Barry The Blogger - Follow me on twitter at @allenamericans1 and/or like my Facebook page at Allen Americans Blog. This is the official blog of the Allen Americans.
The Allen series in Cincinnati ended yesterday as it began, with another disappointing loss to the Cyclones. Two goals by Cincinnati in the second period, just 68 seconds apart, gave the Cyclones a 3-1 lead and the game was essentially over.
- Rather than turning things around with four top notch players added to the lineup, Allen lost all three games in Cincinnati and finished 0-2-1-0. The Americans are now in last place by themselves in the Mountain Division with a points percentage below .500 (.490). Allen hasn't had a points percentage below .500 this late in the season since 2018-19, the only season in franchise history when the Americans didn't make the playoffs.
- I won't bore you with all of the details but suffice it to say Allen once again gave up the first goal of the game and were chasing from that point. Allen never had a lead in the game, lost the special teams battle (Cincinnati was 2-4, Allen 0-4) and failed to score in the last half of the game. Allen managed just seven goals in the three games in this series, an average of 2.33 goals per game.
- All of Allen's offense was provided by the Combs-Winquist-Troock line. Jack Combs scored both goals, his 16th and 17th of the season. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/bxSXN9eks9I
"It was a frustrating weekend, losing three games with an improved lineup. We are making way too many basic, Hockey 101, defensive mistakes."
"After traveling back to Allen today, we will be back at it tomorrow to get ready for Idaho on Friday and Saturday. We have to get this turned around, we have to be better."
"D-Jay Jerome took a puck in the nose and needed some stitches but he should be okay for the weekend."
"Canadian colleges are finishing the season and the playoffs have started. As teams get eliminated from the playoffs, some players will be looking to turn professional. As I do every season, I am recruiting some of these players. The top end players are waiting to see if they can get AHL deals, but others will come to the ECHL right away."
"We will be a better team next weekend when we get Chad Butcher back. It will allow me to make some line changes that will make us stronger across all three lines."
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen spent most of the series in Cincinnati trying to come from behind. It was not a good position considering the Cyclones are the best team in the ECHL playing with a lead. Cincinnati hasn't lost a game in regulation all season with a lead after the first or second period. The Cyclones are 12-0-2-0 when leading after the first period and 23-0-1-0 when leading after the second period.
- Allen has played better against Idaho than any other team in the Mountain Division even though the majority of the Americans wins have come against the bottom teams. Here is Allen's record against each team in the division with the team's point percentage in parenthesis:
6-6-0-0: Wichita (.500)
4-1-1-0: Idaho (.575)
4-3-0-1: Kansas City (.500)
2-3-2-0: Tulsa (.510)
2-3-0-0: Rapid City (.575)
0-2-2-0: Utah (.613)
- If you look at points percentages, the Mountain Division is the weakest division in the ECHL. Here are the top two teams in each division by points percentage:
NORTH
.663 - Reading
.625 - Newfoundland
SOUTH
.653 - Jacksonville
.642 - Florida
CENTRAL
.719 - Toledo
.602 - Wheeling
MOUNTAIN
.613 - Utah
.575 - Idaho
- The conventional wisdom is defense wins championships. The top seven ECHL teams in average goals allowed per game (all below 3.00) are in playoff spots. Just two of the bottom 10 in average goals allowed (all above 3.20) are in playoff positions.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about teams playing outside the division. Allen's record outside the Mountain Division is 3-3-1-0 with three games against Iowa remaining. The three wins were against Newfoundland.
How does each ECHL division do playing teams outside the division? Here is the points percentage and record for each division in games played outside the division. Is this a proxy for strength of division? It is not a balanced schedule, so probably not.
Another opportunity squandered by the Allen Americans last night as they lost to Cincinnati 4-3 in overtime before a big crowd of 6050 at Heritage Bank Center. Friday night the Americans gained ground in the playoff hunt by not playing while Tulsa, Wichita and Kansas City lost. Last night Allen earned a point in the overtime loss and lost ground in the playoff race as Tulsa, Wichita and Kansas City all won.
- Allen has one of the worst overtime records in the ECHL and it showed again last night. The Americans were outshot in the overtime 6-2 but were saved time and time again by Antoine Bibeau. It took until the 5:31 mark of the overtime period for the Cyclones to hand Allen its sixth overtime loss in seven overtime decisions.
- Allen played better last night than in the loss on Thursday:
Allen scored first just 2:34 after opening puck drop.
Allen had a 2-1 lead midway through the second period.
After trailing 3-2, Allen tied the score 3-3 on a goal 49 seconds into the third period.
Allen matched Cincinnati in shots (30-30) in regulation time.
Allen was 1-2 on the power play.
- Goal scorers for Allen were J.C. Campagna (5), Spencer Asuchak (18) and Branden Troock (14). The scoring was balanced with eight different players getting a point and just one (Phil Beaulieu 2 assists) had multiple points. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/ZuE3QZc09_A
- Allen must now try to salvage the series with a win in the final game this afternoon, which has a 2:00 pm (Allen time) puck drop. This team is a lot better than how they are performing. It is difficult to watch such a talented team not get the job done. They have now lost four straight games for the fourth time this season. Since January 8, the Americans have lost two thirds of their games (16 of 24). Allen is quickly running out of time to show they are as good as their resumes.
- The referee scheduled for the game this afternoon is the same as last night, Matt Menniti (#10). Allen fans will remember Menniti was the referee earlier this month in Tulsa that called a penalty on Allen in overtime. The penalty led to the game winning goal.
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"We played better last night and had great chances to win the game in the last two minutes and in overtime."
"We were more physical in the game last night, Josh Winquist and Chad Costello led the way with several hits."
"On two of their goals we had bad changes and allowed them to pass the puck through the neutral zone."
"We need to get the two points this afternoon and I believe we will be a better team next week when we get Chad Butcher back and players who hadn't played a lot recently get more games under their belt."
"Luke Peressini will get the start in goal today."
"In the first two games of this series we have been called for eight penalties compared to four against them. There have been a lot of non-calls in the games."
OTHER COMMENTS
- Three of the four teams battling for the final playoff spot in the Mountain Division are in action today. In addition to Allen at Cincinnati, Utah is at Kansas City and Rapid City is at Tulsa. Wichita is idle. Here are the Mountain Division standings:
.675 - Utah
.575 - Idaho
.557 - Rapid City
.530 - Tulsa
.500 - Allen
.500 - Wichita
.490 - Kansas City
- Allen's last five games have been decided by one goal. Unfortunately for the Americans, they lost four of the five. For the season Allen's record in one goal games is 9-7-6-1.
- Jack Combs has a five game road assist streak, it is the second longest current assist streak in the ECHL right now.
- Allen's four game winless streak is the second longest in the league right now. The longest current winning streak belongs to Iowa at six games. Many predicted Iowa would be the worst team in the ECHL this season, especially when they started out losing 14 of the first 18 games. Iowa has fought back and now has a points percentage of .500, the same as the Allen American.
- It was a big night around the ECHL for attendance last night as 12 games averaged almost 5500 fans. Three teams drew over 8000:
11,525 - Tulsa
8476 - Jacksonville
8129 - Toledo
- ECHL average attendance has climbed to 3811 after 663 games. Allen's average attendance is 3081 which is ranked #19 in the league.
DID YOU KNOW: ECHL’s best home and away teams by points percentage. Those above .700. It is a small group. Toledo is the only team on both lists:
The Allen Americans had a good night last night even though they were
idle. There are four teams vying for the final playoff spot in the
Mountain Division and Allen was the only one that didn't lose last
night. The Americans could have been in last place in the division this
morning had Tulsa, Wichita and Kansas City won last. Since they all lost
in regulation, Allen is now in fifth place in the division and within
striking distance of fourth place. Here are the points percentages:
.520 - Tulsa
.500 - Allen
.490 - Wichita
.480 - Kansas City
-
If Allen wins tonight in Cincinnati the Americans points percentage
will .5102. If Tulsa loses tonight at home against Rapid City in
regulation time, its points percentage will be .5100. It is possible
Allen could be in a playoff spot by the end of today.
