- On a personal note I am back in Texas after spending a month in Minnesota and North Dakota. In addition to spending time visiting friends and family the trip included a 10 day pheasant hunting trip. I traveled from Minneapolis to northwest North Dakota (620 miles) with my high school hunting buddy of over 60 years (Dave Carter) and his 10 year old black lab (Jett), which made for a fun and very successful pheasant hunt. We relived a lifetime of hunting experiences which we do every year and they get better and funnier each year. Welcome to old age! The fall colors were gorgeous and the wildlife was abundant. We saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes, thousands of geese and ducks migrating south, a herd of antelope and even spotted a few moose and of course wild turkeys and plenty of deer. If you like nature and the outdoors, you can't beat the fall in the upper midwest. We had so much fun we are going back on another pheasant hunting trip in mid December, as there is nothing like late season pheasant hunting in the cold, wind and snow of North Dakota.
- Welcome to the second weekend of the ECHL season as the Allen Americans prepare to take on the Utah Grizzlies tonight (7:05) and Sunday afternoon (2:05). Both teams come into the weekend with a .500 points percentage and similar yet different starts to the season.
- Allen suffered its worst shutout in team history (7-0) in game one of the season against Wichita before bouncing back with 6-3 win over the Thunder. Utah has already played four games, losing the first two to Idaho (7-3 & 5-3) before bouncing back with two wins, both shutouts. The Grizzlies beat Idaho 4-0 last Sunday and followed that up with a 3-0 win over Wichita last night.
- Utah arrives in Allen having not given up a goal in the last 125:07 minutes. Goalie Trent Minor has back to back shutouts. After a rough start on opening night where Minor allowed seven goals on 26 shots, he arrives in Allen stopping 56 straight shots. Since Utah and Minor played in Wichita last night and had to travel to Allen after the game, it remains to be seen if he will be in goal tonight but back to back shutouts typically earns a start in the next game. However, it is hard to see Minor playing both tonight and again Sunday afternoon with the early start. Three games in less than 48 hours for the Thunder probably means Utah's other goalie, Peyton Jones, may get a start in Allen.
- Allen had to play with an EBUG last weekend with rookie goalie, Alexis Gravel, carrying the load playing every minute of the series against Wichita. The Americans got some help this week as the San Diego Gulls (AHL) loaned goalie Frank Marotte to the Americans. Marotte is a depth goalie for San Diego so should spend a lot of time in Allen this season barring injuries in San Diego or its NHL affiliate, Anaheim. If you wonder why Marotte was loaned to Allen rather than Tulsa who is affiliated with Anaheim and San Diego, it is because Marotte signed with Allen before he got his AHL deal so the Americans retain his ECHL rights. In 12 games with Allen last season, Marotte had a record of 8-3-0-1, a GAA of 2.54 and save percentage of .917. Marotte will be in goal for Allen tonight.
- Allen played Utah 21 times last season. In 18 regular season games the Americans record against the Grizzlies was 10-6-1-1. In the playoffs Allen swept Utah 3-0.
- Scoring first is always important. Allen is 1-1 this season, Utah is 2-2 and in all six games the team that scored first won the game. In the 21 times these teams played last season the team that scored first won 15.
- Special teams is always key and though it is a small sample, Allen has the advantage early in the season. The Americans were 0-6 on the power play on opening night but followed that up with 2-4 on Sunday. Allen's power play will be very good this season. Utah's power play is still looking for its first goal of the season going 0-9 in four games. Both teams have struggled on the penalty kill with Allen at 62.5% (3-8) and Utah at 76.2% (5-21). Shorthanded goals could be a factor this weekend, Utah has two shorties in four games, Allen has one in two games. Utah hasn't given up a shorthanded goal, Allen has allowed one.
- Coach Martinson signed local defensemen Ben Owen this week. Ben is from Allen and has played 18 games with the Americans in the past (2018-20). Allen will be missing two defensemen tonight. Nolan Kneen who as he is still recovering from a season ending injury from last season. Kneen has been practicing with the team and should be back in the lineup very soon. Eric Roy will not play tonight and will likely miss the game tomorrow. He suffered a lower body injury blocking a shot last weekend and is listed as day to day. Phil Beaulieu will be back in the lineup tonight, playing in his first game since being injured last season on April 25.
- The referee scheduled tonight is Logan Gruhl (#29). The linesmen will be Jordan Solomon (#78) and Trent Williams (#48).
OTHER COMMENTS
- There was major news in the ECHL this week with one team announcing a name and logo and another forced out of their home arena. Savannah will start playing in the ECHL in 2022-23 and will be known as the Ghost Pirates. Here is a link to the details from the local paper that covers the new name, construction of their new arena, franchise owners and the embrace of the community (1500 season tickets already sold): https://www.savannahnow.com/story/sports/minors/2021/10/27/savannah-ghost-pirates-unveiled-pro-hockey-team-enmarket-arena/8559823002/
At the other end of the Spectrum is the Newfoundland Growlers who have been suspended from playing home games at their arena (Mile One Centre) pending a third-party investigation into allegations of "disrespectful workplace conduct." The Growlers will temporarily plays their home games in Toronto. Here is a link to the story: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/article-echls-newfoundland-growlers-suspended-from-mile-one-centre-pending/
- It is very early in the season with teams playing between one and four games into tonight but already 22 of 27 teams have won and lost a game. Only three teams (Newfoundland, Jacksonville, Cincinnati) haven't lost and two teams haven't won (Indy, Greenville).
- The Mountain Division has four teams at .500 (Allen, Idaho, Utah, Kansas City), two at .667 (Rapid City, Tulsa) and Wichita at .333. Based on early results the division could be the most balanced in the league.
- Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of all nine ECHL games tonight: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/10/echl-today-oct-30
DID YOU KNOW: From my ECHL Stats post this morning:
Welcome back. Glad you have a safe fun trip.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a wonderful time! We certainly miss those fall colors back home. Always glad to have you back, sharing your perspective in the hockey world. Welcome back!
ReplyDelete