Allen Sweeps Growlers, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Newfoundland's Trip Home, ECHL Top Save Percentage Teams and More

 

Allen made it a weekend sweep of the Newfoundland Growlers with a 4-2 win Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 2170 at the CUTX Event Center. The game wasn't decided until Chad Costello scored an empty net goal with 15 seconds remaining in the game.

 

- Allen never trailed in the game after Tyler Poulsen split two defensemen on a great individual effort and beat the goalie to give the Americans a 1-0 lead at the 11:22 mark of the first period. Newfoundland responded less than a minute later to tie the score and the teams went into the first intermission with the score 1-1.

 

-  Allen took a 2-1 lead 78 seconds into the second period but the back a forth continued when the Growlers scored midway through the period to tie the score 2-2. Allen took the lead for good when Kris Myllari scored on the power play with less than two minutes remaining and the Americans went into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead. 

 

- Newfoundland outshot Allen 13-6 in the third period but could not get the equalizer. Rookie goalie, Luke Peressini, who just arrived in Allen and was making his second professional start, stopped all 13 Growler shots to earn his first pro victory. Costello sealed the win, taking a pass from Jack Combs and putting the puck into the open net. It was his 44th point of the season and Chad is now one point off the ECHL lead. 

 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Tyler Poulsen (6), Jackson Leppard (10), Kris Myllari (4), and Chad Coatello (18). Here are the video highlights with the goals and some great saves: https://youtu.be/Y7J3LT84XfE

 

 - Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-sweep-growlers/

 

- Newfoundland Growlers game recap: https://www.nlgrowlers.com/en/2021-22recaps/recap-growlers-downed-4-2-by-americans

 

- Takeaways from the series with Newfoundland:

• Allen allowed five goals in three games, the fewest in a three game series all season
• First time ever three different goalies, all rookies, won games in a home weekend series.
• Allen did not allow a third period goal in any of the three games. 
• Allen improved its points percentage from .485 to .527.
  
• Allen allowed just one power play goal but countered that with a shorthanded goal.
• Allen won Saturday and Sunday despite playing shorthanded with 14 skaters.

- I had a chance to talk to coach Martinson this morning as he was headed to the rink. He was already focused on the game on Wednesday and trying to deal with all of the injuries and what players will be ready this week. He was obviously happy with the three wins against Newfoundland, especially since Allen was the team that played shorthanded. He liked how the new goalies played and how some guys stepped up when they were given more ice time.

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The odd stat of the day belongs to Kris Myllari who has scored four goals this season and all have been game winning goals. Kris leads the Americans in game winning goals and he is tied for the lead in game winning goals among all ECHL defensemen. Myllari's four game winning goals places him #2 among all ECHL players. 

- Chad Costello is ranked #2 in the ECHL is scoring with 44 points (18G, 26A). It wasn't long ago Chad was 20th in ECHL scoring but he has been on quite the streak lately. Costello has at least one point in seven of the last eight games and in those seven games he has five goals and eight assists. Chad's 18 goals ranks him #4 in the league and his 26 assists is ranked #2. 

- If you call three games in a week a light schedule, Allen will play two games at home and one on the road this week. Wichita is in Allen on Wednesday and Tulsa visits on Friday. On Saturday the Americans will play the Oilers in Tulsa. Allen has to take care of business when playing games in the Mountain Division if it wants to move up in the standings. It is important to take one game at a time and not look to far ahead but if the Americans get three wins this week they will be right back in the thick of things in the division, with a .562 points percentage.

- Newfoundland ended its seven game road trip through the Mountain Division with a record of 2-5-0-0 and a big COVID breakout. I am sure the Growlers will be glad to get home where they will begin a seven game homestand. The first three games of the homestand will be against Reading, who has passed Newfoundland in the North Division standings in points percentage (.636 vs .621). To make matters worse the Growlers will be playing with no fans in the stands. Here is a story about Newfoundland's trip home from Texas, the long road trip and playing with no fans at home.  https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-telegram-st-johns/20220131/281595243927269

 

DID YOU KNOW: After allowing just five goals in three games this weekend, Allen's team save percentage has improved to .898. Here are the ECHL's best.

ECHL teams with the best team save percentage. With the exception of Wichita, all are top 10 teams in the standings by points percentage. The teams points percentage and rank is in parenthesis:

 

.915 - Atlanta (.588 - 9th)

.914 - Idaho (.588 - 8th)

.912 - Wichita (.413 - 26th)

.911 - Reading (.636 - 3rd)

.910 - Toledo (.730 - 1st)

.909 - Jacksonville (.635 - 4th)

 

Allen Wins Low Scoring Game 2-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Steve Martinson's Comments, Today's Game Preview, Jersey Auction Results and More

 

It wasn't easy but the Allen Americans made it two straight over the Newfoundland Growlers last night with a 2-1 win on Star Wars night before a crowd of 4065 at the CUTX Event Center. It was the first time all season the Americans scored just two goals and won a game. The previous seven times Allen scored two goals in a game, they lost. 

 

-  Allen got off to a good start scoring the first and only goal of the opening period just 2:33 after the puck drop. Kolten Olynek stole the puck from the Newfoundland goalie behind the net and passed it to Dawson Butt who put it in the open net. It was Olynek's first pro point.

 

- The Growlers tied the score with the only goal of the second period. The Americans lost a faceoff in their offensive zone and it turned into a goal for the Growlers.

 

- Just like on Friday, the score was tied after the second period and the Americans won the third period to get the victory. Last night, Spencer Asuchak had the game winner, tipping in a shot from Phil Beaulieu. Newfoundland pulled its goalie with two minutes remaining in the game. It seemed like the Americans had a half a dozen chances to score an empty net goal but it was not to be. 

 

- Chase Perry, who was starting his first ECHL game in goal, was outstanding, stopping 35 of 36 shots for a .972 save percentage. Chase had appeared in three ECHL games prior to last night in a mop up role (46 total minutes) but last night was his first complete game. 

 

- Dawson Butt scored his second goal of the season and also had several big hits in the game as did Spencer Asuchak who scored is 12 goal of the season. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/5UCHxBYgzzA  

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-make-it-two-straight-over-newfoundland/

 

- Here is the game recap from the Newfoundland Growlers: https://www.nlgrowlers.com/en/2021-22recaps/recap-growlers-drop-tight-2-1-decision-vs-americans

 

- It was a let them play game as far as penalties were concerned. Allen didn't have a single power play for the first time all season. Newfoundland was called for one minor penalty (slashing) but it was after the game was over. Allen also had just one minor penalty (roughing) which led to a Growlers power play which the Americans killed of. Allen has allowed just one power play goal in the last 11 games. 

 

 COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON

"It was great to get the win last night playing shorthanded. Branden Troock didn't play for most of the game and we were down to 14 skaters. Troock will not play today."

"We will be short again this afternoon with either 14 or 15 skaters."

"It is tough playing so early on Sunday after a game last night and after playing four games in five days but it is the same for both teams so the players just have to suck it up. Our team played well last week in Tulsa in the same situation."

" Goalie Luke Peressini, who we just acquired in a trade with Worcester, will get the start in goal this afternoon."

"With so many players out of the lineup, it gives others a chance to step up and make plays and show what they can do."

"We need to make better decisions in our offensive zone. Some of the turnovers are because we are not being patient."

"In order for us to win, our top line needs to play better than their top line like they did last night with the game winning goal in the third period."

"It was good to get a win with a big Saturday night crowd in the building."

"It is possible we could get another player this week from a futures consideration trade I earlier in the season."

 

GAME THREE PREVIEW

- Both teams have played shorthanded at some point this weekend and the early start this afternoon (2:05) means the third game is 42 hours, 35 minutes from the start of game one. It is likely Newfoundland will have a full lineup and Allen will be shorthanded.

- Special teams will undoubtedly play a bigger role in the game today with tired players and a different referee. Newfoundland has a lot of replacement players but they still have a potent power play group. The Growlers power play is ranked #2 at 25% compared to Allen's which is ranked #17 at 18.7%.

 

- It may be a different game this afternoon with a combination of it being the third game in three days and a different referee is scheduled. Tyler Hascall (#8) is the scheduled referee this afternoon. I think it is a given there will be a lot more than two minor penalties in the game today. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- It you have been an Allen fan a long time, did you think about the Saturday night, big crowd, specialty jersey, post game jersey auction curse when Newfoundland tied the game 1-1 in the second period. Have to admit it crossed my mind. 

