Monday, May 20, 2024

3ICE Season Cancelled, ECHL June Critical Dates, Schedule Release Date, Kelly Cup Playoff Update, Costello and Gill Records and More

 

It has been a while and a couple of things have come up I wanted to share along with some miscellaneous items I have been keeping on my list: 


- Not much new to report about the Allen Americans 2024-25 season other than the schedule will be made public in early June.

 I have talked to Chad Costello a couple of times and he remains confident after talking to numerous agents and players that it will be a good recruiting season though formal player signings are still a month away. There are plenty of action items coming up in June. Here are the details:

The ECHL playoffs are just at the conference finals stage and the Kelly Cup finals could go until June 12. However, plans for the 2024-25 season are well underway. ECHL players are already signing in Europe. 3ICE, where a lot of ECHL stars play during the summer, just announced no season in 2024 (supposedly to resume in 2025). While it is difficult for the four ECHL teams still in the playoffs, a lot of planning/recruiting/discussions are already taking place for the 2024-25 ECHL season. Here are the critical dates over the next month:
 
June
8: Protected Lists due
20: Future Considerations Trade Deadline
22: Season-Ending Rosters due
23: 1st day to sign contracts for 2024-25 Season
 
 
 
- 3ICE just announced there will not be a 2024 season. This after a schedule was issued (including June 19 at the Allen Event Center), tickets were sold and a draft was conducted. Here is the official statement from 3ICE. "Growing our game into the product you all deserve takes time and, right now, we require additional runway for the launch of season 3. We'll return to the ice bigger and better than ever in the summer of 2025." There was no transparency as to why the season was cancelled after all of the preparation, less than a month (June 12) before the opening puck drop.

3ICE has been a great summer opportunity for many ECHL stars and the Allen Americans connections have been many. The first season (2022) was very lucrative with some players making over $100,000. In season two the prize money was reduced a lot but still a great summer job for ECHL players who could play a fun game with no checking. The Allen Americans provided the most successful player in each of the two 3ICE seasons. Chad Costello was on the championship team and was the league MVP in 2022 and Hank Crone was on the championship team and was the league MVP in 2023. 

Many ECHL stars played in 3ICE. Here are just a few. There are four ECHL MVP's on this list, three Defensemen of the Year and most of these players were leading scorers on their team multiple times.
  • Chad Costello
  • Hank Crone
  • Matt Register
  • Colton Hargrove
  • Brandon Hawkins
  • Eddie Matsushima
  • Patrick Kudla
  • Alex Kile
  • Owen Headrick
  • Alex Aleardi
  • Jeremy Broduer
Cancelling the 2025 3ICE season is certainly a disappointment for Allen fans who were planning on attending the tournament at the CUTX arena on June 19th. You wonder if some of these players might take a closer look at going to Europe after missing out on the 3ICE money. Only time will tell.



- If you have been following the Kelly Cup playoffs you have probably noticed the playoff road wins record. The final four had a road record coming into the conference finals of 19-3. After four games in the conference finals the road teams are 3-1. Kansas City was the #1 seed in the league but has to play the first three games of the conference finals in Toledo. The Mavericks won games one and two with game three tonight (Monday). Kansas City set the all time ECHL record for road wins in a single regular season (29-4-2-1) and that success has continued in the playoffs with a road record of 7-0. You add it all together and the Mavericks road record this season is 36-4-2-1 (.872). Most everyone thought the Kansas City vs Toledo series would be epic, but the Mavericks are threatening to turn it into a route. FYI, the Adirondack vs Florida series is tied 1-1 in the more traditional 2-3-2 format. The teams play in Florida on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. 
 
 
 
- Idaho was eliminated from the playoffs by Kansas City but not before Matt Register became the all time leader in playoff points. In the history of the ECHL just three players have over 100 career playoff points:
 
1. Matt Register - 118 points (29G, 89A), 156 games between 2012-2024
2. Philip Berger - 117 points (50G, 67A) 76 games between 1989-1996
3. John McCarron - 102 points (38G, 64A) 116 games between 2015-2023
 
 
 
- FYI Chad Costello is #6 all time in career playoff points. In 71 playoff games, Chad had a total of 87 points (24G, 63A). 65 of his 71 playoff games were with the Allen Americans.
 