-
Being in a playoff spot can't be the goal for the Americans, if they
would like to be a factor in the Kelly Cup playoffs. Allen needs to
start playing better hockey and put some winning streaks together.
Backing into a playoff spot with a points percentage just above .500
will not cut it.
- The only task coach Martinson was
concerned about when I talked to him this morning was finding a way to
win the game tonight (6:35 pm Allen time) in Cincinnati.
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"I plan to mix up the lines tonight to try and get a better balance of physicality and puck pursuit on all three lines."
"For
us to be successful we need to put more pressure on the puck and play
better defensively. Playing defense is a personal choice. When players
don't but pressure on the puck, don't back check and don't hit, they
either don't care or aren't smart."
"We need to be ready right
from the start. Cincinnati had a lot of chances in the first period on
Thursday that Bibeau saved. We have to get off to a better start
tonight.
"Antoine Bibeau will get the start in goal."
"With
Kneen loaned to Charlotte, we will have five defensemen tonight and 11
forwards. Kolten Olynek will be back in the lineup and Jared Bethune
will help out at defense if needed."
"I talked to Chad Butcher yesterday and he should be ready to go when we play Idaho at home next week."
"Ben Carroll will not be ready next week. He will be out for at least two more weeks."
-
The stats certainly back up the comments from Martinson. Allen has
scored first in less then half of its games (23 of 48). While Allen has
improved recently it is still ranked #22 in average goals allowed at
3.50.
- Allen was outshot in every period on Thursday
and 35-27 for the game. The Americans haven't lost a game in regulation
all season when outshooting theie opponent on the road (5-0-1-0). When
they get outshot on the road, Allen's record is 5-10-2-0. Generating
more shots would be big in the game tonight.
- The referee scheduled tonight is Matt Menniti (#10). He was not the referee on Thursday.
OTHER COMMENTS
The Americans will be down to five defensemen as Nolan Kneen played just
one game and then headed back to Charlotte yesterday. That wasn't the
plan when Kneen was sent back to Allen but a roster change in Charlotte
had them asking for his return. Don't forget, Kneen is not under
contract (SPC) with Charlotte, he is on loan from Allen.
-
The ECHL season is quickly winding down with several teams having less
than 25% remaining after this weekend. The cream is rising to the top in
most divisions. Four teams (Newfoundland, Jacksonville, Toledo,
Wheeling) have won eight of their last 10 games and they are all first
or second in the division. Two teams outside of the playoffs, but
playing well with seven wins in the last 10 games, are Iowa and
Wichita.
- The ECHL Stats post today (see below) is
about veteran players that have recently hit major milestones. Steve
Martinson has also just hit a couple of milestones recently. In the ECHL
Official Guide and Record Book for 2021-22, Section 9, Coaching
Register, it starts out recognizing Steve Martinson. It says, "Allen
Americans head coach Steve Martinson enters the 2021-22 season fourth
all-time in ECHL history with 483 regular-season wins and fifth with 854
game coached. Martinson is third in ECHL history with 53 postseason
wins and second with 99 postseason games coached."
Martinson has
21 wins this season and recently became just the third coach in ECHL
history to reach the 500 win plateau. He also just reached the 900 ECHL
games coached milestone, which is fourth all-time.
Martinson's
overall pro coaching records are umatched. He has two ECHL championships
but has a total of 10 championships, won in four different leagues. His
total wins as a pro coach now stands at 1109.
DID
YOU KNOW: Sure it’s fun watching rookies, young development players and
NHL/AHL contracted players, but core veteran players make the ECHL
tick. Here are recent milestones for some of these great players. ECHL
Hall of Fame credentials for all of them. Current team is in
parenthesis:
1000 pro games: Derek Nesbitt (Atlanta)
1000 pro points: Jesse Schultz (Cincinnati)
800 ECHL games: Michael Pelech (Atlanta)
700 pro games, 900 pro points: Chad Costello (Allen)
It was supposed to be a reset with the best lineup of the season, but last night turned out to be the Allen Americans third straight loss. The Americans lost 3-2, in game one of the three game series in Cincinnati, before a Thursday night crowd of 4134 at Heritage Bank Arena.
- Allen fell behind 3-0 and couldn't recover, though the Americans did close the gap to 3-2 in the third period.
- It is well documented Allen hasn't played well coming from behind this season. Here are some examples based on the loss last night:
Cincinnati scored first: Allen's record when giving up the first goal is 9-13-3-0.
Allen trailed after the 1st period: Allen's record when trailing after the 1st period is 2-11-2-0.
Allen trailed after the 2nd period: Allen's record when trailing after the 2nd period is 3-17-2-0.
Allen was outshot in all three periods: Allen's record when being outshot is 11-19-4-1.
- It was a tough night for Allen's starting lineup (Costello, Asuchak, Leppard, Roy, Kneen). Since the home team gets last change, Cincinnati controlled the matchups. The same five players were on the ice for both teams on Cincinnati's first two goals. According to the boxscore, which is sometimes incorrect, Allen's starting five ended the game with a combined plus/minus of -13. The rest of the team had a combined plus/minus of +3.
- After the Cyclones took a 3-0 lead early in the third period the Americans attempted a comeback. JD Dudek scored his fourth goal of the season just over a minute after Cincinnati scored its third goal. Allen trailed 3-1 at the second intermission. Midway through the third period Chad Costello scored his 22nd goal of the season on the power play to cut the score to 3-2. The Americans pulled goalie Antoine Bibeau but never managed to get a shot on goal. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/hScimGldjF0
- One positive note from the loss last night was special teams. Allen was 1-2 on the power play and held Cincinnati scoreless on four power play opportunities.
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"It was so frustrating getting down three goals like we did last night. Turnovers in our defensive zone cost us two of the goals."
"We not only had turnovers but we were too soft defensively in pressuring the puck."
"We have to do better in getting the puck out of our zone. If there isn't a play we have to throw the puck off the glass just to get it out of the zone. As I always say, even Tom Brady decides a punt is the best option, rather than forcing a play."
"Nolan Kneen is headed back to Charlotte today. The plan was for him to be here longer, but a roster change for the Checkers created the need for him to return."
"For us to be successful our top line needs to outplay whatever line they are matched up against."
"I put Ben Carroll on IR yesterday. I am still waiting for medical information before we will know how long he will be out. I am expecting Chad Butcher will be back for the Idaho series next week."
OTHER COMMENTS
- Chad Costello has been on quite a scoring streak recently. In the last nine games, Chad has 14 points (4G, 10A). Here is how Costello stands in the ECHL scoring race:
1st in total points (58)
2nd in goals (22)
2nd in assists (36)
4th in PP points (17)
- With the loss last night, Allen is back to a .500 points percentage. The Americans are now tied with Wichita for sixth place in the Mountain Division but dangerously close to last place Kansas City (.490).
- While Allen is idle tonight the ECHL has 11 games on tap. Mountain Division teams in action include Wichita at Toledo, Utah at Kansas City, Rapid City at Tulsa and Worcester at Idaho. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of all 11 games. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/2/echl-today-feb-25
DID YOU KNOW: Here is the ECHL Stats post from today about Cincinnati's forward, Jesse Schultz, reaching 1000 points as a pro. I took a look this morning at how many professional points Chad Costello has racked up in his career. Chad is four years younger than Schultz. Turns out Chad is closer to 1000 points than I thought. After his goal last night, Chad now has 905 points in his professional career. Costello will hit the 1000 point milestone next season if he continues to play.
Congrats
and stick taps to Jesse Schultz of the Cincinnati Cyclones, on reaching
a big milestone last night. He reached 1000 points as a professional
with a goal and an assist in the Cyclones 3-2 win over the Allen
Americans. Schultz is one of the oldest players in the ECHL (will be 40
in September) and is still going strong. In 49 games this season, he has
45 points (15G, 30A).
It has been a rough morning here in front of my computer. Between watching what is happening in Ukraine and worrying about my daughter (a nurse) driving from Plano to Parkland Hospital on icy roads at 5:00 am this morning I have not written a word in two hours. I just got a text that Erin arrived safe and sound at the hospital. Hope everyone is safe today and prayers for the people of Ukraine.
