Practice Update, Roster Update, Do Goals For and Against Predict Success, Dave Bonk Added to Alumni Game Roster and More

After three days off it was back to practice for the Allen Americans yesterday. It was a combination of skating drills, systems drills, special teams drills and conditioning drills. The team had to practice with just one goalie (Kyle Hayton). C. J. Motte is still called up to Iowa (AHL) and the Wild don't play again until this weekend. Since Motte was not sent back after the Iowa games last weekend I assume he will be in Iowa this weekend. Motte has not played since he was recalled by Iowa.


- Joel Chouinard will also be out of the lineup this weekend with his injury but it is expected Emerson Clark will be back in the lineup. The good news is there should be 18 skaters available for the weekend which is two extra. Playing three games in three days, extra skaters are almost a necessity.


- There are so many ways to look at statistics to explain what has gone wrong this season for the Allen Americans. I was working on stats for a Twitter account I have called ECHL Stats. If you are on Twitter give it a follow (@EchlStats) as you will find some stats on teams and players you won't find elsewhere and I only post a few times per week. Anyway I posted the other day that the top four teams in the ECHL were the top four teams in goals scored and also the top four teams in goals allowed. It got me to thinking how the Americans goals scored and allowed compares to past seasons.


- To start with Allen is ranked #19 in goals scored this season with 144 and they are on pace to finish the season with 199 goals. When it comes to goals allowed Allen is ranked #26 with 187 and are on pace to allow 259 goals this season.


-  If you compare these projections to the past it is almost certain the Americans will end the season scoring the fewest goals since joining the ECHL and also allowing the most goals since joining the ECHL. It will be the first season the Americans will have a negative goal differential. Last season when Allen limped into the playoffs they still had a positive goal differential (just barely). Here are the stats for the last five seasons:

Goals Scored
199 - 2018-19 (projected)
235 - 2017-18
294 - 2016-17
222 - 2015-16
292 - 2014-15

Goals Allowed
259 - 2018-19 (projected)
232 - 2017-18
203 - 2016-17
204 - 2015-16
203 - 2014-15

Goal Differential
-60   2018-19 (projected)
+3    2017-18
+91  2016-17
+18  2015-16
+89  2014-15


- The bottom line is when you score the fewest goals in history and combine that with the allowing the most goals in history you can't be surprised with 20 games remaining in the season the Allen Americans are dead last in the ECHL in points (38) and winning percentage (.365).


- Speaking of the past I really encourage everyone to attend the alumni game on Saturday. It should be a lot of fun to see the players from the past on the ice but also have a chance to interact with them on the concourse. Doors open at 3:15 pm and the puck drop will be at 4:15 pm. Come out and show your support for the alumni game. I heard last night that Dave Bonk has been added to the list of former players that will be here on Saturday.

Dave Bonk

 

#51 Dave Bonk in the alternate blue jerseys from 2010-11

Dave Bonk played just one season in Allen (2010-11) and played in only 47 games because of two loans to the AHL (Oklahoma City Barons & Texas Stars) where he played a total of 17 games. The 2010-11 Allen team was arguably the most talented in team history. That team had three 30 goals scorers (Graham, Yellow Horn, Musitelli) and three 20 goal scorers (Bonk, Blackwater, Lukin) and remember in the CHL they only played 66 games rather than the 72 they play in the ECHL. In his 47 games Dave Bonk had 58 points (20G 38A) to go along with a team leading plus/minus (+27). His +27 is #7 all time for the Americans and he is the only player in the top ten in single season plus/minus for a season in the CHL.

Dave also tied for the team lead in points in the 2010 playoffs with 16 points (6G, 10A) in 13 games. After winning the regular season by 14 points the Americans lost in the Conference Final in the playoffs to the eventual champion (Bossier-Shreveport).

 The following season (2011-12) Dave Bonk signed to play in Japan in the Asia league and spent the next seven years playing in Japan as one of the top scorers in the league. When Bonk retired after last season his totals in the Asia League were 277 games played with 388 points (115G, 233A) for a points per game average of 1.40.

In Bonk's entire pro career which included time in Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Japan in addition to the AHL, ECHL, CHL and UHL in North America, he played in 664 games and had 796 points for a career points per game average of 1.20.



- In the only ECHL action last night Tulsa went on the road and beat Wichita 2-1 in overtime. The bottom three teams in the Mountain Division (Allen, Rapid City, Wichita) are slowly running out of time to make the playoffs. They all have three games this weekend.


- The Allen game tomorrow night against Worcester is  part of the ECHL.TV free showcase series. You can watch the game free, live on Facebook. Just go to the ECHL Facebook page and you will see the link. It shows the game will go live at 7:03 pm Friday night.  



DID YOU KNOW:  Was the 2010-11 Allen team the best offensive team ever? Check out two ways to look at the stats which suggest it was.

Here are the 20+ goal scorers in each season, a who's who of Allen Americans hockey. Total games played in 2009-10 were 64, from 2010-11 thru 2013-14 games played were 66 and from 2014-15 on games played were 72.

2009-10:  
31 Bruce Graham 
23 Nino Musitelli
23 Justin Bowers 

2010-11:  
34 Graham
34 Musitelli
33 Colton Yellow Horn
21 Jarret Lukin
20 Dave Bonk 
20 Judd Blackwater

2011-12: 
26 Graham 
24 Yellow Horn
20 Jim McKenzie

2012-13: 
24 Jamie Schaafsma
22 Darryl Bootland 
21 Scott Howes

2013-14:  
28 Jonathan Lessard 
25 Alex Lavoie 
21 Spencer Asuchak
21 Greger Hanson 
21 Schaafsma 
20 Tyler Ludwig

2014-15:   
44 Gary Steffes
41 Chad Costello
28 Hanson
22 Jack Combs

2015-16:   
24 Costello 
22 Steffes
21 Chris Crane

2016-17: 
35 Hanson 
33 Costello
27 Bryan Moore 
26 Asuchak
21 Steffes

2017-18:
21 Moore
20 Alex Guptill

2018-19:
26 Zach Pochiro (after 44 of 72 games)
 

It is fascinating to look at the Allen Americans history and compare average goals scored per game. Would you be surprised to know the most prolific goal scoring team in Allen history lost in the third round of the playoffs and the teams with the two lowest average goals per game (prior to this season) in franchise history won the championship? Here are the average goals per game for each team in Allen history with their playoff results in parentheses:

2009-10:   3.28 (lost in finals)
2010-11:   4.20 (lost in third round)
2011-12:   3.21 (lost in first round)
2012-13:   3.18 (won championship)
2013-14:   3.77 (won championship)
2014-15:   4.05 (won championship
2015-16:   3.08 (won championship)
2016-17:   4.08 (lost in second round)
2017-18:   3.26 (lost in first round)
2018-19:   2.77 (thru 52 games)