Allen Americans Update - Finlay Signs in Scotland, Good News for STMs, My Thoughts on Affiliation, Q & A, Critical Dates This Week, Former Players 2024-25 Plans

Nancy and I are heading out for a small group (16) adventure called the Jewels of Bohemia where we will visit the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. This will be the last blog until after July 4th, but you might see me post occasionally on Twitter and Facebook if any newsworthy events happen. 

 

- With the coaching change in Allen and the respect the players had for Chad Costello it is expected a lot of players will not return to the Americans. The first to sign elsewhere for 2024-25 is Liam Finlay who has signed to play in Scotland for the Glasgow Clan of the EIHL. Dyson Stevenson has played the last three seasons in Glasgow and was the captain of the team last season. He has not signed yet for 2024-25 so not sure if he will play this season or plans to retire. I am sure Finlay is the first of many Allen players that will sign overseas, sign with other ECHL teams or choose to retire.  

 

I promised to share any information that came out of the meetings that took place last week when the Allen Americans business staff went to Jacksonville to meet with Zawyer Sports and Entertainment. Zawyer owns, manages and operates the Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates, Allen Americans and Tahoe Knight Monsters and manages the Atlanta Gladiators. All of these teams in addition to a baseball team Zawyer owns (Gastonia Baseball Club) were at the meeting last week. 

 

- When one organization manages five hockey teams a major goal is implementing standard processes and procedures across all teams to obtain synergies. Most of the meeting last week was related to business operations across the various departments such as marketing, ticket sales, business development and game presentation. 

 

- One of the agreements/action items that came out of the meeting for all Zawyer teams is to enhance the benefits for season ticket members (STMs). I hear it often from Allen season ticket holders that the benefits they received in the past no longer exist and they feel underappreciated. There will be a conscious effort going forward to provide more benefits to STMs. What might this look like? You have to wait for the specifics to be worked out, but in general there will be more opportunity for STMs (full and half season ticket holders) to interact with the players. Here are some examples:

• Special events exclusively for STMs to interact with players like has been done in the past at Top Golf or bowling. Another possibility is meeting with the players after practice. These are just examples of the type of events that will give STMs an opportunity to interact with players. The specific events will be determined later.
• The after game get together/press conference where the coach and players meet with STMs will be held on a consistent basis in 2024-25.
• The STM gift will be taken "to the next level" in 2024-25.

 To me the key point in this discussion is that the Allen Americans and Zawyer are acknowledging they need to improve and enhance the STM experience and are committed to doing that going forward.

 

-  Nothing new to report on an affiliation for the 2024-25 season other than I am told it is close. I can tell you having seen a couple of affiliation agreements in the past, there are a lot of details that need to be negotiated and put in writing once teams have an agreed affiliate. From what I understand the tentative plan is to have an event for the press and STMs to meet head coach and general manager B.J. Adams and announce the Allen affiliate sometime after July 4. 

 

- Each season there are not a lot of affiliation changes and it seems like Allen is usually at the tail end of the affiliation sweepstakes. I have no idea what is going to happen but it strikes me if the Americans are planning an event in July to introduce the new coach and announce the affiliate you wouldn't do that if the plan was to stay with Ottawa. 

 

- The Zawyer group is involved in several affiliate searches. Just yesterday it was announced that Savannah was changing affiliates from Vegas/Henderson to Florida/Charlotte. That will conveniently setup another Zawyer team, Tahoe, to affiliate with Vegas/Henderson, though no announcement has been made. 

 

- By my count there are only a handful of NHL teams without an affiliate including Carolina, Columbus, St. Louis, Toronto and Utah. Toronto is the real plum of this group because they have so many players signed their ECHL affiliate gets a lot of contracted players. Toronto was affiliated with Newfoundland before the team folded late last season. Cincinnati and Florida are both looking for affiliates and could be candidates for Toronto. You would have to give Cincinnati the edge based on geography. If the Cyclones do affiliate with Toronto it would have an immediate impact. Cincinnati had very few NHL/AHL contracted players in 2023/24, always toward the bottom of the list. Meanwhile Toronto sent 12-15 contracted players to Newfoundland every season.