- The Americans are in Cincinnati for a three game series outside of the Mountain Division. The teams will play tonight and
Saturday at 6:30 pm (Allen time) and 2:00 pm on Sunday.
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"We will have a full lineup for a change tonight. We will have one extra forward as a healthy scratch."
"Antoine Bibeau met us in Cincinnati and will get the start in goal tonight."
"I put Chad Costello on reserve yesterday but that was done as a way of managing the roster and salary cap. He will come off reserve today and play tonight."
"I might have to move one of the injured players to IR depending on how things unfold the next day or two."
"We will have a practice tomorrow to get the goalies some shots. Players that haven't played much recently will skate but the others will have the day off."
ALLEN VS CINCINNATI PREVIEW
- Allen will enter the series with as strong a lineup as they have had all season, even though they are still missing some key players like Chad Butcher and Ben Carroll. The additions to the lineup are goalie Antoine Bibeau, defenseman Nolan Kneen and forwards Branden Troock and Josh Winquist. Here is the roster in Cincinnati:
Goalies
#31 - Luke Peressini
#34 - Antoine Bibeau
#40 - Frank Marotte
Defensemen
#3 - Darian Skeoch
#4 - Kris Myllari
#7 - Eric Roy
#8 - Jake Kearley
#24 - Nolan Kneen
#25 - Phil Beaulieu
Forwards
#9 - Josh Winquist
#10 - Jackson Leppard
#11 - Branden Troock
#13 - Chad Costello
#16 - J.C. Campagna
#18 - JD Dudek
#19 - Jared Bethune
#21 - Jack Combs
#26 - Spencer Asuchak
#28 - D-Jay Jerome
#29 - Kolten Olynek
- Allen is 4-5-1-0 in its last 10 games and has lost two straight games. Cincinnati is 4-4-2-0 in its last 10 games and has lost six of the last eight.
- A team statistical comparison gives the edge to Cincinnati in all categories:
Average goals scored: Cincinnati 3.5 vs Allen 3.3
Average goals allowed: Cincinnati 3.1 vs Allen 3.5
Average shots on goal: Cincinnati 31.1 vs Allen 28.6
Average shots allowed: Cincinnati 29.1 vs Allen 34.6
Power play percentage: Cincinnati 19.0% vs Allen 17.6%
Penalty kill percentage: Cincinnati 80.5% vs Allen 79.4%
- Allen's top six forwards of Costello-Asuchak-Leppard and Combs-Winquist-Troock are averaging close to six points per game this season. As a group they have over 500 games of AHL experience.
- Special teams will clearly play a role in this series. Cincinnati is the fourth most penalized team in the ECHL (813 PIMS) while Allen is ranked #10 (687 PIMS). Allen has 32 fighting majors, Cincinnati 30 so fisticuffs are likely. Allen does not have any extra defensemen and just one extra forward so they need to be careful.
- Shorthanded goals can always be a factor given Allen leads the league in shorties allowed. Allen has allowed 17 shorthanded goals, Cincinnati has allowed eight. Allen has scored seven shorthanded goals, Cincinnati has scored just five.
- If any games go to overtime, Allen's record in overtimes is 1-5, Cincinnati's is 1-3. In shootouts Allen is 1-1 and Cincinnati is 2-0.
- Scoring first is always an advantage. Allen is 12-8-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, Cincinnati is 14-4-2-0.
- Not to overstate the importance of this series, but Allen is in a tight race for a playoff spot, time is running out and the Americans will have the best lineup they have had in quite a while. If Allen doesn't get at least four points in Cincinnati it would be a big disappointment.
- As a reminder here is what is happening this week. Allen's point percentage is currently .511 and could be as high as
.540 with three wins in Cincinnati or as low as .480 if the Americans
lose all three games in regulation. The Mountain Division has tightened up. Kansas City is in last
place, one win below .500, Wichita is at .500 and Allen is one win above .500.
Tulsa is currently in fourth place, three wins above .500. Anyone of
these teams could be in fourth place or last place by the end of the
week. Tulsa is at home for three games against Rapid City. Kansas City
is at home for three games against Utah. Wichita is on the road for one
game stops in Toledo and Indy.
- Current Mountain Division standings by points percentage:
.630 - Utah
.578 - Idaho
.559 - Rapid City
.531 - Tulsa
.511 - Allen
.500 - Wichita
.490 - Kansas City
Idaho's .578 points percentage is the lowest for any second place team in the four divisions. If any of the teams in the Mountain Division can string together some wins, they will quickly move up the standings.
DID YOU KNOW: ECHL top shooters by shooting percentage (minimum 60 shots). Goals and shots are in parenthesis:
It is getaway day for the Allen
Americans as they left this morning for Cincinnati where they will play
three games against the Cyclones. The teams will play Thursday and
Saturday at 6:30 pm (Allen time) and 2:00 pm on Sunday.
-
Allen will have some high end reinforcements when they face the
Cyclones. I attended practice yesterday and had a chance to talk to
Branden Troock who has returned from an injury that has kept him out of
the lineup since January 29 and Josh Winquist who was just acquired by
Allen in a trade with Reading. Both players are ready to go, looked
great at practice, were on the same line for practice and are looking
forward to the the games in Cincinnati.
- I waited to
publish the blog hoping to catch up with coach Martinson during the
team's layover in Chicago so I could get the latest information.
Hopefully it was worth the wait. Martinson's comments:
"Luckily we got out of Dallas without any problems. We were a little delayed but have plenty of time to catch our connection to Cincinnati."
"Antoine Bibeau is meeting us in Cincinnati."
"Dawson Butt and Ben Carroll did not make the trip because of injuries."
"We have 17 skaters and three goalies on the trip."
"Adding Kneen, Winquist, Troock and Bibeau to the lineup is adding four top notch players."
"The line of Costello-Asuchak-Leppard will stay intact. Combs-Winquist-Troock will form another line.
"We will have three lines in Cincinnati that are all capable of scoring."
"We weren't planning on skating when we arrived in Cincinnati today, just taking the day off. We will have ice time on Friday but not everyone will practice."
OTHER COMMENTS
- I found out from
Josh Winquist that he and Branden Troock have known each other since they were kids.
They grew up in the Edmonton area, they are the same age (Josh is six
months older) and their hockey careers are parallel. They were in the
same youth league (Alberta Major Bantam) and both played in the Western
Hockey League. They both played in the AHL right after the WHL (Troock
for the Texas Stars and Winquist for the Oklahoma City Barons and
Bridgeport Sound Tigers). They are now both veteran players and
teammates in Allen. They also played together briefly in 2019-20 in
Toledo. Their AHL and ECHL experience is also very similar:
AHL Games
Troock - 130 games played (.32 points per game average)
Winquist - 140 games played (.58 points per game average)
ECHL Games
Troock - 152 games played (.90 points per game average)
Winquist - 171 games played (1.01 points per game average)
-
More good news came from coach Martinson after practice. Defenseman
Nolan Kneen was released from his PTO with Charlotte and is back with
the Allen Americans. Nolan played 14 games during his loan to Charlotte
and had six points (1G, 5A) with a plus/minus of +3. Kneen played so
well on his loan to Charlotte, I figured he had earned a SPC (Standard Player's Contract). I assume he just got caught up in a numbers game as contract defensemen returned from injury or were assigned by Charlotte's NHL affiliates (Seattle, Florida). I know the number of ECHL players being loaned to AHL teams has gone down since the NHL taxi squads have been disbanded, but don't be surprised if some other AHL team asks for Kneen. He is a free agent in the AHL and could go to any team.
OTHER COMMENTS
-
As the regular ECHL season winds down, one stat that always comes to
mind is this. The Kelly Cup has not been won by a team finishing lower than
seventh in the regular season since at least 2005.
