Americans Re-Sign Lammon and Lancaster, Future Announcements, Wild Affiliation Rumor, European Leagues, More Costello Records and ECHL PPP Loans

The Allen Americans added two more players to the 2020-21 roster with the announcement today that Josh Lammon and Les Lancaster have re-signed with the team. When neither of these players were on the qualifying list that was released last week it was a foregone conclusion that they had re-signed with Allen. A couple of quality players, character guys that play both ways. Here is a short recap:

- Josh Lammon - Rookie Josh Lammon was acquired by the Americans in a trade with Florida just before the start of the 2019-20. A smart player who is always in the right position, he was captain of his college team (Mercyhurst) and was voted the best defensive forward in the entire league as a senior. After scoring just one goal in the first three months of the season in Allen the dam broke on January 18 when Josh had two goals and an assist in a win over Kansas City. Over the next eight games Josh had 11 points (6G, 5A). Lammon finished the season with 27 points (8G, 11A) but you get the feeling his second pro season will show he has just scratched the surface of what he can accomplish.

- Les Lancaster - The rookie defenseman got off to a great start with 13 points in his first 10 games with the Americans. At the time of his first loan to the AHL back in November he was leading all ECHL defensemen in scoring. Several ECHL stints limited his time in Allen. He played in 34 games and had 22 assists. Lancaster will undoubtedly get more AHL opportunities in 2020-21 but will be a big contributor during his time in Allen.


- Here is the press release issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/americans-welcome-back-lancaster-and-lammon-for-their-sophomore-seasons/


- Allen has now announced four players, three forwards and a defenseman:

Spencer Asuchak - co-captain, 9th pro season
Jared VanWormer - co-captain, 5th pro season
Josh Lammon - 3rd pro season
Les Lancaster - 2nd pro season


- As reminder the Americans gave qualifying offers to just six players though they could have qualified as many as eight. The players receiving qualifying offers were:

Kayle Doetzel
Jacob Doty
Gabe Gagne
Turner Ottenbreit
Brett Pollock
Jordan Topping

These players either have AHL (Doty & Gagne) deals or are looking for AHL deals or looking to sign overseas. By issuing qualifying offers to these players the Americans retain their ECHL rights for the entire 2020-21 season.


- There were many players that were on the season ending roster that did not get qualifying offers. Remember players that have already signed do not need qualifying offers. It is just a guess on my part but you have to expect non-veterans who were on the season ending roster but did not get a qualifying offer have been signed but not announced. Here is that group:

Forwards
Corey Durocher
Colton Heffley

Defensemen
Ben Carroll
Cole Fraser
Cody Corbett


-  I saw a post on social media that indicated the Minnesota Wild were considering placing their ECHL affiliate in a new arena in a suburb (Coralville) of Iowa City, Iowa. This would potentially happen for the 2021-22 season. Steve Martinson has spent the last two seasons developing a relationship with the Wild and despite being selected as the ECHL General Manager of the Year for 2019-20 he has not been signed to a contract extension. 2020-21 is the last year of his current contract. The timing does make you wonder what could be in store in the future. With the ownership in Allen possibly changing it is hard to predict what will happen. When I asked Steve Martinson if he has ever had a conversation with the Minnesota Wild about them putting their ECHL affiliate in Iowa City he said yes, but did not elaborate. 


-  The Small Business Administration (SBA) just released the list of businesses that received PPP loans. Mark Burns, who covers hockey for the Sports Business Journal posted this information:

Number of AHL/ECHL clubs in the PPP loan data, all in the $150K-$350K range. 

ECHL: Indy Fuel, Worcester Railers, KC Mavericks, Allen Americans, SC Stingrays, Jacksonville Icemen. 

AHL: Utica Comets, Syracuse Crunch, Springfield Thunderbirds, Milwaukee Admirals.


- It looks like the NHL is scheduled to start their playoffs around August 1st with the estimates of the Stanley Cup being awarded in October. If that is the timeline it would be an almost certainty that the ECHL season would not start until December or January.


- I saw where the DEL in Germany is unlikely to start before November 1. Many of the European Leagues will have a delayed start. If you are on Twitter give EuropeanHockeyClubs a follow (@EHCAlliance) as they provide the chart below on the status of the leagues:

 
  
DID YOU KNOW: Here is my ECHL Stats and Information post for today. Another example of how good Chad Costello was during his three seasons in Allen. Not only did he have a point in over 86% of the games he played over a three year period he never missed a game. That is the definition of consistency! Everything will have to fall just right to get Chad back in Allen for the 2020-21 season but there is a chance:

In 1985-86, Wayne Gretzky played in 80 regular season games and scored (goal or assist) in 78 of them for a percentage of 98%. Here are the stats and percentages for the last six ECHL scoring leaders:

81% - Josh Kestner, 47 of 58 games, (2019-20)

68% - Jesse Schultz, 42 of 62 games, (2018-19)

73% - Shawn Szydlowski, 47 of 64 games, (2017-18)

86% - Chad Costello, 62 of 72 games, (2016-17)

82% - Chad Costello, 59 of 72 games, (2015-16)

89% - Chad Costello, 64 of 72 games, (2014-15)