Allen Has Their Goalies, Why All the AHL Contracted Players, News, Notes and Goalie Save Percentage Stats

 

A big part of the Allen Americans opening day roster was decided yesterday when coach Martinson released goalie Chris Nell. The Americans will start the season with two excellent netminders, sixth year pro C.J. Motte and second year pro Zach Sawchenko. Allen will have two top notch goalies to start the season who have played for Allen in the past.

C.J. MOTTE - Motte is a former ECHL all-star who was a finalist for the NCAA top collegiate player (Hobey Baker Award) in 2013-14 when he played for Ferris State University. After the 2018-19 season in Allen he went to Europe (Austria & England) to play. He finished the season with the Coventry Blaze in the EIHL and had the best save percentage in the league (.927). Motte suffered through the worst season in Allen history in 2018-19 but had respectable stats none the less. He had a winning record (18-17-4-2) and a save percentage of .910. When he wasn't in goal Allen's record was 7-24-0-0. There isn't a player that works harder and is more intense at practice than C.J. and it will be great to see him in goal this season with a better team in front of him.

 

ZACH SAWCHENKO - As a rookie last season Zach was assigned to Allen by the San Jose Barracuda (AHL). He played his first game for the Americans on November 2, a win against Rapid City. He played 13 games in Allen before being recalled by San Jose and was with the Barracuda the rest of the season. In the two months Zach was in Allen he was one of the best goalies in the league. He finished with a record of 8-2-2-1, a GAA of 2.35 and save percentage of .930. Playing for a last place team in San Jose, Sawchenko had a record of 6-4-2, GAA of 2.87 and save percentage of .911.  

- Coach Martinson shared that there is another AHL contracted player that will be coming to Allen from the San Jose organization. You may wonder why Martinson is taking so many of these players. There are several factors starting with the fact there will be two more skaters (18 instead of 16) dress for the first month of the season. Just as important Martinson can have three AHL contracted players that he doesn't have to pay for and don't count against the salary cap. The savings from this over keeping three rookies would be just over $10,000 so it is a wise choice given the financial straits ECHL teams find themselves in this season.  

- Haven't seen anything new about the five teams (Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Idaho, Kalamazoo, Toledo) that still haven't declared if they are going to play this season. You would think the 13 teams that are planning a 72 game season would want to get their schedule finalized sooner than later. The Americans last scheduled game is January 9. With all of the logistics that go into planning for games, especially road games, a decision by the five teams that still haven't decided has to happen soon.

 

- It is hard to over estimate the impact COVID-19 has had on players, teams and leagues. I was surprised to find this when doing research for my ECHL Stats and Information post today:

Of the top 20 scorers in the ECHL last season only four are in training camp with the 13 teams starting play next week:

 

Eric Neiley , Jacksonville

Peter Quenneville, Rapid City

Tyler Sheehy, Allen

Spencer Watson, Indy

 

Quenneville, Sheehy and Watson are with the same teams they played for last season. Neiley signed with Jacksonville after Atlanta opted out.

 

The other 16 of the top 20 scorers are overseas, retired, unsigned or waiting to see if their team plays or opts out of the 2020-21 season.

 

 

 

- There was ECHL hockey last night for the first time in nine months. The Florida Everblades beat the Orlando Solar Bears 5-4 in a preseason game. There are two more preseason games scheduled tonight, Orlando at Florida and South Carolina at Greenville.

 

 

 

- If you are interested in Allen Americans gear, today is the day to stop by the team store and shop. Everything in the store is 25% off. Not very often everything in the store is on sale. Michelle Martinson tells me it is the best sale they have had and there is plenty of new merchandise. Tell them Barry the Blogger sent you and you will get absolutely nothing for mentioning it (I won't get anything either). Store hours today are 10:00 to 4:00.

 

 

 

- Here is an interesting article about scientists trying to figure out why youth hockey has had more COVID outbreaks than other youth sports. Part of the article says, "Ice hockey is an anomaly, Scientists are studying hockey related outbreaks hoping to find clues about ideal conditions in which coronavirus thrives and how to stop it. Experts speculate that ice rinks may trap the virus around head level in a rink that, by design, restricts air flow, temperature and humidity." A good read and food for thought no matter how you feeling about the dangers of COVID:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12/04/hockey-covid-transmission-outbreaks/    

- It looks like the NHL is now aiming for a January 15 start date with a 52 or 56 game schedule. Here are the latest details and obstacles:  https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/30449238/sources-nhl-aiming-mid-january-start-52-56-game-schedule

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Top 10 single season save percentages (more than 10 game played) in Allen Americans history. Games played in parenthesis:

 

.935 - Riley Gill, 2016-17  (43 games)

.930 - Zach Sawchenko, 2019-20  (13 games)

.921 - Charlie Effinger, 2009-10  (14 games)

.918 - Rejean Beauchemin, 2011-12  (33 games)

.918 - Marco Cousineau, 2011-12  (25 games)

.917 - Jake Paterson, 2017-18  (14 games)

.917 - Jeremy Brodeur, 2017-19  (39 games)

.916 - Aaron Dell, 2012-13  (44 games)*

.916 - Bryan Pitton, 2013-14  (43 games)*

.914 - Riley Gill, 2014-15  (50 games)*

 

*won championship