 

- Jersey auctions are clearly not what they used to be. Whether it is a saturated market with so many specialty jerseys, online auctions or other factors, it is not like the old days. Last night the Star Wars jersey action garnered prices from a high of $900 to a low of $200 with most jerseys going between $300-$350. Here are the jerseys that went for more than $400:

• $900 - Darian Skeoch
• $600 - Chase Perry
• $550 - Spencer Asuchak
• $550 - Hayden Lavigne

 

- Just how much have the jersey auctions changed. No doubt the Americans still make a lot of money selling jerseys at an average price of $383 like last night. However check out the top jersey prices I found in the archives from January, 2015. This is what I wrote at the time.

Have to say the jersey auction last night was a resounding success. Heard so many positive comments about how good the specialty jerseys looked. The average price for the jerseys was just over $900 and two of them went for over $2000. Here are the jerseys that went for at least $1000: 

$2100 - Jamie Schaafsma
$2000 - Chad Costello
$1550 - Ian Schultz
$1200 - Brett Lyon
$1000 - Brian McMillin

 

 

- Allen is the only Mountain Division team playing today so the Americans will have a chance to gain on all the teams ahead of them. Allen is currently in fifth place but the gap is still pretty wide even though the Americans have won two straight games. Here are the division standings:

• .646 - Utah
• .588 - Idaho
• .566 - Tulsa
• .560 - Rapid City
• .514 - Allen (will move to .527 with a win today)
• .463 - Kansas City
• .413 - Wichita

 

  

DID YOU KNOW: With a win this afternoon Allen will have one of the current longest win streaks in the ECHL. Here is the ECHL stats post for today. 

 

Is it a sign of parity? 21 of 27 ECHL teams have a current win or loss streak of just one or two games. The six exceptions, teams with the current longest winning and losing streaks.

Winning Streaks

4-0: Worcester

4-0: Greenville

3-0: Idaho 

 

Losing Streaks

0-4: Kansas City

0-3: Indy

0-3: South Carolina

Allen Snaps Losing Streak, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Steve Martinson's Comments, Rematch Preview, ECHL Hat Tricks and More

 

The Allen Americans beat a shorthanded Newfoundland Growlers team 3-2 last night and in the process snapped a four game losing streak. Hats off to the Growlers management who had to scramble to cobble together enough players to play the game after a COVID breakout landed six of their players on the Commissioner's Exempt List. Local players, former players, college players, SPHL players were all in the mix as the start time of the game was delayed until 7:30 for enough players to arrive in Allen to meet the 13 skater minimum to play. According to the official box score the 13 skaters that took the ice for the Growlers were comprised of seven defensemen and just six forwards. The Growler's recap press release had it five defensemen and eight forwards.

 

- Newfoundland was missing its top three scorers (two on Commissioner's list) including the reigning ECHL Players of the Week (Orrin Centazzo)  and its top goalie (Keith Petruzzelli) who has a GAA of 2.29 and .924 save percentage. Here is the press release from Newfoundland that describes all the roster changes that were made yesterday. https://www.nlgrowlers.com/en/2021-22-news/growlers-make-roster-changes-ahead-of-weekend-series  

 

- Newfoundland's woes should not take anything away from Allen's win. After all, the Americans are playing without injured players Gavin Gould (out for the season), Chad Butcher (out at least two weeks), Eric Roy (day to day) and top goalie Antoine Bibeau is in Charlotte (AHL). Every ECHL team plays with a weak lineup at some point in the season whether it is from COVID, injuries, loans, recalls or a combination of them all. 

- The Americans were able to do to Newfoundland what teams have been doing to the Americans during the recent losing streak:

• Allen gave up the first goal but fought back to win the game.
• Allen was trailing 1-0 after the first period, prior to last night Allen was 1-5 at home when trailing after the first period,
• Rather than giving up a shorthanded goal, Allen scored a shorthanded goal. It was only the second shorty allowed by Newfoundland all season.
• Allen outshot the Growlers 35-24, something it has done in only 25% (9 of 35) of its games. The 11 shot margin was the second largest of the season. Allen's record when outshooting its opponent is now 8-1-0-0.
• Allen scored the winning goal in the third period on a breakaway.
  

 

- Special teams was the difference maker in the game led by Jack Combs. Allen fell behind 2-0 midway through the second period with Newfoundland on the power play with a chance to put the game away. A great individual effort by Jack. where he stripped the puck from a defensemen and beat the other defensemen to score a shorthanded goal. Combs followed up with a power play goal less than five minutes later to tie the score 2-2. Allen scored the only goal of the third period as Branden Troock scored on a breakaway, taking a great pass from Phil Beaulieu. 

 

- Combs scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season, Troock's goal was his 13th. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/z09G_4unA1E

 

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans which includes player quotes: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-rally-from-two-down-to-beat-the-growlers/ 

- Here is the game recap from Newfoundland: https://www.nlgrowlers.com/en/2021-22recaps/recap-shorthanded-growlers-fall-3-2-to-americans

 

GAME TWO PREVIEW

- Newfoundland has players arriving today so should have more skaters for the game tonight. With the Toronto as an affiliate and the number of players they have under contract, I would expect the Marlies to send players to Allen to help out the Growlers. That is, if they have any extra players.

 

- More of the same would be the best formula for the Americans success tonight. The one change would be to get off to a better start. Newfoundland had a 7-0 shot advantage and a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the game before Allen got a shot on goal. From that point, the last 48 minutes of the game, the Americans had a 35-12 shot advantage.

 

- The penalty kill unit gave up a power play goal for the first time in eight games but balanced it out with a shorthanded goal. Allen was 1-4 on its power play. Winning the special teams battle will be a key to victory tonight.

 

- The referee scheduled tonight is the same as last night, Sam Heidemann (#22). Last night he called four penalties on Newfoundland for 10 minutes and five on Allen for 10 minutes.

 

COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON

"I thought we out played them more than the score would indicate. We had a lot of great chances that we didn't get the puck in the net."

"Their goalie was good."

"I haven't decided which goalie will start tonight."

"Eric Roy will not play this weekend."

"I won't know if Zach Hall will be in the lineup tonight after leaving the game last night."

"We need to have a better start tonight. They outshot us 7-0 early in the first period when we took two penalties."

"They are shorthanded but still have a good power play group. We need to tweak some things on the penalty kill."

 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The attendance last night was a sparse 2395 which was the lowest attendance for a Friday night all season. The low attendance was even more unusual after the Wednesday night big crowd of 3834. Maybe some fans went to the Dallas games or stayed home to watch the Stars retire Sergei's Zubov's jersey (#56). The Stars had a sellout crowd at the AAC which is over 19,000. The Texas Stars also had a sellout crowd last night, beating the Laval Rockets at home before a crowd of 6778. Allen's average attendance after 16 of 36 home games is now 3011, which is ranked #18 in the ECHL.

 

- With the win last night Allen made it back to .500 (15-15-4-1) and moved into fifth place in the Mountain Division. The two teams just above Allen in the standings (Rapid City & Idaho) both won last night. The Americans will need to win a few games to get back in a playoff spot. 

 

- Newfoundland is now 2-3-0-0 in it seven game swing through the Mountain Division, The Growlers split two games in Kansas City, lost 5-1 in Tulsa and won 3-0 in Wichita. The Growlers .667 points percentage is still the second best in the ECHL but Reading (.656) and Jacksonville (.653) are hot on Newfoundland's heels.

 

- The Norfolk Admirals have been selected to host the 2023 ECHL All-Star game which will take place on MLK day (January 16). Here are the details: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/1/norfolk-selected-as-host-of-2023-warrior-echl-all-star-classic

- Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of the 11 ECHL games on tap tonight: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/1/echl-today-jan-29

 

- Antoine Bibeau got the start in goal for Charlotte last night and came out the winner as the Checkers went on the road and beat Utica 4-3 in overtime. Utica is the top team in the AHL with a .773 points percentage. Charlotte plays in Syracuse tonight. Nolan Kneen had another assist in the win last night. Nolan has points in five of the seven games he has played for Charlotte. In seven games he has five points (1G, 4A) and is a +3. Kneen has certainly played good enough to warrant an AHL contract.

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today breaks down the ECHL hat tricks this season. Allen has had four of them, one each by Gavin Gould in a 5-4 win over Rapid City, Luke Henman in a 5-4 win over Wichita, Branden Troock in a 5-3 win over Wichita and Chad Costello in a 6-3 win over Tulsa.

