It is getaway day for the Allen Americans as they fly to Boise this morning to take on the Idaho Steelheads on Friday and Saturday. It is a critical two game series against the best team in the ECHL. There are so many stats that can describe the challenge the Americans have this weekend. Here are two that put the challenge in perspective. First, Idaho is still on pace to set the ECHL all-time record for points percentage in a single season. Second, Idaho hasn't lost a home game in two months and has lost just one home game since the beginning of December. In Allen's favor it is riding a four-game win streak, the longest current streak in the division and third longest win streak in the league right now.
- Allen made two roster changes yesterday. Chad Butcher was placed on injured reserve (effective March 6) after being injured in the game against Rapid City on Sunday. Also, the Americans made a trade with Norfolk for defenseman Eric Williams. The trade was for future considerations. At this point in the season future consideration trades always entail players to be named later, so it is safe to assume that is the case in the acquisition of Williams.
- Here is the press release issued by the Allen Americans on the acquisition of Eric Williams: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-trade-for-admirals-captain/
- Eric Williams is driving to Allen so will meet his new teammates on Monday.
- Allen will be missing Chad Butcher who was placed on injured reserve yesterday. I would assume Grant Hebert will move up to be the center with Jack Combs and Liam Finlay. Justin Young is on the trip and is still recovering from a blocked shot that has kept him out of the last three games. I am sure he wouldn't be on the trip if it wasn't expected he could play in one or both games.
ERIC WILLIAMS PROFILE
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| Eric Williams - photo by Paul Jensen |
- Eric Williams is a 27-year-old right shot defenseman, 6'1" 200 pounds, from Newmarket, ONT. He is a fifth-year professional who played his college hockey at Northeastern University where he earned his degree in criminal justice with a minor in psychology. He has played 203 pro games, 168 in the ECHL, 35 in the AHL. Here are some facts, scouting reports items and other items of interest about Eric:
- He was the team captain in Norfolk.
- He won two conference (Hockey East) championships at Northeastern.
- Eric has something in common with his new coach. Chad Costello also attended Northeastern for two years (2006-08).
- Eric has anchored the power play in juniors, college and as a pro.
- Per a scouting report Eric has a cannon of a shot from the point along with the ability to get the puck to the net.
- He is a puck moving defenseman who is very cerebral.
- Eric was #2 in Hockey East in blocked shots (81) as a junior in college, one behind the league leader.
- Williams and Colton Saucerman were teammates at Northeastern in 2015-16.
- Eric did not miss a single game in his college career (156 straight games).
- Eric will wear #20 in Allen, the same number he was wearing in Norfolk.
- Eric Williams led Norfolk in assists this season as a defenseman (21 assists). I have seen several comments that he also led Norfolk in the worst plus/minus (-29). To quote Brian Burke from a couple of days ago, "It is pretty simple. If your team sucks, so does your plus/minus. And it is compounded if you play against the opposition's top players." FYI, Williams has played in 35 AHL games over three season and has a plus/minus of +2.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The odd stat of the day has to be the results of the five ECHL games last night. None of the five losing teams scored more than one goal. The average for the five games was 0.80 goal per game. The five winning teams averaged 4.4 goals per game. Here were the scores:
- 7-0: Cincinnati beat Iowa
- 5-1: Maine beat Adirondack
- 4-1: Toledo beat Wheeling
- 4-1: Trois Riviéres beat Reading
- 2-1: Florida beat South Carolina
- Toledo's win last night was number 14 straight. One more win and the Walleye will be in the top five all-time for consecutive wins in a single season. Toledo's next game is tomorrow night in Kalamazoo.
- Iowa got shutout at home last night 7-0 by Cincinnati. The attendance was 901. Iowa is the only team in the ECHL averaging fewer than 2000 fans per game. The Heartlander's average is down to 1751 per game.
- Hank Crone has the longest goal streak in the ECHL this season. He has scored in eight straight games. You have to go back to 2016 to find the last time a player scored in nine straight games.
So glad I have found this blog!
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering… why does the team roll with a short bench so often?
There are two factors that contribute to playing short. The most important is the salary cap. A team can have as many as 20 players on the active roster but they all have to fit under the $14,100 weekly salary cap. Since Allen has so few NHL/AHL contracted players it is a big disadvantage since those players only count $525 (per week) against the salary cap. Injuries is the second factor. If players are placed on injured reserve they don’t count against the cap, but IR is a minimum of 14 days so short term injuries do not go on IR. Hope this helps. Barry
DeleteNice to see an addition of a good defenseman. Giving up too many goals against good teams. Congratulations & welcome to Dallas. Your new journey begins.
ReplyDeleteSo what makes him a good defenseman? Yeah I guess The ones we have now are bad? What makes them bad? What makes this new guy so good? I’m guessing you have now clue? Have you ever played hockey? In my opinion our defenseman are good, it’s our team defense that is lacking. It’s why our fab 4 don’t have such a great +\-.
DeleteWell so many goals are scored because they don't pickup the trailing player which is open. Need to improve on this. Maybe the offense needs to help the Dee a little more . Yes I played hockey a long time ago so I do know how it's played. Less goals against will definitely help this team.
DeletePlease delete those last two sentences before my brain explodes. You played hockey, and based on that experience concluded that if the opponent scores less, it’s good for our team. Tried to write that down but my pen slapped me and then exploded. -Bobby 226
DeleteOh wise one tell me what the team needs to win games?
DeleteLooks like the pen is mightier than the brain.
ReplyDelete