In 2012 the Florida Everblades finished seventh and
went on to win the Kelly Cup. In 2016 (Allen) and 2007 (Idaho) finished sixth in the regular season and won the Kelly Cup. In every
other season since 2005 the Kelly Cup winner finished in the top five
during the regular season. Here are the current top eight ECHL teams in
points percentage, the Kelly Cup contenders with about 30% of the season remaining are. It is highly likely the 2022 Kelly Cup champion is on this list and it is even more likely it is one of the top five on this list:
- Here is the regular season points percentage for the last six Kelly Cup winners:
.618 - Fort Wayne (2021)
.653 - Newfoundland (2019)
.708 - Colorado (2018)
.688 - Colorado (2017)
.618 - Allen (2016)
.736 - Allen (2015)
-
I posted a chart on ECHL Stats from eliteprospects.com that compares
the number of players from seven European countries (Sweden, Russia,
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany) playing in various North
Americans leagues this season versus 2010. I added up the totals for
all seven countries and here are the results by league. The number of
European players in 2022 is the first number, the second number is from
2010:
NHL - 283 vs 198
AHL - 189 vs 117
ECHL - 27 vs 16
NCAA - 100 vs 23
USHL - 36 vs 19
CHL - 102 vs 105 (OHL/WHL/QMJHL)
You
can see from the data above a lot more European hockey players coming
to play in the NHL and at US colleges. The only leagues with fewer
players than in 2010 is in the Canadian major junior leagues but that may be because
of the COVID rules.
- Five players have reached the 50
point mark this season. Jack Combs has 44 points but remember, he missed
10 games with an injury. Here are the top five ECHL players in points:
57 points (21G, 26A) - Chad Costello, Allen
53 points (14G, 39A) - Will Graber, Fort Wayne
51 points (22G, 29A) - Blake Winieki, Florida
50 points (22G, 28A) - Darik Angeli, Kansas City
50 points (22G, 28A) - John McCarron, Florida
-
Jackson Leppard has 15 goals on just 67 shots for a shooting percentage
of 22.4%. Chad Butcher has seven goals on 31 shots for a shooting
percentage of 22.6%. The Americans team shooting percentage is 11.4%.
DID
YOU KNOW: Josh Winquist will be the 38th player to play for Allen this
season. That is actually at the low end of players used by ECHL teams.
Fewer contract players could be part of the reason for the low number.
Four teams have already used 50+ players this season.
The Allen Americans will have a final practice today before the team heads to Cincinnati early Wednesday morning for a critical series with the Cyclones. The teams will play Thursday and Saturday at 6:35 pm Allen time and 2:00 pm on Sunday.
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"I put Zach Hall and Chad Butcher on the injured reserve (IR) yesterday so they will miss the Cincinnati series, but will likely be available when we return home to play Idaho on March 4 & 5."
"It is possible Ben Carroll will go on the trip but I won't know until later today."
"With the addition of Branden Troock and Josh Winquist at practice yesterday, we worked on power play and also worked on our breakouts. Both of them looked good in practice."
"We will spend some additional time today working on our penalty kill."
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen's point percentage is currently .511 and could be as high as .540 with three wins in Cincinnati or as low as .480 if the Americans lose all three games in regulation. The Mountain Division tightened up last night between the four teams at the bottom of the division who are fighting for a playoff spot. How tight is it? Kansas City is in last place, one win below .500. Allen and Wichita are one win above .500. Tulsa is currently in fourth place, three wins above .500. Anyone of these teams could be in fourth place or last place by the end of the week. Tulsa is at home for three games against Rapid City. Kansas City is at home for three games against Utah. Wichita is on the road for one game stops in Iowa, Toledo and Indy. If any of these teams can earn six points this week they will really help their cause.
- If you have been following the Charlotte Checker recently, you have noticed the players that have spent time in Allen have been sitting out a lot. Ryan Lohin has played once since January 20. Antoine Bibeau hasn't played since February 2 and Nolan Kneen has been a healthy scratch in three of the last five games. You would think at some point, they would send these players to Allen for a few games just to get them some playing time. This weekend the Checkers are on the road for single games against Providence, Springfield and Bridgeport.
- I was looking over the ECHL Daily Stats Report this morning and it struck me the vast difference between the #1 and #27 teams in many categories. Here are a few examples:
Road Record: #1 Toledo (18-6-0-1), #27 South Carolina (6-17-2-0)
Goals Allowed: #1 Jacksonville (108), #27 Kansas City (168)
Penalty Minutes: #1 Kansas City (1088), #27 Reading (374)
Overtime Points Percentage: #1 Kalamazoo (1.000 - 3-0), #27 Fort Wayne (.143 - 1-6)
Shorthanded Goals Allowed: #1 Worcester (2), #27 Allen (17)
3rd Period Goal Differential: #1 Fort Wayne (+27), #27 Norfolk (-21)
Overall Points Percentage: #1 Toledo (.744), #27 South Carolina (.394)
Average Attendance: #1 Toledo (7452), #27 Newfoundland (1454)
- It was sad to read that Vladimir Nikiforov passed away last Thursday at the age of 34, leaving behind a 10 year old son. No cause of death was released. Nikiforov was the type of player that always stood out when he visited Allen. His diminutive stature (5'6") and quickness always made you take notice. I first remember him when he played for the Quad City Mallards in the old CHL days. He last played in Allen in 2017-18 when he was with the Tulsa Oilers. Nikiforov had eight goals that season but three of them came in Allen. One of them was an overtime game winner.
- Vladimir Nikiforov is best known for a play in 2009 when he was with the Utah Grizzlies. He was awarded two penalty shots on the same play. He was hooked from behind on a breakaway and then the goalie deliberately dislodged to goal off its moorings. The referee awarded Nikiforov two penalty shots, he missed both of them.
- The ECHL Stats post today (see below) is about plus/minus leaders
this season. Here are the Allen Americans plus/minus leaders:
+20: Kris Myllari
+11: Jack Combs
+5: Branden Troock
+5: Darian Skeoch
Allen's all-time plus/minus leaders in a single ECHL season are:
+47: Joel Chouinard (2016-17)
+43: Chad Costello (2014-15)
+35: Greger Hanson (2014-15)
+31: Gary Steffes (2014-15)
DID YOU KNOW: ECHL plus/minus leaders this season:
+28: TJ Hensick, Toledo
+27: Will Graber, Fort Wayne
+27: *Luke Martin, Utah
+26: Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Utah
+25: *Xavier Bouchard, Florida
All are defensemen except Hensick
*Rookies
The all-time ECHL plus/minus single season record holders:
I saw a headline on social media this morning that said, "Time to regroup and do work next week" and thought it was appropriate for the Allen Americans after they won four of five games against Kansas City and then lost two straight to Wichita.
- It has clearly been an up and down season for Allen and time is running out to get things turned around. It seems like one step forward and one step backwards has been a good way to describe this team all season. I have sliced and diced this many ways, but haven't computed points percentage by month to see what that shows. Here is what I found:
.500 - October
.409 - November
.714 - December
.533 - January
.450 - February
You add it all together and you have a team that has hovered around .500 hockey for too long. The Americans will have to play at least .600 hockey over the final 25 games of the season if they want to be a factor in the playoffs. It means Allen needs to win two of the three games in Cincinnati to avoid returning home with a .500 points percentage.
- Allen released defenseman Ben Owen yesterday. Ben is a great hometown story, having grown up in Allen and working for years at the Allen Event Center. He has played for Allen three different seasons including 26 games this year. Owen had not played much recently and it was a numbers game that caused his release. Once injured players started returning, the addition of Josh Winquist on Saturday, coach Martinson had to trim the roster.
- It is always confusing when trying to figure out how many players can be on the Allen roster. Here is my unofficial explanation:
Active roster - teams can have up to 20 players on the active roster, but they all must fit under the weekly salary cap which is $13,900. Allen is usually at no more than 19 on the active roster.
Reserve - In addition to the active roster, teams can have two players on reserve (healthy or injured). Reserve players don't count against the salary cap and can be moved off and on reserve at any time.
Injured reserve (IR)- there is no limit on the number of players on IR but once placed on IR the player must stay for a minimum of 14 days (no maximum). Teams must send in a statement from a doctor when placing a player on IR. Salaries for players on IR don't count against the salary cap.
