The challenges continue for the Allen Americans as they prepare for week two of the ECHL season. The new challenge that happened yesterday was goalie Logan Flodell, Allen's only assigned player from Ottawa, was recalled to Belleville. You can't say it was a surprise, as I mentioned in the blog yesterday, Ottawa and Belleville have had a bunch of goalie injuries. Belleville starts a three game road trip to three different cities tonight.
- With Allen down to one goalie and a light schedule coming up, Coach Costello decided to sign an EBUG for the two home games against Wichita this weekend. The EBUG will be Anthony D'Aloisio, who was in training camp with the Americans. He is a local guy (Frisco) who played college hockey at the University of Southern Maine.
- The other signing yesterday was forward Nico Blachman. With Mikael Robidoux headed for a suspension of undetermined length (he had a hearing with the league yesterday) and Spencer Asuchak likely headed to the injured reserve, there was a need for coach Costello to add a player. In the next 10 days Allen plays three games, all against Wichita. Blachman will bring the toughness missing from Robidoux being suspended. The Americans will be ready no matter what style Wichita wants to play.
- It is unclear on the status of Marcel Godbout and Stephen Baylis for the weekend. While both are listed as day to day, Godbout has been participating in practice wearing the no contact jersey (which is now red instead of yellow), but Baylis is still not skating.
NICO BLACHMAN PLAYER PROFILE
- Nico Blachman has an interesting story, growing up in Florida to parents from Argentina. His passion for hockey started very young and the lengths he took to fulfill his dream of playing in the NHL are extraordinary, taking him far and wide. By my count he has played for 16 different teams since 2012-13 when he was 14 years old. Blachman is 6'2', 194 pounds, 24 years old, right shot forward who is not afraid to drop the gloves. He has fought many former Allen Americans including Kelly Bent, Josh Thrower, Kyle Neuber, and Corbin Baldwin.
Here is a great story about Blachman's background, growing up in Florida and his long and arduous journey to pro hockey: https://bvmsports.com/2021/07/16/south-florida-hockey-player-continues-to-rise-through-the-ranks/
Blachman's most famous fight/punch was last season in South Carolina when he left the bench to defend is teammate, Jordan Subban, who was the subject of a racial taunt. https://www.counton2.com/sports/echl-suspends-jacksonville-icemen-defenseman-for-racist-taunt-aimed-at-south-carolina-stingrays-player/
Here is a video interview that is long but worth watching. It has some foul language, but well worth watching if you are a fan of fighting or want to get to know Blachman's approach to his role. Skip the first few minutes: https://youtu.be/zfpILxeervg
Hard to pick out one Blachman fight but this is a good example. : https://youtu.be/cEiUrHBkgb4
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Western Hockey League (WHL) has been a big source of recruiting players for the Allen Americans over the years. Some seasons over half the team came from the WHL. This season just five Allen players played junior hockey in the WHL, the fewest in memory:
- Spencer Asuchak
- Jared Bethune
- Ryan Gagnon
- Jackson Leppard
- Zach Pochiro
Here is the latest on WHL players named to the NHL Central Scouting watch list. No doubt some future Allen Americans players on this list along with many future NHL players. https://whl.ca/article/43-whl-players-named-to-nhl-central-scouting-preliminary-players-to-watch-list
- There are three ECHL games scheduled today, including Cincinnati at Kalamazoo which is an Education Day game with a 10:30 am EDT start. When the puck is dropped it will set ECHL history. Here are the details: https://prohockeynews.com/kalamazoos-martin-and-cincinnatis-payne-set-to-face-off-in-historic-game/
DID YOU KNOW: Here is my ECHL stats post for today. While the reason Allen has no NHL/AHL players assigned is understandable, given all the injuries sustained in Belleville and Ottawa, it really puts the Americans at a disadvantage. The reason some ECHL teams get 10-15 players assigned is because their NHL/AHL affiliate signs lots of extra players. I have heard teams like Toronto, who is affiliated with Newfoundland, will sign as many as 20 extra players each season. That is a very costly proposition. A team like Ottawa, who doesn't sign a lot of extra players, has fewer players to assign, especially if they get a rash of injuries.
18
of 28 ECHL teams have five or more NHL/AHL contracted players assigned.
The number of players assigned ranges from zero (Allen) to 15
(Newfoundland). Assigned players count only $525 per week against the
salary cap, less than most rookies make. Rookie salaries are between
$510 (minimum) and $600 (maximum). Affiliations provide good players at
low cost, a big key to success in the ECHL.
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