 

- When you consider all of the Mountain Division teams except Allen have affiliates west of the Mississippi River it makes you wonder if Utah might be the best fit for the Americans. Here are the current Mountain Division affiliations: 

• Allen Americans - Ottawa Senators - Belleville Senators
• Idaho Steelheads - Dallas Stars - Texas Stars 
• Kansas City Mavericks - Seattle Kraken  - Coachella Valley Firerbirds
• Rapid City Rush - Calgary Flames - Calgary Wranglers
• Tahoe Knight Monsters - Vegas Golden Knights - Henderson Silver Knights (rumor, not official)
  
• Tulsa Oilers - Anaheim Ducks - San Diego Gulls
• Utah Grizzlies - Colorado Avalanche - Colorado Eagles
• Wichita Thunder - San Jose Sharks - San Jose Barracuda
  

- I have had several recurring questions over the last week so I tracked down the answers:

Q: Does Zawyer have plans to move the team from Allen?

A: Unequivocally the answer is no. There is absolutely no interest from Zawyer and even more so from Myles and LaSonjia Jack in moving the team. That is just not going to happen.

Q: How long is the current lease? 

A: There are three years left on the current lease, but the team is interested and from what I understand the City of Allen is also interested in extending the lease for an additional seven years. 

 

Q: What is the length of B.J. Adams contract?

A: His contract is for two years with an option for a third year if both ownership and Adams agree to extend.

 

- This week is big one for all ECHL teams but especially the Allen Americans:

• Thursday is the future considerations trade deadline, 2:00 pm Allen time. As I have said before you could see four or five players from last year heading to other teams.

• Saturday: season-ending rosters due 2:00 pm Allen time. Season-ending rosters may include up to 20 players.

• Sunday: First day for players to sign contracts for the 2024-25 season.
  

• After this week the next critical date comes on July 7. Teams can protect the rights to a maximum of eight players off the season-ending roster by extending them a qualifying offer prior to the July 7 (11:59 pm EDT) deadline.

   

     
  

-  Some former Allen players have already signed overseas for 2024-25. Here are just a few:

• Colton Saucerman has re-signed in the EIHL with the Sheffield Steelers and that is no surprise since there are three different championships in the EIHL and Sheffield won all three last season.  
• Forward Zane Franklin has signed with the Vienna Capitols for the second season. He went to Europe after Idaho traded him last December to Cincinnati.
• Alex Lavoie has played many seasons in Europe for many different teams. In 2024-25 he will be playing in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the Olimpija Ljubljana team. Kale Kerbashian, who is still playing at age 34, is on the same team.
  
• Olivier Archambault has signed with HC Pizen, a team in the Czech Republic (now call Czechia) in the Tipsport Extraliga.
• Les Lancaster (former ECHL Defenseman of the Year) has re-signed in the DEL (Germany) with EHC Munchen, the team he signed with at the end of last season after spending several years in Finland.
• Joining Lancaster in the DEL is another former ECHL Defenseman of the Year, Alex Breton. Alex played in Slovakia last season and will move to EHC Ingolstadt in the top German league in 2024-25. 
  

        

DID YOU KNOW: B.J. Adams is the fourth coach since the Allen Americans became a franchise in 2009-10. Here is how Allen did in the playoffs under each coach. As you can see the winning in playoffs culture in Allen has been long established. Just making the playoffs has never been the goal for the Americans:

Dwight Mullins (2009-2012)

• 2010 - lost in championship finals
• 2011 - lost in 3rd round
• 2012 - lost in 1st round

Steve Martinson (2012-2022)

• 2013 - won championship
• 2014 - won championship
• 2015 - won championship
• 2016 - won championship
• 2017 - lost in 2nd round
• 2018 - lost in 1st round
• 2019 - missed playoffs
• 2020 - no playoffs
• 2021 - lost inn 2nd round
• 2022 - lost in 1st round

Chad Costello (2022-2024)

• 2023 - lost in 2nd round
• 2024 - lost in 1st round

Ironically all three coaches were not retained after making the playoffs and losing in the first round.  

