Eric Roy Traded, Chad Butcher Quits, Profile on New Forwards Greg Chase and Mitch Maloney, Allen vs Tulsa Preview and Making the Playoffs by the Numbers

I said in the blog yesterday you never know who is coming and going from morning to afternoon and it turned out to be prophetic when Eric Roy had a great practice in the morning and was traded less than an hour later. Allen traded Eric to the Wichita Thunder for two forwards, Greg Chase and Mitch Maloney.


- This was a trade that met needs for both teams. Allen needed forwards with all of the injuries they have had upfront. One day at practice this week three defensemen were playing forward. With the addition of Chase and Maloney, who arrived in Allen last night, the Americans will be able to play 10 forwards tonight for the first time in a long time.


- Wichita had the opposite problem from Allen, they had too many forwards but were short defensemen because of injuries. Just as important in the trade is the fact that Wichita has one of the worst power plays in the league. Their home power play is only 7.1%. The Thunder were looking for a defenseman who could quarterback the power play and they are hard to find. Eric Roy is one of the best. Almost half of Roy's career points have come on the power play. Wichita coach Malcolm Cameron had this to say about the Roy acquisition, "I felt like we needed an experienced go to power play guy because power play is such an important part of the game." With Eric Roy the Thunder not only get a player to help an ailing power play, they also get an experienced defenseman with a Kelly Cup on his resume. I have no knowledge of this but can't help but think Eric's good buddy, Wichita captain and former Allen player Dyson Stevenson played a role in this trade.


- On a personal note it is always difficult to see a player you have gotten to know move on. Eric is a quiet young man but once you get to know him is a great guy. We share a love of fishing and he came out to Heritage Ranch where I live to catch some slab crappies many times. He will be missed for sure. Always a class act, here is what Eric had to say after the trade, "Just wanna say thank you to the Allen Americans for the past three years. It was great to win a championship in my first year and play in front of great fans every night. I am excited for the new opportunity with the Wichita Thunder."


- Almost completely lost in fervor of the Roy trade was another player moving on. Forward Chad Butcher was suspended after he quit the team. Butcher was being counted on to play a key role this season but only played in three games because he arrived at training camp with an injury. Coach Martinson made some decisions on other players based on the fact Butcher would be back. To say coach Martinson was not happy after Butcher stayed in Allen all of this time and then decided to quit the team to head off to college to play hockey would be an understatement. It wasn't the fact that Butcher decided to pursue his education, it was how he handled it that pissed off the coach. The official transaction regarding Butcher is suspended by team, removed from active roster. The reason to do this transaction is to retain his ECHL rights. This prevents him from signing with another ECHL team.


- Here is some background on the two forwards Allen got in the Roy trade.

GREG CHASE: Greg is a 6'1" 190 pound right shot forward who was the seventh round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2013 NHL draft. He is in his fourth season as a pro and has played 97 AHL games (7G, 20A) and 70 games in the ECHL (26G, 34A). Chase signed a three year entry level NHL contract with Edmonton in 2013. Greg is another of the many players who have played for Allen from the WHL (Western Hockey League). His last year in juniors with the Calgary Hitmen he led the team with 85 points (35G, 50A) in 70 games. Chase started last season in Wichita who is affiliated with Edmonton and he was still under his NHL deal. However, his NHL rights were traded to Florida by Edmonton in December of 2017 and Chase was assigned to Florida's AHL affiliate. His NHL deal expired after last season and Greg signed with Wichita for the 2018-19 season. This is what Wichita coach, Malcolm Cameron said when he signed Chase at the end of August, "Greg is a dynamic, offensive player who has tremendous speed. When he was traded last season it left a large hole in our lineup." 

Chase will have a few familiar faces when he arrives in the Allen locker room today. Chase Lang and Josh Thrower were teammates in Calgary and Alexandre Ranger was a teammate in Norfolk.

Here is a video of Greg Chase from 2016 after he had signed his NHL deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Getting drafted and signed by your hometown team must have been very special.

