on pace to finish with 130 points.