If you are a scoreboard watcher what you saw last night was not good for Allen even though the Americans did not play. The other three teams in playoffs spots in the Western Conference all won while the Americans were chilling in Kansas City awaiting their game with the Mavericks tonight.
- With just 12 games remaining in the regular season (4 home, 8 away) every game is important. Allen has blown first period leads in two of its last three games. They were the only two times all season the Americans have lost games in regulation time with a lead after the first period.
- Allen is the second youngest team in the ECHL with an average age of 25.07. By the way Kansas City is the oldest team in the league with an average age of 26.85. The Americans have had 26 rookies on the roster at some point this season and currently have 14 rookies on the roster. Eight of the players on the roster have been added since the beginning of April.
- Coach Martinson has consistently said he expects the team to get better as all of the new young players get games under their belt. Most of them have played very few games in the past year because of COVID restrictions.
- Now is the time for the team to start making the push for the playoffs by playing good consistent hockey. Allen had won six straight prior to this latest hiccup but all except one of the wins were at home. The Americans will have to show they can win on the road at a higher points percentage than their current road record (.536).
- After blowing a 3-1 lead in the loss to Kansas City on Wednesday and sitting around for two days the chance for redemption for the Americans comes tonight. Allen has won six of the nine games against Kansas City this season. The three losses have something in common in that Kansas City scored first in all three and scored 4+ goals in all three. In all three losses Allen had fewer than 30 shots on goal.
- In the Americans six wins against the Mavericks they allowed Kansas City three or fewer goals. In the recent four game sweep against the Mavericks at the Allen Event Center (AEC) the Americans averaged 40 shots on goal.
- Despite blowing leads against Tulsa last Saturday and against Kansas City on Wednesday the stats say scoring first and getting off to a good start in the first period are a huge advantage. Allen's record when scoring first is 27-8-1-0, when the opponent scores first Allen's record is 10-12-1-1. Even with regulation losses twice in the last week after leading at the first intermission the Americans record when leading after the first period is 19-2-2-1. A key tonight will be a good start by the Americans.
- Another key tonight is something coach Martinson has been talking about consistently and that is getting more offense and reducing turnovers with the puck possession advantage they have in almost every game, win or lose. What is happening too often is puck possession in the offensive zone without getting a shot on goal and even worse turning over the puck in the offensive zone that leads to odd man rushes for the opponent. The difference in playing aggressive and not gambling on low percentage opportunities and giving up turnovers is a fine line. More of a winning mentality is needed than a scoring mentality.
- ,Based on the head to head games this season, if Allen holds Kansas City to three or fewer goals tonight the Americans will win the game.
- As always special teams will play a role in the outcome of the game tonight. On Wednesday, Allen was 1-3 on the power play and Kansas City was 1-7. The Americans power play has been good for a couple of months and has climbed to #2 in the ECHL at 21.2% (45-163) and is ranked #1 on the road (25.5%). Allen has a power play goal in six straight games and in those six games is 10-23 (43.5%) on the power play. The old adage of win the special teams battle, win the game is usually correct.
COACH'S CORNER
"We will have about 15 players at an optional skate this morning and I won't know until after the optional skate who will play tonight because we have a couple of players that are day to day."
"We had a full team video session before practice yesterday and I thought we had a good practice."
"We have to improve our decision making in the game tonight and avoid beating ourselves. That has cost us in the last two losses."
"We play tonight, fly home Sunday, play Kansas City Monday, fly to Utah on Tuesday, play games on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and fly home Monday. It will be a busy week."
OTHER COMMENTS
- The AHL let each division decide if it wanted a playoff and only the Pacific Division opted for a playoff. The players in the Pacific Division voted 133-8 against a division playoff but by agreement before the season started the decision was solely with the teams, not the players. Here is an article from the Hockey News which lays out the thinking on the playoffs and the problems this season has caused. A good read: https://www.si.com/hockey/news/the-post-season-nobody-wants-to-play
- ECHL players looking to go overseas next season will have little or no break from the end of the ECHL season to the reporting dates in Europe. This is especially true for players on teams in the playoffs. I was talking to an agent that represents many North American players looking to play in Europe and he tells me reporting dates vary by league but some have reporting dates as early at July 10. Even leagues with later report dates like Austria and the United Kingdom, the report dates are by the end of July. It is hard to imagine a player winning the Kelly Cup, celebrating for a couple of days and then flying to Europe to start a new season.
- It has been a difficult season for every ECHL team that opted to play in 2020-21 but the Allen Americans have been hit extra hard. The Americans have used a record 51 players and I predict that number will go even higher. An unusual number of injuries, the loss of San Jose as an affiliate, loans to the AHL, fewer players than expected being assigned by Iowa and playing shorthanded because of COVID outbreaks have all contributed to more issues than normal. When you consider everything that has happened this season for the Americans, to be ranked #4 in the ECHL in points percentage (.642) is a tribute to coach/general manager Steve Martinson. He has proven why he is the reigning ECHL General Manager of the Year.
- Updated Western Conference standings with games remaining in parenthesis:
.677 - Wichita (10)
.659 - Fort Wayne (10)
.642 - Allen (12)
.558 - Utah (12)
.508 - Rapid City (11)
.500 - Tulsa (10)
.483 - Kansas City (12)
- All ECHL teams will be in action tonight with the exception of Fort Wayne and Indy. The Western Conference matchups in addition to Allen at Kansas City are Utah at Tulsa and Rapid City at Wichita. Here is the ECHL Today with previews on all the games. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/5/echl-today-may-15
DID YOU KNOW: With the playoffs fast approaching the questions of tie breakers always comes up and even more so this season when playoff positions are decided by points percentage not points. Here are the eight tiebreakers the ECHL will use in 2020-21:
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