- Two more injuries have impacted the Allen Americans roster. Thomas Frazee (effective 11/28) and Josh Atkinson (effective 11/25) were both place on the 14 day (minimum) injured reserve (IR) yesterday. These moves are not surprising as both players have been playing with injuries for some time. The injuries will not get better without taking the time to get them fixed.
- Atkinson's move to IR can be dealt with because there still seven healthy defensemen. Forwards are another story with six out of the lineup with injuries. Braylon Shmyr, Dante Salituro and Johnny McInnis are all expected to practice today and are listed as day to day so hopefully one or more will be cleared to play tomorrow (Friday) night.
- There has certainly been a lot of chatter on social media about the upcoming games against Wichita. Everyone is an expert in their own opinions and many have been more than willing to share those opinions so thought I would add my opinion to the mix. I talk to coach Martinson most every day and his focus since the loss in Tulsa on Tuesday night has been how to prepare his team to get four points this weekend. He has added toughness to the team (Garrett Clarke & Jake Doty) recently because it was needed and not many people disagree with the notion the Americans lacked the toughness that made them successful in the past. As to the rumor Allen will sign Alex Penner before Friday, I think all of the chatter is driven more by the player's name, Alex Penner, not that he is a tough guy. Adding toughness to play a specific team is something I have seen happen many times in the last 10 years. I have seen teams sign guys off the street, call up tough guys from the SPHL and activate tough guys who sit out most of the time when they play a tough team. If coach Martinson signed a unknown tough guy from the SPHL today for the games this weekend because Allen is shorthanded nothing would have been said. Finally, my opinion based on observing these types of situations many times in the past is they usually don't live up to the pregame hype. Problems usually happen when you least expect it and when you are sure there will be problems it usually doesn't pan out that way. Sure there will be a fight or two as is always the case with Wichita but I would be surprised if things get out of hand like they did back on October 20 at the home opener against the Thunder.
- Allen leads the ECHL in minor penalties (117). However, when it comes to major penalties the Americans are way down the list so the claims of Allen being a team that takes a lot of major penalties is not founded in fact. Here are the top teams in major penalties.
27 - Rapid City
20 - Idaho
16 - Wichita
16 - Fort Wayne
16 - Cincinnati
16 - Utah
15 - Jacksonville
14 - Greenville
13 - Kalamazoo
13 - Orlando
12 - Indy
12 - Worcester
11 - Florida
10 - Reading
10 - Atlanta
10 - Allen
- Which ECHL teams fight the most? Here is the complete list courtesy of the website dropyourgloves.com, from most fights to fewest fights:
29 - Rapid City
24 - Idaho
20 - Utah
17 - Fort Wayne
17 - Greenville
17 - Kalamazoo
16 - Cincinnati
15 - Wichita
14 - Jacksonville
14 - Indy
13 - Florida
13 - Atlanta
12 - Worcester
11 - Reading
11 - Toledo
11 - Reading
10 - Orlando
10 - Adirondack
9 - Norfolk
9 - Kansas City
8 - Allen
7 - Manchester
7 - Maine
6 - Newfoundland
6 - Tulsa
4 - Brampton
4 - South Carolina
- Here is a story written by Justin Cohn from The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne about fighting in hockey. Justin writes about why fighting has become less frequent in the NHL and AHL but not in the ECHL. A good read: http://journalgazette.net/sports/professional/komets/20181122/echl-is-not-about-to-scrap-scrapping
- Maybe the biggest fight of the weekend will be to see who gets in line first at Killarney's Live Irish Pub on Saturday after the game for the Allen Ice Angels calendar release event. Ice Angels director, Stephanie Di Biase-Wheat never disappoints. Here is the photo Stephanie posted inviting everyone to the event:
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| Allen Ice Angels |
- ECHL attendance just passed one million for the season and is down slightly from last season which is not unexpected as average attendance increases as the season progresses. Here are the changes in the average for the 25 ECHL teams that were in the league last season and this season (Newfoundland & Maine are first year teams). The numbers show average per game increase or decrease in attendance from the full season last year to the current average attendance this season:
+800 - Norfolk
+792 - Wichita
+400 - Fort Wayne
+262 - Worcester
+250 - Orlando
+214 - South Carolina
+203 - Wheeling
+165 - Kalamazoo
+79 - Adirondack
-13 - Florida
-35 - Allen
-47 - Toledo
-87 - Atlanta
-115 - Greenville
-188 - Cincinnati
-314 - Kansas City
-327 - Indy
-338 - Jacksonville
-463 - Brampton
-478 - Manchester
-520 - Idaho
-601 - Reading
-690 - Rapid City
-692 - Utah
-844 - Tulsa
FREE SUITE TICKETS
Would you like free suite tickets for the Allen Americans game on Tuesday. It is against Rapid City and remember it is a day game that starts at 10:35 am. If you are interested give suite owner Ralph Roath a call at 940-442-2560. A great opportunity to see the game from above in the luxury of a suite.
- Finally, I wanted to end today with something I saw this morning from a friend on Facebook. With all that is happening with the Americans and the world this made smile. It's not new and has nothing to do with hockey but if you are someone of my generation it might put a smile on your face:
To my children:
Never make fun of having to
help me with computer stuff.
I taught you how to use a spoon.
DID YOU KNOW: Here are the number of fights for the Allen Americans for each season since joining the ECHL. The number in parentheses is how the Americans ranked that season:
2018-19: 8 fights (ranked #21)
2017-18: 64 fights (ranked #5)
2016-17: 85 fights (ranked #1)
2015-16: 71 fights (ranked #2)
2014-15: 79 fights (ranked #7)
Here are the players with the most fights each season
2018-19: Jake Doty, Josh Thrower, Zach Pochiro - 2 fights
2017-18: Mike Gunn - 11 fights
2016-17: Derek Mathers - 30 fights
2015-16: Dyson Stevenson - 16 fights
2014-15: Garrett Clarke - 16 fights
If Alex Penner suits up it will be interesting to see how much actual playing time he gets. I suspect his contribution will be much more as a “bench presence” than actual on ice contributor —- unless of course the need arises!
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