Allen vs Tulsa Preview, John Snowden Named Head Coach in Newfoundland, Reading Sale, Allen Fighting Stats and More

It is game day as the Allen Americans are in Tulsa for the first of three games in three days against the Oilers. The game tonight (7:05 CST) will be the seventh of 13 games these teams will play this season.


- If you look at past performance this season it would be easy to conclude it will be a long weekend for the Americans. In their first six games Allen's record against Tulsa is 1-5. Tulsa's winning percentage is .619 compared to Allen's .341. Tulsa has the best record in the Mountain Division over the last 12 games with a record of 10-2.


- This weekend could be one where past performance is not indicative of future results. The Americans have been playing much better hockey recently. They have earned points in eight of their last 10 games and six straight. Allen's resurgence can be directly attributed to better defense and outstanding goaltending from C.J. Motte. Over the last 12 games Motte's save percentage has been .922. The Americans have not allowed more than three goals in a regulation game in over a month.


- Head to head Tulsa has the advantage in goals (17-11) and shots (245-160). Tulsa has averaged 41 shots per game against the Americans while Allen has averaged 27 shots per game. Allen will have to close this gap this weekend to be successful.


- One area that Allen can use to their advantage is special teams. If you look at season long stats and compare home and away numbers the Americans have the advantage on the power play (19.5% vs 12.5%) and on the penalty kill (83.4% vs 78.9%).


- Allen has been outstanding on special teams over their last six games. The Americans have allowed just one power play goal (1-24). That computes to a penalty kill percentage of 95.8%. The Americans have scored a power play goal in five of their last six games and over that time are 10-28 (35.7%).


- The six games between Allen and Tulsa have been pretty meek and mild. The teams have combined for an average of only 21 penalty minutes per game. That is less than Allen has averaged by themselves this season. In six games there has been just one fight (Jake Doty vs Mike McKee). 


- Scoring first is always a key to victory and those stats favor Tulsa. The Oilers are the only team in the ECHL that have not lost a game in regulation when scoring first. Tulsa has scored first in 19 of their 42 games and have a record of 15-0-3-1. Allen has scored first in only 15 of their 44 games, the fewest number in the league. When they do score first the Americans record is 8-4-2-1. When they don't score first Allen's record is 5-23-0-1.


- Despite the big discrepancy in their records, Allen has fared better in shootout games than Tulsa. Allen is 3-2 in shootouts compared to 0-2 for the Oilers. Tulsa has not won a shootout in well over a year. Between last season and this season they are 0-11 in shootouts. In over time games this season Allen is 1-2, Tulsa is 2-4.


- Allen will be missing three players that are serving suspensions (Curt Gogol, Emerson Clark and Zach Pochiro). Gogol and Clark didn't make the trip. Pochiro will be out tonight but will play on Saturday and Sunday. The plan was for Johnny McInnis, Alex Ranger and Etienne Boutet, who have been out with injuries, to make the trip and hopefully be available as soon as tonight.


- Tulsa will be missing their top goalie, Devin Williams, who is on assignment in the AHL. Williams had a GAA of 2.23 and save percentage of .913 in 26 starts for Tulsa. Allen should see goalie Evan Fitzpatrick tonight. In 17 games he has a GAA of 3.01 and a save percentage of .886. Fitzpatrick started two times against Allen and won both games by a score of 3-2.


- The referee scheduled tonight is Jeff Parker (#22) and the linesmen will be Cameron Dykstra (#79) and Kilian McNamara (#90).


OTHER COMMENTS

- Here is a story that appeared in the local Reading paper (Reading Eagle) which provides detail and background about sale of the Reading Royals. https://www.readingeagle.com/sports/article/royals-sold-but-will-remain-in-reading


- Here is a story about the Newfoundland Growlers head coach, Ryane Clowe, who stepped down yesterday because of concussion related medical issues that date back to 2014 when his 10 year NHL career was cut short. Newfoundland's assistant coach, John Snowden, was named the head coach and the team will recruit a new assistant coach. Snowden spent part of his last season as a player (2013-14) with the Allen Americans. It has been quite a season for the Snowdens. They moved from Orlando where John was the assistant coach for the three seasons to St. John, Newfoundland to be the assistant for the first year Growlers. You can only imagine the logistics of getting family, pets, vehicle. etc. from Florida to Newfoundland. Much of this fell to John's wife, Janelle, who is pregnant with their third child, a girl due in April. Now John takes over the team after the unfortunate health issues with coach Clowe. Wishing the best for the Snowden family as John takes over the Growlers on a permanent basis. Newfoundland is currently #3 in the ECHL in points (56) and winning percentage (.700). https://www.thetelegram.com/sports/newfoundland-growlers-coach-ryane-clowe-steps-down-278611/


- There are 10 games around the ECHL tonight. Mountain Division teams seeing action in addition to Allen at Tulsa are Rapid City at Kalamazoo and Utah at Kansas City. Here is the ECHL Today with previews of all 10 games. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2019/1/echl-today-jan-25


- Idaho's Kale Kessy, who was suspended indefinitely after he attacked Curt Gogol in the game against Allen last Friday, was given a 10 game suspension yesterday. Kessy will miss all three games when Idaho visits Allen next week (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday). Kessy leads the ECHL in fighting majors with 16.



DID YOU KNOW: Some interesting data from the website dropyourgloves.com regarding Allen and fighting. The Americans have been involved in 23 fights this season, seven of them by Jake Doty since he signed with Allen at the end of November. Rapid City leads the ECHL with 58 fights, Brampton has been involved in the fewest fights with nine. Here are some other stats of note:

Best winning percentage (at least 5 decisions) - Jake Doty 67%
Longest fight - Jake Doty vs Mike McKee, 58 seconds
Third longest fight - Jake Doty vs Loren Ulett, 43 seconds
Highest rated fight (9) - Josh Thrower vs Pierre-Cedric Labrie
Most entertaining fights, team - #2 is Allen, #1 is Reading
Most entertaining fighter, #1 Jake Doty, #3 Curt Gogol