 

There have been 53 hat tricks in the ECHL this season including four goals three times and one five goal game. Every team except two (Fort Wayne and Wichita) has at least one hat trick. Here is a breakdown of the number of hat tricks by team:

 

5 - Maine

5 - Wheeling

4 - Allen

4 - Newfoundland

3 - 4 teams

2 - 4 teams

1 - 11 teams

0 - 2 teams

     

Allen vs Newfoundland Preview, The Stats Tell the Story, Steve Martinson's Comments, Gould Out Long Term, Hobey Baker Award and More

 

Allen's home schedule is typically 40% against Tulsa and Wichita, 90% against division foes and a few games against other teams.  This season three teams outside the division (Orlando, Newfoundland, Iowa) will visit the CUTX Event Center. This weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) Allen fans will have the opportunity to see the Newfoundland Growlers, who won the Kelly Cup in 2019, the first year of the franchise. The Growlers have been a good team from their first game in large part because Newfoundland's affiliation with the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and Toronto Marlies (AHL) have supplied numerous contracted players to the team. Here is the Newfoundland points percentage and division rank since joining the ECHL:

• 2018-19 - 1st place, .653 (won Kelly Cup)
• 2019-20 - 1st place, .708 (season canceled)
• 2020-21 - Did not play
• 2021-22 - 1st place, .692 

 

- Newfoundland got off to a great start this season winning 14 of its first 16 games and at one point were 9-0 on the road. This despite getting kicked out of their home arena for period of time and more recently having to deal with COVID restrictions that caused the cancellation of games. Between December 13 and January 20 the Growlers played just one game. 

 

- Since the great start, when the Growlers won 14 of 16 games, Newfoundland has struggled. In the last 10 games the Growlers are 3-5-2-0. Allen's record over the last 10 games is 2-6-1-1. Both teams desperately need to win the series this weekend.

 

- The odd stat of the day is both Allen and Newfoundland have better road records than home records, so advantage Newfoundland on that stat. The Growlers road points percentage is .810 (11-2-1-0) compared to Allen's home points percentage of .467 (6-7-2-0).

 

- Statistically there is no comparison between these teams as Newfoundland leads in every category on the stat sheet with the exception of one. Here are the stats with Newfoundland the first number and Allen the second.

• 3.69 vs 3.32 - Average goals scored per game
• 2.69 vs 3.79 - Average goals allowed per game
• 25.2% vs 18.5% - Power play percentage
• 83.2% vs 79.8% - Penalty kill percentage
• 9 vs 4 - Shorthand goals scored
• 1 vs 15 - Shorthanded goals allowed
• 34.15 vs 28.12 - Shots for per game
• 28.23 vs 35.56 - Shots against per game
• .833 vs .469 - Points percentage when scoring first
• .500 vs .167 - Points percentage in overtime games
• .905 vs .894 - Team save percentage
• 2.66 vs 3.71 - Team GAA 

The lone stat that Allen is ranked higher than Newfoundland is penalty minutes and that is close. The Americans average 14.41 PIMS per game and the Growlers average 14.08.

 

- Allen is coming off a 3-2 loss to Rapid City on Wednesday. Incidentally, the Rush played in Tulsa last night and lost to the Oilers 7-1. The Growlers last game was Wednesday in Wichita. Newfoundland had a wide margin in shots (42-19) while shutting out the Thunder 3-0.

 

STEVE MARTINSON'S COACH'S CORNER

- My first question when I talked to coach Martinson this morning was asking for a roster update. Here is that answer along with other comments on the series with Newfoundland:

"Gavin Gould requires surgery and is out for the season."

"Chad Butcher will miss this weekend and next at a minimum."

"Eric Roy is day to day and we will see how he feels today when I get to the rink."

"Darian Skeoch will be back in the lineup after serving his two game suspension."

"Spencer Asuchak will be back in the lineup after helping out Charlotte for a few games when they were shorthanded. It was a tough time to have him gone but part of building a relationship with the affiliate.

"Hayden Lavigne will get the start in goal.

"At this point all games are important, every thing is critical."

"Newfoundland is a skilled, hard working team that is made up of a lot of second and third year players many of which are NHL/AHL contracted. The Growlers have had 20 contracted players on there roster at some point this season. We have had four (Bibeau, Marotte, Lohin, Henman). 

"Our top line needs to outplay Newfoundlands top line if we expect to win but we also need the third line to chip in with some goals." 

"As always, I continue to look at improving the team. Players have the opportunity to step up and show they can play in this league but we need get this turned around. We did it before and we can do it again."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The founder of the Hobey Baker Award, Chuck Bard, passed away this week at the age of 96. He was one of the founders and CEO of an athletic club in my hometown of Bloomington, Minnesota, The Decathlon Club. It was while Chuck was CEO at the Decathlon Club he came up with the idea and formulated a plan to honor the top collegiate hockey player in the nation with an award much like the Heisman Award in football and Wooden Award in basketball. The Hobey Baker Award was introduced in the 1980-81 season and the first recipient was Neal Broten from the University of Minnesota.  

Ten finalist are named for the Hobey Baker Award each year and three have played for the Allen Americans. Goalies C.J. Motte and Joel Rumpel were finalists in 2014 and forward Tyler Sheehy in 2017.

- There are 11 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview for each game: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/1/echl-today-jan-28

 

- COVID has had a big impact on the Growlers with the restrictions in Canada. Newfoundland has played the fewest games in the ECHL at this point (26) while some teams have played 41 games. Travel is always risky for hockey teams for COVID breakouts and in the last week Newfoundland has traveled from Canada, to Kansas City to Tulsa to Wichita to Allen. Remember, the last time a team came to Allen from outside the division it was Orlando, who had to cancel one of the two games because of a COVID breakout. Hope all goes well for Newfoundland this weekend.  

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Jacksonville defenseman Jacob Panetta was just suspended for the remainder of the season (38 games). Here is the ECHL rule that covers this situation as outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

 

"For any suspension that exceeds 20 games, the Commissioner must hold a hearing upon adequate notice to the player and PHPA of the date and time of the hearing. The player shall have the right to be represented by a representative of the PHPA. Such hearing may be held in person or by teleconference. The decision of the Commissioner shall be final and binding upon all parties and shall not be reviewable by any court or be the subject of a grievance except for an abuse of discretion by the Commissioner."

    

 

Homestand Starts With Loss, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson's Comments, Historical Shorty Stats, Rookie Goalies and More

 

Allen extended its losing streak to four straight last night with a 3-2 home loss to the Rapid City Rush before a big Wednesday night crowd of 3834 at the CUTX Event Center. The Americans have lost eight of their last nine games and it won't get any easier this weekend when Allen plays three games against the #2 team in the ECHL in points percentage (.692), the Newfoundland Growlers. Newfoundland played in Wichita last night and beat the Thunder 3-0 with a 42-19 shot advantage.

 

- Last night was similar to many of the games during the Americans losing streak. Allen was outshot 17-4 in the first period, however did much better in the second and third, outshooting Rapid City 15-9 and 15-11. Allen trailed after the first period (1-0) and second period (2-1). If you combine Allen's record when leading after the first and second period it is 12-2-2-1 but when trailing the Americans record is 3-20-3-0. 

 

- The game turned on yet another shorthanded goal, the 15th allowed by Allen this season. Even worse, it came in the last minute of the second period to give the Rush a 3-1 lead. Another game when Allen was -1 on the power play, going 0-4 and giving up a shorty. 

 

- If you want to look on the bright side, Allen outshot the Rush 30-20 over the last two periods, scored the only goal of the third period to close the gap to 3-2 and had some good chances to tie the score. Allen didn't take a single minor penalty in the game and has now gone seven straight games without allowing a power play goal. 

- Goal scorers for Allen were Tyler Poulsen (5) and Branden Troock (12). Chad Costello assisted on Poulsen's goal to extend his streak to five games with at least a point. Over the five game streak, Costello has 11 points (4G, 7A). He is #2 in the ECHL in points with 42, three off the lead. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/7hEf9FPUuFU

 

-  Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-rally-falls-short-2/

 

- Here is the game recap from Rapid City:  https://www.rapidcityrush.com/en/news/2022/1/chabot-kelley-help-rush-past-americans-3-2

 

COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON

"On the first goal we just got out muscled. On the second goal they just threw the puck at the net and it ended up with a goal. We need to do more of that, we haven't been doing enough to get the puck to the net."

"We had plenty of chances where we didn't get the puck in the net. When our top guys have to goalie down, the puck has to be in the net."

 "To play good defense you have to care and take pride in more than scoring."

"Eric Roy is day to day so we will have to see if he is available this weekend"

"Gavin Gould is having a MRI today and that will dictate how long he will be out."

