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| Camden, Avery, Ashley (front), Chad, Cayne (back) |
I want to start the blog today by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. I hope you all can spend time with friends and family. A special thank you to the Allen coaches, players and staff for giving me their time so I can write this blog. From the archives, the photo above is a Christmas photo of coach Costello and family from his playing days in Allen, 2016.
Two power play goals and a stolen puck from the goalie put into into an empty net led Allen to a 3-2 come from behind win last night over Rapid City. The second largest crowd of the season (5486) at the CUTX Event Center attended the Teddy Bear Toss game last night. They witnessed the Americans come back from 1-0 deficit after the first period and 2-1 early in the third period to secure a victory and head into the Christmas break with a two game win streak.
- It took until the midway point of the second period (10:57), when Kris Myllari scored a power play goal, for fans to let the teddy bears fly. The game was delayed just over eight minutes for the teddy bears to get collected from the ice. Last season just over 4000 bears and stuffed animals were collected to be donated to area hospitals. It will be a few days before the count from last night's teddy bear toss is known.
- Allen's power play was the difference last night (2-4) and in this series. The Americans power play was 6-13 (46.2%) in the three games against Rapid City and has now climbed to #3 in the ECHL with a power play percentage of 26.7%.. How does the current Allen power play compare to past seasons? If the Americans keep up the current rate all season it would be the best ever. Here is Allen's power play percentage for each season since joining the ECHL:
- 26.7% - 2023-24 (thru 25 games)
- 23.9% - 2022-23
- 18.5% - 2021-21
- 20.5% - 2020-21
- 18.5% - 2019-20
- 16.7% - 2018-19
- 17.1% - 2017-18
- 24.4% - 2016-17
- 21.1% - 2015-16*
- 21.9% - 2014-15*
*Won Kelly Cup
- Allen clearly battled the odds to get the win last night. Here are a few examples:
- Allen gave up the first goal. Prior to last night the Americans were 2-12-0-0 when allowing the first goal.
- Allen trailed 1-0 after the first period. Prior to last night the Americans were 2-9-0-0 when trailing after the first period.
- Prior to last night Allen had won back to back games just once all season.
- Allen outscored Rapid City 2-1 in the third period. Prior to last night Allen had scored 30 goals in the third period, but allowed 41, the highest in the league.
- Allen won despite being outshot 20-10 in the first period and 43-32 for the game.
- Here are the game recaps from both teams with all the details:
- Allen Americans: https://echl.com/videos/rapid-city-rush-vs-allen-americans-dec-23-2023
- Rapid City Rush: https://rapidcityrush.com/news/2023/12/allen-scores-twice-in-third-to-best-rush
- Goal scorers for Allen were Kris Myllari (6) and Blake Murray (7,8). It was Murray's fifth and sixth goal since joining Allen. Here are the video highlights. https://echl.com/videos/rapid-city-rush-vs-allen-americans-dec-23-2023
- Here are a few examples of why Allen won the game:
- For the sixth time in December Allen allowed three or fewer goals. The Americans are 5-1 in those games. The five December games Allen allowed four or more goals its record was 0-5.
- Goalie Mark Sinclair stopped 41 of 43 shots for a .953 save percentage.
- Blake Murray was the #1 star last night just like he was the #1 star in the win on Friday. His totals in the two wins, four goals on four shots, two assists and two game winning goals.
- Hank Crone continued his point streak with assists on both power play goals. He now leads the Americans in assists (20) even though he missed the first 10 games of the season. Crone is #3 in the ECHL in power play points (14) and power play assists (11).
- Kris Myllari had a power play goal last night and is #1 in the ECHL in power play points (17) and power play assists (14).
- You may have noticed after the 10-5 loss on Wednesday the coaches switched position on the bench for the games on Friday and Saturday. Coach Costello is now at the end with the defensemen and coach Gens is with the forwards. The two coaches discussed it and decided to give it a try. My observation is it takes less time to manage the six defensemen during the game than the 11 forwards. With Costello handling the defense he also has some time time to talk to the forwards. Whatever the process, you can be assured nothing will change given Allen is 2-0 since the coaches made the switch.
OTHER COMMENTS
- With the back to back wins over Rapid City the Americans have returned to the Mountain Division playoff race. The three teams in 4th thru 6th place have all played 27 games and are separated by just three points.
- 24 points - Wichita
- 24 points - Rapid City
- 21 points - Allen
- It will be a tough task for Allen to gain ground on Wichita and Rapid City after the Christmas break and before the new year. The all have three December games remaining but the Americans have the toughest schedule. Here is the schedule:
- Allen - three home games against Idaho, the #1 team in the league (.796).
- Wichita - three games (2 home, 1 away) against Kansas City, the #3 team in the league (.732).
- Rapid City - three home games against Iowa, the #17 team in the league (.482).
- It was a good day for Allen fans with a win on Teddy Bear Toss day and also a good day for Allen Americans owner Myles Jack. He played for the first time since signing with Pittsburgh and was on the field calling the defensive signals for the Steelers. Even better, Myles had one of three Steelers sacks in the game as Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 34-11.
- The Americans will now take a few days off for Christmas. Most of the players plan to stay in Allen but some will make a quick trip home to be with family. They Americans have ice on Wednesday and will start preparing for the Idaho series to close out the year. Here are the games and start times against Idaho next week:
- Friday, December 29 (7:10 pm)
- Saturday, December 30 (7:10 pm)
- Sunday, December 31 (6:10 pm)
- The ECHL All-Star game will be held in Savannah on January 15. It is strange the ECHL schedules games the same day as the All-Star game. There are three games that conflict with the All-Star game this season. Tulsa is at Allen, Cincinnati at Iowa and Maine at Reading. This has to create a dilemma for the players from these six teams selected for the All-Star team. I know in the past some of the players in this situation have opted to stay with their team rather than attended the All-Star game.
Merry xmas barry.. think murphy should get a couple of assists;)?
ReplyDeleteAny word on if Zane Franklin reported to Cincinnati after the trade, and if so why isn’t he on the roster?
ReplyDeleteFranklin is shown on reserve so I doubt there is any issue of him reporting. Cincinnati may have let him go home for Christmas if he had plans to do so during the Christmas break from Idaho. Just a guess.
DeleteThank you for the insight, and Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and your family Barry!!!!!
ReplyDelete