 
- Another Costello regular season record I came across recently. Of the top 20 ECHL players in all time assists Chad Costello is the only one that averaged over an assist per game. In 375 ECHL regular season games Chad had 389 assists.
 
 
 
- Two Allen players are locks for the ECHL Hall of Fame. In addition to Chad, Riley Gill's goalie records have him at the top of the all time list for playoff wins. Here is my ECHL Stats post from earlier in the week:  
 
Top five ECHL goalies in career postseason wins. Kelly Cups won is in parenthesis:
53: Riley Gill (3)
50: Pat Nagle (1)
42: Nick Vitucci (4)
39: *Cam Johnson (2)
31: Gerald Coleman (2)
 
*Still active and currently participating in Eastern Conference finals.
 
Here are the all time top five ECHL goalies in postseason games played:
90: Pat Nagle, Florida; Idaho; Fort Wayne; Toledo; Reading, 2012-23
90: Riley Gill, Kalamazoo; Reading; Allen, 2010-17
80: Nick Victucci, Carolina; Greensboro; Hampton Roads; Toledo; Charlotte; Greenville, 1989-93; 1995-98; 2000
52: Cam Johnson; Florida, 2022-24
50: Michael Houser, Cincinnati; Fort Wayne, 2013, 2018-19, 2022
 
 
 
- In the scheme of things it is not a very important stat but Allen's struggle to score empty net goals this past season was almost comical. As much as they tried they would just miss the empty net. Decided to go back and look at the stats over time and indeed the five empty net goals in 2023-24 was the fewest ever. The Americans had 11 in 2022-23 and 10 in 2021-22. The most empty net goals ever were in 2015-16 (16) and 2017-18 (13). 
 
 
DID YOU KNOW: For the 2024-25 season the ECHL will add two teams, the Bloomington Bison and Tahoe Knight Monsters for a total of 29 teams (Newfoundland dropped out toward the end of the 2023-24 season). The league hasn't announced how the divisions will be aligned, but it is obvious Tahoe will be in the Mountain Division and Bloomington will be in the Central Division. With Newfoundland gone the North Division needs a team and that appears to be Wheeling. The unanswered question is which division ends up with eight teams. The Mountain Division is the most geographically dispersed so if the league wanted seven teams in the division, Kansas City could move to the Central Division. I have heard Allen is scheduled to play Kansas City 10 times in 2024-25 so that might indicate the Mavericks will stay if the Mountain Division. Stay tuned.       

5 comments:

  1. Having been a fan of the team since the beginning, I'm finding the playoffs to be a source of frustration for me. When teams like Kansas City are loaded with AHL & NHL players, it makes it obvious who will win, so why bother. What will it take for a rule to be added placing a cap as to how many a team can have? It would make watching & going a lot more fun and the competition fair.

    Hopefully, 3Ice will iron out whatever problems it's had. I'd hate to have it disappear, since it helped the players & the we the fans truly enjoyed it.

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    1. I think the ECHL is primarily a developmental league so not sure a limit would be placed. But yes, the affiliate does make the difference. :(

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  2. Any update on the Americans new affiliate for 24-25?

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  3. I feel sick and gutted today over the actions of the hockey club I support and dedicate a chunk of my winter/spring months to. Disgusted.

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  4. If Myles was honest in the below, then what the heck happened in the last 30 days? Makes a loyal fan spending serious money with the Americans question the integrity and honesty of the owner.....

    I had a chance a talk to Allen Americans owner, Myles Jack, after the game and came away with two thoughts. First, being a professional athlete he understands the obstacles the Americans faced this season and is pleased with the team's performance given those obstacles. Secondly, he is committed to helping Chad Costello overcome those obstacles. It is easy to forget Myles didn't buy the team until September and his learning curve was interrupted when he went back to the NFL, signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of November. I would describe Myles Jack as a players' owner who will be very supportive in helping Chad Costello close the gap to compete for the top spot in the Mountain Division in 2024-25.

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