It Is Getaway Day, Individual Stat Leaders, Team Stats, Decline of Fighting in the ECHL by the Numbers & More

The Allen Americans head to Kansas City today where they take on the Mavericks on Friday night. The hotel stay tonight will be the last for the Americans until April 4, unheard of in AA hockey. Allen has just one road game after tonight before closing out the season in Wichita on April 5 and 6. The team will take a same day trip to Tulsa on March 3.


- I will have a complete roster update and game preview tomorrow but unless C.J. Motte is sent back to Allen, which is always a possibility, Kyle Hayton will get the start in Kansas City. It is hard to overstate the performance of Hayton in his 33 save shutout in Wichita on Tuesday. To play like Kyle did after almost two months without any real game pressure work was remarkable. Here is what coach Martinson told me about Kyle's performance in Wichita, "Obviously it was a big night for Hayton. It is tough to sit and wait for your next chance. Kyle was solid but also played with poise and confidence."


- Coach Martinson also mentioned, "Eight players out of the lineup like we have now is something I have never had before. We need to find a way to get this next big game against Kansas City on Friday."



INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS AND TEAM STATS


- Haven't done this for a while so thought it might be instructive to take a look at Allen's stats leaders with 21 games remaining in the season. Below are the team leaders in various statistical categories with the league rank in parentheses:

Points:
46 - Zach Pochiro (10th)
36 - Spencer Asuchak (41st)
36 - Adam Miller (41st)


Goals:
26 - Zach Pochiro (1st)
15 - Spencer Asuchak (47th)
13 - Braylon Shmyr (64th)
13 - Adam Miller (64th)
13 - Riley Bourbonnais (64th)


Assists:
25 - Dante Salituro (25th)
23 - Adam Miller (36th) 
22 - Alex Breton (43rd)


Plus/Minus: (Games played for Allen)
+8 - Riley Bourbonnais (88th)
+2 - Alex Ranger (227th)
+2 - Etienne Boutet (227th)


Penalty Minutes:
102 - David Makowski (19th)
93 - Zach Pochiro (25th)
91 - Jake Doty (27th)


Fighting Majors:
9 - Jake Doty (13th)
4 - Curt Gogol
4 - Josh Thrower 
  

Shots On Goal:
152 - Zach Pochiro (12th)
137 - Dante Salituro (24th)
125 - David Makowski (37th)
125 - Spencer Asuchak (37th)


Points by Defensemen
31 - Alex Breton (3rd)
24 - Joel Chouinard (20th)
23 - David Makowski (21st)


Goals by Defensemen
9 - Alex Breton (6th)
9 - David Makowski (6th)
5- Joel Chouinard (32nd)


Assists by Defensemen
22 - Alex Breton (5th)
19 - Joel Chouinard (18th)
16 - Josh Atkinson (33rd)


Save Percentage
.913 - C.J. Motte (10th)
.897 - Kyle Hayton (30th)



-  Here is how the Americans rank in the ECHL in some critical statistical categories:

Goal differential - 25th (-41)
Shot differential - 27th (-283)
Average PIMS per game - 3rd (20.57)
Minor penalties - 1st (297)
Power play % - 15th (17.8%)
Penalty kill % - 14th (82.9%)
Ave. goals scored - 23rd (2.82)
Ave. goals allowed - 24th (3.63)
Ave. shots for per game - 21st (30.47)
Ave. shots against per game - 25th (36.02)
Shooting percentage - 21st (9.1%)
Team save percentage - 17th (.900)


- The team stats tell the story. Allen has shown improvement in most categories in the last two months but still rank toward the bottom of the league with few exceptions. With such a poor start it is difficult to improve the season long stats very much. On December 18, 2018 Allen was #27 in points (14) and #27 in  winning percentage (.233). After earning points in 11 of their last 13 games they are now #26 in points (38) and #26 in winning percentage (.373).


- Over the last 20 games here is how much Allen has improved their season long team stats.

+2.5% - power play percentage (15.3% to 17.8%)
+2.2% - penalty kill percentage (80.7% to 82.9%)
+.35 - average goals per game scored (2.27 to 2.82)
-.37 - average goals per game allowed (4.00 to 3.63)
+1.4% - increase in shooting percentage (7.7% to 9.1%)
+.008 -  increase in team save percentage (.892 to .900)



DID YOU KNOW: Everyone agrees the role of the enforcer has been diminished over time and the number of fights have been reduced. There are about half as many fights in the ECHL as there were 20 years ago. Here are some stats that show the decline in fights. This info was taken from the website dropyourgloves.com and shows average fights per game in the ECHL. If you graph every season it is not a straight line down but the trend is definitely in that direction. Here are average ECHL fights per game over time:

1.01 - 1999-2000
.95 - 2008-09
.87 - 2012-13  
.69 - 2016-17
.64 - 2017-18
.56 - 2018-19


How does Allen compare to the averages? They have always been overachievers when it comes to dropping the gloves. Here are the Americans average fights per game over their 10 year history. The asterisks show the seasons Allen won the championship.

.49 - 2018-19 (after 51 games)
.89 - 2017-18
1.2 - 2016-17
.99 - 2015-16*
1.1 - 2014-15*
1.1 - 2013-14*
1.4 - 2012-13*
.95 - 2011-12
1.1 - 2010-11
1.0 - 2009-10