In addition to the ECHL rules above, another limiting factor that Steve Martinson must deal with is the budget he has to live by from team ownership. He is only budgeted for a certain number of apartments and housing costs, which is decided before the season begins. Married players and married players with kids cost more for housing than single players because they are entitled to their own apartment. Single players (even with girlfriends) share apartments. It is a constant juggling act for Martinson to accommodate all the players coming and going during the season. Let's just say, getting another apartment is rarely if ever the answer.
- When I talked to coach Martinson yesterday he was confident Branden Troock would return to the lineup this week. Josh Winquist will arrive in Allen today, hopefully in time for a rare afternoon practice. Allen's lineup for the three games in Cincinnati this week will be stronger with these players added. According to Martinson it is looking unlikely any of the other injured players (Butcher, Carroll, Hall, Jarvis, Poulsen) will be back this week. There could always be a surprise but don't count on it.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Newfoundland won again yesterday, beating Reading on the road by a score of 5-3. The Growlers are a perfect example of what happens when you lose a bunch of players to injuries, COVID and call ups. If you remember, when Newfoundland was in Allen for three games at the end of January, the Growlers had to sign five or six players off the street just to have enough players to play. Allen ended up sweeping the three game series. Here is Newfoundland's points percentage before and after it lost all of the players:
.875 (14-2-0-0) October 21 to December 1
.233 (2-10-3-0) December 3 - February 5
1.000 (7-0-0-0) February 9 - present
- Four ECHL teams have points streaks of five or more games. Teams that start playing well at this time of the season usually perform well in the playoffs. Here are the hottest teams in the ECHL right now:
9-0-2-0 - Wichita
7-0-0-0 - Newfoundland
5-0-0-0 - Jacksonville
5-0-0-0 - Wheeling
- Allen's road points percentage (.522) is higher then its home points percentage (.500). Cincinnati is more traditional with a home points percentage of .635 and road percentage of .455.
DID YOU KNOW: The post from ECHL stats today shows that four of the best players in the ECHL will be on the ice in Cincinnati this week. There are only nine players in the ECHL with a 170+ games played and a career points per game average above 1.00. Four of the nine will be in the series with Cincinnati this week and three of them are on the Allen roster.
A select group of ECHL players. There are just nine current players that have played at least 170 ECHL games and have a career points per game average above 1.00:
If you are a believer in the long held, Allen Americans, Saturday night, big crowd (4790), specialty jersey (Police/Fire) curse, the Americans 4-3 loss to Wichita last night was certainly proof. Allen got off to a great start, scoring the first goal of the game at the 4:42 mark of the opening period. Then the curse kicked in as Wichita scored three special teams goals in just over four minutes. The Americans gave up two power play goals and a shorthanded goal, their league leading 17th shorthanded goal of the season. Wichita took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission and never relinquished it the rest of the game.
- Credit to the Americans as they were able to tie the score 3-3 on two Spencer Asuchak goals in the second period, but that is as close as they got. Just like Friday night in Wichita, the Americans could not get the lead after tying the score in the third period. Last night the Thunder took a 4-3 lead with 11 minutes left in the game, but the Americans could not respond.
- In the game preview yesterday there were three keys to the game and Allen met two of the three but the one it missed was really missed:
Good start - Allen scored the first goal early in the first period.
Outshoot Wichita - Allen outshot the Thunder in all three period for a game total of 38-24.
Win special teams battle - A big fail as Allen gave up two power play goals on just three opportunities for a 33.3% penalty kill percentage. Allen was 1-5 on the power play but gave up a shorthand goal so a net zero on the power play.
- The goal scorers for Allen were Jackson Leppard (15) and Spencer Asuchak (16,17). Chad Costello assisted on all three Allen goals. The Americans had a total of nine points in the game (3G, 6A) and the line of Costello-Asuchak-Leppard had eight of them. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/-1JQScx_WhM
"It was a frustrating game with the goals we gave up in the first period but the team worked hard to get back in the game."
"It was the go ahead goal in the third period that was especially frustrating. All we can do now is get back up on the horse next week in Cincinnati."
"We will have a stronger lineup next week with Winquist and Troock available for sure. Not sure if any of the others will be available, it will be a day by day assessment."
"After a day off today, we will have a light practice tomorrow as the players need time to recuperate. We will practice on Tuesday and then leave Wednesday morning for Cincinnati."
JOSH WINQUIST PLAYER PROFILE
Josh Winquist
- Allen acquired forward Josh Winquist in a trade with Reading yesterday for future considerations. Winquist is a six foot, 180 pound left shot center who is 28 years old. He has been a pro for eight years. He has played in 140 AHL games with 81 points (31G, 50A) and 171 ECHL games with 172 points (53G, 119A).
Josh played his junior hockey in the WHL, five years with the Everett Silvertips. He will make the 14th player on the Allen roster who played junior hockey in the WHL. When Winquist finished his junior career (2013-14), he owned the Silvertips record for goals in a season (43) and was tied for the most points (93). Winquist's first pro contract was with the Oklahoma City Barons (AHL). His best AHL season was with Bridgeport in 2016-17, he had 32 points (15G, 17A) in 53 games.
In 2019-20, Josh played for Toledo and had 50 points (14G, 36A) in 48 games. One of his teammates on that Toledo team was Branden Troock.
Winquist is described in scouting reports as a good two way players with great vision. His strength is his ability (described as uncanny in one report) to always make the smart play and his knack for finding the back of the net. Here is a video interview with Josh from a few years ago when he had just signed with the Utah Grizzlies. The video will give you some idea of what he is like on and off the ice. Always a good way to get the know a new player. https://youtu.be/rM9S5EVKirQ
Winquist is driving to Allen and is expected to arrive on Monday.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Next week will be critical for the Allen Americans as they head to Cincinnati for games against the Cyclones on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Cincinnati is in fourth place in the Central Division and like the Americans, have been inconsistent. Since the end of December the Cyclones have won five straight games, then lost five straight, then won three straight and then lost four straight. Like Allen, the only thing consistent is two steps forward followed by two steps back. Should be an interesting series.
- At the current pace Allen would end the season allowing 26 shorthanded goals. How out of the ordinary is allowing so many shorthanded goals. Here are the ECHL teams with the most shorthanded goals allowed for each season since Allen joined the ECHL:
16 2014-15 (Wheeling)
15 2015-16 (Greenville)
14 2016-17 (Utah)
15 2017-18 (Jacksonville)
20 2018-19 (Greenville)
16 2019-20 (Jacksonville)
17 2020-21 (Rapid City)
17 2021-22 (Allen, thru 47 games with 25 games remaining)
- The specialty jerseys (Police/Fire) the Americans wore last night were auctioned off right after the game. Not sure of the reasons but it was the lowest prices ever for a live jersey auction. It could be fans didn't like the jersey, they didn't want to stay for the auction after being at the arena since 4:30 to watch the Police/Fire game, the jersey market is getting saturated with so many specialty jerseys or they miss the players not coming out for the live auctions like in the past. In the past some players would take the microphone to help sell their jerseys. Those were the days when $1000 dollars for the most popular jerseys was commonplace. Thanks to my friend, Kristi Clark, for staying to the bitter end to capture the prices. From what I understand some jerseys couldn't get the minimum bid of $250. Make no mistake, the team still makes money selling jerseys at $250 a pop, but the auctions now provide an opportunity for fans to get jerseys at reasonable prices. Here are the jerseys that sold last night:
$550 Asuchak
$400 Skeoch
$350 Zach Hall
$350 Biscuit
$250 Costello
$250 Combs
$250 Roy
$250 Myllari
$250 Gould
$250 Campagna
$250 Beaulieu
$250 Butt
$250 Peressini
$250 Kearley
- The specialty jerseys that weren't sold after the game last night will now be put up for auction online (DASH) so still a chance to get a jersey at a reasonable price.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL stats post today is about goalies with the best save percentages. It takes 900 minutes at this point in the season to be a qualified goalie for statistical purposes. Allen has used six different goalies this season and only one is qualified (Hayden Lavigne). Here are the six Allen goalies, in save percentage order, with minutes played in parenthesis:
.972 - Chase Perry (61 minutes)
.927 - Antoine Bibeau (693 minutes)
.908 - Luke Peressini (296 minutes)
.898 - Hayden Lavigne (1008 minutes)
.880 - Frank Marotte (709 minutes)
.863 - Alexis Gravel (120 minutes)
Here are the best ECHL goalies by save percentage. Four of them are rookies. These are qualified goalies, which requires a minimum of 900 minutes played:
.931 - Tyler Parks, Atlanta**
.927 - Brad Barone, Orlando
.921 - Billy Christopoulos, Toledo
.921 - Samuel Harvey, Fort Wayne*
.921 - Lukas Parik, Rapid City*
.919 - Daniel Mannella, Tulsa*
.919 - Jake Kupsky, Idaho*
.919 - Evan Buitenhuis, Wichita
.919 - John Lethemon, Greenville
*Rookies
**Tyler Parks also leads all goalies in GAA at 2.14
Allen lost in Wichita last night by a score of 4-3 before a crowd of 5782 at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Americans fell behind early in the first period and spent the entire game fighting to get a lead. Allen fought back from deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 to tie the game but could not overcome the 4-3 lead Wichita took in the third period.
