- Allen is 5-1-1 in the first seven games these team have played this season but that dominance doesn't mean much at this point. Missouri has been playing excellent hockey recently with a record of 8-2 over their last 10 games. The Mavericks have come from the back of the pack and are now fighting for a playoff spot. They currently trail Alaska for the fourth and final playoff position and are only three points behind the Aces. Throw in the fact Missouri was 6-1 at home during the month of February and you can see the Americans will have their hands full tonight.
- Allen will be without Greger Hanson and Bryan Moore who are on loan to the AHL. The Americans added forward Alex Schoenborn to the roster yesterday as he was assigned to Allen by San Jose. Alex played two games for Allen last season. (See details below).
- Here is how Allen and Missouri match up:
ALLEN MISSOURI
Team Record: 35-17-3-2 (75 points) 26-21-2-5 (59 points)
Division Ranking: 2nd Mountain 5th Mountain
Conference Ranking: 3rd Western 9th Western
League Ranking: 4th 18th
Last Game: 9-1 Win (Tulsa) 4-1 Win (Tulsa)
Goals For: 228 178
Goals Against: 167 181
Power Play: 22.3% (55/247) 15.1% (36/238)
Penalty Kill: 83.9% (43/267) 83.3% (33/198)
Most PIM Mathers (224) Fox (91)
Leading Scorers: Costello (31-72-103) Fox (24-33-57)
Hanson (30-35-65) Nowick (20-22-42)
- Here is how Allen and Missouri rank in the ECHL in some statistical categories:
Penalty Minutes Per Game: Allen 1st (20.07) - Missouri 14th (13.15)
Goals Scored Per Game: Allen 2nd (4.00) - Missouri 15th (3.30)
Goals Allowed Per Game: Allen 5th (2.93) - Missouri 16th (3.35)
Shots For Per Game: Allen 15th (31.77) - Missouri 18th (31.61)
Shots Against Per Game: Allen 22nd (34.49) - Missouri 23rd (34.54)
Power Play Percentage: Allen 6th (22.3%) - Missouri 21st (15.1%)
Penalty Kill Percentage: Allen 9th (83.9%) - Missouri 11th (83.3%)
- A couple of things stand out when you look at the stats. Allen takes a lot more penalties than Missouri averaging seven more minutes per game. Toughness is not a Missouri strength as they have only 28 major penalties all season compared to Allen with 64. Derek Mathers has 25 fights while the entire Missouri team combined has just 35 fights. You would have to assume there will not be a lot of penalties in this game but you never know. In the past Missouri seemed to struggle against teams that play a physical style and that is exactly what you can expect from Allen. However, along with their recent improved play the Mavericks have exhibited more toughness.
- As I was updating the stats above from the last time Allen played Missouri (January 16) it was noticeable the Mavericks were improved in almost every category. Back in January Allen was in first place in the division and Missouri was in last place. You would have to put this in the odd stat category but since these teams last played on January 16 they have identical records of 12-4-1-1. The great record hasn't helped Allen much with Colorado on a 16 game win streak but it has gotten Missouri in the playoff picture.
- If you combine the stats for the seven games these teams have played this season Allen leads in goals (26-17) but Missouri has a slight edge in shots (244-240). Allen has a big advantage on the power play as they have at least one power play goal in six of the seven games. The Americans are 7-33 (21.2%) on the power play while Missouri is 4-40 (10.0%). Allen has 119 penalty minutes compared to 85 for Missouri.
- With Hanson gone the plan was to move Moore up to the top line. With Moore loaned to Manitoba look for Dyson Stevenson to start the game tonight with Costello and Asuchak. Riley Gill will get the start in goal.
- The referee scheduled for the game is Andrew Bruggeman (#25) and the linesmen are Lucas Bisbee (#72) and Tony Pizzutelli (#85).
OTHER COMMENTS
- Greger Hanson will not play tonight for Binghamton when they play in Utica. Greger will be serving the second of his two game suspension. The Senators have a home and home against Syracuse on Saturday and Sunday so Hanson should see plenty of action this weekend.
- Bryan Moore should also get plenty of playing time with Manitoba this weekend. They have three road games in three different cities with Rockford tonight, Milwaukee Saturday night and Chicago Sunday afternoon.
- Aaron Dell was in goal last night as San Jose beat Vancouver 3-1. Aaron has won eight of 11 starts, has a GAA of 1.88 and save percentage of .935.
- Alex Schoenborn joins Allen after spending the entire season with the San Jose Barracuda where he played in 25 games and had four points (1 goal 3 assists). Alex was the third round pick (#72 overall) of the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 NHL draft. He just turned 21 in December and will become the youngest player on the Americans. What type of player is Schoenborn? Here is some of what was said when he was drafted. Alex is a player with size, skill and tenacity. Gives 100% effort in all phases. A lunch pail player that doesn't get cute. He hits hard, has a strong forecheck and is aggressive in puck battles.
Here are his stats courtesy of hockeydb:
Alex Schoenborn
Right Wing -- shoots R
Born Dec 12 1995 -- Minot, ND
[21 yrs. ago]
Height 6.02 -- Weight 205
Born Dec 12 1995 -- Minot, ND
[21 yrs. ago]
Height 6.02 -- Weight 205
-
round 3 #72 overall 2014 NHL Entry Draft
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2011-12 | Lincoln Stars | USHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2012-13 | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | -2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2012-13 | Wenatchee Wild | NAHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 34 | -3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2013-14 | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | 72 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 121 | 19 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 41 |
| 2014-15 | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | 49 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 66 | -11 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 18 |
| 2015-16 | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | 67 | 27 | 30 | 57 | 80 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 2015-16 | San Jose Barracuda | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2015-16 | Allen Americans | ECHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2016-17 | San Jose Barracuda* | AHL | 25 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 17 | -1 | |||||
DID YOU KNOW: Whenever you compare how a player scores in the AHL versus the ECHL there are a couple of factors to take into consideration. To start with players in the AHL are generally bigger, faster and quicker than the players in the ECHL so that makes it harder to score. A more important factor, however, has to do with ice time and what line you play on. Top scorers in Allen get lots of ice time and power play opportunity. When they are loaned to AHL teams they are usually on the third or fourth line and do not get power play opportunities. Many times the fourth line gets few or no shifts in the third period. Here are the average points per game for Allen's top scorers for games played in the ECHL versus the AHL. These are career statistics with the first number being average points per game in the ECHL and the second number being the average points per game in the AHL.
Chad Costello - 1.60 vs .43
Greger Hanson - 1.16 vs .26
Bryan Moore - 1.05 vs .29
Spencer Asuchak - .93 vs .20
Gary Steffes - .75 vs .30
I have heard it said that the best ECHL players are bottom AHL players and the best AHL players are bottom NHL players. Each jump has bigger, faster, better players as you mentioned. It doesn't seem like there is much permanent movement from one league to the next league excluding the top NHL drafted players.
ReplyDelete