Meet Allen Americans Coach and General Manager B.J. Adams

 

I am sure by now everyone has had a chance to read the Allen Americans press release announcing the selection of B.J. Adams as the new coach of the team. If not, here is a link to the press release: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/06/americans-hire-their-next-head-coach 

 

- I know many of you were upset the way Chad Costello was let go with one year remaining on his three year contract after all he his has accomplished for the Allen Americans as a player and a coach. I was certainly in that category. Not to belabor what I have said before, but Costello's results after two seasons as the Allen coach were a 2nd place and 3rd place finish in the Mountain Division, two playoff appearances and one playoff series win. How many ECHL teams made the playoffs the last two seasons and won at least one playoff series? The answer is seven out of 28 teams.

 

- I have also said the only opinion that counts in these situations is that of those paying the bills, the ownership group. I am sure the new majority owners, Myles and LaSonjia Jack, Joe Ernst, recently named Vice President of Hockey Operations for Zawyer Sports, other Zawyer executives (Zawyer manages the Allen Americans) and the Allen Americans senior leadership were in concurrence on this change and it is their call. It is the nature of the business and it can be cruel at times. 

 

- The one person that had nothing to do with this coaching change other than throw his hat in the ring once there was a vacancy is B.J. Adams. After going through the vetting process Adams was the coach the ownership group and Allen Americans executive management agreed was the best choice to lead the team going forward. To answer the many questions I have been getting about the process, there were a lot of applicants, many potential coaches were interviewed before the field was narrowed to the final few candidates from which ownership made its final selection.

 

- I had some time to talk to coach Adams yesterday which I appreciate given he had so many calls and texts to make at a very busy time of the off season. It was day one of his new job and he was already busy talking to the players on the protected list. What I would say to fans is give the guy a chance. I think you will like him once you get to know him and learn more about him. Here is some information I found out in the 15 minutes I had to talk to Adams.

 

- Before I talked to Adams I went through his playing days. The 48 year old was a defenseman (6'2" 205) that turned pro after four collegiate years at Bowling Green State University (1996-2000). He played professionally for nine years in four different leagues (IHL, ECHL, CHL, UHL). I won't go through all of the details but he played 259 ECHL games split between the Toledo Storm and Pee Dee Pride and had 65 points (13G, 52A).

 

- Adams actually started his coaching career before he quit playing. He was the player-assistant coach for three seasons in Port Huron (2006-09). Coach Adams has many years in coaching though the majority of his experience is as an assistant or associate coach. After he retired from playing he became an assistant coach at Canisius College from 2009-2014. He then moved on to the Erie Otters (OHL) and was an assistant coach, associate coach and head coach between 2016-23. In 2016-17 Erie was the OHL champion and a finalist for the Memorial Cup.

- Adams title in Allen will be the same as in the past, coach and general manager. He will have a full time, paid assistant coach. Nothing has been decided yet but the tentative plan is to have a meet the coach press conference and affiliate announcement sometime in July. FYI, most of the Allen staff will be attending the ECHL summer meetings in Las Vegas June 25-27.

 

- Coach Adam's family will be joining him in Allen. They currently live in Erie, PA. B.J. and his wife Krista have two sons. Pierce is five and Briggs is two. B.J. has a younger brother, Kyle, who is also a hockey coach. Kyle is the head coach for the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, a Junior A team in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). 

The Adams Family (L to R) - Pierce, B.J., Briggs, Krista

 

 

- When I asked coach Adams about the style of play he will put on the ice it was clear he is well aware of the culture in Allen and the high standards that are expected. He will recruit an aggressive group with and without the puck that is hard to play against, with speed and skill. He knows in the Mountain Division you need to play heavy against some teams and with more skill against others. He hopes to build a team that can be successful no matter how the opponent wants to play.

- His favorite player growing up was Wayne Gretzky.

 

- His earliest hockey memory is playing on the rink his dad would build each winter in the backyard. 

