Barry the Blogger Goes Mainstream, Training Camp Update - Player to Watch, Jersey Numbers, Trickle Down Begins and Some Texas Hockey History

If you are on social media you most likely saw the Allen Americans announced yesterday that I have been selected as the "Official Blogger" for the team. If you haven't seen them here is the press release the team issued and the video announcement that captain Joel Chouinard was kind enough to do.

Press Release:

Allen, Texas – The Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, announced today that Barry Janssen aka “Barry the Blogger” has been named the official blogger of the Allen Americans. Allen Americans President, Matt Canavan, announced in his new role Barry will continue to write the Allen Americans Blog each day during the hockey season but will also provide content for the Allen Americans website.

“Barry has covered our team since Steve Martinson became coach and general manager in 2012,” Canavan said. His daily blog has been an invaluable resource for our fans. Barry has built relationships with the coaches, players, front office staff and others around the ECHL which is evident through his writing. We are excited to have Barry as the official blogger for the Allen Americans.”

Tommy Daniels, who encouraged Barry to start his blog and has helped him along the way had this to say, “Barry’s blog has been a huge asset for Americans fans for the last six seasons. We appreciate his hard work, daily giving our fans an in-depth look inside the Americans locker room from a media perspective. We look forward to his continued coverage as the official blogger of the Allen Americans.”

“Being a 10 year season ticket holder and starting the seventh year writing my blog I am excited for this opportunity to expand my role in spreading the word about the Allen Americans," Janssen said. "Becoming the official blogger for the team will provide even more access to and insight into the players, coaches, and front office staff. I am thankful for the support from owner Jack Gulati as well Matt Canavan, Steve Martinson and Tommy Daniels. My role for the upcoming season in addition to writing the daily Allen Americans Blog is still being defined but the goal is to have some fun and provide more content for the Allen Americans website."

You can follow Barry on Twitter at Allen Americans Blog (@allenamericans1) and on Facebook by liking the Allen Americans Blog page.

  

- I want to thank everyone for all the messages of congratulation. It was great to hear from so many here in Allen, from former players and their families, from fans around the ECHL some of which I have known since the CHL days and from fellow bloggers and writers. I have even heard from a lot of my friends on my personal Facebook account who have no idea where Allen is located or even if it is a town or a person. If they planned to go to an Allen Americans game they would have no idea if they were going to see hockey or soccer. They are just impressed, knowing me, that at my age I am doing anything productive, unless you call hunting and fishing productive. 

- I do want to address several questions asked about how the blog will change now that I am the official blogger of the Allen Americans. The short answer is not at all but here is how this came about. I was first approached about this move prior to the beginning of last season. The goal was pretty simple, is there a way to drive traffic from my blog to the Allen Americans website. During the hockey season there are between 35,000 & 40,000 page views of the blog each month. I have deliberately avoided trying to monetize this traffic. I don't make a dime from the blog, refuse advertising and guard my independence more than anything. I have always seen my customer as the hockey fan but I am also interested in the success of the franchise.


- After the disappointing end to last season I did a wrap up interview with Steve Martinson which covered a myriad of topics and at some point he asked again if I would consider trying to help the team get more traffic to their website. That was the impetus for me to take a hard look at a way to be the official blogger and still maintain my independence. We had several meetings over the summer and the Americans could not have been more accommodating to allay my concerns about me keeping my independence, being able to say what I want, not approving my blog posts, not becoming a marketing tool and being about the on ice product. Once everyone was in agreement which didn't take that long, we spent the summer working on all of the operational details. There will certainly be a learning curve for me as the software I use is different than what is used by the Americans but I am going out on a limb and say you can teach an old dog a new trick.


- That is a long winded way to say the blog will not change in form and substance. What is new is I will also post the blog every day on the Allen Americans website and provide other content that won't be in the blog. The goal is to have fans visit the Allen Americans website frequently because there is interesting content about the team. One feature I will be doing every week during this 10th anniversary season is "Where Are They Now" which will only be posted on the Americans website. If there is a former player you would like to hear from let me know and I will try and contact them. 


TRAINING CAMP UPDATE 

 - I always get asked if anyone stands out of the new guys in training camp. If I had to pick one player that I hear the most buzz about it would be Kevin Sundher. If you are attending the preseason games this weekend keep an eye on #9. He has blazing speed and a bunch of offensive moves.  


- Speaking of numbers it is always interesting to see what jersey numbers are assigned to the new players in camp. With so many more players showing up sometime this week, numbers for new players will mostly like change. Here are a few of the numbers. It is predictable a bigger guy (Lucas Clark) is wearing Aresenau's #16, the tough guy on a tryout contract (Mitch Vandergunst) is wearing Derek Mather's #33 and Ben Duffy (5'11" 180 pounds) is wearing the #77 of Tanner Eberle (5'11" 184 pounds). So much for your favorite number, its all about which jersey fits. 


- There will be a lot of players headed to Allen this week from Iowa and the trickle down process has already begun. The Minnesota Wild reduced their roster to 25 yesterday by sending seven players to the Iowa Wild. The next step in the trickle down process is for Iowa to send players to Allen. Iowa starts their regular season on Friday so players will be sent in the next three days. There will be two groups, the Allen contracted players who are in Iowa and the Iowa contracted players that will be assigned to Allen. Stay tuned as this process could begin at any time. 


- Another possibility to consider even with all of the players in camp and coming from Iowa is other players could be signed. Martinson has mentioned several times that good players will become available as they get released by AHL teams. Something to keep an eye on as AHL teams are now reducing their rosters in preparation for the start of the regular season.   


- Not sure when coach Martinson will start making cuts from training camp but it makes sense with the addition of a bunch of players from Iowa prior to the weekend you can assume there will be players released after the two preseason games against Kansas City on Friday (7:00 pm) and Saturday (4:30 pm).  




DID YOU KNOW:  From the book "Texas on Ice" - In the 50 years before Texas got its own NHL team in 1993 the state was home to five professional leagues and 13 franchises featuring 1011 players. Only nine percent of the players were American while 88 percent came from Canada. The other three percent came from 11 different countries; Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, Italy, Lebanon and Yugoslavia.