- All of the key stats went against Allen:
Americans gave up the first goal - they have a losing record when giving up the first goal
Americans were outshot - they have a losing record when being outshot
Americans were trailing after the 2nd period - they have a losing record when trailing after the 2nd
Americans lost the special teams battle - they have a losing record when losing special team battles
- To Allen's credit they never gave up after repeatedly falling behind in the game. The Americans were playing two players short after playing four players short for much of the game on Wednesday. The players have to be exhausted and it won't get any better as the team traveled back to Allen after the game last night, where they will take on the Thunder again tonight.
- The scoring sequence in the game went like this:
Wichita scored first early in the opening period (2:25)
Allen tied the score late in the period (18:52) on a goal by J.C. Campagna
Wichita pulled ahead early in the second period (1:22) on a power play goal
Allen answered back (5:22) on a Jack Combs goal to tie the scored 2-2
Wichita got a second power play goal (11:27) to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission
Allen tied the score 3-3 early in the third period (1:51) on Campagna's second goal
Wichita score the game winner at the 7:44 mark
- Special teams played a critical role in the game. The official stats show Allen was 0-6 on the power play and Wichita was 2-7. Allen scored a goal one second after a penalty expired so that is essentially a power play goal. One of Wichita's goals was also scored one second after a penalty expired. In that case the goal was really a 5-on-3 goal but it shows as a 5-on-4 goal. Nuances aside, Wichita took advantage of all of the special teams activity. The combined total of 13 power plays was the highest total in any of the 11 games Allen and Wichita have played this season. It was also only the second time in over a month the Americans gave up more than one power play goal in a game.
- Allen was outshot in the game 32-28. Maybe it is a meaningless stat since the shots were close. I will call it the odd stat of the day. In the 11 games this season with Wichita, the team with the most shots has won 10 of the 11.
- Goal scorers for Allen were J.C. Campagna (3,4) and Jack Combs (15). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/48Gv5DhM9vA
"We weren't skating as hard last night and when that happens it leads to us taking penalties and turning the puck over."
"We have to have better special teams play tonight. That was the difference in the game last night."
"We may end up playing shorthanded again tonight. I won't know until later but there is a possibility D-Jay Jerome will be able to play tonight.
"Frank Marotte will get the start in goal tonight."
"I finalized a trade today which will bring us a veteran player for future considerations. When we get our injured players back and the addition of this veteran player, we will have three lines that can score."
REMATCH PREVIEW
- Allen certainly had a chance to win the game in Wichita last night and given the circumstances it was a decent effort. However, the Americans must find a way to get the win on their home ice tonight. The last time Wichita was in Allen (February 2) the Thunder won 3-1. Next week the Americans will be on the road for three games in Cincinnati and they don't need to be on a two game losing streak playing the Cyclones.
- The keys for Allen tonight would be the opposite of what happened in Wichita last night. The Americans need a better start, they need to perform better on special teams and they need to outshoot Wichita. If Allen can accomplish these three goals they will win.
- When Allen has been playing its best hockey lately it is because of skating hard, especially on defense. Something to look for tonight.
OTHER COMMENTS
- J.C. Campagna could not have had a better start since joining the Americans on this road trip. After not playing in the ECHL for over a year, he has played three games for Allen and has five points (4G,1A). He is already tied for #13 on the team in goals. J.C. has always been streaky goal scorer. When he was with Fort Wayne in 2018-19 he had a streak of scoring a goal in seven straight games and in 11 of 15 games. He had 13 goals in those 11 games.
- Kris Myllari has been an unsung hero all season and it showed on this three game road trip. Here are some of his stats from this trip and for the season:
Had points in all three games on the road trip (1G, 3A)
Had a plus/minus of +6 on the road trip
Played a team high of 33 minutes, 21 seconds in the game on Wednesday
Leads the team in blocked shots
Has a team leading plus/minus of +21. The next highest defensemen is +4
He has scored six goals this season, four of them were game winning goals
- Things sure change fast when it comes to the Mountain Division standings. After winning four of five from Kansas City, the Americans points percentage was getting close to third place in the standings. After the loss in Wichita last night, Allen is a lot closer to sixth place than third place. If Allen loses to Wichita tonight, the two teams will be in virtual tie for sixth place in the division (.5106 vs .5100).
- Rapid City lost in a shootout last night in Norfolk and Tulsa lost in regulation in Cincinnati. That was just enough for Rapid City to pass Tulsa in the standings. Here is the latest, with the team's record over the last 10 games in parenthesis:
.635 - Utah (5-4-1-0)
.602 - Idaho (6-2-2-0)
.550 - Rapid City (4-4-1-1)
.543 - Tulsa (3-5-1-1)
.522 - Allen (5-4-1-0)
.500 - Wichita (8-0-2-0)
.480 - Kansas City (4-4-1-1)
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about point scoring streaks. No surprise that Chad Costello owns the longest points scoring streak for Allen at 19 games which he accomplished in 2015-16. The strange thing about Chad's 19 game point streak is he had at least one assist is all 19 games. His 19 game assist streak is the second longest in ECHL history.
Hats
off to Greenville’s Liam Pecararo who had his 22 game point streak come
to an end last night. He had at least one point in every game he played
for Greenville since November 19. A total of 37 points (18G, 19A). The
last time a player had a 20+ game point streak In the ECHL was in
2007-08, when David Desharnais (Cincinnati) had a 27 game point streak.
Two years later Desharnais was in the NHL where he ended up playing 524
games. At 35, he is still playing professionally in Switzerland.
Allen has played Wichita 10 times this season, more than any other team. The Americans still have to play the Thunder seven more times this season, more than any other team. Two of the seven remaining games are tonight in Wichita and Saturday night in Allen.
- It has been an up and down season for Wichita driven by injuries and players being recalled/loaned to the AHL. The Thunder started the season with a record of 10-5-1-0 but after losing players lost 14 straight games and was mired in last place in the division. Wichita has a full lineup again and has a record of 7-0-2-0 over the last nine games. It is the longest point streak in the ECHL right now by a wide margin. No other team has a point streak longer than four games.
- While Wichita has a full line up, Allen has been decimated with injuries, callups and loans. Everytime the Americans get a player back, someone else goes down with an injury. Here is a list of the players currently out of the lineup:
Gavin Gould (out for the season, last played January 22)
Tyler Poulsen (out 4-6 weeks, last played February 2)
Andrew Jarvis (out since January 30)
Branden Troock (out since January 29)
D-Jay Jerome (out since January 16)
Ben Owen (not on road trip but not injured)
Chad Butcher (on road trip but out for the weekend)
Ben Carroll (on road trip but doubtful)
Zach Hall (on road trip but doubtful)
Nolan Kneen (on loan to Charlotte, last played January 2)
Antoine Bibeau (recalled to Charlotte, last played February 11)
- Allen will get Darian Skeoch back tonight after he sat out the last two games on suspension.