"I expect Chad Butcher to miss the next two weekends with his injury."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The number of shorthanded goals allowed (15) by the Americans is a serious failing and unique to this team, specifically the power play units. Allen has allowed 15 shorthanded goals and the season is only 47% completed. At the current pace Allen would allow 36 shorthanded goals by season's end. How out of whack are these numbers? The Americans have already set their single season record for allowing shorthanded goals. Here are the number of shorthanded goals allowed in each season since Allen joined the ECHL. The number in parenthesis is the team that led the ECHL in shorthanded goals allowed, with the number allowed:

• 15: 2021-22 (after 34 games)
• 3: 2020-21  (17- Rapid City)
  
• 3: 2019-20  (16 - Jacksonville) 
• 5: 2018-19  (20 - Greenville)
  
• 10: 2017-18  (15 - Jacksonville)
  
• 13: 2016-17  (14 - Utah)   
• 10: 2015-16  (15 - Orlando & Greenville)
  
• 8: 2014-15  (16 - Wheeling)  

- With Allen's loss to Rapid City the Americans have dropped below the .500 mark in points percentage. Just nine of 27 ECHL teams have points percentages below .500. Allen is now in sixth place in the Mountain Division. Here are the standings after last night's action:

• .650 - Utah
• .586 - Tulsa
• .566 - Idaho
• .563 - Rapid City
• .487 - Kansas City
• .485 - Allen
• .397 - Wichita

- Allen now must get ready for a difficult three game series against Newfoundland. The Growlers have just returned to play after a long layoff. They have played four games in a swing through the Mountain Division and split them. Will Allen get the team that lost to Kansas City 4-2 and Tulsa 5-1 or the team that beat Kansas City 9-4 and Wichita last night 3-0 while outshooting the Thunder 42-19.

DID YOU KNOW: The last time an Allen rookie goalie was at the top of the league stats was in 2012-13 when Aaron Dell led the Americans to their first championship. Dell led all CHL rookies goalies in GAA (.2.30) and was #2 in save percentage (.916). Here are the ECHL rookie leaders in wins this season:

ECHL rookie goalies with most wins this season, with save percentage:

 

13 - *Daniel Mannella, @tulsa_oilers, .929

10 - Trent Miner, Utah, .923

10 - Jet Greaves, Kalamazoo, .907

10 - Stefanos Lekkas, Wheeling, .902

9 - Lukas Parik, Rapid City, .927

 

*Mannella is #1 in GAA (2.05), #2 in wins (13) and #3 in save percentage (.929) among all ECHL goalies.

   

Allen vs Rapid City Preview, Coach's Corner with Steve Martinson, Birthday Boy, Jacksonville's President Speaks Out, ECHL All-time Games Played and More

 

Tonight is game one of a home stand that will see Allen play nine of its next 10 games in the confines of the CUTX Event Center. With the exception of a back and forth trip to Tulsa on February 5, the Americans will be at home until they go to Kansas City on February 15.

 

- Tonight Allen entertains Rapid City, the team just ahead of the Americans in the Mountain Division standings. These teams have been heading in opposite directions recently. Allen has lost seven of its last eight games while Rapid City has won five of its last six games. 

 

- This will be the fifth meeting of the season between Allen and Rapid City. The Americans won two of the first four contests. Here were the results;

• Rapid City 4 @ Allen 1 (December 5)
• Allen 5 @ Rapid City 4 (November 20)
• Allen 1 @ Rapid City 6 (November 19)
• Allen 6 @ Rapid City 5 (November 17) SO 
  

 

- If you look at head to head games what sticks out is Allen scored one goal in each of the losses and a combined 11 goals in the two wins. Head to head totals favor Rapid City in goals (19 vs 13), shots (148 vs 117 and PIMS (61 vs 48). The exception in the head to head stats is power play, Allen has the advantage at 21.7% (5-23) versus Rapid City at 12.5% (2-16).

 

- If you look at home and away special teams stats, Allen at home has a power play percentage of 20.4% (11/54) and penalty kill percentage of 71.9% (16-57). The Americans penalty kill has been very good recently, even through the current losing streak. Allen hasn't given up a power play goal in the last six games. Rapid City's road power play percentage is 20.7% (12-58) and its road penalty kill is 85.7% (9-63). 

- Not sure scoring first is important for the Americans, even though on a league wide basis the team that scores first wins about 70% of the time. Allen is the only team in the league below .500 when scoring first. The Americans record is actually better when they don't score first (8-7-0-0) than when they do score first (6-7-2-1). Rapid City's record when scoring first is 13-4-2-2.

 

STEVE MARTINSON'S COACH'S CORNER

- Had a chance to talk to coach Martinson this morning. Here is the latest:

"Gavin Gould will not be in the lineup tonight, he is out with an injury."

"Phil Beaulieu will be in the lineup tonight and will see time on the point on the power play."

"Kolten Olynek (forward) will also be in the lineup tonight for his first professional game."

"Hayden Lavigne will get the start in goal."

"There will be some changes on the power play with Gould out and Beaulieu on the point. We continue to work on improving our power play."

"We need to take advantage of all the home games we have in the next few weeks to get things turned around."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Newfoundland, who will be in Allen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plays in Wichita tonight. The Growlers have lost two straight. The other Mountain Division teams in action tonight are Kansas City at Idaho.

 

- Happy birthday to Jumbo Jack Combs who turns 34 today. Jack shares a birthday with Wayne Gretzky, aka "The Great One" who turns 63 today. Sometimes people forget Gretzky played briefly in Jack's hometown of St. Louis. The Blues acquired Gretzky from Los Angeles in February, 1996 in an effort to make a final push for the Stanley Cup. Paired with Brett Hull, Gretzky played 18 regular season games with the Blues, but lost in the second round of the playoffs.  

 

- If you have been following the incident related to an accusation of a racial gesture that happened in Jacksonville over the weekend, that resulted in the release of Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta, here is an update. The local TV station did a story about the incident that includes comments from the team president:  https://youtu.be/uG98Mu2MtYo   

  

 

DID YOU KNOW: Spencer Asuchak is climbing the ladder in all time ECHL games played. Here is the ECHL Stats post from this morning:

Most career ECHL games played (regular season & playoffs) by players still active (playing) in the ECHL:

 

861: Michael Pelech, Atlanta

759: Justin Taylor, Kalamazoo

632: Derek Nesbitt, Atlanta

540: Shawn Szydlowski, Fort Wayne

529: Adam Pleskach, Tulsa

453: Spencer Asuchak, Allen (currently on loan to AHL)

447: John McCarron, Florida

Another Critical Week for the Americans, Kolten Olynek Profile, Bibeau Assigned to Charlotte, ECHL on Record Pace for Players Used and More

Not sure when I will get this posted. It is 4:30 am and the power has been off since 9:30 pm last night with no end in sight. I just took a walk around the neighborhood and the roads and sidewalks are not very slippery at all, the sleet is very gritty. I will type away here in the dark and hopefully the power returns before all of my devices need charging. UPDATE: It is 8:10 am and power is on and I am back in business as soon as the internet service returns. 

Before I talk about the game last night I want to add my congratulations to Chad Costello for being named the ECHL Player of Month for January. The award just adds to his historic career that will end with his selection to the ECHL Hall of Fame if ever stops playing hockey. Here are just a few of Chad's ECHL accomplishments:

• 4 - Times ECHL Player of the Month (twice in 2014-15)
• 3 - Times ECHL MVP
• 3 - Times ECHL Scoring Champion
• 2 - Times Kelly Cup Champion
• 1 - Time Kelly Cup Playoff MVP
• 1 - Time ECHL Sportsman of the Year

The outcome was as bad as the weather last night as the Allen Americans lost to the Wichita Thunder by a score of 3-1 before a hearty crowd of just 310 at  the CUTX Event Center. Allen had trouble generating offense even strength or on the power play. Wichita had the only goal of the first period scoring with 89 seconds remaining. The same thing happened in the second period when the Thunder scored the only goal with 36 seconds remaining. Wichita made it three for three in late period goals scoring into an empty net with 51 seconds remaining in the game. 

- Allen's only goal came at the 13:56 mark of the third period on the power play to cut the score to 2-1 and give the faithful some hope, but it wasn't to be as the Americans could not get the equalizer.

- If you look at percentages here are a few that were working against Allen last night:

• Allen gave up the first goal - 75%of the time that will lead to a loss
• Allen trailed 1-0 after the first period - Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 2-8-1-0.
• Allen trailed 2-0 after the second period - Allen's record when trailing after the second period is 2-14-2-0.
• Allen was outshot 33-29. The team with the most shots has won nine of the 10 games between Allen and Wichita this season.
• Allen has scored two or fewer goals 16 times this season including last night. The Americans have lost 15 of the 16.

- It wasn't all bad news for the Americans as the game was close right to the end. Here are couple of other bright spots:

• Allen's penalty kill was perfect going 0-5 in the game. The Americans penalty kill unit has allowed just one power play goal in the last 11 games.
• Hayden Lavigne stopped 30 of 32 shots for a .938 save percentage.
• Allen was 1-5 (20%) on the power play. 

