Allen Americans Press Conference Recap and Brayden Watts Player Profile

 

The Allen Americans press conference yesterday afternoon was a bit of a disappointment based on all of the feedback I received from those in attendance and from many fans overnight. While it was great to hear from coach and general manager B.J. Adams and meet the newest Allen Americans player, Brayden Watts, the main attraction of the event was going to be the announcement of Allen's new affiliate and that did not happen. As a reminder of how important the team saw the affiliation announcement, here is the graphic of the press conference announcement from July 12.

 

 - Despite the disappointment about the delay in the affiliation announcement, fans had a chance to meet and hear from coach Adams about the team he is building, the style of play of his team, his background and family. In addition, Adams introduced his latest signing, Brayden Watts, who will be a top forward for the Americans. See player profile below.

 

- There was a big turnout for the press conference. The biggest crowd I have ever seen at one of these events. It was standing room only and I would estimate the crowd size to be over 200.

 

- Tommy Daniels opened the press conference and delivered the bad news, "Unfortunately, due to the travel situation we have going on right now in the US, our affiliate was not able to make it here today, so we will have that announcement at a separate time, but we still have two huge announcements to make today."

 

- After some opening remarks by Allen mayor, Baine Brooks, the group was addressed by team owner, LaSonjia Jack. Here is what she shared with the group:

"I was here in October and Myles and I made some promises. We said we wanted to be focused on the community, our staff and we wanted to win championships. I am here to say we are keeping our promise."

"One of the ways we are fulfilling our promise is we have added some new leadership to the Allen Americans that we are overly excited about. B.J. Adams is going to bring great experience, leadership, dedication and most of all accountability to winning and commitment to success. He will ensure our players have what they need so they can advance to the NHL/AHL. Most importantly by bringing in this new leadership we are bound to bring the Kelly Cup here to Allen."

"A lot of things will be happening over the next couple of months. Put this on you calendar, I am coming back in November for another big announcement."

"We will have two new jerseys for next season. Our season begins October 16 and our home opening weekend is October 25th and 26th."

"Most importantly we are excited to do more in the community. We still have the promise from our foundation to support our veterans, the elderly, our school districts, police, fire and teachers. You will see Allen Americans out in the community doing more. If you have suggestions I am available and would love to talk to you about it."

- Next up was coach and general manager B.J. Adams. Here is what he shared with the group;

"I am really humbled and excited to represent the City of Allen and your hockey team. I understand the passionate fan base you are a part of as evidenced by the awesome turnout here today. I understand the history of this team and I am excited to take it to the next level."

"I would like to thank my family. My wife (Krista) is out looking at houses right now. Like any team, I have a team behind me and my family is the best team I have. We have two kids, Pierce is five and Briggs is two. They didn't make the trip and are staying with Krista's parents. They are the apple of my eye and they love what daddy does. They love coming to the rink and they love hockey. They already love Biscuit and can't wait to meet him."

"What we aspire to is having guys reach the next level and to win championships in Allen. Everybody I talk to, every player I talk to that is interested in coming here, I make clear that is our goal."

"The next surprise I have for you is a player announcement. Brayden Watts, who played in Wichita last year, is a high end forward who will score some goals and put up points for us. We also have a future Allen American (Watts was holding his young son, Bowie, as he came on stage). 

- Brayden Watts comments:

"I am obviously super excited to be playing for the Americans this year. Thanks you all for coming out today. We can't wait to get things going in October. Bowie is super excited to come to a game and see Biscuit."

"Hopefully we will bring this team back to a championship pedigree, thanks."

 

- Next up was a Q & A with the audience:

Q: What style of play will fans see from your team?

A:  Adams - We want to dictate the game. You can say it is aggressive but we want to control the game. We want to dictate the speed of the game. We want to be the ones in charge and we don't want to be playing on our heels. We also want to be versatile. Some nights we will have to play a hard-nosed game. Sometimes in this league it gets a little sloppy and it becomes an up and down game and we have to be sure we have the players that can play that style. We want to be able to play any type of game needed and above all we want to be a hard team to play against.

 

Q: Where are you at on selecting your assistant coach and what are you looking for in an assistant coach?

A: Adams - I am looking for the right guy but can't say anymore about the details until I get back to some of the applicants to let them know where we are in the search.

 

Q: What is your approach to get the best performance out of each player?

