Allen Assembles an All-Star Roster as Fans Prepare for a Unique Hockey Season

 

This year Thanksgiving looks very different than in past years. Many are struggling from a health and economic standpoint. Families are changing past traditions to stay safe in the face of the pandemic. I want to start by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving especially those that have lost friends and/or relatives and the many that must work today including health care workers, first responders and other essential workers.

- With training camp officially opening tomorrow for Allen and the other 12 teams that will start play in December, I wanted to share what I know about the Allen roster and how things will operate this season. Obviously everything is subject to change and there is no doubt flexibility is something everyone should stock up on as the season proceeds. The one thing that is certain is nothing is certain.

 

- I had an opportunity to participate in a ZOOM call yesterday for the media that included Jack Gulati (owner), Mike Waddell (President), Steve Martinson (General Manager & Coach), Tommy Daniels (VP, Broadcasting & Communication) and four players (Spencer Asuchak, Josh Lammon, Alex Lavoie and Dyson Stevenson). 

 

- If there was a single theme that came through from everyone on the ZOOM call it was the safety of the players, coaches, hockey operations staff, front office staff, Allen Event Center (AEC) staff and fans is first and foremost in every decision that is made. Everyone associated with the Allen Americans both on and off the ice will be impacted. The second thing that was obvious is everyone, especially the players, is ready to play some hockey.

 

THE TEAM

It has been over 260 days since the Americans last took the ice at the AEC. It will be anything but normal when Allen is allowed to take the ice for the first time tomorrow. Players have been arriving and are being tested for COVID 19 and getting set up in their apartments which are brand new, very nice and close to the rink, just north of Allen Premium Outlets. If you want to checkout where the players will be staying it is called Magnolia On The Green and their website is magnoliaonthegreen.com. The players daily routine will be different this season as they will be asked to live in a "bubble" to avoid exposure to the coronavirus. Everyone in the bubble (players, coaches, trainer, equipment manager) will be tested for COVID twice per week. Nobody outside the bubble will be allowed in the locker room. The players will be asked to not hang around the locker room after games and practices. There will be a group of approved restaurants where those in the bubble can frequent as much as possible. The team has asked that if fans run into players or coaches at the grocery store, restaurants etc. you resist approaching them to make sure everyone stays safe. 

 

- Not all players will be on hand tomorrow, some are awaiting flights from Canada. Coach Martinson anticipates most players will be in camp and ready to practice by Tuesday.

 

- Training camp will be different from the past from several perspectives. Typically a lot of players miss the start of camp because they are invited to AHL training camps. Not the case this year as the AHL tentative start date isn't until February 5. The Wild have assigned five players to the Americans. They will start filtering into Allen as soon as Sunday. There will be some familiar names in this group and they will be difference makers for the Americans. There will be a lot of AHL caliber players on the Allen roster to start the season but that is the case for all of the 13 teams starting play in December. The quality of play in the ECHL this season will be stronger than ever. It will be like every team is an all-star team.  

- Coach Martinson is still getting calls from agents and teams trying to find available training camp opportunities. Bottom line is the roster will be fluid even more than normal. Martinson shared with me that Olivier Archambault will not be coming to Allen for the beginning of the season. He has also signed a free agent from one of the teams that is not playing. This player was the second leading scorer on his team. In his last season in junior hockey (BCHL) he had 104 points (50G, 54A) in just 58 games. 

- Tommy Daniels will not be traveling with the team on the road this season. The plan was for Tommy to be inside the bubble, travel with the team and broadcast the away games. However, the ECHL Board of Governors recently voted to have no broadcasters travel to away games. I assume this is for both safety and cost savings reasons. The good news for Allen fans is they will still get to hear Tommy's play by play of the road games, he will just be doing the broadcast off the video feed, back in Allen. You never know, you may be able to go to a watch party and see Tommy's broadcast in person.

THE FANS

- The 2020-21 season will be different for the fans and especially the avid fan. One of the best things about ECHL hockey is the access to players and coaches in many forms. Here are some of the changes:

- The season ticket holder lounge is not possible given the gathering rules currently in place. The room will be split in half with one side being for the Ice Angels and the other side being the media center. Because of the social distancing requirements the press box will be dedicated to off ice officials only.

- There will be no post game meeting with coach Martinson and the season ticket holders.

- If you play 50/50 you will be out of luck. "Chuck A Puck" will be a virtual event through DASH auctions.

- No post game autograph sessions with players. Mike Waddell told me there would be a process established for fans to get items autographed. 

- The area where the players exit and enter the ice going to and from the locker room will be cordoned off for the safety of everyone.

- The capacity of the Allen Event Center for hockey is limited to 50% but with social distancing the number of tickets sold for each game will be reduced to closer to 40% or just over 2100. With that said the team is selling single games tickets so if you are not interested in season tickets packages now is the time to buy your single game tickets.

  

THE ROSTER

Here is the roster of signed and announced players with jersey numbers. This will be changing day by day so stay tuned:

Goalies

#31 C.J. Motte

#39 Chris Nell

 

Defensemen

#4 Turner Ottenbreit

#14 Les Lancaster

#20 Ben Carroll

#23 Cole Fraser

#25 Nolan Kneen

#28 Cody Corbett

 

Forwards

#9 Braylon Shmyr

#10 Corey Durocher

#17 Jared Van Wormer

#18 Colton Heffley

#21 Jared Bethune

#26 Spencer Asuchak

#27 Zane Franklin

#40 Josh Lammon

#44 Olivier Archambault 

#47 Patrick Watling

#71 Dyson Stevenson 

#?? Alex Lavoie

 

DID YOU KNOW: The list below could expand a lot if Allen wins the Kelly Cup this season. Alex Lavoie and Dyson Stevenson could win their third championship in Allen and Spencer Asuchak could stand alone as the only four time champion. 

There are no players that played on all four Allen Americans championship teams but there are six (Spencer Asuchak, Greger Hanson, Trevor Ludwig, Tyler Ludwig, Brian McMillin, Jamie Schaafsma) players that earned three rings in Allen. Here is the list by championship season:

2012-13 - Trevor Ludwig, Tyler Ludwig, Brian McMillin, Jamie Schaafsma
2013-14 - Spencer Asuchak, Greger Hanson, Trevor Ludwig, Tyler Ludwig, Brian McMillin, Jamie Schaafsma.
2014-15 - Spencer Asuchak, Greger Hanson, Trevor Ludwig, Tyler Ludwig, Brian McMillin, Jamie Schaafsma.
2015-16 - Spencer Asuchak, Greger Hanson