Allen Americans Weekly Update, Current Roster, Team for Sale, Greger Hanson Retires, Free Agent Players From the Past and More

There has been a lot happening around the Allen Americans and the ECHL both past and present so thought today would be a good day to cover a laundry list for those of you that don't follow on a day to day basis. Here goes:

- I received all kinds of feedback from the story I wrote last week about Jack Gulati selling the Allen Americans. If you haven't read that story here is the link: https://allenamericansblog.blogspot.com/2019/07/owner-jack-gulati-confirms-allen.html

I would emphasize the following from my conversation with owner Jack Gulati for the story:

The Americans are stable and profitable. Jack's reason for selling the team is because of health issues with his family.

If the team isn't sold prior to the start of the season Jack will remove the franchise from sale to focus on competing in the 2019-20 season.

There is no risk of the team leaving Allen.


- The number of player announcements around the ECHL has accelerated with almost 60 players announced in the last 10 days. The total is now over 140 ranging from 14 by Maine, 11 by Fort Wayne to three teams that have not announced any player signings (Brampton, Jacksonville, Kalamazoo). Brampton just filled their coaching vacancy (Spiros Anastas). The majority of teams have announced between five and nine players.


- The Americans official roster now stands at five players with the announcement last week that Braylon Shmyr has re-signed. Here is the Shmyr press release: https://allenamericans.com/americans-bring-back-forward-braylon-shmyr/

1. Spencer Asuchak
2. Ben Owen
3. Mike Hedden
4. Jacob Doty
5. Braylon Shmyr


- I had the chance to check in with coach Steve Martinson who is still at home in Rockford before returning to Allen next month. He has been very busy recruiting players he will sign and also working with Iowa on depth guys they will sign who will spend time in Allen. There are some old and new names being recruited that if successful will be very exciting for Allen fans.


- One player from the past that was rumored to be in the mix for Allen that won't return is Dyson Stevenson. It was announced earlier this week that Dyson has signed with the Utica Comets (AHL) where one of his teammates will be Vincent Arseneau. Being a depth guy for Utica, look for Dyson to spend most of the season in Kalamazoo, the ECHL affiliate for Utica. Here is a story written by blogger Cory Hergott which includes a section about Stevenson which says in part, "He has picked up 639 penalty minutes in 279 ECHL games, so I see Stevenson playing in Kalamazoo until someone like Vincent Arseneau gets dinged up in Utica."  https://canucksarmy.com/2019/07/23/utica-comets-add-depth-with-the-signings-of-defencemen-matt-petgrave-aaron-thow-along-with-forwards-dyson-stevenson-tanner-sorenson/


- Riley Bourbonnais has signed with the Odense Bulldogs in the top league in Denmark. Odense is the third largest city in Denmark with a population of about 200,000. Because Riley was given a qualifying offer by coach Martinson the Allen Americans will retain his ECHL rights for the upcoming season. 


- Greger Hanson's wife, Andrea, posted on social media, "After eight years of living the hockey life we are finally settling down! Greger and I are so excited to call Scottsdale our new home."

Hanson played four seasons in Allen and won three championships. Even though he is only 12th in regular season games played (195) he is tied for first in goals (98), fourth in points (225) and fourth in assists all-time.

Where Greger really excelled was in the playoffs. Between 2014-15 and 2016-17 Greger Hanson was #1 in the entire ECHL in playoff goals (30), #2 in points (60) and #4 in assists. In 59 ECHL playoff games, Hanson averaged 1.017 points per game with 30 goals and 30 assists. In addition to winning two Kelly Cups with Allen, Greger was the Kelly Cup MVP in the 2015 playoffs. Clearly one of the all-time greats in Allen Americans history.


- Richard Matvichuk, who was assistant coach in Allen for their first two championships has been hired as the Director of Hockey for the Burnaby Winter Club in Burnaby, British Columbia. Here is a press release: http://www.csshl.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=4542&leagueID=15269


- The Iowa Wild have announced that they have hired Alex Tanguay as an assistant coach. Tanguay played 15 seasons in the NHL and played in over 1000 games. He has been working as an analyst for the NHL Network. Here is the press release from the Wild with more detail:  https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/iowa-wild-announces-alex-tanguay-as-assistant-coach



DID YOU KNOW:  Here is a list of Allen players from past seasons who are free agents. This is just a partial list with names I hear from fans they would like to see return to Allen. All but four are still available so if one of your favorites is on this list you can keep hoping.

