The History of the Allen Americans From the Perspective of Barry the Blogger

I live in what is called an active adult resort community called Heritage Ranch which is a fancy way of saying it is for those over 50 or as I like to call our gated paradise "Wrinkle Ranch." We bought the lot to build our retirement home at Heritage Ranch in 2008 but visited the community many times between 1998 when it first opened and when we finally moved in. To get to Heritage Ranch we had to drive by what is now the sprawling developments of The Village at Allen and Fairview Town Center. Back then Stacy Road was a two lane country road which was just fields full of doves. There is so much history in the last 10 years I hope one day someone will write a book about the development of the area, the creation of the Allen Event Center (AEC) and the arrival of the Allen Americans franchise. I have always heard the AEC was a late change to the development after final plans were already completed and the company that built the AEC pitched the arena to the city/developers after plans had fallen through in some city on the east coast.


With the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Allen Americans this weekend in the form of the first ever alumni game, I thought  today would be a good day to talk about the history of the team. Almost all of this information comes from the Allen Americans and the ECHL websites so I want to thank them. I have added my take to supplement this information. Whether you are a recent Allen fan or have been a fan since the beginning I hope you enjoy this short history of the franchise.


The Allen Americans were established in 2009-2010, as an expansion team in the former Central Hockey League (CHL). The Americans have qualified for the playoffs nine seasons in a row though they are at great risk of missing the playoffs this season. In their five seasons in the CHL the Americans made three trips to the CHL Presidents' Cup Finals. In their first season, 2009-2010, Allen lost to the Rapid City Rush in the Presidents' Cup Finals in six games. The Allen Americans returned to the Presidents' Cup Finals in 2013 and 2014, winning back-to-back titles. In 2013, Allen defeated Wichita in seven games, winning by a score of 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Todd Robinson. The Americans were trailing 2-0 going into the third period of that seventh game. Jarret Lukin scored at the 7:13 mark and Trevor Hendrix tied the score with 2:19 remaining in the game before Robinson scored the most dramatic goal in team history.  Brian McMillin was named the playoff MVP. Brian finished the 2013 playoffs with 12 goals, three more than any other player, he was second in points (20), fourth in plus/minus (+8) and first in game winning goals (3) including the game winning goal in games two and four in the finals.


The Americans repeated as CHL champions in 2014, defeating the Denver Cutthroats in five games. Jamie Schaafsma was named the playoff Most Valuable Player. In the five game series against Denver, Jamie had nine points (6G, 3A).


The Americans joined the ECHL after five seasons in the Central Hockey League, which ceased
operations following the 2013-2014 season. Allen, along with six other teams; Brampton, Quad City, Tulsa, Wichita, Rapid City and Missouri became members of the ECHL in October of 2014.


Allen won back to back Kelly Cup Championships in 2015 and 2016, beating South Carolina and Wheeling respectively. In 2015 Allen showed so much resiliency coming from behind in the semifinal against the Ontario Reign after being down 3-1 in the series and trailing 2-1 going into the third period of game five in Ontario. Five third period goals by Allen saved the game and the series as the Americans went on to win in game seven. In the finals against South Carolina the Americans fell behind 2-1 by losing two of the first three game at the AEC and found themselves in a hole. The Americans went to South Carolina and again showed their resiliency winning game four in double overtime (Vincent Arseneau with the game winner) and game five in overtime (Greger Hanson with the game winner). The Stingrays won game six to force game seven at the AEC and Allen blew them out 6-1. The playoff MVP was Greger Hanson who led the team in scoring with 29 points (12G, 17A).


Allen's 2016 championship was unique because they almost didn't get past the first round. The Americans trailed Idaho 3-2 after losing game four (3-1) and five (7-1) in Idaho. The series ended up going to seven games and took overtime on a goal by Tristan King for Allen advance. After the close first round the Americans ran the table to win their fourth straight championship. In round two Allen beat Kansas City 4-2, in round three they beat Fort Wayne 4-1 and in the Kelly Cup final they beat Wheeling 4-2. Chad Costello was the playoff MVP with 36 points (7G, 29A). Chad set the ECHL all-time record for assists in the final series with 10. Chad also set the all-time record for most assists in a playoff year with 29. Both records still stand today.