- Wichita has a record of 7-1-2-0 over the last 10 games, Allen has a record of 6-3-1-0. Allen has the edge in the season series with Wichita, 6-4-0-0.
- Here is a comparison of the two teams based on the 10 head to head games this season:
Goals - Wichita has more goals (35-32) which includes a 7-0 shutout on opening might.
Shots - Wichita has the edge 311-296.
Power Play: Allen 6-35 (17.1%), Wichita 8-35 (22.8%)
Goals allowed per game - Allen allows more goals (3.5 vs 3.3)
Shots per game - Wichita shoots more (31.3 vs 28.4)
Shots allowed per game - Wichita allows more shots (37.5 vs 34.8)
Team shooting percentage: Allen 11.5%, Wichita 9.2%
Team save percentage: Allen .900, Wichita .913
- As always, special teams will be key in the two games with Wichita. Allen's power play is ranked #18 at 18.1% (32-177) and Wichita's power play is ranked #17 at 18.5% (31-168). Penalty kill stats favor Wichita who is ranked #7 at 83.4% (30-181). Allen is ranked #16 at 80.6% (33-170). Both teams have scored seven shorthanded goals. Allen has allowed 16 shorthanded goals compared to seven by Wichita.
- None of the 10 games Allen and Wichita have played this season have gone to overtime. If one of the games does get to overtime it will pit two teams that have a combined record in overtimes of 3-12. Allen is 1-5 and Wichita is 2-7. If a game happens to get to a shootout, Wichita has the edge 3-0 vs 1-1.
- More stat facts:
Scoring first hasn't been the magic bullet in this series. The team that scored first has won just six of the 10 games.
What has been a good predictor of outcome is shots on goal. The team with the most shots has won nine of the 10 games.
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"Our trip from Kansas City was slow going for the first couple hours but then the sun came out and snow plows were out so things improved. It took us about two hours longer than normal to get to Wichita. We were lucky we had a day off between games."
"We probably set some records for time on ice when we played shorthanded on Wednesday in Kansas City. Kris Myllari led with 33:21, Eric Roy was on the ice 30:57 and Spencer Asuchak for 28:03. Time on ice in excess of 30 minutes is a lot. Playing 28 minutes in a regulation game, for a forward, is also lot of minutes."
"I expect we will have have three lines and five defensemen for the game tonight so we will be playing shorthanded again. I don't expect Hall or Carroll will be in the lineup."
"Luke Peressini will get the start in goal."
"We have been getting good goaltending which is a credit to the goalies as well as the rest of the team working hard on defense. Caring is the most important trait in playing good defense."
- Allen has used five different goalies over the last 10 games and they have all played well. In seven of the 10 games the save percentages were above .935. In only two of the games was the save percentage below .900. If Allen can get that kind of goaltending going forward they will win a lot of games.
- There are 12 games on tap in the ECHL tonight with several Mountain Division teams playing outside the division. Tulsa is at Cincinnati, Rapid City is at Norfolk and Utah entertains Worcester. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of all 12 games tonight: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/2/echl-today-feb-18
DID YOU KNOW: ECHL teams with the most games scoring 5+ goals this season. Games with 5+ goals allowed is in parenthesis:
- For all of you that are regular readers of the blog, I apologize for being so late today. I actually had the blog written early but wanted to make sure to talk to Steve Martinson before publishing. He had more time than usual so we were able to cover a lot of ground. The team had planned all along to stay in Kansas City last night and travel the 200 miles to Wichita this morning. With rain, ice and snow moving in they considered changing their plans and heading to Wichita last night but by the time the game was over the temperature was already below freezing and it was still raining. So the team opted to stay with the original plan and overnight in Kansas City. The team is currently on the road but it is slow going. Here is a recap of my conversation with coach Martinson, followed by the typical blog post for the day.
- As you might imagine a lot of time was spent on the game misconduct penalty last night and penalties throughout the series with Kansas City. A lot of video was shared back and forth and it generated much discussion. As always, not everything can be shared, but here are some of what I took from the conversation.
"The league has acknowledged the disallowed goal on Friday, when it was ruled Spencer Asuchak had interfered with goalie, was in fact a good goal."
"What I saw on the play where Kearley was given a game misconduct for charging was a knee on knee hit on our player that wasn't called. Kearley responded but it is clear in the video he was gliding for a long time before contacting their player. It wasn't charging and it wasn't a major penalty. The league agreed and Kearley will not be suspended."
"After five games watching Kansas City players diving, they finally got called for it twice last night. I have no respect for teams that flop like Kansas City."
"We had a player (Chad Butcher) get hit with a puck so hard it required a visit to the emergency room after the game to get it checked out. He got up off the ice and somehow made his way back to the bench. That is the difference between teams. Some teams have players that get up even when they are hurt while other stay down when they are not hurt."
"Butcher is out for the weekend but we will get Skeoch back. Carroll and Hall are day to day."
"It was a gutsy performance by the entire team last night and on top of that we played with three defensemen and Jared Bethune for the last 50 minutes of the game. It is tough in our league to have to go out every other shift all night along with killing penalties." The four guys playing defense did a great job."
"Forward D-Jay Jerome may be cleared to play for Saturday. That would be ahead of schedule but he is a tough guy. He played a game and a half with an injury that has kept him out for a month."
- If there is a single word to describe Allen's 5-4 win in Kansas City last night it would be perseverance. Injuries have ravaged the Americans this season with many players in and out of the lineup. The Americans went into this road trip knowing they would be shorthanded, especially at defense. Six defensemen are on the trip but Ben Carroll couldn't play because of an injury and Darian Skeoch was serving a two game suspension. Tuesday night Allen played short one skater (15) and with just four defensemen. Forward Jared Bethune, as he had done before, filled in at defense. Steve Martinson brought in J.C. Campagna on Tuesday to keep the Americans from playing with 14 skaters.
- Things went from bad to worse last night. Zach Hall couldn't play after being injured on Tuesday night and defenseman Jake Kearley was given a game misconduct charging penalty at the 13:56 mark of the first period. All of a sudden Allen was down to 13 skaters and just three defensemen (plus Bethune). Defensemen Kris Myllari, who had a goal in the game, said it best after the game, "It was a real gutsy team win. We were short staffed, had a ton of guys step up and gave everything they had to get a big road win. Marotte was great in goal and we had a great penalty kill tonight."
- The game started just like Tuesday night, Chad Costello scored the first goal of the game though it took until 8:27 of the first period. The Mavericks answered back on a 5-on-3 power play when Allen was killing off a five minute major and two minute minor at the same time. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period.
- The Mavericks took a 2-1 lead early in the second period but Allen fought back with two unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. Both Allen goals were scored by defensemen. Eric Roy tied the game on what was technically an even strength but was really a power play goal, scored one second after a penalty expired. The go ahead goal was scored by Kris Myllari with 87 seconds remaining in the second period.
- Leading 3-2 after the second period was a great sign. Allen's record with a second period lead now stands at 9-0-1-1.
- Allen took a 4-2 lead in the third period on a shorthanded goal by Chad Butcher. The shorthanded goal proved to be a big one as the teams traded goals a couple of times in the third period. After the Mavericks cut the score to 4-3, J.C. Campagna scored the game winner to give the Americans a 5-3 lead. Kansas City closed the gap to 5-4 with less than two minutes remaining but could not get the equalizer after they pulled the goalie.
- It was a big win for the Americans under some very trying circumstances. It was the type of game that undoubtedly brought the team closer together.
- Goals scorers for Allen were Chad Costello (21), Eric Roy (7), Kris Myllari (6), Chad Butcher (7) and J.C. Campagna (2). Jack Combs and Spencer Asuchak had two assists in the game. Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/j3kjLuBzzUc
- It doesn't get any easier for the Americans who now must turn their attention to Wichita, where they will play on Friday night before closing out the week against the Thunder at home on Saturday night.