Utah Sweeps Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Steve Martinson's Lengthy Comments, ECHL Net Positive Power Play Stats and More

 

The Utah Grizzlies finished a weekend sweep of Allen on Sunday afternoon, beating the Americans 4-3. While the game was closer than the first two the similarities were very familiar. Allen scored first and held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before Utah scored three straight goals including yet another shorthanded goal. With a 4-2 lead for the Grizzlies after the second period the die was pretty much cast, as Utah has not lost all season when leading after the second period, a record that now stands at 18-0-0-0. 

 

- To Allen's credit it did close the gap to 4-3 in the third period and had some good chances after the pulling goalie Hayden Lavigne, but the Americans could not get the equalizer. 

 

- The win yesterday made it a clean sweep for Utah (5-0-0-0) against Allen this season. The teams will not see each other again in the regular season. Allen scored first in all five games and yet lost all five. The Americans now have the worst record in the ECHL when scoring first (.439) and is the only team under .500. The Americans were outshot in all five games and the margins were not close in most of them. The shot margins favored Utah by 24, 14, 4, 18 and 14. It is hard to win games when being outshot by these margins. The Americans are once again last (#27) in the ECHL in average goals allowed per game at. 3.82.

 

- Enough from me about all that went wrong in Idaho. If you are interested in the details here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen's Recap: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-fall-in-series-finale-4-3/

Utah Recap: https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/grizzlies-news/grizzlies-win-4-3-to-complete-season-sweep

 

- Allen's goal scorers were Jackson Leppard (8,9), and Chad Butcher (3). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/mh-jPPvEXNk 

  

COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON

I had a chance to catch up with coach Martinson very early this morning as the team was waiting for the flight back to Dallas. Here are his comments about the game, the roster and the coming week.

"Utah was just better than us this weekend. They work hard and they work fast. They have some highly skilled defensemen with high hockey IQ's and they gave us trouble."

"The shorthanded goals came from Utah's forwards taking off when there are 50-50 puck battles because they know their defensemen will win the puck battle.

"Too many times our players are on the offensive side of puck battles rather than being on the safer defensive side. We don't seem to learn from our mistakes."

"Utah did a better job of reading plays faster and playing the percentages better than we did."

"We struggled getting hard shots on goal from the point. We missed Kneen and Beaulieu who both have good shots from the point."

"We gave Utah's defensemen too much time with the puck at the point."

"We played short on Sunday with Skeoch suspended for two games and Gould injured. On the check that resulted in Skoech's suspension, I saw it the same as the referee, as a legal check. On Gould, we won't know his status until after we get home and have him checked out. It is possible he could play at some point this week."

"Phil Beaulieu will be back in Allen today and will be back in the lineup on Wednesday."

"I signed forward Kolten Olynek out of the University of Western Ontario because he is the type of player that will play hard on the puck, is a good penalty killer. He spent five years in juniors (WHL) before going to college so he is a rookie but is 25 year old mature player."

"We will take the day off today and be back at practice tomorrow getting ready for the four games this week."

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Charlotte doesn't play again until next Friday so you would expect if Spencer Asuchak is going to be sent back to Allen it would happen today. If you don't see anything in AHL transaction today, it probably means he stays for the games next weekend.

 

- Nolan Kneen scored his first AHL goal in Charlotte's game yesterday in a losing cause but was selected as the #3 star of the game. Kneen has now played six games since being loaned to Charlotte and has four points (1G, 3A) and is +2. It looks to me that Kneen has played his way to an AHL contract. Charlotte has a double NHL affiliation (Seattle & Florida) so you never know what will happen when injured defensemen return.

 

- Allen has now lost three straight games and seven of the last eight. They have fallen back to a .500 points percentage which is #19 in the ECHL. Just two weeks ago Allen's points percentage was .580 ranked #11 in the league. The Americans have a chance to get things turned around quickly with four home games this week. First up is Rapid City on Wednesday, the Rush is just ahead of Allen in the standings. Then it is three games against Newfoundland. The Growlers came off a long hiatus and beat Kansas City 9-4 on Friday but then lost to the Mavericks 4-2 on Saturday and Tulsa 5-1 on Sunday. Newfoundland started the season with a 9-0 road record but is 1-2-1-0 since. In their last 10 games, Newfoundland is just 3-5-2-0. As Steve Martinson said to me when I mentioned to him the team had lost all the momentum it had gained during the winning streak with the recent losing streak, "We need to start another winning streak."

 

- Toledo is the only remaining ECHL team with a points percentage above .700. There are just seven teams above .600, only one in the Mountain Division. Here is the list. If past is prologue, the Kelly Cup champion comes from this list.

• .735 - Toledo
• .680 - Newfoundland
• .671 - Jacksonville
• .667 - Utah
• .645 - Reading 
• .622 - Florida
• .611 - Trois-Riviéres

 

- Jacksonville didn't wait for the league to investigate or take action against player Jacob Panetta, who was accused of making a racial gesture toward South Carolina's Jordan Subban in a game on Saturday. The Icemen released Panetta yesterday. Panetta has responded to the incident that got him kicked off the team. Here is that story: https://www.news4jax.com/sports/2022/01/24/released-jacksonville-icemen-player-responds-to-racial-accusations-that-got-him-kicked-off-team/ 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: All season I have been following Allen's power play efficiency when you consider the number of shorthanded goals the Americans have allowed. This morning I decided to look at the numbers for the entire ECHL.  

Power play percentage is the primary way teams are measured on how its power play is performing. However, another way to look at the best power play teams is net positive which subtracts shorthanded goals allowed from power play goals scored. Currently 11 ECHL teams are above +20 and 16 are below +20. Here are the teams with the best and worst net positive power play goals:

 

BEST

+29: Rapid City

+27: Newfoundland

+27: Iowa

+25: Kansas City

+25: Wheeling 

 

WORST

+9: South Carolina

+11: Allen

+11: Atlanta

+12: Norfolk

+13: Tulsa 

 

Iowa is a good example on the best list because the Heartlanders are ranked #18 in power play percentage but have allowed just two shorthanded goals. (29 power play goals, minus two shorthanded goals allowed equals net positive +27).

 

Allen is a good example on the worst list because the Americans power play percentage is ranked #15 but they have allowed a league leading 14 shorthanded goals, which gives them the second worst net positive number in the ECHL. (25 power play goals, minus 14 shorthanded goals allowed, equals net positive +11). 

 

Allen Loses 5-2, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson's Comments, Today's Preview, ECHL Racial Incident and More

Allen's 5-2 loss last night in Utah was closer than the final score but it was still the fourth straight loss to the Grizzlies this season. Allen will try and finish off the season series against Utah with a win this afternoon (2:10 pm CST). If Allen doesn't win this afternoon, it will be the first time the Americans have ever gone winless in a season series against a Mountain Division team.

- Allen scored first in the game last night but that has proven to be the kiss of death. The Americans scored first in all four games against Utah which all led to losses. Maybe Allen needs to surrender the first goal today to get a win. Allen got on the scoreboard first, midway through the opening period when Gavin Gould redirected an Eric Roy shot, but Utah answered back 86 seconds later. The teams were tied 1-1 at the first intermission.

 

- Utah scored the only goal of the second period while outshooting Allen 13-8. Another kiss of death when the Grizzlies took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Utah is now 17-0-0-0 with a lead after the second period. Allen's  road record when trailing after the second period is now 0-6-2-0. 

 

- Utah scored an insurance goal 58 seconds into the third period to make the score 3-1 but Allen responded just 41 seconds later when Jack Combs scored on a great pass from Chad Costello. The Americans had a chance to tie the score midway through the third period when they had a power play opportunity but instead of a power play goal, Allen found a new way to give up a shorthanded goal. Matthew Boucher, the reigning ECHL Rookie of the Year, was given a penalty shot while Allen was on the power play, which he converted to make the score 4-2. A successful penalty shot in that situation is recorded as a shorthanded goal so Allen has now given up a league leading 13 shorthanded goals and Utah has scored 14 shorthanded goals, second best in the ECHL

 

- Boucher scored an empty net goal to make the final score 5-2. Boucher is under contract with Colorado (AHL) and has scored 12 goals in 16 games with Utah. He was one of three players (Boucher, Henry, Miner) assigned by Colorado on Saturday that played last night. Forwards Boucher and Henry combined for three of the Grizzlies five goals. Goalie Trent Miner picked up the win stopping 21 of 23 Allen shots. Having a great affiliation is invaluable. If I remember correctly at the start of the season, Utah had 12 contracted players on the roster. 

 

- Another telling stat in this series and the entire season is shots on goal. Last night Utah out shot Allen 41-23 including 15-6 in the critical third period. The Grizzlies have outshot the Americans in all four games this season by a total of 167-107. For the season, Allen has been outshot in 24 of 32 (75%) of its games with a record of 7-12-4-1. In the eight games the Americans have outshot the opponent, their record is 7-1-0-0. 