Chad Costello - signed with Krefeld (Germany)
Jamie Schaafsma
Matt Register
Dyson Stevenson - signed with Utica (AHL)
Colby MacAuley
Greger Hanson - Retired
Gary Steffes
Bryan Moore - signed with Cleveland (AHL)
Olivier Archambault
Riley Gill
Casey Pierro-Zabotel
Dante Salituro
      

Owner Jack Gulati Confirms Allen Americans Up for Sale With Hope of Attracting Local Investors

Allen Americans owner, Jack Gulati has confirmed to me that the team is for sale. When Jack bought the Americans in 2017 his commitment was that  the team would stay in Allen and he would have a more fan friendly operation. Gulati became a familiar face to fans as he greeted them on the concourse before every game he attended.

Jack Gulati engaging Allen fans

When I contacted Jack this past January after he agreed to sell the other ECHL team he owned (Reading Royals) and asked him what that meant for Allen he said, "I am pleased that I was able to consummate the deal with the current owners of the Reading Royals Arena, where the team has played since 2001. This will have a very positive impact not only for the Reading Royals but as well for the Allen Americans. With the completion of this transaction it will allow me more time to visit with our great fans in Allen and to help the team grow. I am pleased and I hope all of the loyal fans of the Allen Americans will also be pleased that I will be able to see them more often."


Needless to say it was a surprise to hear the Allen Americans were for sale after what fans thought would be many years of stability. The team seemed to have everything going in a positive direction. Gulati negotiated a new five year lease with the City of Allen and the relationship between the city and the team is better than ever. All of the financials from season tickets to groups sales to corporate sponsorships improved each season to a point where the team is now profitable.


So why is the team for sale? The answer to why Jack Gulati is selling the team is very straightforward. He is dealing with some health issues in his family and he has decided as an absentee owner it is better for him and the team to try and find local investors to purchase the Americans. When I talked to Gulati he strongly emphasized the team will stay in Allen. Jack also told me if he doesn't get the team sold by the beginning of the upcoming season he will not sell during the season.


The Allen Americans have so much going as a franchise:

- The largest and most affluent market in the ECHL.
-  A great facility in the Allen Event Center in the middle of premier shopping, dining and entertainment in The Village at Allen and Fairview Town Center.
- DFW is home to 24 Fortune 500 companies and 43 Fortune 1000 companies.
- The on ice product, under the leadership of coach Steve Martinson, who has won 10 championships in 23 years of coaching, struggled last season but won four straight championships from 2013-2016. Martinson has won over 1000 professional games, one of only three coaches to accomplish that feat.


I know there is a lot that goes into the sale of a hockey team but my hope is a local businessman or group will see that the Allen franchise is on the upswing financially, Steve Martinson will recruit a competitive team for the 2019-20 season and the potential of this franchise is outstanding. Local ownership would be great for the ECHL, the Allen Americans and the fans. Only time will tell.     
 

Allen Americans Roster Update, Recruitment Progress, Fan Club Update, Former Player News, ECHL Stats & Information, Coaching Changes & More

The ECHL recruiting process is in full swing with player signing announcements becoming more frequent day by day. There is, however, a long way to go before training camps open the end of September. Thus far around the ECHL 86 player signings have been announced ranging from 10 by Maine, six by South Carolina and Worcester to four teams that have not announced any player signings (Brampton, Jacksonville, Kalamazoo, Tulsa). The majority of teams have announced between two and five players.


- On opening day there will be around 575 players on ECHL rosters so with 86 signed thus far that represents just 15% of opening day rosters. There has been a recent trend of more NHL/AHL contracted players being assigned to ECHL teams and that will impact how many players ECHL teams will sign. In my opinion you will see 8-10 contracted players on most ECHL teams (including Allen) when the season starts. Some of this can be attributed to the new rule adopted by the ECHL Board of Governors (BOG) about the number of games contracted players must play in the AHL to qualify for the ECHL playoffs. Here is that new rule:

The BOG reduced from 10 to five the number of games a veteran player on a NHL or AHL one way or two way contract must play in the AHL during the regular season to be eligible to play in the ECHL playoffs. This may give more opportunity for ECHL veterans to be signed to AHL deals and play the five games in the AHL to qualify for the ECHL playoffs.

For players that are not veterans who are on AHL deals there is no longer a minimum number of AHL games they need to play to be eligible for the ECHL playoffs. The old rules required five games in the AHL. This rule change should mean more depth players signed to AHL deals that may not play in any AHL games but will still be eligible for ECHL playoffs.


- The Allen Americans announced on Saturday that forward Jake Doty will be returning for the 2019-20 season. Doty led the Americans with 13 fighting majors last season and he didn't play his first game until November 21.


