The Allen season came to an unceremonious end yesterday in Idaho as the Steelheads shutout the Americans 6-0 to win the series 4-1 and advance to the Western Conference finals. I am sure for all Allen fans, but speaking for myself, the way the season ended was tough to take. You get so invested in the team, the players and the coaches it is difficult to see it come to an end so swiftly and in an uncompetitive game. The end of the season always creates a lot of uncertainty. I will have more to say about that in my season wrap up/thank you blog tomorrow.
- Here are the game recaps and highlights:
Allen Americans recap: https://allenamericans.com/media/americans-season-ends-with-game-5/
Idaho Steelheads recap: https://www.idahosteelheads.com/en/articles/adam-scheel-shuts-out-americans-in-series-clinching-victory-over-allen
Video highlights: https://www.echl.com/en/video/2023/5/allen-americans-vs-idaho-steelheads---may-14-2023-Or6bcZI8
- In my opinion the Americans got wore down by playing four games in five days while being shorthanded. Playing two or three players short on the road in the playoffs is not the formula for success. Here is the final tally for the four games in Idaho with all stats favoring the Steelheads (1st number):
- Record: 3-1
- Goals: 23-12
- Shots: 204-119
- PIMS: 78-175
- Power Play: 37.5% (9-24) - 20% (3-15)
- Scoring first: 4-0
- If you are an Allen fans there are many reasons why the Americans lost this series and I have seen a lot of them over the last few days. There will be plenty of time in the upcoming days and weeks to analyze the schedule, the playoff roster, the officiating, the performance, undisciplined penalties and all of the other reasons. The fact of the matter is Idaho is just a better team than Allen. Idaho had the best record in the 35-year history of the ECHL during the regular season (.826 points percentage). Idaho beat Allen early in the season when the Americans weren't playing well. Idaho beat Allen in March when the Americans were playing well. Now the Steelheads have beaten Allen in the playoffs. When the final record against Idaho (regular season and playoffs) is 1-12 it says all you need to know about who the better team is.
- The poor ending in Idaho should not take away from an amazing season by the Americans. When Allen was dead last at the end of December with a record of 5-12-1-0 and a points percentage of .306, very few (including myself) gave the Americans a chance of making the playoffs. Coming from that far behind has happened very rarely in the ECHL. The Americans not only made the playoffs they finished second in the Mountain Division and earned home ice in the first round of the playoffs. From the low point in December, Allen's record the rest of the season was 32-20-1-1 (.611). The cherry on top of the big regular season comeback was defeating Kansas City 4-2 in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. It was a long way from last place in December to the final eight of the Kelly Cup playoffs. Remember, in the last five seasons the only time Allen made it to the second round of the playoffs was in the 14 team 2020-21 season. Coach/GM Costello, the team and the entire staff should be congratulated on an outstanding season. The success this season has built a great foundation for Costello going into the 2023-24 season.
OTHER COMMENTS
- The Idaho vs Toledo Western Conference finals should be a great series. It will pit the best team in the regular season in Idaho against the best team thus far in the playoffs in Toledo. With a perfect 8-0 playoff record, Toledo is #1 in average goals scored (4.88) and #2 in average goals scored (1.75). Idaho's playoff record is 8-3 and the Steelheads rank #3 in average goals scored (4.09) and #8 in average goals allowed (3.00). The series format will be 2-3-2 and the home ice advantage Idaho earned by winning the Brabham Cup could be critical. The series will start Saturday in Idaho.
- The one undecided conference finalist could be decided tonight. Florida leads Jacksonville 3-2 with game six in Jacksonville tonight. Jacksonville is trying to rebound from trailing 0-3 in the series. If necessary, game seven will be in Jacksonville tomorrow night. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2023/5/echl-today-may-15
- Average attendance for the 65 ECHL playoff games thus is 4364 but that number will surely go up. The top two teams in playoff attendance are still alive. Toledo is #1 (8063) and Jacksonville is #2 (7152). The lowest average attendance of the teams still in the playoffs is Newfoundland (4073). FYI the average attendance in the playoffs last season was 4385 over 85 playoff games.
- Two teams still alive in the playoffs would defy the odds and overcome history if they go on to win the Kelly Cup. Florida ranked #11 in the regular season and Idaho won the Brabham Cup. Here are the last 17 Kelly Cup champions with their regular season finish in parenthesis. Anyone who says once you get in the playoffs anything can happen hasn't looked at ECHL history. The Brabham Cup curse has been in effective since 2014 when Alaska won both the Brabham Cup and Kelly Cup. However, no team has won the Kelly Cup from lower than seventh place in the regular season going back to 2005.