OTHER COMMENTS
- Allen won four of the five games in the series with Kansas City. The team that scored first won all five games.
- Chad Costello had two more points last night on a goal and an assist. He has goals in three straight games. In the last six games, Chad has 10 points (3G, 7A). He now has a four point lead in the ECHL scoring race with 54 points (21G, 33A).
- What a start by J.C. Campagna who signed with Allen on Tuesday and never had a practice with the team before he started playing, After not playing for over a year, all Campagna has done is score goals in his first two games including the game winner last night.
- In Mountain Division action last night Allen, Rapid City and Wichita won while Kansas City, Idaho and Tulsa lost. Here are the current standings with games remaining in parenthesis:
.649 - Utah (25)
.594 - Idaho (24)
.554 - Tulsa (26)
.551 - Rapid City (23)
.533 - Allen (27)
.490 - Wichita (24)
.479 - Kansas City (24)
- Wichita has finally climbed out of the cellar in the division. The Thunder have a record of 7-0-2-0 in the last nine games. Kansas City has fallen to last place with a record of 4-7-1-0 over its last 12 games.
- Allen has 27 games remaining with 13 of them at home. Here is a breakdown of the remaining games by home (H) and away (A):
7 games - Wichita (3H, 4A)
5 games - Tulsa (2H, 3A)
4 games - Kansas City (3H, 1A)
3 games - Toledo (0H, 3A)
3 games - Cincinnati (0H, 3A)
3 games - Iowa (3H, 0A)
2 games - Idaho (2H, 0A)
- 14 of Allen's remaining games are against teams that currently have points percentages below .500 (Wichita, Kansas City, Iowa). Three games are against Toledo who has the ECHL's best points percentage (.733). The other 10 games are against teams with points percentages between .594 and .542.
DID YOU KNOW: Allen fans are fortunate to be able to watch two of the top playoff goal scorers over the last 10 seasons. Here is the ECHL Stats post for today:
In the last 10 seasons, 881 ECHL players have scored at least one Kelly Cup playoff goal but only 15 have more than 20 goals. Just five of the 15 players with more than 20 playoff goals since 2012-13 are still active. Great players on this list who will add to their playoff goal totals in the 2022 Kelly Cup playoffs.
Some nights everything seems to go right. Thus was the case last night as the Allen Americans beat Kansas City 7-2 before a crowd of 2148 at the Cable Dahmer Arena. Here are the keys to the game from the preview yesterday, with the results. FYI, Allen nailed them all!
- Here are some keys to the two games in Kansas City:
Good starts, the team that has scored first has won five of the six games this season. RESULT: Chad Costello scored the first goal of the game just 25 seconds after the opening puck drop.
Take more shots, the team with the most shots has won five of six games this season. RESULT: Allen outshot the Mavericks 34-31 including 23-13 in the last two periods.
Play with a lead, Allen is 7-0-1-1 with a second period lead, Kansas City is 11-0-2-0. RESULT: The game was tied 2-2 after the first period but the Americans led 6-2 after the second period. Allen improved its record when leading after the second period to 8-0-1-1
Win the special teams battle, the Americans have just one power play goal in the last five games against Kansas City. RESULT: Allen was 1-4 on the power play and held the Mavericks scoreless (0-2).
- Allen scored the early goal and never trailed in the game but the first period was back and forth with Kansas City answering back every time the Americans took a lead. The Mavericks outshot Allen 18-11 in the first period as the teams went into the first intermission tied 2-2.
- Allen blew the game open in the second period scoring four goals on nine shots. The Americans scored on their first, second, fourth and seventh shots of the period and had a 6-2 lead before the second period was half over. Allen took the 6-2 lead into the second intermission.
- Things got chippy in the third period with Kansas City's Ryan Olsen taking a match penalty for a deliberate attempt to injure as well as a major penalty for spearing. Allen capitalized on the power play to make the final score 7-2. Olsen will almost certainly get a suspension, however, it is not an automatic suspension. Skeoch got a two game suspension last week for a major and game misconduct for slashing so you would assume this would be similar, probably a one or two game suspension.
- The seven goals last night were the second most all season, only surpassed by the 8-0 win in Tulsa a month ago. You know it was a great win when you look at the boxscore and see eight players had multi-point games.
- Goal scorers for Allen were Chad Costello (20), Jackson Leppard (14), Jack Combs (14), Eric Roy (6), Chad Butcher (5,6) and J.C. Campagna (1). Here are the video highlights: https://youtu.be/40Kpl0Im5Ow
- Here are some other standout performances from the game last night:
Luke Peressini stopped 29 of 31 shots to improve his record to 3-0 since joining the Americans. His save percentage in his three games were .935 (last night), .955 and .946. His GAA is 2.01.
J.C. Campagna, who was just signed yesterday, has played just four pro games since the 2019-20 season and played his last game February 14, 2021. He made is presence felt with a goal and an assist.
Jackson Leppard had a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, assist and a fight.
JD Dudek led all Allen players with three points, all assists.
Chad Costello had a goal and an assist, his 51st and 52nd points of the season. Chad has a two point lead in the ECHL scoring race.
Jack Combs scored the game winning goal, his third of the season. He is tied with Costello for the best points per game average on the team (1.18).
COACH'S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON
"I was really pleased with how the team played tonight. We showed good speed and came back hard defensively."
"I have been in contact with J.C. Campagna for a while and the situation arose where we needed a player with Branden Troock and Ben Owen staying in Allen and Ben Carroll unable to play because of an injury."
"Campagna has always been a good goal scorer and you saw that last night with him getting a goal and an assist after not playing for over a year."
"Ben Carroll is day to day and will be on the bench helping me until he gets back in the lineup."
"The power play was good last night even though we only scored once. We had solid puck possession and plenty of chances. There are a couple of things we want to do on the power play that are still missing."
"Jackson Leppard and JD Dudek have both stepped up when given additional opportunity because of all of our injuries."
"Frank Marotte will get the start in goal tonight."
REMATCH PREVIEW
- The easy answer for the keys to the game tonight against Kansas City is more of the same from last night. If the Americans get a good start, outshoot the Mavericks, win the special teams battle and get another good game from the goalie, they will be fine.
- There are areas for improvement including on the power play. Allen was 1-4 but that included a five minute major. The Americans did get good chances on a couple of the two minute power plays, including one with five shots on goal.
- Allen scored first but was outshot 18-11 in the first period and Kansas City had too many grade A opportunities that required big saves by Peressini.
- Allen scored seven goals on 34 shots (21%) which included 4 for 9 (44%) in the second period. That will not happen again tonight. The Americans need to be aggressive offensively but make sure they get back on defense and not cheat to score.
- The referee scheduled for the game tonight is Cameron Fleming (#27). Allen hasn't had him as a referee all season.
OTHER COMMENTS
- With the win last night Allen put some distance between themselves and Kansas City (.523 vs .489). That won't mean much if Allen doesn't win again tonight. Allen also closed the gap to fourth place, Rapid City, (.523 vs .542).
- In 2018-19, J.C. Campagna played for the Fort Wayne Komets and scored 35 goals in 63 games. He finished second in the ECHL in goals that season, averaging .56 goals per game.
- Charlotte played last night (won 5-4) and three players with Allen connections were all healthy scratches (Antoine Bibeau, Nolan Kneen and Ryan Lohin). The Checkers play again tonight.
DID YOU KNOW: Experience doesn’t always equal success but it typically helps. Here are the teams with most and fewest ECHL games played on the roster. Points percentage rank is in parenthesis:
Most ECHL Games Experience
3339 - Atlanta, (#9)
2738 - Kalamazoo, (#12)
2646 - Florida, (#7)
2622 - Allen, (#17)
2612 - Kansas City (#19)
Least ECHL Games Experience
698 - Iowa, (#24)
1021 - Worcester, (#20)
1045 - Utah, (#3)
1462 - Norfolk, (#26)
1493 - South Carolina (#27)
Utah is the biggest exception, one of the least experienced teams in the league and the third youngest team in the league but one of the best teams in the ECHL ranked #3 in points percentage (.649)
