The opening game of the season hasn't always been kind to the Allen Americans when you consider its record on opening night since joining the ECHL is now 3-5. If you look at home openers the record isn't much better at 4-4. There have been some doozies including Allen's first season in the ECHL (2014-15) when it lost 9-6 to Tulsa at home with Aaron Dell, who had led Allen to the CHL championship a few months earlier in goal. Despite the poor start for Dell and the Americans the season was a big success. Dell was in the AHL for good by January and in the NHL the following year. Allen went on to win the Kelly Cup that season (2015). FYI, Allen also lost its home opener in 2015-16 (2-1 to Quad City) and went on to win a second Kelly Cup. Just maybe, losing the home opener is a good luck charm and predictive of a great end of the season.
- Allen lost 7-0 to Wichita last night and yes it was the worst home opener loss in team history. It was actually the worst shutout in franchise history. There is no way to sugarcoat the result. Allen has played 955 games since it became a franchise in 2009-10 and has never been shutout 7-0. The Americans have been shutout 5-0 five different times but only one of those was at home. The worst shutout ever prior to last night was a 6-0 loss at home to Kansas City on March 6, 2018. You may remember that game as Mavericks forward, Greg Betzhold, had a rare four goal and five point game.
- While you will not win many games when you give up 39 shots, the first goal of the game and lose the special teams battle as Allen did last night, it is important to put the loss in perspective. The Americans gave up three power play goals on just five opportunities and were 0-6 when they were on the power play. That is not who this team will be this season. Allen did not play a preseason game, Wichita played two. The Americans had numerous grade A scoring chances in their 30 shots on goal but didn't convert. Some of that is hats off to the #1 star of the game, Wichita goalie, Evan Buitenhuis, who picked up where he left off last season, as the best goalie in the league. Allen goalie Alexis Gravel, playing in his first pro game with an EBUG as his backup didn't get a lot of support, facing way too many odd man rushes. While there were a couple of goals I am sure Gravel wishes he had back on most of them there was nothing he could do.
- As co-captain Spencer Asuchak said after the game, the best thing about a loss like last night is the team doesn't have to wait a long time to do something about it as the teams play again this afternoon at 2:05 pm.
- Despite the loss there were some positives in the game. Branden Troock led the Americans with eight shots on goal, played tough and was one of just two players that didn't have a negative plus/minus (Jackson Leef was the other). You could also see the skill of Chad Costello and Jack Combs on the ice. They didn't convert but created numerous quality scoring opportunities for each other. You will be able to count on one hand the number of games this season Combs and Costello are both shutout in points in the same game.
- Look for a much better game from Allen this afternoon. They have a game under their belt, will improve on special teams, reduce the number of odd man rushes and hopefully give up fewer shots on goal. If Gravel can bounce back and play with confidence the Americans will be fine.
- I had a chance to talk to coach Martinson as he was headed to the rink to review last night's game and plan for the early start today. He obviously didn't see what happened last night coming and was frustrated. He saw the loss as a combination of factors with everyone from the forwards to the defensemen to the goalie needing to play better. The game was Martinson's first opportunity to see the players in game conditions and a couple of his observations were:
- too many turnovers entering the offensive zone
- too many pucks shot wide or over the net
- players trying to do too much
- a penalty kill that needs some adjustments. As he said to me, a lot of players say they can kill penalties, but until you see them in game conditions you don't really know. Martinson learned plenty as Allen gave up three power play goals on five attempts last night.
- The referee for the game this afternoon will be the same as last night, Trevor Wohlford (#38). He called 13 penalties last night, six on Allen and seven on Wichita, for a total of 32 minutes. Have a feeling those numbers might be exceeded in the game today.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Kevin Colley, who was an assistant coach in Allen in 2015-16 when they won the Kelly Cup is back helping Steve Martinson this season. Kevin had 214 AHL games and 16 NHL games with the New York Islanders during his playing career and won the Kelly Cup in 2003 playing for Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. He was the ECHL playoff MVP scoring 20 points in 14 games (7G, 13A). Kevin was the head coach of the Utah Grizzlies for five seasons (2008-13) and never missed the playoffs. He will be a big help for coach Martinson this season.
- Newfoundland has jumped out to the early lead in the ECHL standings which is no surprise. The Growlers are the only team that has played three games and they have won all three, outscoring its opponents 12-6. Newfoundland is again loaded with many NHL/AHL contracted players and will be a contender for the Kelly Cup, which they won in 2019, the only season they have competed for the championship.
- There are only two games in the ECHL today. In addition to Wichita at Allen, Idaho is at Utah.
- Some great early performance around the ECHL include Alex Tonge (Norfolk) leading the league in points (6 in 2 games) and Patrick Bajkov (Reading) and A.J. White (Idaho) leading the league in goals (4 in 2 games). Also notable is Wichita's Matteo Gennaro with five assists last night.
DID YOU KNOW: There was a great crowd on hand last night as 5443 attended the game which was the best opening night crowd since Allen joined the ECHL. The best home opener in team history was the very first one. In 2009 Allen had to play its first seven games on the road because the Allen Event Center wasn't completed. The home opener took place on November 7, 2009 as the Americans lost to Corpus Christi by a score of 4-1. The first Allen Americans hockey game in the AEC drew a record opening night crowd of 5808.
Yep, ugly game.
ReplyDeleteTwo preseason games to none really showed. Allen will get the ship righted. Way too many open shots passed up trying to make a perfect pass. I thought they were out of position too often. All that will be resolved. The first line will look better. I know you thought they looked good but I thought they were the worst line last night.
It will get better.
I was hoping for an explanation of why we were denied the one goal we got last night. In looking at the replay on Sporfie, I couldn’t see why it was denied.
ReplyDeleteNot getting resolved today - that power play was beyond pathetic. The goalie is horrible and this team just sucks right now. Another affiliation that screws us... This is hard to watch
ReplyDeleteYes, excellent game 2. WTG
ReplyDelete