- The Americans official roster now stands at four players:

Spencer Asuchak
Ben Owen
Mike Hedden
Jacob Doty


- The Iowa Wild announced last week that they had signed four players. Three of them were defensemen that spent time in Allen last season. Alex Breton led all Allen defensemen in goals and assists despite being loaned to the AHL at the end of February for the remainder of the season. Jack Sadek and Nick Boka played briefly in Allen after completing their college careers. While any of these players could make the Iowa roster in training camp it is likely they will spent significant time in Allen this season. A fourth defenseman, Stepan Falkovsky, is also under contract with the Wild and spent the majority of last season in the ECHL (Allen & Manchester). He could also see time with Allen next season. Here is the Iowa press release. https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/iowa-wild-signs-four-players-to-spc-contracts


- It is getting to the time of the off season when players looking for AHL deals or opportunities in Europe will start making decisions about where they will play next season. Some great players still in the mix for all ECHL teams.


- The Allen Americans Fan Club asked me to post the following information:

"The Allen Americans Fan Club is excited about the upcoming hockey season. A new Board of Directors was elected in July. Returning this year are Greg Simpson who will now be the President of the Fan Club, Beth Turner will be Vice President; Debra Chisolm, Treasurer; Ted Hosterman, member at Large and Teresa Taylor, Secretary. The new board has been passionately working in alignment with the Allen Americans and they have some exciting things planned to support the players. If you are interested in joining and having fun with other passionate Allen Americans Fans this is the year to join the fan club. The one question that is always asked is how much of a commitment is needed to be a Fan Club Member and the answer is to simply engage how you see fit as a fan club member. Reach out to the fan club at fanclub@allenamericans.com and one of the Board Members will be happy to answer any questions and/or send you a membership application."


- About a year ago I started a Twitter page (@ECHLStats) where I post stats and information that I find interesting and hope other ECHL fans do as well. During the summer I also started to post this information on the Allen Americans Blog Facebook page. Last week I decided to set up a separate  page on Facebook called "ECHL Stats & Information" where I will post this leaguewide information. If you are on Facebook, please go to this new "ECHL Stats & Information" page and "Like" the page.


- I will call this the social section about former Allen players. Happy birthday to Dyson Stevenson who turns 26 today. Congrats to Joel and Alexandra Rumpel who got married this weekend. Congrats to Trevor Hendrikx and his wife Laura who just announced they are expecting their first child in January.


- The 2019 World Roller Games were just completed in Barcelona, Spain. More than 4000 athletes competed in events including Alpine, Roller Freestyle, Downhill, Dance, Roller Derby, Rink Hockey and Speed just to name a few. Former Allen Americans forward Jack Combs was a member of the USA rink hockey team that won the World Championship beating the Czech Republic 3-0 in the championship game.


- Check out this story from the Hockey News, "There's a New Hockey Factory in Minnesota - And It's a Middle School" https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/theres-a-new-hockey-factory-in-minnesota-and-its-a-middle-school


- Idaho head coach Neil Graham has been appointed as an assistant coach of the AHL Texas Stars. Idaho then promoted assistant coach, Everett Sheen to head coach of the Steelheads. Here are the details.
 
Neil Graham promoted to Texas Stars: https://www.idahosteelheads.com/en/articles/head-coach-neil-graham-appointed-as-texas-stars-assistant-coach

Everett Sheen promoted to Idaho's head coach: https://www.idahosteelheads.com/en/articles/steelheads-name-everett-sheen-as-franchise-s-eighth-head-coach



DID YOU KNOW: In Allen's first championship in 2013, a dramatic overtime goal in game seven by Todd Robinson is etched in everyone's mind but just as important was the game tying goal by defenseman Trevor Hendrikx with 2:19 left in regulation. It was Trevor's only shot of the game.  

 

      

Vacation Reflections, Spencer Asuchak and Ben Owen Return, Qualified List, Leading Goal Scorers Head to Europe, Players From the Past and More

We just returned from a river cruise in France on the Seine River sailing from Paris to the English Channel. Without a doubt the highlight of the trip was visiting Normandy. My dad was in World War II and I was in the First Infantry Division in Vietnam. The Big Red One played a major role on D-Day, June 6, 1944, leaping from their landing craft into the choppy waters off Omaha Beach. You can read about and see photos of what happened that day and the days, weeks and months that followed but too see it first hand, walk through the various battlefields, gives you a different perspective and makes you realize why they are called the greatest generation.


Because of my connection to the First Infantry Division I was asked, along with two other veterans, to place a wreath at the memorial at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial on behalf of the 120 people in our tour group. Another member of our group brought his bagpipes and kilt and played Amazing Grace. Then everyone sang the National Anthem. Needless to say there was not a dry eye in our entire group.


- I had a chance to catch up with coach Steve Martinson yesterday and as you can imagine he has been very busy with the off season recruiting process. While the Americans have officially announced just two player signings (Spencer Auschak and Ben Owen) other players have been signed but not announced.


