The Allen Americans were playing the Wichita Thunder last night for the first time since February 6. Long time rivals battling for the top spot in the Western Conference, the game was a measuring stick for both teams. The Americans fell way short of expectations as the smallest crowd of the season (1146) at the Allen Event Center (AEC) watched Allen lose to Wichita 4-1.
- Playing without leading scorer Corey Mackin the Americans could not generate enough offense in any phase of the game. Allen did manage the first goal of the game at the 15:10 mark of the first period when Les Lancaster batted in the puck out of midair to score is 15th goal of the season, tops among ECHL defensemen. Samuel Laberge and Brett Neumann had the assists. It was Neumann's first pro point.
- Two minutes later a defensive breakdown resulted in Wichita getting the equalizer and the teams ended the first period tied 1-1. Allen could not find the back of the net the rest of the game and special teams were the difference. After a few weeks of outstanding special teams play, the power play and penalty kill struggled against Wichita. I am sure Mackin was missed on special teams as he leads the team in power play goals and shorthanded goals and is a big part of the power play and penalty killing units. Allen was 0-6 on the power play after scoring at least one power play goals in the last six games. The Americans allowed two power play goals to Wichita in just five opportunities. Allen hadn't allowed a power play goal in the last four games and hadn't allowed two power play goals in the last month.
- Allen did manage to outshoot Wichita 31-25 but that is not unusual as Wichita allows more shots than any team in the ECHL. The Thunder have been outshot in 65% of their games but have a record of 18-11-3-1 in those games. Wichita is successful because of its goalie play. Allen has a great team save percentage of .912 but that does not compare to Wichita's team save percentage of .930. The Thunder have had five goalies play 5+ games this season which shows the importance of team defense in save percentage.
- Here are the video highlights from the Allen Americans YouTube channel:
- Here is the game recap issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/general/americans-fall-to-wichita-4-1/
- Here is the game recap issued by the Wichita Thunder: https://www.wichitathunder.com/en/news/thunder-begins-busy-week-with-win-in-allen
- When I talked to coach Martinson this morning he was obviously not pleased with the team's performance last night. Today would normally be a day off but not the case. It won't be a hard practice but there are some things Martinson wants to work on before the weekend games. Martinson also said the flu bug has hit the team. That is the reason Corey Mackin was unable to play last night and also why Darian Skeoch could not finish the game. Martinson also shared there were some things he saw in the game last night that need to be fixed and they will be soon but he was keeping the specifics private.
- When I asked coach Martinson about the impact of having Mackin out of the lineup he said, "Anytime you lose you leading scorer it has an impact but that is no excuse for our performance last night."
- As disappointing as the loss was to the Americans they now must focus their attention on Utah who come to the AEC for games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Another weekend of playing three games in less than 48 hours with a 2:05 pm start on Sunday.
#9 BRETT NEUMANN PLAYER PROFILE
 |
| Brett Neumann |
- Allen fans had the chance to see rookie Brett Neumann in person for the first time last night. Neumann was assigned to Allen a week ago by his AHL team (Bridgeport Sound Tigers) and earned his first professional point last night when he assisted on Les Lancaster's goal.
- Brett is 21 years old and is 5'9'' and 176 pounds. The right shot forward is from Toronto and played his junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He had back to back 45 goal seasons his last two years in juniors (2018-19 & 2019-20). In addition to his goal scoring prowess Neumann finished his OHL career playing in an all time record of 311 consecutive regular season. Here is a story with the title, "Generals' Neumann graduates as OHL's all-time ironman" that talks about his record and career: https://ontariohockeyleague.com/article/generals-neumann-graduates-as-ohls-all-time-ironman
- If you read scouting reports about Brett Neumann they all mention his skating, skill and work ethic. He placed second in the hardest working player category in the OHL coaches' poll in 2018 and won the best skater category in 2019. Here is a quote from the Hockey News, "Neumann's heavy shot is overshadowed by his elite speed which separates him from the competition and he can kill penalties and unload big shots on the power play.
- Here is Brett Neumann's highlight reel from last season with the Oshawa Generals which you can find on YouTube. I think it is all 45 of his goals. It is long (over six minutes) but you see his speed and skill over and over again. Even strength goals, power play goals and shorthanded goals, he can do it all. At the end of the highlights Brett talks about his OHL career.
#15 DARIAN SKEOCH PLAYER PROFILE
 |
| Darian Skeoch |
- Darian was acquired last week in a trade with Indy that sent Conner Bleackley, the rights to Kayle Doetzel and future considerations to the Fuel. Darian Skeoch (pronounced Skee-Oh) is 6'4" and 225 pound. The 24 year old, right shot defenseman will bring some of the toughness Allen has lost recently from the defensive group (Lochead, Ottenbreit, Doetzel). Steve Martinson's quote about Skeoch says it all, "Skeoch is one of the toughest players to come out of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the last 10 years.
- Darian is from New Liskeard, Ontario but played his junior hockey in the rough and tumble Western Hockey League (WHL) and then played two years of college hockey at Carleton University before turning pro this season with the Indy Fuel. In 13 games with Indy Darian had no points and 18 penalty minutes.
- I saw this quote from his junior team coach after he left, "There was a focus on other players when Darian was here. It fell through the cracks on how important he was to the team in the public eye but not in the players' eyes. I think anybody you talk to on the team now will tell you that. Darian would do anything for the guys and that resonated with a lot of our players." Here is the complete story with the title, "Skeoch remains a leader with Giants even two years after final game: https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/junior-hockey/steve-ewen-skeoch-remains-a-leader-with-giants-even-two-years-after-final-game
- Here is an example of Skeoch's toughness from his junior days. you can find this and many others on YouTube:
DID YOU KNOW: More reasons offensive defensemen want to play in Steve Martinson's system. A lot of familiar names on this list. Goal scoring leaders among ECHL defensemen the last six seasons:
The 2:05 start time for Sunday games was mentioned during a recent STH event at Two Rows. An informal poll was taken of those in attendance as to our thoughts on the new Sunday start time versus the old start time of 4:05. Almost everyone was in agreement that the 4:05 start time was preferred.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much the two extra hours would help the players in their recovery process of playing three days in a row, but I would think that every extra hour couldn't hurt...