We arrived home yesterday afternoon from our trip to South Korea and Japan and as you might expect trying to adapt to a 15 hour time change had me up early (1:30 am) so what a better time to write a blog. I had a chance to catch parts of some of the Allen games while we were gone as the games were on in the morning and we were taking the bullet train which had great wifi.
- One of the best parts of our trip was the timing as November was peak season for fall colors. Both South Korea and Japan have plenty of maple trees and to see the reds and yellows in mountainous terrain was spectacular. The weather was great (lows in the upper 40's, highs in the upper 60's) and we had just one day of rain for about 30 minutes. We were visiting a pearl oyster farmer at the time so it seemed appropriate. Here are a couple of photos Nancy took:
- I won't bore you with all of the highlights but during our three week trip we were able to talk to an 86 year old Korean War veteran, a 29 year old North Korean defector/refugee, the head of the famous Baby Box for abandoned babies in Seoul and an 88 year old survivor of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan. They were all profound, captivating, provocative, thought provoking and educational conversations.
- There was also plenty of temples, shrines, museums, castles and shopping.
ALLEN'S GREAT START
- Here is my take on what I saw in the stats this morning when I took a long look. Needless to say the Americans are off to a great start with a record of 10-3-1-0 and a winning percentage of .750 which is #2 in the ECHL.
- Allen already has 10 wins in 14 games. Last season the Americans didn't get their 10th win until January 11.
- Based on their 14 games played, which is 20% of the season, Allen is on pace to have 108 points. That would be the second best year over year turnaround in the history of the ECHL, a 52 point increase over last season when Allen finished with 56 points. It is not likely the Americans can keep up their current pace when you consider since Allen joined the ECHL in 2014-15 only three teams have finished the regular season with a winning percentage of .750+.
WHAT ALLEN IS DOING WELL
- The team has proven to be real good under pressure. Allen has earned 11 of their 21 points from overtime games. They have the best overtime record in the league at 5-1.
- The Americans have the best record in the league when trailing after two periods at 4-2. The leaguewide record when trailing after two periods is 25-108-8-2.
- Allen is 7-1 when scoring first. Only two ECHL teams have a better record when scoring first than Allen.
- Allen is #6 in average goals allowed at 2.79 per game but this stat is skewed by one game when Allen gave up 10 goals. If you eliminate that one game the Americans are allowing an average of 2.23 goals per game.
- Allen's goalies are playing great. The team save percentage is .916 which is the fourth best in the league. If you take out that 10 goal game the team save percentage is a lofty .939 which would be the best in the league.
- The Americans have cut way down on penalties this season and are ranked #25 averaging 10.07 penalty minutes per game. Last season they led the league averaging 23.49 minutes per game. Allen has three major penalties and no 10 minute misconduct, game misconduct or match penalties. No other team in the ECHL has fewer.
CONCERNS AND CAUTIONS
- Allen has had a home heavy schedule the first six weeks of the season. After this weekend they will have already played one third of their home schedule for the entire season. Starting on Sunday in Wichita the Americans schedule through the end of December will have 13 road games and just four home games. Allen is 2-1-1-0 in their four road games thus far and have historically been a good road team. To keep the season going the way it has gone thus far will require playing well on the road.
- Allen has a great record despite a dismal power play. They are ranked #25 in power play percentage at 9.4%. The power play is just 5-53. If the Americans can get the power play percentage to average (18%) they will be hard to beat.
THE ROSTER
- You can't accuse Steve Martinson of standing pat despite the good start to the season. Allen has already used 30 players if you count Josh Brittain who was just signed. There is always a risk when you move high end veteran players like Mike Hedden and Shawn O'Donnell who are counted on for production and leadership.
- The acquisition of Jared VanWormer was a key move by coach Martinson to go along with all of the young talent from Iowa and players Martinson signed in the off season. You have to think VanWormer influenced the recent signing of forward Corey Durocher as they played on the same line in Kansas City.
- The movement of players to and from the AHL is always important as the season progresses and injuries mount up. Allen has four players on AHL PTO's. Jake Doty is in Ontario while Les Lancaster, Matt Register and Josh Atkinson are in Iowa.
- Martinson did some great work in getting goalie Zach Sawchenko assigned to Allen by San Jose. There were several issues that had to be dealt with behind the scenes. In addition, carrying three goalies presents problems if everyone stays healthy and nobody gets called up to the AHL. After Allen struggled last year with goalie injuries and call ups, Martinson made the decision to go with three goalies. Sawchenko has been lights out in his four start for Allen with a GAA of 1.77 and save percentage of .946. Zach is two minutes shy of qualifying for the leaguewide stats but with his next start will qualify. His GAA and save percentage would be #2 in the ECHL if he had played just two more minutes.
FORMER PLAYERS
- Casey Pierro-Zabotel leads Adirondack in goals (4).
- Chase Lang leads Jacksonville in goals (6) and points (11).
- Braylon Shmyr was just waived by Norfolk and claimed by Jacksonville
- Mike Hedden has seven points (1G, 6A) in four games since being claimed by Jacksonville. He had a goal and four assists in one game.
- Miles Liberati is Tulsa's second leading scorer with 11 points (4G, 7A) in 13 games.
- Chris Crane leads Wichita in goals (9) and points (14).
- Dante Salituro, after a brief stint in Finland is now playing for the Indy Fuel.
DID YOU KNOW: As of this morning the website eliteprospects.com shows Allen as the youngest team in the ECHL with an average age of 23.64. With such a young team, the Americans should only get better as the season progresses. FYI, the oldest team in the league is Toledo at 26.32.
Great start!!
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