MITCH MALONEY: Mitch is a 6'0" 212 pound left shot forward who is a first year pro after completing his collegiate career at Ferris State University last season. His first year at Ferris State was C.J. Motte's last. Maloney was a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award (hockey equivalent of the Heisman Award) last season. He played in six games for Wichita after completing his collegiate career last season. When Mitch was signed by Wichita in August he was described this way, "Mitch is a big bodied, intelligent forward that meshed seemlessly with us for the playoffs last season. He protects the puck well and goes to the hard areas."

Maloney has had a difficult time cracking the Wichita lineup thus far because they have so much depth (15 forwards). He has played in just three games and has one goal. Mitch will get a chance to play in Allen and show what he can do. Here is a video from the Wichita training camp in early October. Mitch had just returned from the Rockford (AHL) training camp.

      



ALLEN VS TULSA SERIES PREVIEW


- With all of the moving parts regarding the Allen roster over the last couple of weeks the focus now turns to the weekend with home and home games against the Tulsa Oilers. The teams play tonight in Allen and in Tulsa on Saturday. The game tonight will be the second of 13 games against the Oilers this season. In their first encounter on October 21st in Tulsa the Oilers came out on top beating the Americans 6-4 while out shooting Allen 53-32.


- Tulsa has gotten off to a great start going 6-1-2-2 thus far compared to Allen's record of 3-9-0-2. Tulsa has won their last two games while Allen has lost seven in a row.


- Here is the match up between Allen and Tulsa:

                                     ALLEN                                TULSA

Team Record               3-9-0-2 (8 points)                   6-1-2-2 (16 points)
Division Ranking         7th - Mountain                        3rd -Mountain
Conference Ranking   12th - Western                        5th - Western
League Ranking          26th                                        9th
Last Game                  5-4 loss (Wichita)                    5-4 Win (Idaho)
Goals For                    40                                           36
Goals Against             58                                            32
Power Play                 14.9% (10/67)                         11.1% (5/45)
Penalty Kill                  84.3% (11/70)                         84.2% (6/38)
Leading Scorer           Shmyr  (7-7-14)                       Pleskach (6-5-11)
Most PIM's                  Makowski (62)                        Kromm (13)


-  There are many stats that explain the challenge for Allen against Tulsa but maybe none more than shot differential (shots for minus shots against). Tulsa is #2 in the ECHL with a shot differential of +86 while Allen is ranked #26 with a shot differential of -95. This big difference in shots leads to goals. Allen is ranked last in goals allowed giving up an average of 4.14 goals per game. The Oilers are ranked #9 giving up an average of 2.91 goals per game. Coach Martinson has spent the majority of practice time this week working to improve defensive play and thus shots on goals. Hopefully it will pay off with fewer shots allowed and more shots on on goal for the Americans.


- Special  teams are always key but even more so in the next two games. With Braylon Shmyr back and recently signed Adam Miller having time to practice with the top power play unit look for improvement. The team spent a lot of time working in practice on getting the puck in the zone and getting the power play set up. Hopefully the extra work pays off. If you compare home vs road special teams Tulsa has the advantage. Allen's power play at home is a paltry 7.4%, Tulsa on the road is at 13.3%. Allen's home penalty kill is 80.8% compared to Tulsa on the road at 86.4%.


- In my opinion you should throw the stats out the window for the game tonight. The good news for Allen is they will have a full team and nobody will be playing out of position. The bad news is two of the forwards just arrived last night and will not practice before they play their first game. Three other forwards joined the Americans in the last two weeks. The bottom line is this game will be won by the team with the most "want." After losing all five home games this season, playing with a bunch or new players and missing so many key players I look for a big effort from the Allen Americans tonight. The Americans have plenty of reasons to out "want" the Oilers.


- Greg Chase will be wearing #10 and Mitch Maloney will be wearing #24. 



DID YOU KNOW: Over the last two seasons the average number of points to make the ECHL playoffs is about 79 points. Allen has eight points in their first 14 games. To hit 79 points they will need 71 points in the next 58 games. That calls for a record of something like 34-21-2-1 the rest of the way. Making the playoffs will be a tall order if the Americans don't get things turned around very soon.