Allen vs Idaho Game Preview, Comparing Remaining Schedules, Les Lancaster Update, ECHL Attendance and More

 

The Allen Americans have 30 games remaining in the regular season and are currently in fourth place in the Mountain Division standings with a losing record and a points percentage of .464. Utah and Rapid City are tied for fifth place at .439 and have a game in hand over the Americans. These three teams are likely vying for one playoff spot. Here is a look at the schedules for these three teams the rest of the season:

 

- The Americans are finished playing Utah and play Rapid City three times, all on the road. Not much ground to gain in head to head battles. Of Allen's 30 remaining games here is a breakdown by opponents points percentage:

• .775 - Kansas City, 5 games (2H, 3A)
• .744 - Adirondack, 3 games at home
• .667 - Idaho, 2 games on the road
• .538 - Tulsa, 10 games (8H, 2A)
• .538 - Kalamazoo, 3 games on the road
  
• .464 - Allen's point percentage
• .439 - Rapid City, 3 games on the road
• .375 - Wichita, 4 games (2H, 2A)    

 Conclusions

• 50% of the remaining games are at home. 
• 77% of the remaining games are against teams with a better record than Allen.
• 33% of the remaining games are against teams ranked #1, #2 and #5 in the ECHL.

- Here is the percentage of remaining games against opponents with a better record, for the three teams battling for the final playoff spot: 

• 77% - Allen (23 of 30)
• 61% - Rapid City (19 of 31), plus the Rush play Utah 6 times, they have identical .439 percentages
  
• 81% - Utah (25 of 31), plus 6 games against Rapid City 

 

- Utah clearly has the toughest schedule down the stretch with 16 of its remaining 31 games against Kansas City (6 games) and Idaho (10 games). Utah and Rapid City play each other six times (home and home series).

 

ALLEN VS IDAHO PREVIEW

- Allen has had a couple of disappointing loses the last two outings but has still come away with points. As I mentioned yesterday, the Americans three game point streak (1-0-1-1) is the longest in the division right now. The goal tonight is finding a way to continue that streak. 

 

- The game on Wednesday was a pretty evenly matched with both teams having plenty of scoring opportunities, both goalies were outstanding and neither team was able to score on the few power play opportunities they had. Idaho scored the first goal of the game, but Allen had the lead after the second period.  

 

- Allen held the highest scoring team in the league to two goals less than its average and 15 shots fewer than shots given up in the previous games in Idaho. And the Americans held the best power play unit in the league scoreless. If the Americans can duplicate that effort again tonight they will have an excellent chance to keep their point streak alive. 

 

- Allen came out of the game on Wednesday fairly clean from an injury perspective. If you watched the game you may have seen Ty Fournier take a puck to the face. If he can't go you could see Dalton Skelly in the lineup tonight. There was some talk before the team left for Idaho that Mark Sinclair could join the team for the weekend, but that is not the case. He should be ready to go next week when Allen plays Tulsa three times at home. 

 

- The game tonight is one of the 25% of home games for each ECHL team where they use the two referee system. Rocco Stachowiak (#28) and Trevor Wholford (#38) will work the game. Wholford was the lone referee on Wednesday. He called nine penalties but for the most part let the players play. There were only five power play opportunities in the game (two for Allen, three for Idaho). Players will have to clean up some of the behind the play stick stuff with the second referee in place.

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Spencer Asuchak didn't take long to get to Romania and settled in with his new team. He played last night wearing his familiar #26 jersey. His team (Csikszereda) won 2-1 in overtime. His team is in fourth place in the 10 team league but just one point out of second place. 

 

- Another former Allen star, Les Lancaster is also changing teams. In 2020-21 Lancaster set Allen's all time franchise record for defensemen in goals (26) and points (64). He had twice as many goals as any other defensemen in the league and led the Allen Americans in points. For his efforts he was selected as the ECHL Defenseman of the Year. Lancaster signed in the top league in Finland for 2021-22 and has been there ever since and has had great success. Last season he led all defensemen in the league in points. Earlier this week it was announced he and his team had mutually agreed to terminate his contract. I am sure he had already had a deal to play elsewhere. The elsewhere is the top league in Germany, the DEL. Lancaster will join ECH Munchen, the defending DEL champion. They are currently in fourth place in the 14 team league. It is possible he could be paired with another Allen alum. One of his teammates is Konrad Abeltshauser who was on the 2015 Allen  Americans Kelly Cup team. He returned home to Germany after the 2014-15 season and signed with EHC Munchen where he has played ever since. In addition to his Kelly Cup ring he as won four DEL championships with EHC Munchen (2016, 2017, 2018, 2023).  

 

- Three Mountain Division teams have double digit road wins and they all have better road records than home records. Here are the three:

• Kansas City: 16-2-0-0 on the road, 14-6-2-0 at home
• Idaho: 14-6-0-0 on the road, 13-7-12-1 at home
• Allen: 11-10-2-1 on the road, 7-11-0-0 at home 
  

 

- It is a rarity but there is a full slate of games in the ECHL both tonight and tomorrow night with all 28 teams in action. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews for the games tonight. Greenville vs South Carolina in the South Division is the marquee matchup tonight. https://echl.com/news/2024/02/echl-today-feb-2    

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about attendance. Allen's average attendance this season is 3781 which is +265 per game better than last season (3516). Allen still has half of its home dates (18) remaining and attendance usually increases the rest of the season so the Americans should end up with an even bigger year over year increase.

 

The ECHL season is 57% completed and average attendance is up 2.7%, 4757 vs 4629 last season. Attendance typically improves as the season progresses so this gap should continue to widen. Here is a comparison of average attendance:

 

2023-24

1 team above 8000 (Jacksonville)

4 teams above 7000

8 teams above 6000

0 teams below 2000

 

2022-23

0 teams above 8000

3 teams above 7000

7 teams above 6000

1 team below 2000 (Iowa)