The Allen Americans defeated the Idaho Steelheads 4-2 last night before another sellout crowd (5182) at the Idaho Central Arena. It was one of the Americans more complete games of the season. Allen scored first, never gave up the lead, won the special teams battle with two power play goals, played good team defense, held the Steelheads to 27 shots and played a physical game. The one disappointment was giving up another shorthanded goal, the eighth of the season which is double any other team in the ECHL.
- Chad Costello led the way for the Americans scoring the first goal and assisting on the other three. Chad and Spencer Asuchak are now tied for the team lead in points with the exact same stats. They both have 17 points (6G, 11A) in 15 games.
- Gavin Gould had three assists in the game and now has a total of 10 assists which leads all ECHL rookies. Gavin is tied for third in points (17) among rookies.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Chad Costello (6), Ben Carroll (1), Kris Mylarri (2) and Zach Hall (1). The game included 18 penalties for a total of 54 minutes (25 Allen - 29 Idaho) and six fighting majors.
- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-beat-idaho-4-2/
- Here is the game recap from the Idaho Steelhead: https://www.idahosteelheads.com/en/articles/steelheads-comeback-bid-falls-short-in-4-2-loss-to-allen
- Here is a link to the video highlights: youtu.be/ekh2Xttq6kE
COACH'S CORNER
- I had a chance to catch up with coach Martinson at the Boise airport as the team was waiting to catch their 7:00 am flight home. Here is what he had to say:
"The team played a much better game last night. Our passing was crisp and fluid."
"We scored two goals on the rush which is more of our style of play. You will see more of that going forward."
"It was a good team win, a good outing for Marotte and the team showed its toughness in the fights."
"We now have eight days before we play again so we will have some time off, some fun practices and also time to work on areas we need to improve.
"Zach Hall arrived in Allen after midnight on Monday, practiced with the team and flew to Idaho on Tuesday and then played three games in four days because we needed him. It was good to see him get a goal."
"I wasn't happy with the officiating on Friday night, I thought it was much better last night."
"Kelly Bent will be leaving the team to go back home to become a police officer. I have several friends from college that went into law enforcement and all were tough guys. When they did a background check on Kelly and called about him I had a feeling they would take him ASAP. He is exactly what you would want in a police officer. I am sure he will be the same person he is as a player, honest, hard working and tough. Kelly was hoping this job offer would come later in the season so he could play but they wanted him now."
OTHER COMMENTS
- If you track the Mountain Division closely you have noticed Wichita is the hottest team in the division after a slow start. The Thunder lost five of their first seven games but have won six of the last seven and the one loss was in overtime. Wichita now has the second best points percentage in the division (.607). Utah leads the division with a points percentage of .667 and has won three straight games. Tulsa is the team that has cooled off after leading the division early in the season. Tulsa has lost four straight and watched its point percentage fall from .750 to .542 in the last week.
- If you look at the last 10 games, five ECHL teams have won seven or more games with three of them from the Mountain Division (Utah, Idaho, Wichita). The one team with more than seven wins in the last 10 games is Newfoundland (8-2-0-0). The Growlers are threatening to run away with the regular season championship. They are on a record pace with a points percentage of .857. The next closest teams (Fort Wayne, Toledo, Utah) are at .667.
- Last season Les Lancaster scored 26 goals in 72 games, the most goals scored by an ECHL defenseman in over 20 years. It is still early in the season but another defenseman is on pace to surpass Lancaster's 26 goals. Utah defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous leads all ECHL defensemen with 18 points (10G, 8A) in 15 games. At his current pace D'Astous would score 48 goals over a 72 game season. Lancaster's situation was unique in that he played every game and was never loaned to the AHL. D'Astous in on a two (AHL/ECHL) contract with the Colorado Eagles so the likelihood he will go all season without being injured or recalled is remote. No doubt he is off to a great start.
- After 196 games, ECHL attendance is averaging 3784 per game but the range is very wide. Two teams (Toledo and Fort Wayne) are averaging over 6800 per game while three teams (Iowa, Wheeling, Newfoundland) are averaging less than 2000 per game. Newfoundland is a special case since because it was not allowed to use its home arena for the first six home games and had to play in a neighboring town's facility. The Growlers had six sellouts but just 1168 per game.
- There are 12 ECHL teams with average attendance between 2600 and 3650 including the Allen Americans with an average attendance of 3244 over six home games. That ranks Allen #17 in average attendance.
- If anyone is interested in two glass seats ($25 each) for the Allen home games in December let me know. I am heading to North Dakota on a late season pheasant hunting trip so will miss the games. Email me (janssenfamily@msn.com) if interested or with questions.
DID YOU KNOW: There has been some excellent goalie play in the ECHL this season. Here is the ECHL Stats post for the day with the details:
The last ECHL goalie to finish a season with a GAA below 2.00 was in 2017-18. Goalie of the Year, Parker Milner (South Carolina) finished with a 1.86 GAA. So far this season six qualified goalies (240 minutes played) have a GAA below 2.00:
1.60: Keith Petruzzelli, Newfoundland
1.70: Parker Gahagen, Florida
1.77: Daniel Mannella, Tulsa
1.77: Kaden Fulcher, Toledo
1.80: Samuel Harvey, Fort Wayne
1.96: Tyler Parks, Atlanta
The best single season GAA by an Allen goalie since the Americans joined the ECHL in 2014-15 was by Riley Gill. In 2016-17 Riley finished with a GAA of 2.22.
Hey I made the highlight video picture. The capacity doesn't really tell your how small the arena is. The concourse is right behind the seats and there's not much walking AND line room. Nice thing is if the long line keeps you out of your seats you can still watch the game while in line.
ReplyDeleteI also imagined there being a long tunnel from arena to hotel. It's just doors straight from hotel lobby into the arena seats.