I attended the Allen Americans practice yesterday using my media credential and it was a pleasant sight to see. I can't remember the last time the Americans had such a full contingent of players at practice. The only player missing was Colby McAuley who has been on injured reserve since being injured at the end of January in Utah. But there is even good news on that front as Colby will start practicing with the team today wearing the non-contact yellow jersey. If all goes well you could see him back in the near future.
- Frank DiChiara, Allen's newest signee, will wear jersey #37. What is the significance of the #37? DiChiara is a big guy weighing 230, 235, 238 or 240 pounds depending on where you see his weight listed. On Allen's website Frank is listed at 6'1" and 238 pounds. My guess is it is not a coincidence Frank got the #37 jersey, which was probably being saved for the previous #37, Jake Doty, who is playing in the AHL (Ontario). Allen has Doty's ECHL rights. It takes a big jersey to fit men the size of DiChiara and Doty.
- It was a hard practice yesterday, by design, as the Americans get ready for three games in three days in Utah starting on Friday night. While the team will practice today and tomorrow the practices will be less strenuous each day. The team's flight to Salt Lake City isn't until tomorrow night so they can practice and still have time to get all the equipment cleaned and dried before they leave.
- Tomorrow's practice will most likely be heavily concentrated on special teams. As a reminder here is what I wrote about the special teams a couple of days ago:
SPECIAL TEAMS - Allen's overall power play is ranked #5 at 16.8% (18-107). The power play is actually worse at home (13.5%) than on the road (18.6%). Going back a month the Americans have just four power play goals in 10 games. Over that time the power play is 4-34 for an 11.8% conversion percentage.
The penalty kill has been an Achilles' heel for the Americans for quite a while. They are now ranked #12 overall at 79.4% (20-97). The percentage on the road is 78.1% and at home is 81.8%. Allen didn't give up a power play goal in its win on Wednesday against Utah but that was the first time in six games they didn't give up a power play goal. Going back to the end of January the Americans have allowed a power play goal in 11 of 14 games. In those 14 games the Americans penalty kill percentage is just 69.8% (16-53).
One stat to look at as a way of assessing special teams is adding the power play and penalty kill percentages together. Anything above 105% is considered excellent and anything under 100% needs improvement. Right now the Americans combined percentage is 96.2% which is lower than any team in franchise history. Even in the year Allen had the worst record in the ECHL (2018-19) and set their all time record for the lowest combined PP and PK percentage it was 98.4%.
Goal #1 for the Americans going forward has to be improved special teams play. When Allen last visited Utah which was for three games at the end of January the Americans were 3-14 (21.4%) on the power play but the Grizzlies were 4-14 (28.6%). I expect you will see some different power play and penalty kill units and combinations this weekend.
OTHER COMMENTS
- There are two games on the ECHL schedule tonight including Tulsa visiting Wichita. These teams will play four games against each other in the next five days. Wichita has earned points in 10 of their last 11 games and has opened up a points percentage lead of .733 to .648 over Allen. Tulsa has lost three of its last four games and four of the last six.
- You may have seen New York Islander coach Barry Trotz just reached a
milestone on Tuesday by coaching his 1700th NHL game as a head coach.
Made me wonder how many games Steve Martinson has as a head coach in AA
hockey in this his 25th season. Martinson reached the 1700 game coached milestone
earlier this season (away game in Rapid City) and now has coached in
1716 AA games. His win total now stands at 1060 as he chases Scotty
Bowman's all time record of 1244 wins.
- Here is my ECHL Stats post from this morning which shows how the best ECHL goal scoring teams are also the best in average goals allowed:
DID YOU KNOW: Allen is currently #5 in the ECHL in points percentage. A good time to revisit this stat:
Here are the last 10 Kelly Cup champions with their regular season
finish in parenthesis. Anyone who says once you get in the playoffs
anything can happen hasn't looked at ECHL history. In all of these seasons 14-16 teams made the playoffs. Also notice how finishing first in the regular season is not the normal path to the Kelly Cup.
2019 - Newfoundland (3rd)
2018 - Colorado (4th)
2017 - Colorado (3rd)
2016 - Allen (6th)
2015 - Allen (2nd)
2014 - Alaska (1st)
2013 - Reading (2nd)
2012 - Florida (7th)
2011 - Alaska (1st)
2010 - Cincinnati (5th)
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