After earning 80% of the possible points (24 of 30) in their first 15 games the Americans have hit a rough patch. Allen will be back at practice today preparing for a home game against Utah tomorrow (Tuesday) night, hoping to avoid losing their fourth game in the last 10 days. Allen has lost three of their last four games and earned 38% of the possible points (3 of 8).
- There are a lot of stats that show what has happened recently with the Americans. A good example is the penalty kill which is ranked #8 in the league at 83.3%. In their first 13 games Allen's penalty kill gave up five goals. In the last six games the penalty kill unit has given up six power play goals.
- Allen is ranked #4 in average goals allowed (2.58) but a week ago the were ranked #1 (2.35). In their last four games the Americans have allowed 16 goals for an average of 4.00 goals per game.
- The Americans are scoring enough to win. In their last seven games they have been held to fewer than three goals just once. They had two goals in Wichita on Saturday. It is the defensive zone play that needs improvement to turn things around. I am sure at practice today coach Martinson will be talking about the usual culprits when the team isn't playing well defensively. He will talk about puck possession. winning puck battles, avoiding neutral zone turnovers, trying to make plays that aren't there, getting pucks in deep, finishing checks, being aggressive in jumping into the play but not gambling and avoiding odd man rushes. Having watched Martinson over the years at practice it is the mental mistakes and low hockey IQ decisions that he tries to erase through drills and repetition.
- If you track roster sizes around the ECHL you may have noticed the Allen Americans have consistently had the fewest players under contract. As of this morning according to Elite Prospects the Americans have 22 players under contract, two fewer than any other team. Two teams have 24, one team has 25, five teams have 26, two teams have 27, one team has 28 and one team has 29. It is important to note coaches and general managers have to deal with the salary cap (up to 20 players on the active roster) when it comes to players salaries but they also have an overall salary budget to pay for all players under contract. What it says to me is the Allen Americans are paying less in total player salaries (not average salary) than any other team in the ECHL. Martinson is doing more with less. The thing to remember as the Allen roster changes is Martinson has to make sure the salaries meet the salary cap as well as the overall budget caps. While the salary cap is set in the Collective Bargaining Agreement the overall salary budget is set by each team's President/Owner and can vary greatly from team to team.
- Here are the ECHL team stats that are expressed in averages. Looking at raw numbers is not very accurate this season because teams have played as few as 14 games and as many as 21. Here are the numbers for Allen expressed in average per game or percentage and the ECHL rank:
Penalty Minutes - 13.32 #4
Power Play - 18.4% #5
Penalty Kill - 83.3% #8
Goals For - 3.58 #2
Goals Against - 2.58 #3
Shots For - 34.26 #2
Shots Against - 33.00 #11
- Here is the Western Conference Weekly with info on all of the teams and their schedule for the week: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/2/western-conference-weekly-feb-8
- I am sure you saw or heard a lot of sports quotes if you watched much Super Bowl coverage yesterday. This one from Vince Lombardi struck me because it applies to a lot more than sports, "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization."
DID YOU KNOW: So far this season there are four teams with a points percentage above .700 led by Indy at.794. Here are the number of teams that finished the season above .700 since 2014-15 with the top team and point percentage in parenthesis:
2019-20: 4 teams (.742, South Carolina & Florida)
2018-19: 2 teams (.764, Cincinnati)
2017-18: 4 teams, (.778, Florida)
2016-17: 2 teams, (.736, Toledo)
2015-16: 1 team, (.757, Missouri)
2014-15: 5 teams (.743, Toledo)
None of the top teams went on to win the Kelly Cup
Lombardi quote is excellent.
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