 

- B.J. told me with two young sons most of his free time is devoted to family, but he does enjoy the occasional round of golf. 

I am sure there will be more time to get into the details with coach Adams as he settles into his new position. He begins his new job at a very busy time. In addition to recruiting for next season, Adams has to settle all future considerations trades by next Thursday (20th). By my unofficial count Allen owes five players to other ECHL teams. A week from tomorrow (22nd) the Allen season-ending roster is due and that roster is limited to 20 players. A week from Sunday (23rd) is the first day to sign players to contracts for the 2024-25 season. To say it will be a very busy time for coach and general manager Adams is an understatement. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Late in his playing career (2007-09) while playing for the Port Huron Icehawks (IHL) Adams played with two players that would go on to play for the Allen Americans. Daniel Tetrualt won his only professional championship in Allen (2013-14) and went on to become the head coach in Rapid City. Mark Nebus played in Allen in 2011-12. The hockey world is a small world indeed. 

Allen Americans Update - Protected List, Coach News, Future Considerations, Schedule Details and More

Have been getting a lot of questions and requests for an update what is happening with the Allen Americans. The most frequently asked question is when a new coach will be named. I got this update from team president Jonny Mydra this morning, "The search for the next head coach is almost complete. We have some strong candidates and ownership is close to making their final decision."

 

- The ECHL announced on May 20 that Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst would depart the League to accept a position as Vice President of Hockey Operations for Zawyer Sports & Entertainment. In his role, Ernst will oversee all aspects of the Zawyer Sports hockey operations department including establishing the strategic vision and philosophy for each of the organizations. Zawyer owns, manages and operates ECHL teams Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates, Allen Americans, Tahoe Knight Monsters and manages the Atlanta Gladiators.

The press release said Ernst will begin his duties with Zawyer upon the completion of the 2024 Kelly Cup Finals.

The Allen Americans business staff will be in Jacksonville this week meeting with the Zawyer Group so should have some information to share when they return.

 

-  The 2024-25 schedule is out and here are a couple of different breakdowns. FYI, 50% of the home games (18 of 36) are against Tulsa, Wichita and Kansas City. 

 Here is Allen's schedule by opponent, total games, home (H) & away (A). Tahoe, Worcester and Jacksonville are the teams outside the Mountain Division that will visit Allen.

13: Wichita (6H, 7A)

12: Tulsa (7H, 5A)

10: Kansas City (5H, 5A)

9: Utah (4H, 5A)

8: Rapid City (3H, 5A)

6: Idaho (3H, 3A)

5: Tahoe (2H, 3A)

3: Jacksonville (3H, 0A)

3: Worcester (3H, 0A)

2: Fort Wayne (0H, 2A)

1: Indy (0H, 1A)

 

 

- Here is a breakdown of the home schedule by day of the week. Normal start time will be 7:10 pm.

 

0: Monday

4: Tuesday

8: Wednesday (2 school days with 10:30 am start)

0: Thursday

11: Friday

10: Saturday

3: Sunday (2:10 pm start) 

- The next big decision for the team will be to settle all future considerations trades prior to the deadline which is just 10 days away (June 20). By my count, which I haven't been able to confirm, Allen owes a player to Iowa, Rapid City, Norfolk, Florida and Reading.

 

 

- Haven't seen any news on Allen players but in the last month over 30 ECHL players have been announced as signing in Europe and that number will grow a lot over the next month. Many top end players and goalies heading to Europe. Have to believe with the coaching change in Allen, you will see some of the players from 2023-24 team head overseas.

 

 

- Johnny Walker was a big hit in the Allen locker room and with the fans in his brief time with the Americans. He had 10 points (5G, 5A) in 21 games. His chirping stories on the ice and in the locker room are legendary. He announced his retirement last week in typical Johnny style. Here is one sentence from his announcement, "To my coaches, thank you for always believing in me, even if I made your job a bit miserable at times."   