- The signing of Asuchak and Owen are special for different reasons. Asuchak has played in 385 games (regular season and playoffs) for the Americans which is 77 more than any other player in Allen history. Spencer will be playing in his seventh season in Allen, no other player has played more than five seasons. Allen is his second home. For Ben Owen, Allen is literally his home having grown up playing and working at the Allen Community rink. Ben is at the opposite end of the games played list for the Americans as he has played in just six games.

Here is the Asuchak press release: https://allenamericans.com/americans-welcome-back-longest-tenured-player/

Here is the Owen press release: https://allenamericans.com/americans-add-local-defenseman-ben-owen/


- Qualifying offers are given to a maximum of eight players to retain their rights for next season. Players that are already signed do not have to be given qualifying offers. The qualifying offers had to be given by midnight on Sunday and coach Martinson qualified the maximum of eight players. Here is the list:

Zach Pochiro
Braylon Shmyr
Chad Butcher
Alex Breton
Riley Bourbonnais
Josh Atkinson
Dalton Thrower
Mike Gunn

Keep in mind players from last season that are not on this qualified list are either signed and not announced or they are now free agents. Most of them are now free agents and won't be returning for next season.

Zach Pochiro has signed to play in Denmark next season so he was qualified to retain his rights should he return from Europe prior to the February 15th deadline for signing players returning from Europe.

Shmyr, Breton, Bourbonnais and Atkinson all spent time in the AHL last season and are waiting to get AHL deals (if they haven't already been signed by an AHL team). If they get signed by Iowa they will likely spend time in Allen. If they don't get AHL deals their only option would be to look overseas or sign with Allen.


- Zach Pochiro is one of many ECHL players that led their team in goals last season that have made the jump to Europe for the 2019-20 season. Zach will be playing for the Esbjerg Energy. Esbjerg is a seaport city (population about 115,000) on the western coast of Denmark on the North Sea. One of Zach's teammates will be former Allen defenseman Travis Brown.


- I posted this on my @EchlStats Twitter and on Facebook which shows how many top goal scorers have signed in Europe:

How hard is it for ECHL teams to keep their top goal scorer? Already, ten teams have lost their leading goal scorer from 2018-19 to Europe and it is still early. This doesn’t include leading point scorers and players that get AHL deals. Here is a list of players that led their team in goals last season that are heading overseas for the 2019-20 season:

John Shalla - Indy to Romania
Zach Pochiro - Allen to Denmark
Josh MacDonald - Reading to Denmark
Caleb Herbert - Utah to Austria
Steve McParland - Idaho to Italy
Ben Duffy - Norfolk to Germany
Mike Szmatula - Adirondack to Poland
Wacey Rabbit - Jacksonville to Romania
Chris Collins - Kalamazoo to Austria
Grant Besse - South Carolina to Germany


- Eric Roy, who is fourth all time in regular season scoring (101 points) and third all time in playoff scoring (28 points) for Allen defensemen has signed to play in Romania next season.


- The ECHL Board of Governors (BOG) recently approved a couple of rule changes for the 2019-20 season in addition to video replay which they announced earlier. The most visible change is extending 3-on-3 overtime from five minutes to seven minutes before going to a shootout. The other change is more subtle but could have a much bigger impact. The BOG reduced from 10 to five the number of games a veteran player on a NHL or AHL one way or two way contract must play in the AHL during the regular season to be eligible to play in the ECHL playoffs. This may give more opportunity for ECHL veterans to be signed to AHL deals and play the five games in the AHL to qualify for the ECHL playoffs.


- For players that are not veterans who are on AHL deals there is no longer a minimum number of AHL games they need to play to be eligible for the ECHL playoffs. The old rules required five games in the AHL but there were two exceptions. This rule change should mean more depth players signed to AHL deals that may not get any AHL games but will still be eligible for ECHL playoffs. Clearly the trend has been more and more AHL/NHL contracted players being assigned to ECHL teams. The Americans as well as most ECHL teams could have 10 or more contracted player assigned next season. The new relaxed rules will allow all of them to be eligible for the ECHL playoffs.



DID YOU KNOW: Here is a partial list of former Allen Americans and players from last season that are free agents or could become free agents because they are veterans or are coming off NHL deals who have not been signed for 2019-20. Since most of us live in the past I know fans often talk about the return of these players. For various reasons it is a long shot for most these players to be on the 2019-20 Allen roster but you can always hope that one or two just might come through. There are 13 Allen championship rings represented in this group.

Jamie Schaafsma
Matt Register
Dyson Stevenson
Colby MacAuley
Greger Hanson
Gary Steffes
Bryan Moore
Riley Gill
Casey Pierro-Zabotel
Dante Salituro