 

- A win this afternoon is almost a must for Allen, to show they can play with the top teams in the division and to stop the bleeding. The Americans have given up all of the gains they made when they won eight of nine games. Allen has now lost six of the last seven games and if they lose in regulation today will be back at .500 and out of the playoffs. 

 

- What are the keys to an Allen win this afternoon? I posed that question to coach Martinson along with asking about the lineup today.

"We have a couple of players that will be game time decisions. We might end up playing short a player today."

"I haven't made a decision on which goalie will play today."

"With the lineup we have I will make some changes in how we play."

"We need to bury our chances when we get them today. We can't miss on those good opportunities."

"The only way we win today is to play fast and play full out for 60 minutes."

 

- Here is the game recap from the Utah Grizzlies perspective: https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/grizzlies-news/strong-3rd-period-leads-grizz-to-5-2-win   

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-still-winless-against-utah-this-season/

 

- The goal scorers for Allen were Gavin Gould (10) who scored his 30th point of the season which ranks him #2 among all ECHL rookies in points and Jack Combs (10). Chad Costello's assist on the Combs goal was his 40th point of the season ranking him #2 in the ECHL. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/GjDmeLPkAp4

 

- A positive note from the game last night was Allen's penalty kill which held Utah scoreless on four power play opportunities. The Americans have now gone five games without giving up a power play goal. Prior to this streak, Allen hadn't gone more than two games without giving up a power play goal.

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- There was an incident in the third period of the game in Jacksonville last night (Jacksonville vs South Carolina) that will get national publicity today because of  the racial implications. It comes on the heels of simliar racial incident in the AHL last week. San Jose Barracuda's Krystoff Hrabik, who spent six games in Allen last season, was suspended for 30 games for that racial incident. Here is an article about the ECHL incident last night between Jordan Subban (South Carolina) and Jacob Panetta (Jacksonville): https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/jordan-subban-says-opposing-player-made-racist-gesture-towards-echl-game/

 

- Newfoundland lost 4-2 in Kansas City last night for a split with the Mavericks. The Growlers will continue their swing through the Mountain Division playing Tulsa today, Wichita on Wednesday before finishing in Allen with three games next weekend.

 

DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post for today which talks about an Allen game when Zach Sawchenko had a 47 save shutout but still lost the game.

When ECHL games go to a shootout tied 0-0 both goalies are credited with a shutout. Here are two recent examples of goalies credited with 40+ save shutouts but lost the game.

 

12/27/19

47 saves - Zach Sawchenko, Allen

*40 saves -Tomas Sholl, Idaho

 

3/27/21

41 saves, Alex Sakellaropoulos, WIchita

*37 saves, Matt Ginn, Kansas City

 

*won in shootout, 1-0.

 

      

Allen Loses 6-4, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson's Comments, Game Two Preview, ECHL Shutouts and More

 

Last night Allen kicked off its three game series in Utah with a 6-4 loss to the Grizzlies before a crowd of 3521 at the Maverik Center. It was the third loss in three games against Utah this season and there is a pattern in the losses. Allen has scored first in all three games. been outshot in all three games and scored enough goals to win in all three games. 

 

- Allen took the lead just 36 seconds after puck drop on a Chad Costello goal and had a 2-1 lead late in the first period on a Jared Bethune goal. The game turned in the last minute of the period when Utah scored two goals, one with 55 seconds remaining and one with seven second remaining. Rather than a 2-1 lead at the first intermission, Utah took a 3-2 lead and never looked back. Allen was able to close the gap to 4-3 in the second period on Bethune's second goal of the game but Utah scored the next two goals to take a 6-3 lead. Chad Costello scored his second goal of the game on a 5-on-3 power play with 18 seconds remaining in the game to make the final score 6-4. 

- If you want a goal by goal recap of the game here is the recap from the Utah Grizzlies:  https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/grizzlies-news/penner-and-company-leads-grizz-to-6-4-win

 

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans:  https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap-americans-fall-to-utah-6-3/

 

- Allen goal scorers were Chad Costello (16,17) and Jared Bethune (4,5). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/hqgg6qwgsew

 

 - Here are some of my observations and stats:

• Allen scored first but lost as they have done in all three games against Utah.
• Allen's first goal was on a rare 3-on-0 breakaway.
  
• Allen has lost 8 of 14 games this season when scoring first.
• Allen was 1-7 on the power play with the one goal coming 5-on-3.
• It wasn't officially a shorthanded goal but Utah scored two seconds after an Allen power play expired.
• Chad Costello has four goals in the last two games and is now tied for the ECHL lead in goals with 17. His 38 points is ranked #3 in the ECHL.
• Jared Bethune and Zach Hall at +1 were the only players with a positive plus/minus.
• Allen had a great 8-0 win in its last game (Tulsa) but has lost four of the last five games. 
• With the six goals allowed last night, Allen is ranked #26 in average goals allowed at 3.77.
• Allen has scored 3, 4 and 4 goals in the three games against Utah but allowed 4, 5 and 6.
• Utah had a 3-2 lead after the first period and now has a 10-2-0-0 record with a first period lead. 
• Utah led 5-3 after the second period and now has a record of 16-0-0 with a second period lead.
  

- If you watched the game highlights from the loss last night it is obvious what Allen needs to change tonight if it expects to win. Goal after goal last night by Utah was scored by players left all alone in front of the net including one on breakaway. It has been an issue all season with the Americans playing inconsistently on defense. The Americans will have to be much better defensively tonight.

- The Allen power play is clearly struggling. If you exclude the 8-0 game in Tulsa, the Americans have two power play goals in the last five games going 2-23 for a power play percentage of 8.7%. What is even more concerning is the only two power play goals were scored 5-on-3. I know coach Martinson has changed up the power play units and the scheme trying to make improvements. Hopefully Allen will have better success tonight. 

 

- Here is the game two preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/media/game-preview-americans-at-utah-810-pm-cst/

 

STEVE MARTINSON'S COACH'S CORNER 

"We shot ourselves in the foot too many times."

"We have to play better defensively."

"If everyone on the team would match the physicality of our 5'8' guys; Gould, Poulsen, and Jarvis, we would be hard to play against."

"I am not sure if there will be lineup changes until I have a chance to check in with a couple of players this morning."

"Hayden Lavigne will be in goal tonight."

"After going 1-7 last night we will make some tweaks to the power play but what we need is better execution."

"Phil Beaulieu, who had to go home, will be returning to the team on Monday." 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The Mountain Division standings are very tight. With the loss last night, Allen dropped from third to fifth in the standings. There were several changes last night as Utah, Tulsa and Rapid City won while Allen, Idaho, Wichita and Kansas City lost. Here are the current standings:

• .649 - Utah
• .561 - Tulsa
• .557 - Idaho
• .554 - Rapid City
• .532 - Allen
  
• .500 - Kansas City
• .403 - Wichita

 

 

- The ECHL finally stated formally that the standings will be determined by points percentage rather than points which is another way of saying not all teams will play 72 games this season. Here is the press release which also reiterates all playoff series will be best of seven. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/1/echl-announces-qualification-rules-format-for-2022-kelly-cup-playoffs

 

 

- There is another full slate of games (12) in the ECHL tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/1/echl-today-jan-22  

- Newfoundland showed no signs of being rusty last night after not playing since December 31. The Growlers spanked the Mavericks 9-4 in Kansas City. The Growlers outshot Kansas City 44-27 and went 5-8 on the power play. Newfoundland's overall power play percentage improved to 27.4%. Newfoundland will be in Allen for three games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (28th, 29th, 30th). A great opportunity for Allen fans the best team in the ECHL (.739 points percentage). 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today was about shutouts this season as there have been 43 so far ranging from 1-0 (six times) to 8-0. Allen has the distinction of being involved in the two most lopsided shutouts this season. The Americans won 8-0 last Sunday in Tulsa and lost 7-0 in the home opener against Wichita.

The most saves in a shutout this season is 46 by Lukas Parik (Rapid City) in a 3-0 win against Utah.

One of the most memorable Allen shutouts ever was in Wichita in February of 2016. Joel Rumpel had a 48 save shutout in a game the Americans won by a score of 1-0. Allen was outshot 48-29 in the game. The lone goal of the game was scored by Vincent Arseneau, assisted by Chad Costello. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's ECHL Stats post about an Allen player that had a 47 shot shutout and lost the game.  