 

 

- If you followed the Kelly Cup playoffs it is impossible not to be impressed with the three-peat just completed by the Florida Everblades. Aaron Gens (who also lost his job as assistant coach when Chad Costello was let go) told me early in the playoffs Florida was built for the playoffs even though they were only ranked #8 in the ECHL in the regular season. Kansas City looked like the favorite after a record breaking season losing only four road games in regulation all season. Kansas City had 10 NHL/AHL contracted players, nine rookies and zero veterans. Florida had six NHL/AHL contracted players, just five rookies and the maximum four veterans. Gens was spot on. Florida beat Kansas City 4-1 to win its third straight Kelly Cup. Here are some stats from my ECHL Stats post after Florida completed the three-peat.

 

Congrats and stick taps to the Florida Everblades for winning the 2024 Kelly Cup last night and becoming the first ever ECHL three-peat champion. Some stats:

- Four teams had previously won back-to-back championships (Colorado, Allen, Toledo, Hampton Roads) but failed at the three-peat.

- Florida beat the #1 team (Brabham Cup winner) in the finals for all 3 championships while the Everblades were ranked #8 (2023-24), #10 (2022-23) and #3 (2021-22) during the regular season.

- Florida’s combined Kelly Cup finals record in the three-peat was a dominating 12-2.

- Florida won the Kelly Cup in 2023 by beating Idaho 4-0 after the Steelheads recorded the best regular season in the history of the ECHL with 119 points (58-11-3).

- Last night Florida beat Kansas City to win the Kelly Cup 4-1. Kansas City had the 5th best regular season record in the history of the ECHL with 114 points (54-12-6).

- If you haven't seen the video of Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice congratulating the Everblades on winning the Kelly Cup at his press conference after game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs check this out. Maurice's son (Jake) is the play by play broadcaster for the Everblades. Nice shoutout for Florida and the ECHL.

 

DID YOU KNOW: Florida goalie Cam Johnson is a reminder of Allen goalie Riley Gill. They both have won three Kelly Cups. Gill is the the all-time ECHL leader in playoff games (90) and playoff wins (53). Johnson is has 63 games and 47 wins all in the last three seasons. Here is my ECHL Stats post about Cam Johnson:

 

Florida goalie Cam Johnson has been in goal for the last 3 Florida Kelly Cups and was playoff MVP in 2022 & 2023. Here are his 2024 stats which are better than the two previous years: 

 

- 16 games won - 9 more than any other goalie.

- 1401 minutes played - 530 minutes more than any other goalie.

- 601 saves - 184 more than any other goalie. Most of his 3 Kelly Cups.

- 1.88 GAA - lowest of his 3 Kelly Cups.

- .932 Save percentage - highest of his 3 Kelly Cups.

 

Johnson played every minute of every game for the Everblades on their way to the 2024 Kelly Cup.

 

 

 

ECHL 2024-25 Schedule Released, Allen Schedule Breakdown and New Division Alignments

 For those of you not on social media here is the ECHL press release on the 2024-25 schedule along with a couple of different schedule breakdowns and the new division alignments:

- ECHL 2024-25 schedule press release: https://echl.com/news/2024/06/echl-releases-2024-25-schedule

 

- Allen's schedule breakdown by total games, home (H) & away (A). Tahoe, Worcester & Jacksonville visit Allen in 2024-25:

13: Wichita (6H, 7A)

12: Tulsa (7H, 5A)

10: Kansas City (5H, 5A)

9: Utah (4H, 5A)

8: Rapid City (3H, 5A)

6: Idaho (3H, 3A)

5: Tahoe (2H, 3A)

3: Jacksonville (3H, 0A)

3: Worcester (3H, 0A)

2: Fort Wayne (0H, 2A)

1: Indy (0H, 1A)

 

 

 

- Here is another breakdown of the schedule:

