Practice and Roster Update, Chad Butcher and Steven Owre Player Profiles and Jersey Reversal Date Arrives

 

When you attend Allen Americans practice at this point of the season you often find a combination of new players getting acclimated, injured players watching from the stands, players getting treatment and players getting a maintenance day. Everyone is dinged up to a certain degree so hearing about a sore groin here, sore neck there, getting a MRI, going to the Chiropractor is normal when the team is playing three games in three days or four games in five days week after week after week. I keep hearing about the grind in the NHL this season because of the delayed start and shortened season. They have a cake walk compared what ECHL players are dealing with both on and off the ice.

 

- Two players at their first practice yesterday were forwards Chad Butcher and Steve Owre. Friends and teammates in juniors playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and in college at the University of Alberta. See player profiles below.

 

- There has been a lot of roster changes recently so here is an update. Rookies are marked with an asterisk. Here is the current Allen roster which includes four goalies, seven defensemen and 15 forwards: 

Goalies 

#31 - Frank Marotte*

#35 - Hayden Hawkey*

#34 - Jake Paterson (injured reserve)

#39 - Justin Kapelmaster* (injured)

 

Defensemen 

#5 - Phil Beaulieu*

#14 - Les Lancaster 

#20 - Ben Carroll*

#21 - Dominic Cormier*

#25 - Nolan Kneen* (injured reserve)

#43 - Matt Register

#47 - Will Lochead

Forwards

#8 - Steve Owre* 

#10 - Conner Bleackley

#11 - Kameron Kielly*

#15 - Corey Mackin

#17 - Colby McAuley

#19 - Chad Butcher 

#26 - Spencer Asuchak    

#27 - Sam Laberge

#28 - Tim Doherty*

#29 - Jesse Mychan (injured reserve)

#37 - Frank DiChiara

#40 - Josh Lammon

#44 - Zane Franklin*

#71 - Dyson Stevenson (injured reserve)

#77 - Scott Conway

- If you tally up the numbers, four goalies, seven defensemen and 15 forwards the imbalance is at defense. Coach Martinson usually carries seven defensemen and with Nolan Kneen out indefinitely he is likely looking to add a defenseman. 

CHAD BUTCHER PROFILE

Chad Butcher

 

- Chad is a 25 year old right shot forward from Kamloops, British Columbia. He joins the many Western Hockey League alumni on the Allen roster. He played his entire junior career for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL and finished with 259 points (82G, 177A) in 301 games. After his junior career Chad tried pro hockey playing seven games for Bakersfield (AHL), 56 games for Wichita (ECHL) and was with Allen for three games in 2018-19 before making the decision to return to Canada to attend college at the University of Alberta. 

- Here is part of what I included in the blog about Butcher when he signed with Allen in 2018. Even though Chad was undrafted by the NHL he was outstanding at the Edmonton Oilers prospect camp in 2017 playing with the Oilers #1 draft pick Kailer Yamamoto. One headline (Edmonton Journal) read, "All Eyes on Yamamoto but Butcher Leads Oilers Prospects." If you read articles about Chad the consensus you get is he is a proven scorer who is a great playmaker, has a lethal shot and plays both ends of the ice. Butcher is a great skater with speed which may come from the fact he was a speedskater when he was younger. He had a pond behind his house growing up so he had plenty of practice time close to home. Finally, if you are an Allen Americans fan you have to be thrilled about signing a player from Kamloops, British Columbia, the same home town as Spencer Asuchak and Casey Pierro-Zabotel. 

 

STEVE OWRE PROFILE

Steve Owre

 

- Owre is 24 years old, a right shot who went from junior hockey in the WHL to the University of Alberta. He was born in Edmonton but grew up playing hockey in southern California. He has attended development camps with the Edmonton Oilers and Las Vegas Golden Knights. In 282 WHL games Owre had 221 points (74G, 147A). In 84 games at the University of Alberta he had 77 points (37G, 40A). When you read scouting reports on Owre they consistently talk about his speed, how strong he is on his skates and the fact that he is a good passer/playmaker. 

- Butcher and Owre are good friends who played together for five seasons at Medicine Hat and a couple years at the University of Alberta. They are players with a lot of similarities, both are smaller forwards, have a lot of speed can make plays and also put the puck in the net. Look for them to play on the same line and also play a role in the struggling Allen power play.

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: When is the jersey reversal date?

Teams will wear their white jerseys at home and dark jerseys on the road for all games through April 1, 2021. As of April 2, 2021, teams will wear their dark jerseys at home and their white jerseys on the road through the end of the regular season. During the Playoffs, home teams will continue wearing their dark jerseys and visiting teams will continue to wear their white jerseys.