Finally, after over nine months, it is game day for the Allen Americans as they will travel to Tulsa to take on the Oilers (7:05 pm CST). Tulsa is the only ECHL destination within 325 miles which is the cutoff for same day travel with no overnight stay. Tulsa is 235 miles from Allen. The team will depart at 1:00 pm and return to Allen immediately after the game. With 20 players (18 skaters and two goalies) dressed for the game, no extra players will accompany the team. Here are the expected line combinations and defense pairings:
Forwards
#29 Mychan - #22 Sheehy - #44 Franklin
#8 Garreffa - #26 Asuchak - #71 Stevenson
#17 VanWormer - #15 Mackin - #11 Kielly
#27 Laberge - #19 Lavoie - #18 McGrew
Defensemen
#43 Register - #5 Beaulieu
#4 Ottenbreit - #14 Lancaster
#20 Carroll - #25 Kneen
Goalies
#31 - Motte
#34 - Sawchenko
- Not sure if it is an advantage or disadvantage at the start of the season but Tulsa opened their season last night at home. The Oilers came back from a 2-0 deficit with two third period goals but lost the game in a shootout. Attendance in the cavernous BOK Center which holds over 17,000 for hockey was 2672. It is so great to have hockey back even with reduced capacity limits.
- Allen's record against Tulsa last season was 7-3-0-0. Over the last five years Allen's overall record against Tulsa is 27-20-3-0. In road games against Tulsa the Americans record is 15-11-1-0.
- One key to the game tonight for Allen will be shots on goal. Tulsa is always one of the better teams in the league in shots on goal. Last season they led the ECHL in average shots per game. In the first period last season the Oilers out shot their opponents 789 - 627 while Allen had 662 shots on goal in the first period and allowed 663. Allen gave up 35+ shots in six of the 10 games against Tulsa last season and twice gave up over 40 shots. The Americans can't give up 40 shots on goal and expect to win.
- Another key tonight is being ready to play and getting off to a good start. Teams that score first win about 75% of the games in the ECHL. Last season the team that scored first won all ten games Allen and Tulsa played.
- Special teams will be another key to the game against Tulsa. Last season on the power play Allen was ranked #9 (18.5%) and Tulsa was ranked #19 (15.6%). On the penalty kill Allen was ranked #15 (81.4%) and Tulsa was ranked #10 (83.2%). In their 10 head to head games last season Allen was 7-42 (16.7%) on the power play while Tulsa was 3-32 (9.4%). Sometimes it takes a few games to see how good the special teams will be but this is an area where coach Martinson has high expectations. There are a lot of good special teams players on the Allen roster. If you win the special teams battle you usually win the game.
- Allen fans will definitely be watching a new team tonight. Just four players (Asuchak, Lancaster, Ottenbreit, Sheehy) in the lineup tonight were in the opening game lineup last season. There will be seven rookies in the lineup with six of them playing in their first professional game. They all have outstanding backgrounds and plenty of experience but playing your first pro game has to come with a lot of excitement and some nerves. This should be a fun group to watch.
Here is the game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/press-release/americans-open-the-season-tonight/
OTHER COMMENTS
- I had the chance to check out the ECHL new streaming service FloSports last night and was impressed with the quality of the broadcasts and how easy it is to move around to different games. The service includes all ECHL games plus a number of college conferences. You also get some podcasts as part of the service that are excellent.
- There are five games around the ECHL tonight. Here is the "ECHL Today" with a short preview of all of the games: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2020/12/echl-today-dec-12
- It was so good to see the ECHL with a successful return action last night. Here is my ECHL Stats and Information post this morning. You can get new posts each day if you give ECHL Stats and Information a "like" on Facebook or a "follow" on Twitter.
DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans all time opening night record is 7-4. They are 4-3 at home and a 3-1 on the road. No matter when you
started following the Americans opening night games always bring back memories. Here is a recap of all 11 opening night games.
2009-10 - In the first game in team history
Allen won 1-0 in Arizona. Christian Gaudet scored the only goal of the
game late in the first period assisted by Bruce Graham and Nino
Musitelli. Charlie Effinger was in goal for Allen and Chris Whitley was
on the bench. Allen started on the road the first season because the
Allen Event Center was not completed. The Americans played their first
seven games in franchise history on the road. They returned to Allen
after those first seven games 5-1-0-1.
2010-11 - Allen
opens at home against Texas, scores three goals (Alexandre Quesnel,
Dustin Donaghy, Judd Blackwater) in the first four minutes of the game
and coasts to a 5-2 win.
2011-12 - Allen opens at home
against Tulsa and gets beat 4-1 with Jim McKenzie getting the Americans
only goal with just over a minute left in the game. Most notable in that
game was a Gordie Howe hat trick by Tulsa's Gary Steffes who had a
goal, an assist and a fight with Allen's Scott Langdon.
2012-13
- Allen opens the season at home and shuts out Arizona 4-0. Scott Howes
had two goals in the game. The other goal scorers were Adam Pineault
and Darryl Bootland. Steve Silverthorn was in goal and the backup was a
rookie by the name of Aaron Dell. Dell would play sparingly the first
few weeks of the season but eventually take over the starting role and
lead the Americans to their first championship. What ever happened to
that Dell guy?
2013-14 - Allen opened the season in
Wichita and beat the Thunder 4-3 in a shootout. Allen had a 3-0 lead
midway in the game on two goals by Darryl Bootland and one by Jonathan
Lessard but let Wichita come back. The hero in the shootout was Kale
Kerbashian who scored in the fifth round to win the game.
2014-15
- The worst opening night ever for Allen as they opened at home and got
beat by Tulsa 9-6. Greger Hanson was the lone bright spot for Allen
with a whopping 11 shots on goal, four points and a hat trick. Aaron
Dell was in goal for the Americans and gave up seven of the nine goals.
Whatever happened to that Dell guy? Actually, it was Dell's only
regulation loss in the 12 games he played for Allen
that season. By the end of January he was in the AHL on his way to the
NHL.
2015-16 - Another opening night loss as the Quad
City Mallards came to the Allen Event Center and beat the Americans 2-1.
Allen's lone goal was scored by Garrett Clarke with assists going to
Justin Courtnall and goalie Joel Rumpel. You didn't see those three in
the boxscore very often let alone on the same play.
2016-17
- It was an opening night win as Allen was at home and beat
Missouri 6-3. Kale Kerbashian had two goals and Riley Gill was peppered
with 47 shots.
2017-18 - It was an opening night like no other as the Americans went on the
road and beat the Rapid City Rush 8-3. The eight goals is the most ever
scored by the Americans in a season opener. The five goal margin of
victory is the largest ever in a season opener and the first goal of the
season was a shorthanded goal scored by Jonathan Lessard. Lessard and Zach Pochiro each had two goals for the Americans.
2018-19 - Allen opened the season in Kansas City and took it on the chin with a 5-1 loss while being out shot 43-21. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period as Casey Pierro-Zabotel scored the Americans only goal of the game. Over the last two periods the Mavericks out shot Allen 32-14 and outscored the Americans 4-0. The #1 star of the game with a goal and two assists for the Mavericks was Jared VanWormer who would go on to become captain of the Allen Americans.
2019-20 - Allen opened the season at home against Rapid City and came away with a 3-2 overtime victory. Jordan Topping tied the score 2-2 with 91 seconds left in the game and then got the game winning goal at 2:58 of overtime.
We will be watching! Go Red.
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