I had a chance to check in with Steve Martinson yesterday to get an update on the recruiting process and he is just starting to reach out to players with offers for next season. The season ending roster is due Thursday and the first day to sign players is Friday so this will be a busy week.
Here is the Allen Americans playoff roster with an update on the players that have already signed for the 2021-22 season:
Goalies
#31 - C.J. Motte
#34 - Jake Paterson - signed in Norway
#35 - Frank Marotte
Defensemen
#4 - Terrance Amorosa
#5 - Phil Beaulieu
#7 - Sam Ruopp
#14 - Les Lancaster - signed in Finland to two year deal
#16 - Darian Skeoch
#18 - Kris Myllari
#20 - Ben Carroll
#43 - Matt Register - signed in Great Britain (Wales)
Forwards
#8 - Steve Owre - signed in France
#9 - Brett Neumann
#11 - Collin Shirley
#15 - Corey Mackin - signed in Sweden, ECHL rights revert to Reading
#17 - Colby McAuley - rights revert to Idaho
#19 - Chad Butcher - signed in Sweden
#22 - Tyler Sheehy
#26 - Spencer Asuchak
#27 - Sam Laberge - rights revert to Adirondack
#40 - Josh Lammon
#44 - Zane Franklin
#71 - Dyson Stevenson
#77 - Scott Conway
- Have had a couple of questions about the Allen Americans protected
list which is made up of three goalies, 10 defensemen and 14 forwards.
Here is the list:
Jake Paterson, C.J. Motte, Frank Marotte, Sam Ruopp, Lester Lancaster, Kris Myllari, Ben Carroll, Terrance Amorosa, Nolan Kneen, Will Lochead, Turner Ottenbreit, Miles Liberati, Collin Shirley, Dyson Stevenson, Zane Franklin, Spencer Asuchak, Josh Lammon, Chad Butcher, Scott Conway, Steve Owre, Darian Skeoch, Alex Lavoie, Mason Bergh, Jacob Doty, Brett Pollock, Jordan Topping, Gabriel Gagne.
Miles Liberati's rights were obtained from Tulsa in a trade that sent goalie Hayden Hawkey to Tulsa. Mason Bergh is a player Martinson claimed off of waivers.
Players like Beaulieu, Neumann and Sheehy are not on the protected list because they were on AHL deals and assigned to Allen.
- The season ending list/roster that is due on Thursday (3:00 pm EDT) is limited to 20 players and the players on the list must have signed an ECHL contract in 2020-21. That will eliminate Doty, Pollock, Topping and Gagne.
- Steve Martinson pointed out to me the rookie rule, where salary is
capped for players that have played less than 25 games, will be an issue
in re-signing players like Sam Ruopp and Collin Shirley. The CBA limits
rookie maximum salary to $585 per week. They can do much better by going
to Europe.
- The urgency will start quickly because Martinson will have until July 23 to sign players from the season ending roster. On the 23rd he can give qualifying offers to up to eight players from the season ending roster which protects their rights. Those that don't get a qualifying offer (and have not been signed) become free agents.
- No news on an affiliation for the 2021-22 season. Martinson emphasized it is important to get the right affiliation that works for everyone. He is confident he will be able find an affiliate for next season.
- I was looking at the final stats from the playoffs and a few stood out to me. Fort Wayne played a total of 64 games this season in winning its first Kelly Cup, 51 regular season and 13 playoff games. In Allen's two Kelly Cups it played 96 games (72+24) in 2015 and 97 games (72+24) in 2016.
- Allen had the best shooting percentage in the playoffs (11.4%) and also the best average goals per game (3.57). What was Allen's downfall was not being able to hold on to a lead. The Americans scored first in six of its seven playoff games but only won three of the six.
- For all eight playoff teams the combined record when leading after the second period was 21-4. The Allen Americans record was 2-2. The Americans were almost unbeatable during the regular season with a second period lead (30-2-2-0). Blowing a 4-1 lead at home with 12 minutes left in game two against Fort Wayne will always be seen as the single period that cost Allen its third Kelly Cup.
- Even though he only played in seven playoff games, compared to 13 for Fort Wayne and South Carolina, Les Lancaster led all defensemen in goals (3) and was tied for the lead in points (7).
OTHER COMMENTS
- When Fort Wayne won its first ever Kelly Cup last Friday, there were three former Allen Americans as part of the celebration. Zach Pochiro was Fort Wayne's second leading goal scorer during the regular season (14 goals in 32 games), Nick Boka was the Komet's Defenseman of the Year and goalie Justin Kapelmaster was the goalie of record in Allen's loss to Fort Wayne in game two of its series when the Americans were leading 4-1 in the third period and lost the game 5-4 in overtime. That third period and overtime was Kaplemaster's only appearance in the playoffs. He played 23 minutes and stopped all eight shots he faced. Congrats to Zach, Nick and Justin.
DID YOU KNOW: Here is yesterday's ECHL stats post that lists ECHL teams with the most playoff series wins since 2015 when the Central Hockey League (CHL) teams joined the ECHL. If you include the two years Steve Martinson coached the Americans in the CHL his series record in Allen is 16-3, to go along with four championships.
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