Importance of Next Seven Games, Allen vs Utah Series Preview, Martinson's Comments, Consistent Excellence Stats and More

 

It seems like I say it every weekend but Allen begins a critical three game series in Utah tonight. Allen is currently in third place in the Mountain Division but the points percentage from second place Idaho (.574) to fifth place Rapid City (.542) is razor thin. More importantly, if the Americans want to be competitive in the playoffs they need to climb up the overall ECHL standings. If Allen doesn't finish in the top tier of teams in the regular season they have literally no chance of winning the Kelly Cup. The Americans are currently #14 in points percentage (.550) and need to move up to the top five by the end of the season to have a realistic chance of winning the Kelly Cup. Here is where the Kelly Cup champion finished in the regular season for each season since Allen joined the ECHL:

• #5 - Fort Wayne (2020-21)
• #3 - Newfoundland (2018-19)
• #4 - Colorado (2017-18)
• #3 - Colorado (2016-17)
• #5 - Allen (2015-16)
• #2 - Allen (2014-15)

- Six of Allen's next seven games are against division leaders. After the three game series this weekend against Mountain Division #1 Utah, the Americans come home to play four games in five days with three of them against the league's best points percentage team, Newfoundland (.727). It will certainly be difficult but Allen has to take four points against Utah and Newfoundland and beat Rapid City in the other game next weekend. If Allen doesn't get at least 10 points from the next seven games it will be hard to see them competing with the top teams in the ECHL. 

- Enough philosophizing about the future, here is a preview of the game tonight (8:10 pm CST). The game tonight will be the third against Utah this season. The first two were in Allen at the end of October and the Grizzlies won them both in games that went to overtime. On October 30, Utah came from behind in the third period to win 4-3 in overtime. The next night Allen had a 4-0 lead before Utah scored four unanswered goals to force overtime, which they won for a 5-4 final score.

- Recent performance shows Allen won eight of nine games and then lost four straight before winning its last game 8-0. Will the team that averaged five goals a game in the wins or the team that averaged 1.4 goals in the losses show up tonight. Utah had a six game winning streak in December but has lost five of its last 10 games.

 

- Both teams will be missing some key pieces tonight. For Allen, goalie Antoine Bibeau is still in Seattle , Spencer Asuchak and Nolan Kneen are on loan to the AHL (Charlotte). Utah is missing top goalie Trent Minor, forward Brandon Cutler and Matthew Boucher (ECHL Rookie of the Year) who were recently loaned/recalled to AHL teams.  

 

- When I talked to coach Martinson this morning he confirmed Spencer Asuchak and Nolan Kneen will stay in Charlotte over the weekend.  Hayden Lavigne will get the start in goal tonight. He has been outstanding with a .961 save percentage in his last three starts including the 8-0 shutout win in Allen's last game. Allen was short at center with Asuchak in Charlotte and Chad Butcher and Zach Hall injured. The good news is they both back in the lineup tonight. Ben Owen is the one Allen players that will sit out as a healthy scratch. Martinson was well aware of Utah leading the league in shorthanded goals and the need to have the power play adjust accordingly. He also told me he is continuing to talk to Canadian college players that are looking to turn pro.

 

- If you compare season long stats both teams average 3.4 goals per game but Allen allows more goals (3.7) than Utah (3.0). Utah averages more shots (32.9 vs 28.2) and allows fewer shots (30.7 vs 35.4) than Allen. 

 

- Comparing away (Allen) and home (Utah) special teams stats the Grizzlies have the power play advantage (18.9% vs 17.2%) while Allen has the better penalty kill (84.2% vs 79.7%). Allen definitely needs to be aware on the power play. The Americans have given up a league leading 12 shorthanded goals and Utah leads the league having scored 13 shorthanded goals. 

 

- Utah is one of the best teams in the league playing with the lead. The Grizzlies are 9-2-0-0 when leading after the first period and a perfect 15-0-0-0  with a second period lead.

 

- It is likely you will see overtime in this series since both games these team played earlier in the season were decided in overtime. The Americans have struggled losing five of six games that have gone to overtime/shootout. Utah has won three of five. 

 

- Here is the game preview from the Allen Americans:  https://allenamericans.com/media/game-day-preview-americans-at-utah-810-pm-cst/

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Spencer Asuchak and Nolan Kneen were in the lineup for Charlotte last night as the Checkers beat Springfield 4-2. They are both expected to be in the lineup again when Charlotte plays at home on Saturday.

 

- If you watched the Dallas Stars defeat Buffalo last night 5-4 it was good to see Allen Alum, Aaron Dell in goal for Buffalo. Dallas outshot Buffalo 47-24 so it was a long night for Dell, who led Allen to its first championship in 2013. Check out this penalty Dell took last week in a game against Nashville: https://youtu.be/HvtRUl7STqo

 

 - It is a big night in the ECHL with 12 games on tap. It will be interesting to see how Newfoundland plays in Kansas City after the Growlers have had so much time off. In other Mountain Division action Idaho is at Rapid City and Tulsa is at Wichita. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of all 12 games: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/1/echl-today-jan-21

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Consistent Excellence! ECHL teams with the most seasons at .550+ points percentage since 2014-15 (8 seasons):

8 - Florida

8 - Fort Wayne

7 - Toledo*

7 - Idaho*

6 - Reading*

6 - Allen

6 - Utah

6 - South Carolina 

 

*Did not play in 2020-21

 

     

It's Getaway Day, Travel Roster, Bibeau in NHL COVID Protocol, Allen ECHL Shutout Deep Dive, ECHL Defensemen Stats Leaders and More

 

It is getaway day for the Allen Americans as they head to Utah for yet another three games in three days weekend. The team left early this morning and will practice when they arrive in Utah. Like me, I am sure many of you the Americans look for those cheaper flights which means the first flight out in the morning or last flight at night. When you are traveling with a group of up to 25 on road trips, saving a few bucks on each ticket adds up. 

- The Americans won't be shorthanded on this road trip but don't have a full squad either. Spencer Asuchak and Nolan Kneen will remain on loan to Charlotte for the weekend. In addition. Allen has a new goalie (Chase Perry) who just arrived in Allen yesterday afternoon and the Americans have a couple of players returning from injury. It will definitely be a challenge for the Americans taking on the Mountain Division's #1 team (Utah) on the road.  

Here is the travel roster which totals 19 players, two goalies, six defensemen and 11 forwards:

Goalies

#35 - Hayden Lavigne 

# ?? - Chase Perry

Defensemen:

#3 - Darian Skeoch

#4 - Kris Myllari

#7 - Eric Roy

#15 - Andrew Jarvis

#20 - Ben Carroll

#23 - Ben Owen

 

Forwards

#5 - Gavin Gould

#10 - Jackson Leppard

#11 - Branden Troock

#13 - Chad Costello 

#17 - Chad Butcher 

#18 - J.D. Dudek

#19 - Jared Bethune 

#21 - Jack Combs

#22 - Zach Hall

#41 - Tyler Poulsen 

#49 - Dawson Butt

- Antoine Bibeau is on the NHL COVID protocol list. On the Seattle Kraken injury report yesterday it states he is expected to be out until at least January 20. Based on that date, Bibeau must have tested positive the day after he was the backup for the Kraken. Assuming he will get paid his NHL salary while in quarantine it will be a big difference from his salary in the AHL/ECHL. According to the Cap Friendly website Bibeau's NHL salary is $750,000 and his minor league salary is $125,000. 

- I had a chance to touch base with Spencer Asuchak after the Checkers practice yesterday. He had a good first game on Tuesday and thinks he will be in the lineup again tonight when the team plays at home against Springfield. Charlotte's head coach, Geordie Kinnear had this to say after the game on Tuesday, "I am proud of the guys that came up and it was their first time playing for us. They stepped in and did a good job for us." Though he will be missed in Utah, this is a great opportunity for Asuchak in Charlotte.