The Americans have had three ownership groups in their 10-year history. Douglas Miller, the former CEO of Exco Resources, formed Top Shelf LLC, and was the team's original owner from October of 2009 through May of 2014. During that time, Miller brought on other members to his ownership group that included four former NHL players; Mike Modano, Ed Belfour, Craig Ludwig and Richard Matvichuk.


In May of 2014, Miller sold the franchise to Steven Sports Group, based in Wichita, Kansas. In February of 2017 the club was sold to Jack Gulati, who remains the current owner.


Matt Canavan served as team President from 2009 to 2016. He returned in 2017 after Jack Gulati bought the Americans from the Steven Brothers Sports Group.


The Allen Americans have had two Head Coaches in their existence. Dwight Mullins was hired to
coach the then expansion team in 2009 and remained the coach through the 2011-2012 season. In his three seasons in Allen, Mullins had a record of 128-51-17 for a winning percentage of .696. He took the team to the championship final the first year, lost in the third round in the second year and lost in the first round in the third season.


Steve Martinson was hired to replace Mullins for the 2012-2013 season. Martinson is a native of Minnetonka, Minnesota. He played professionally from 1981-1996. Martinson played 50 games in the National Hockey League, for parts of four seasons, with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota North Stars. Martinson is in his 23rd year as a head coach and has won 10 championships (four in Allen). He is just six wins away from reaching the 1000 win milestone.


The Allen Americans have had seven captains in their 10 year history; Jarret Lukin in 2009-2010, Tobias Whelan in 2010-2011, Jason Deitsch for two seasons in 2011-2012 & 2012-2013, Mike Berube in 2013-2014 and Jamie Schaafsma in 2014-2015. Chad Costello and Gary Steffes served as Co-Captains in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Joel Chouinard was named the captain in 2017-2018 and is currently the captain of the team.


The Allen Americans have had two players in their 10 year history that have moved up to the National Hockey League. Defenseman Jordie Benn, was on the Americans inaugural roster in 2009-2010 and currently plays for the Montreal Canadiens.  Benn has close to 450 NHL games played. Aaron Dell, who won a CHL championship with Allen in 2013, is the back up goalie for the San Jose Sharks. Aaron has played in 67 NHL games with a career GAA of 2.55 and save percentage of .913.


The Americans primary colors are red, white and at times blue.The Americans had a blue alternate jersey in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.
 

Tommy Daniels is the teams Broadcaster and VP of Media Relations. Daniels is the team's only
remaining staff member who has been with Allen all 10 seasons.


The Americans play in the 6,200 seat Allen Event Center, located at 200 E Stacy Road in the Village at Allen. Reba McIntyre played the first event at the new building on November 6, 2009.  The Americans played the second event, the following night, on November 7, 2009 in a game against Corpus Christi.


- Because the AEC was still under construction the Americans had to start their first season on the road. The first seven games in franchise history were on the road and it was quite the three weeks. From Allen to Arizona for two games and then single games in Bossier-Shreveport, Laredo, Fort Worth, Tulsa and finally Corpus Christi. The tone was set in those first seven road games that survives today. The Americans arrived back in Allen as a team to be reckoned with. Their record after seven games was 5-1-1 and they averaged 30 penalty minutes per game.


- The Americans lost their very first home game 4-1 to Corpus Christi but it was entertaining with six fighting majors and four game misconduct penalties. Two of the goal scorers for Corpus Christi were Chad Costello who would play for Allen five years later and Ryan Garbutt who would make the jump from the CHL to the NHL (Dallas Stars) just two years later. 

 
The team's website is www.allenamericans.com and the team's offices are located inside the Allen Event Center. The team's front office phone number is (972) 912-1000.



DID YOU KNOW: My history with the Allen Americans goes back to the beginning (2009) when I had to wear a hard hat to tour the AEC to pick out my season ticket location. The first three season I was just a hockey fan who grew up in Minnesota and loved having a professional hockey team 10 minutes from my house. Life changed the fourth season when I started writing the blog and it has become a full time endeavor every since and now I am the official blogger for the Allen Americans. It has been quite a ride over the last seven seasons and I want to thank you for enjoying the ride with me whether on the Allen Americans website (allenamericans.com), Twitter (Allen Americans Blog), Facebook (Allen Americans Blog) or directly at the blog website (allenamericansblog.blogspot.com). Today happens to be a big milestone for the blog as someone overnight became 1,500,000th person to view one of the 1650 stories contained in the blog archives.