ALLEN AMERICANS

DATE DAY AWAY HOME

Oct 24, 2024 Thu Allen Tulsa

Oct 25, 2024 Fri Kansas City Allen

Oct 26, 2024 Sat Kansas City Allen

Oct 30, 2024 Wed Wichita Allen

Nov 01, 2024 Fri Allen Utah

Nov 02, 2024 Sat Allen Utah

Nov 08, 2024 Fri Allen Wichita

Nov 09, 2024 Sat Tulsa Allen

Nov 13, 2024 Wed Utah Allen

Nov 15, 2024 Fri Utah Allen

Nov 16, 2024 Sat Utah Allen

Nov 21, 2024 Thu Allen Tulsa

Nov 22, 2024 Fri Tulsa Allen

Nov 27, 2024 Wed Allen Rapid City

Nov 29, 2024 Fri Allen Rapid City

Nov 30, 2024 Sat Allen Rapid City

Dec 03, 2024 Tue Tahoe Allen

Dec 04, 2024 Wed Tahoe Allen

Dec 05, 2024 Thu Allen Wichita

Dec 13, 2024 Fri Allen Indy

Dec 14, 2024 Sat Allen Fort Wayne

Dec 15, 2024 Sun Allen Fort Wayne

Dec 18, 2024 Wed Wichita Allen

Dec 20, 2024 Fri Wichita Allen

Dec 21, 2024 Sat Allen Wichita

Dec 22, 2024 Sun Allen Tulsa

Dec 27, 2024 Fri Kansas City Allen

Dec 28, 2024 Sat Kansas City Allen

Dec 31, 2024 Tue Idaho Allen

Jan 03, 2025 Fri Allen Kansas City

Jan 04, 2025 Sat Allen Kansas City

Jan 08, 2025 Wed Wichita Allen

Jan 10, 2025 Fri Allen Wichita

Jan 11, 2025 Sat Allen Wichita

Jan 12, 2025 Sun Allen Tulsa

Jan 14, 2025 Tue Tulsa Allen

Jan 15, 2025 Wed Allen Wichita

Jan 24, 2025 Fri Allen Rapid City

Jan 25, 2025 Sat Allen Rapid City

Jan 29, 2025 Wed Rapid City Allen

Jan 31, 2025 Fri Rapid City Allen

Feb 01, 2025 Sat Rapid City Allen

Feb 02, 2025 Sun Allen Tulsa

Feb 07, 2025 Fri Wichita Allen

Feb 08, 2025 Sat Wichita Allen

Feb 12, 2025 Wed Kansas City Allen

Feb 14, 2025 Fri Worcester Allen

Feb 15, 2025 Sat Worcester Allen

Feb 16, 2025 Sun Worcester Allen

Feb 19, 2025 Wed Allen Kansas City

Feb 21, 2025 Fri Allen Kansas City

Feb 22, 2025 Sat Allen Kansas City

Feb 28, 2025 Fri Allen Tahoe

Mar 01, 2025 Sat Allen Tahoe

Mar 02, 2025 Sun Allen Tahoe

Mar 07, 2025 Fri Jacksonville Allen

Mar 08, 2025 Sat Jacksonville Allen

Mar 09, 2025 Sun Jacksonville Allen

Mar 16, 2025 Sun Utah Allen

Mar 19, 2025 Wed Allen Idaho

Mar 21, 2025 Fri Allen Idaho

Mar 22, 2025 Sat Allen Idaho

Mar 26, 2025 Wed Allen Utah

Mar 28, 2025 Fri Allen Utah

Mar 29, 2025 Sat Allen Utah

Apr 01, 2025 Tue Tulsa Allen

Apr 04, 2025 Fri Idaho Allen

 

 

 

- Here is the new division alignment from the ECHL page. With 29 teams and four divisions the Mountain Division ends up with eight teams.

 

North Division (7 teams)

Adirondack

Maine

Norfolk

Reading

Trois Riviéres

Wheeling (moves from Central Division)

Worcester

 

South Division (7 teams with no changes)

Atlanta

Florida

Greenville

Jacksonville

Orlando

Savannah

South Carolina  

Central Division (7 teams)

Bloomington (new franchise)

Cincinnati

Fort Wayne

Indy

Iowa

Kalamazoo

Toledo

Mountain Division (8 teams)

Allen

Idaho

Kansas City

Rapid City

Tahoe (new franchise)

Tulsa

Utah

Wichita