2022 - Florida (3rd)
2021 - Fort Wayne (5th)
2019 - Newfoundland (3rd)
2018 - Colorado (4th)
2017 - Colorado (3rd)
2016 - Allen (6th)
2015 - Allen (2nd)
2014 - Alaska (1st)
2013 - Reading (2nd)
2012 - Florida (7th)
2011 - Alaska (1st)
2010 - Cincinnati (5th)
2009 - South Carolina (4th)
2008 - Cincinnati (1st)
2007 - Idaho (6th)
2006 - Alaska (1st)
2005 - Trenton (4th)
Thanks for all that you have done this season Barry, it would’ve been easy for you to walk away after all the offseason changes.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very disappointing end but I’m thankful for the effort from Costello down to make it this far and giving us something to believe in and that little escape sports offer.
Barry..it does not seem fair at all that some ECHL teams get 8 AHL players for the playoffs yet some teams only get 2. Why wouldn’t there be a rule on this to keep the playoffs on an even keel for all teams?
ReplyDeleteAny idea what happened to the drummers for the playoffs. It was a great addition to the playoff atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter which team sport it is, or what level...defense wins championships. That was our biggest failure this season. If Costello can find a way to coach (and get) defensemen the way Martinson did, combined with his obviously good offensive coaching instinct, then we will be in for a great season in 23-24.
ReplyDeleteOur success this season was solely based on historic offensive seasons by 4 guys.
Hello Berry - Can I get some better in game analysis - or are you prevented from having an opinion?
ReplyDeleteHey Dave, (if that is your real name and you’re not actually Barry trolling himself) ha ha.
DeleteBarry is no snowflake and neither am I. I’ve disagreed with Barry on several occasions some wrong some right. But let me give you a different perspective on his blog. You poke holes in this and tell me where I’m wrong.
I feel like Barry is getting more criticism every year because he is the only teat we have to suck off of to get decent information. I’m guilty of it at times too but it’s been unfounded. Our team app, and our team website are absolute garbage. And that needs to get fixed and I think it will at some point.
But Barry is writing a blog and I like to read it because there is 20 or 30% information that you really can’t get anywhere else. Is it consistent? No because it’s a blog. If he wants to write about going to the north pole and having lunch with Santy clause then OK argue with him about that. I think earlier in the year Barry had a substantial blog about solar panels and Marty and I think I said something that I regret. I disagreed with the solar panel thing completely and I should’ve just argued with him about that or not even said anything. But instead I said “thanks for the commercial” That was out of line.
Anyway, my point is that if our website and our app and our fan interaction at the stadium and our flohockey production was better, then fans wouldn’t need the blog as a crutch to figure out what in the hell is going on.
I think most of us that read the blog that are just interested in hockey are looking for coaches quotes, insight into what the lineup is, if there are any player moves that we need to know about, and if there is any injury information that we need to know about. I think it’s nice to hear from the horses mouth x’s & O’s as well.
But we should be getting that information from the team website. The problem is the team website is garbage. It can’t even keep up with the current roster or game times sometimes. I mean if you looked at the schedule this weekend, it said that we lost 9 to 3 on Saturday and Sunday before the Sunday game was even played. Finlay wasn’t even on the team roster for like five or six weeks. So many more examples throughout the year.
Imagine if you’re a casual fan. You don’t even think about tuning into the Sunday game. It’s already been played. We lost 9-3 again. What a coincidence.
I also think that Barry gets accused of being a super homer. Yeah he’s a big fan of the club and he has personal relationships with the team. But it’s a blog. I definitely think that the team gets treated with kid gloves at times by other commenters, when one of us goes after somebody like Jackson Leopard for not performing. Or criticizing the coaches for relying too heavily on four or five guys instead of crashing the boards with our third line. And then it turns into some kind of personal garbage. It’s a professional team and we should be able to criticize whatever we see. I guess my point is that Barry doesn’t discourage that kind of talk.
I’m not judging you Dave, or anybody else. I’m just giving you a different perspective that I’ve come to because I have approached the blog in the wrong way in the past.
-Bobby 226
The Allen season came to an abrupt conclusion yesterday in Idaho, as the Steelheads dominated the Americans with a resounding 6-0 victory, securing a 4-1 series win and advancing to the Western Conference finals. Undoubtedly, this outcome must have been disappointing for all Allen fans, and personally, I share the sentiment that the way the season ended was difficult to accept. As a devoted follower, it's natural to become emotionally invested in the team, the players, and the coaches, making it even more challenging to witness such a swift and one-sided conclusion to the season. The conclusion of a season often brings about a sense of uncertainty and leaves us pondering what lies ahead. I will delve further into this topic in my upcoming season wrap-up/thank you blog, which will be published tomorrow. Stay tuned for more insights and reflections.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your request to adjust your website, onlineminibushire.com, could you please provide more specific information about the changes you would like to make?