- After the 8-0 shutout in Tulsa on Sunday I did some research on Allen's ECHL shutouts thinking 8-0 was the biggest ever. Turned out it wasn't as the Americans had a 9-0 shutout in 2016. Since I looked at every shutout since Allen joined the ECHL in 2014, rather than discard the info I decided to include it in the blog today. More stats than you are probably interested in but it now will be saved in the blog for future reference: Here are all shutouts since Allen joined the ECHL, whether it was at home (H) or away (A), the opposing team and the winning goalie:

2021-22 (1)

• 8-0 (A) Tulsa, Hayden Lavigne

2020-21 (7)

• 4-0 (H) Rapid City, Jake Paterson
• 1-0 (H) Tulsa, Frank Marotte
• 3-0 (H) Utah, Hayden Hawkey
• 2-0 (A) Tulsa, Justin Kapelmaster
• 3-0 (H) Tulsa, Justin Kapelmaster
• 3-0 (A) Kansas City, Jake Paterson
• 5-0 (A) Tulsa, Jake Paterson

2019-20 (5)

• 1-0 (A) Tulsa, Andrew Shortridge
• 4-0 (H) Tulsa, Dereck Baribeau
• 4-0 (A) Rapid City, Dereck Baribeau
• 8-0 (H) Kansas City, Andrew Shortridge
• 5-0 (H) Norfolk, Zach Sawchenko

2018-19 (4)

• 2-0 (A) Wichita, Kyle Hayton
• 5-0 (A) Tulsa, C.J. Motte
• 2-0 (A) Tulsa, C.J. Motte
• 4-0 (A) Wichita, C.J. Motte

2017-18 (0)

• None

2016-17 (9)

• 7-0 (H) Wichita, Riley Gill
• 6-0 (H) Indy, Riley Gill
• 9-0 (A) Wichita, Jamie Murray
• 5-0 (A) Wichita, Riley Gill
• 6-0 (H) Idaho, Riley Gill
• 3-0 (A) Wichita, Riley Gill
• 1-0 (A), Kansas City, Riley Gill
• 1-0 (A) Tulsa, Riley Gill
• 4-0 (H) Kansas City, Jamie Murray

2015-16 (4)

• 1-0 (A) Wichita, Joel Rumpel
• 2-0 (H) Utah, Joel Rumpel
• 4-0 (A) Idaho, Riley Gill
• 3-0 (A) Wichita, Riley Gill

2014-15 (2)

• 6-0 (H) Brampton, Aaron Dell
• 6-0 (A) Kansas City, Riley Gill

- Some things to note from the above stats:

• 19 of the 32 shutouts were on the road
• 18 of the 32 shutouts (56%) came against Tulsa (10) and Wichita (8)
• 14 different goalies represented in the 32 shutouts
  
• In 2016-17 Riley Gill had back to back 1-0 shutouts in the road. One was in OT.
• Riley Gill's seven shutouts in 2016-17 is tied for #4 all-time.  
• Only Riley Gill with 10 shutouts had more than three of the 32 shutouts

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The Kansas City Mavericks lost their captain yesterday. Lane Scheidl left the team and signed in Norway. He must have signed for multiple years and/or a ton of money since his team is in seventh place in a 10 team league and the regular season ends in early March.

 

- I know I beat this drum a lot but you have to wonder when the ECHL will decide the standings for 2021-22 will be determined by points percentage rather than points as they did last season when all teams didn't play the same number of games. Have to believe it is just a matter of time.

 

- Newfoundland starts a road trip through the Mountain Division with the first stop in Kansas City tomorrow (Friday). It will be the Growlers first game since  December 31 and second game since December 12. Newfoundland will play twice in Kansas City followed by one game in Tulsa and Wichita before completing the road trip with three games in Allen (January 28, 29, 30).

 

DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL stats post for the day. There are so many stats that prove the best team for any offensive defensemen to play for is the Allen Americans. Last season Les Lancaster had a historic season with twice as many goals (26) as any other defensemen in the ECHL and finished fifth in overall scoring with 64 points. Last season Lancaster and Matt Register finished #1 and #2 in points for defensemen. Alex Breton was #1 in 2019-20, David Makowski was #2 (Register was #1) in 2017-18 and led the league in points per game (1.19) in 2016-17. Lancaster and Breton were back to back Defenseman of the Year, Register won it three times and was runner-up last season. Makowski finished second to Register in 2017 and 2018. The style of play that coach Steve Martinson plays should have any offensive defenseman looking to leave college for the ECHL put Allen #1 as the place play to develop and showcase their talent. 

 Here is the ECHL Stats post for the day:

In the last 15 seasons, just one defenseman has led the ECHL in assists. In the shortened 2019-20 season, defenseman Alex Breton tied his Allen Americans teammate (forward Tyler Sheehy) with 44 assists to lead the league. 

 

Here are the ECHL defensemen that currently lead their team in assists:

Tim Davison, Atlanta

Will Graber, Fort Wayne

Mike Lee, Indy

Patrick Holway, South Carolina

Olivier Galipeau, Trois Rivières

Duggie Lagrone, Tulsa

Luke Martin, Utah

 

A defenseman has never led the ECHL in points. Two defensemen currently lead their team in points:

Will Graber, Fort Wayne

Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Utah

Allen Acquires Goalie Chase Perry, Asuchak's Charlotte Debut, Is It Really the 2nd Half of the Season and More

 

 - When I talked to Steve Martinson this morning he shared that the goalie he just acquired (see below) will arrive this afternoon and will accompany the team to Utah. He expects Spencer Asuchak and Nolan Kneen will be in Charlotte for the weekend. Chad Butcher and Zach Hall will be on the trip to Utah so the Americans will not be playing shorthanded. Martinson is still looking at college players that may turn pro depending on what happens in the Canadian college leagues regarding COVID restrictions. Finally, Martinson talked about how well Hayden Lavigne has been playing and how he has earned the chance to play more games. Martinson is very confident going to Utah with Lavigne as the #1 goalie.

 

With the ECHL All-Star game in the rear view mirror the second half of the ECHL season kicks off on Friday. I say second half of the season more figuratively than literally because just three teams (Atlanta, Rapid City, Utah) have played 36 games (50%). With all of the postponed and rescheduled games the number of games played varies by division. Here is the range of games played in the four divisions:

North Division: 22 (Newfoundland) to 30 (Maine)

South Division: 31 (Greenville) to 36 (Atlanta)

Central Division: 32 (Toledo, Kalamazoo, Wheeling) to 35 (Iowa)

Mountain Division: 30 (Allen) to 36 (Utah, Rapid City)

There will be 86 days remaining in the season when ECHL action resumes on Friday. It is hard to see how all teams, especially in the North Division where every team except Maine has played fewer than 30 games, will play a full schedule of 72 games. Newfoundland will have to play 50 games in 86 days and that assumes no more COVID issues going forward. 

- The halfway point of the season means it is time for jersey reversal. Starting with the games on Friday, ECHL teams will switch and start wearing their white jerseys at home and their dark jerseys on the road. It will remain this way through the end of the regular season and throughout the playoffs. Because teams have a lot of special jerseys this rule will be broken for some games but it is the general rule.

 

- If you tracked the Charlotte Checkers game last night you saw some familiar faces in the lineup. Spencer Asuchak, Nolan Kneen and Ryan Lohin were in the lineup as the Checkers lost to Springfield 4-2 in a game that wasn't decided until Springfield scored an empty net goals with 20 seconds remaining. Lohin scored the first goal of the game. Asuchak and Kneen didn't factor in the scoring but were even on plus/minus, they weren't on the ice for any of Springfield's goals. The other player on the Charlotte roster that has seen time in Allen, Luke Henman, is sidelined with an injury and is considered day to day. The Checkers next game is tomorrow night at home in a rematch against Springfield.

 

- With Antoine Bibeau in Seattle (NHL) and Frank Marotte in San Diego (AHL) Steve Martinson has claimed goalie Chase Perry off the waiver wire from Florida. Perry is 6'3" 190 pounds and was the fifth round draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings in the 2014 NHL draft. Perry played college hockey at Colorado College (2014-15) and RPI (2016-19). He is in his third year as a pro with most of his time spent in the SPHL. He has just three games played this season (SPHL), with a save percentage of .939. 

Scouting reports before Perry was drafted by the Red Wings list his strengths as:

• Moves cleanly
• Confident
• Great size and athleticism
  
• Great instincts
• Strong Skater
• Controlled lateral movement

In Perry's pro career he has played 48 games in the SPHL with a GAA of 2.61 and a .904 save percentage. He has played two games in the ECHL (Orlando) with a 2.63 GAA and .905 save percentage. Allen goalie coach, Chris Johansen, has done a great job working with young goalies and I am sure he will do the same with Perry as long as he is in Allen.

- Four ECHL rookies are tied for the league lead in assists. Two of them will be in action against each other in Utah. Allen's Gavin Gould and Utah's Luke Martin have 18 assists. In addition to being tied for the lead in assists, Gould is tied for #2 in rookie points with 27. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: In Allen Americans franchise history just four players have had three season with 20+ goals. Two of them have a chance to make it four seasons of 20+ goals. Here are the four Allen players with three seasons of 20+ goals:

• Chad Costello - 41 (2014-15), 24 (2015-16), 33 (2016-17)
• Gary Steffes - 44 (2014-15), 22 (2015-16), 21 (2016-17)
• Spencer Asuchak - 21 (2013-14), 26 (2016-17), 21 (2020-210
• Bruce Graham - 31 (2009-10), 34 (2010-11), 26 (2011-12)

Costello is on pace to score 35 goals and Asuchak is on pace to score 25 goals this season.