Allen Americans Roster Update, Another Announcement Today, Steve Martinson's Comments, ECHL-TV vs AHL-TV Cost, Baby News, Players Signed by all ECHL Teams, Former Allen Players Overseas

It has been a while since I have written a blog post and the items on my blog list are getting kind of long. It is going to be a challenge to get back in the groove of writing everyday once training camp starts so I am enjoying the off season. Have some big plans for the blog for the upcoming season which should be announced soon.

Hunting season officially commenced September 1st so I have been spending a lot of time sitting on a pail in a blind, in a patch of weeds, in the middle of a harvested cornfield.

PLAYER SIGNINGS

The Allen Americans signed two more players this week and they are not done as they plan on finishing the week with another player announcement this afternoon.

- Eric Roy: On Wednesday it was announced that defenseman Eric Roy will be returning to Allen for his fourth season with the Americans. Here is the press release: https://allenamericans.com/americans-welcome-back-eric-roy/ 

Here is the video announcement:

- Andrew D'Agostini: According to eliteprospects.com the Americans have signed goalie Andrew D'Agostini who played for the Bampton Beast the last last two seasons. Here is a story about the signing from The Peterborough Examiner where Andrew played his junior hockey. https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/sports-story/8871935-d-agostini-lands-in-texas-on-path-toward-nhl/




ROSTER

The announced Allen roster is now up to 17 players. Here is the current roster:

Goalie
Jeremy Brodeur
Andrew D'Agostini

Defensemen
Josh Atkinson
Joel Chouinard
Mike Gunn
Miles Liberati
Eric Roy
Dalton Thrower
Josh Thrower

Forwards
Spencer Asuchak
Chad Butcher
J.C. Campagna
Matt Foget
Casey Pierro-Zabotel
Zach Pochiro
Braylon Shmyr
Kevin Sundher


COACH'S CORNER

- I had the chance to meet with coach Steve Martinson on Wednesday before he headed to Traverse City, MI as part of the Minnesota Wild contingent for the NHL prospect tournament which takes place this weekend. He will have a chance to see many Wild prospects (12 draft picks will participate) as well as prospects from the other seven NHL teams in the tournament. Allen players Matt Foget and Josh Thrower were invited to participate and what a great opportunity for them. Here is a press release with the entire Wild roster, the complete schedule of games and details on how you can watch a live stream of the Wild games free. The Minnesota prospects play Detroit today, Friday (6:30 pm CDT), the New York Rangers on Saturday (5:30 pm CDT) and Dallas Stars prospects on Monday (2:30 pm CDT).
https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/minnesota-wild-prospect-tournament-roster-schedule-083018/c-299904856


- Martinson reports he is just starting rehab on his shoulder replacement and everything is on schedule. He had to let the shoulder heal for the first two weeks and is looking forward to the next steps which will be light resistance training for specific range of motion.


- With AHL training camps about to begin, players that have been holding out for one way AHL deals are starting to look at ECHL opportunities. Coach Martinson is still working with several players/agents in this situation.


- Allen holds the ECHL rights to Vincent Arseneau for the 2018-19 season. Arseneau is on a one way contract with the Utica Comets (AHL) and the hope and expectation is he will be with Utica all season. It is worthy of note, however, that according to eliteprospects.com, Utica has 21 forwards on their roster so competition during training camp will be stiff. If at any point in the season Utica wants to send Arseneau to the ECHL it would be to the Allen Americans.


OTHER COMMENTS

- The AHL announced this week the launch of a new streaming platform (AHLTV) and the prices are very reasonable. The ECHL has not released their pricing for the 2018-19 season but here is a comparison between the AHL and ECHL using last season early bird pricing for the ECHL. About all you can say about the ECHL pricing (unless it is drastically reduced for the upcoming season) is C'MON MAN!

AHL
$79.99 - All teams, All games
$59.99 - One team, All games
$39.99 - One team, Home or Away
$19.99 - All games, One month
$6.99 - All games, One day

ECHL
$199.99 - All teams, All games
$149.99 - One team, All games
$99.99 - One team, Away games
$44.99 - All games, One month
$8.99 - Single live game


- It was baby news week for a couple of former Allen champions who are in the top 10 all-time in games played for the Americans. Bruce and Whitney Graham announced baby number four (a boy) will arrive in early January, it will make two girls and two boys for the Grahams. Mike and Chantal Berube announced they will have baby number three in March. The Berube's have a boy and a girl and their announcement said "tie breaker arriving in March." Congrats to all!


- Here is the complete list of players announced by each ECHL team. It is important to remember the number of players announced is not the same as players signed. This list is changing daily but these are the number of players announced by each ECHL team as of this morning according to the website eliteprospects.com.

24 - Fort Wayne Komets
23 - Atlanta Gladiators
20 - Idaho Steelheads
20 - South Carolina Stingray
19 - Maine Mariners
19 - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
19 - Wichita  Thunder
18 - Brampton Beast
18 - Orlando Solar Bears
17- Allen Americans
16 - Kansas City Mavericks
16 - Adirondack Thunder
16 - Reading Royals
16 - Wheeling  Nailers
14 - Indy Fuel
14 - Tulsa Oilers
14 - Rapid City Rush 
12 - Norfolk Admirals
12 - Manchester Monarchs
12 - Worcester Railers
11 - Toledo Walleye
10 - Florida Everblades
10 - Jacksonville Icemen
10 - Utah Grizzlies
9 - Kalamazoo Wings
9 - Cincinnati Cyclones
4 - Newfoundland Growlers

You may wonder why Newfoundland has only signed four players. One theory is they will get a lot of players assigned by their AHL affiliate (Toronto Marlies). That theory makes sense when you consider Toronto has 41 players on their roster. They could load up the first year Growlers with a bunch of AHL contracted players. 


- If you add up all of the numbers there have been 400 players announced thus far around the ECHL. When the season starts the total players on ECHL rosters will be over 800. There will be a lot of announcements over the next three weeks.


DID YOU KNOW: Here are some (not all) of the Allen Americans from the past that are playing overseas this season. Information courtesy of eliteprospects.com.

Alex Lavoie - Austria
Konrad Abeltshauser - Germany
Dallas Ehrhardt - England
Josh Brittain - Germany
Judd Blackwater - Slovakia
Josef Fojtik - Czech Republic
Devin DiDiomete - Italy
Rylan Schwartz - Germany
Colton Yellow Horn - Austria
Justin Kirsch - Germany
Chad Costello - Germany
Konrad Abeltshauser - Germany
Rick Pinkston - Scotland
Corbin Baldwin - England
Jaynen Rissling - England
Tanner Eberle - England
Greger Hanson - Germany
Marcus Basara - England
Garrett Clarke - Romania
Alex Guptill - England
Spencer Edwards - France
Harrison Ruopp - England
Nicholas Miglio - Germany
Jonathan Lessard - France
Joel Rumpel - Scotland

Chad Costello and Greger Hanson are teammates (Krefeld Pinguine)
Harrison Ruopp, Marcus Basara and Dallas Ehrhardt are teammates (Manchester Storm)
Alex Guptill and Jaynen Rissling are teammates (Nottingham Panthers)