Weekly Update - Allen Connections in Elite Eight, Brabham Cup Curse, Playoff Update, Tulsa's Unstoppable Line and More

- There is not much new on the Allen Americans recruiting front but it is important to remember it is still very early in the process. The NHL, AHL and ECHL are in the second round of their playoffs and in seven of Allen's 10 seasons they were still playing at this point. As a reminder here is the last game in each of the last 10 seasons:

May 4, 2010 - A 4-3 loss to Rapid City in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
May 8, 2011 - A 5-3 loss to Bossier-Shreveport in the CHL Berry Conference finals
April 10, 2012 - A 4-2 loss to the Texas Brahmas in the CHL Berry Conference semi-finals
May 11, 2013 - A 4-3 OT win over Wichita in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
May 10, 2014 - A 5-2 win over Denver in the CHL Presidents' Cup finals
June 14, 2015 - A 6-1 win over South Carolina in the Kelly Cup finals
June 9, 2016 - A 4-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers in the Kelly Cup finals
May 9, 2017 - A 4-3 loss to Colorado in the ECHL Mountain Division finals
April 25, 2018 - A 4-1 loss to Idaho in the ECHL Mountain Division semi-finals
April 6, 2019 - A 4-1 loss to Wichita, out of playoffs


-  In talking to coach Martinson he is spending the majority of his time researching players at all levels and coordinating with the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild. The Wild have shared with Martinson they will be signing more players this season which will be of great help to Allen. 


- I've heard from many Allen fans they have lost interest in the Kelly Cup playoffs since the Americans are not participating for the first time in franchise history. There are some connections to the Allen Americans that have made it to the Division finals so if nothing else you can cheer for some of the players that have spent time in Allen in the past. Here is the list:

Cincinnati - none

Florida
Mitch Vandergunst - Mitch was in training camp with Allen this season.

Newfoundland
John Snowden - John is the Growler's head coach. He played in Allen in 2013-14.
Eric Levine - well traveled goalie (15 teams in six pro seasons) play five games in Allen (2013-14).

Tulsa
Steve Kaunisto - played 10 games in Allen in 2011-12.

Toledo
Chris Crane - played part of three seasons in Allen and was big part of the 2014-15 championship.
Bryan Moore - had 48 goals in two seasons with Allen (2016-18).
Matt Register - Matt had two stints in Allen, 2011-12 and 2015-16.

Idaho - none

Orlando
Matt Foget - Matt played in Allen briefly in 2017-18 and was in camp this season
Alex Schoenborn -  contracted player from San Jose played in Allen 2016-18.
Colby McAuley - contracted player from San Jose played in Allen 2017-18.
Mike Brodzinski - contracted player from San Jose played in Allen 2017-18.

Manchester
Pavel Jenys - contracted player with the Wild played nine games with Allen this season.
Stepan Falkovsky - contracted player with the Wild played 12 games with Allen this season.


- The second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs got off to a rough start for three of the division champions. Newfoundland, Cincinnati and Florida all lost at home in their opening game. However, they all bounced back in game two so the series are tied 1-1. Tulsa was the exception as they have a 2-0 lead heading to Idaho for the next three games.


- I saw a video where Tulsa head coach, Rob Murray, was talking about the team taking a 26 hour bus ride to Boise for the next three games of the Mountain Division finals. The Oilers have a 2-0 lead in the series and can close out the Steelheads in Idaho. The teams play on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It is bad enough Tulsa has to bus rather than fly to Boise. You can only hope they are not still using Allen's old bus, "Big Red" for this trip. Big Red hates mountains and getting over them has proven to be a 50-50 proposition in the past.      


- Because of arena availability the Central Division championship, Cincinnati vs Toledo, is a rare 1-3-3 format. The series is tied 1-1 with the road team winning the first two games. The next two games are in Toledo on Wednesday and Friday. The big question in this series is will Cincinnati follow a long list of teams that have won the regular season championship and failed to win the Kelly/Riley Cup? The Cyclones won the Brabham Cup this season with 110 points which was four more points than South Division leader Florida, 16 more points than North Division leader Newfoundland and 20 more points than Mountain Division leader Tulsa. However, in the 31 year history of the ECHL only three teams have won the Brabham Cup and gone on to win the Kelly/Riley Cup. Alaska did it three times (2014, 2011, 2006), Cincinnati did it in 2008 and South Carolina in 1997. Will the curse of the Brabham Cup bite Cincinnati this season?


DID YOU KNOW:  The top three scorers in the 2019 ECHL playoffs not only come from the same team, they are on the same line. The Tulsa Oilers line of Alex Dostie, Stephen Perfetto and Adam Pleskach have been unstoppable so far. They have combined for 45 points (23G, 22A) in Tulsa's first nine playoff games. They have scored 72% of the Oilers goals. Here are their individual stats:

16 points (10G, 6A) Alex Dostie
16 points (5G, 11A) Stephen Perfetto
13 points (8G, 5A) Adam Pleskach 

No other player in the Kelly Cup playoffs has more than 10 points or 6 goals.