It is rinse and repeat for the Allen Americans as today will be a mirror image of last Thursday. It is getaway day for the Allen Americans as they head out this
afternoon for Wichita where they will play the Thunder tomorrow (Friday) night and Kansas City on Saturday. The team will practice this morning and leave this afternoon on the 365 mile trip to Wichita. Last Friday Allen came out on top by a score of 3-1. After the game tomorrow night the Americans will return to Allen for home games against Kansas City on Saturday (7:05 pm CST) and Wichita on Sunday (4:05 pm CST).
- The rest of the month of November will be telling for Allen. After this weekend the Americans spend the rest of the month on the road. The schedule includes a three game series in Rapid City (November 17, 19, 20) and a three game series in Idaho (November 24, 26, 27). Luckily the team will be flying to these destinations. As seems to be the case most seasons, Allen will spend Thanksgiving on the road, in Idaho.
- It has been a tough week for the Allen roster. It started with goalie Antoine Bibeau being recalled to Charlotte (AHL) after his first outing for the Americans. Bibeau has been assigned to Allen twice but has been recalled quickly both times, October 18 assigned, October 20 recalled and November 2 assigned, November 5 recalled. In the one game Bibeau played which was the 3-1 win in Wichita last Friday he had a save percentage of .952.
- Tuesday Allen's leading scorer, Ryan Lohin, was recalled to Charlotte. Lohin has averaged a goal per game since being assigned to Allen on October 20. He is tied for second in goals (6) in the ECHL. Most impressive is Lohin's efficient shooting percentage which is 33.3%. he has scored six goals on just 18 shots. He will be missed.
- Here is what coach Martinson had to say about losing Bibeau and Lohin who are both with Charlotte (AHL). Charlotte has two NHL teams they are working with, Seattle and Florida. Martinson said, "The positive side of having an affiliate like Seattle that splits an AHL team is the players we get assigned are higher up the food chain. Bibeau and Lohin are clearly AHL players. The downside is there are only two if them."
- To make matters worse, Allen's second leading scorer, Jack Combs, who has seven points (3G, 4A) in five games is out of the lineup after being slashed in Wichita last Friday.
- Forward Dawson Butt will miss the game in Wichita as he will be serving a one game suspension he received for an altercation in Kansas City last Saturday.
- Nolan Kneen and Jackson Leef have been practicing with the no contact jersey so it is uncertain whether either one will play this weekend.
- There is a bright spot for the weekend, Allen had added a forward (will be announced today) and a goalie. Hayden Lavigne will serve as a backup to Frank Marotte. He is on loan from the Pensacola Ice Flyers (SPHL). Since turning pro last season after finishing his collegiate career at the University of Michigan, Hayden has played in eight ECHL games, all for Wichita, with a GAA of 2.68 and a .917 save percentage. He played against Allen three times last season when he was with Wichita, winning 5-2 and 4-1 and losing in overtime 4-3.
- I will have a preview tomorrow but the key for tomorrow night and the entire weekend is can the Allen Americans get things turned around defensively. Allen scores enough goals to win, it is ranked #7 in the ECHL averaging 3.50 goals per game. What is hurting the Americans is giving up close to 40 shot per game (38.17) which is the worst in the league and allowing an average of 4.50 goals per game (ranked #25). A lot of practice time and video review this week was devoted to this weakness. Playing team defense is as much about hard work, pride and not cheating as it is about skill. It will be difficult this weekend for Allen with the top two scorers (Lohin & Combs) not in the lineup. All the more reason to play a tight defensive game.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The ECHL standings are starting to show the teams that will struggle all season but each division is a little different:
North Division - Points percentages range from .200 (Worcester) to .857 (Newfoundland). Only two teams (Growlers & Reading) have a points percentage above .417.
South Division - Points percentages range from .200 (Greenville) to .800 (South Carolina). Six ECHL teams have points percentages of .750 or more and three of them are in the South Division, South Carolina, Norfolk and Atlanta.
Central Division - Points percentages range from .188 (Iowa) to .800 (Fort Wayne). Only two of seven teams (Iowa & Indy) have points percentages below .500.
Mountain Division - The tightest of the four divisions with points percentages ranging from .286 (Wichita) to .750 (Utah). Five of seven teams are at .500 or above.
- It is a big weekend around the ECHL with a total of 32 games scheduled. The best teams are starting to distance themselves from the non-playoff teams. Remember, past history says if a team isn't in a playoff spot on Thanksgiving there is a 80% chance it will miss the playoffs.
DID YOU KNOW: In the last four seasons (since 2017-18) 10 players have played 100 or more regular season games for the Allen Americans. How many can you name other Spencer Asuchak we has almost twice as many games played as anyone else? Here are the 10 players in games played order.
245 - Spencer Asuchak
133 - Joel Chouinard
126 - David Makowski
121 - Josh Lammon
114 - Alex Breton
109 - Dalton Thrower
107 - Alex Guptill
106 - Les Lancaster
106 - Josh Thrower
105 - Zach Pochiro
Looking forward to the game. Will watch them on Flohockey and in person. Go Recd.
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