A: First, you have to have great players with great character. My way is to have open communication with players. It is about building relationships and having conversation about hockey and life. That helps when you have to have hard conversations both ways, they might not be happy with something I am doing. It is also about listening. I am truthful and honest and would rather have players mad at me for 24 hours than be mad the rest of their life because I have led them astray or given them false information. The best motivator for players is ice time. 

 

Q: In the past Allen has established a tradition of coaches having a press conference and meeting with season titleholders after each home game. What is your stance on that?

A: Adams - This is the first time I have heard about this and I am not sure of the logistics but I don't mind talking to people after the game. 

 

Q: Can you share your experiences in hockey?

A: Adams - I am originally from Toronto. I was fortunate to get a scholarship and played four years at Bowling State University. After college I played 10 years professionally all over including in Milwaukee, Rockford and in Odessa (CHL) to name a few. Then I got into coaching at the NCAA Division 1 level as an assistant coach. I was in charge of the defensive systems, the penalty kill and also recruitment. We won a championship in year four, the first ever for the college and went to the NCAA tournament for the first time. I then wanted to pursue something different and moved to major juniors with the OHL Erie Otters. I did not coach Conner McDavid as I came in the year after him, but I was fortunate to coach eight or nine NHL players in my time in Erie. We won a championship my second year in Erie and had back to back 50 win seasons. When then had to rebuild and we were getting really good and then COVID hit and then we had to start the process all over again. I decided I wanted to get back into pro hockey where I played and that was the next step for me, so I could not be happier than being here in Allen.

 

Q: How is it going to feel after playing four years in Wichita to play for Allen with its big rivalry with Wichita?

A: Watts - I am super excited to be in Allen. I never liked playing against Allen because they were a lot tougher than us. I am just happy to be on the other side of it now.

 

Q: When can we anticipate an announcement on the affiliation?

A: Jack - Very soon. Sooner than you think, I promise. 

 

Q: Who makes the final call on players, coaches etc. I know you have a management company (Zawyer). If something happens I don't like who do I get mad at?   

A: Jack - Myles and I are the majority owners of the Allen Americans so the buck stops with us. What is great about us being the majority owner is we have a fabulous operations team headed by Zawyer and REV Entertainment. Between the four of us we can address your needs, listen to your concerns and most definitely have a conversation. If you see Myles or myself walking around feel free to come see us. We make all decisions having to do with the ECHL.

CONCLUSIONS

I had a chance to talk to some people after the press conference and here are my thoughts on a couple of topics from the press conference. FYI, the press conference was not videotaped as intended so don't look for it to be loaded to social media as I mentioned yesterday.

Affiliation - My reporting is the team found out about the new affiliate not being able to make it to the press conference just a couple of hours before the start time so there was no other option than delay the announcement. You should not read into this any issue with the actual affiliation. Obviously, since the announcement was scheduled you know the agreement had to be signed. This should be a short delay before the affiliation is formally announced.

Assistant Coach - You could tell by the way coach Adams answered the question, he has made a selection on an assistant coach, but has to talk to the other applicants. That is why he said if he shared what he was looking for in an assistant coach it would give it away. Considering coach Adams has no professional coaching experience, my hope is he could find an assistant coach with some significant pro coaching experience.  UPDATE: The Americans just issued a press release that included the assistant coach will be Brett Ferguson. He has been an assistant coach/video coach for five years in the NHL (Anaheim), nine years in the AHL (Syracuse, Norfolk, San Diego) and one year in the USHL. Here is the press release with other info as well: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/07/americans-sign-top-3-forward

 

L to R - Brayden Watts, B.J. Adams, LaSonjia Jack

 

 

BRAYDEN WATTS PLAYER PROFILE 

- Allen's first new player announcement for 2024-25 was certainly a good one for Allen fans. Brayden Watts is a five year professional even though he is only 25 years old. He has played 230 professional games so is a veteran in experience despite his young age and falling under the 260 pro games for meeting veteran status. Brayden has played 226 ECHL games, all with the Wichita Thunder, and four AHL games with his hometown Bakersfield Condors. 

- Watts grew up in Bakersfield, CA but like many young hockey players left home at 13 to play AAA hockey in Arizona. He played major junior hockey in Canada (WHL) where he had 161 points (68G, 93A) in 315 games. His stats in Wichita were 226 games with 197 points (60G, 137A). 

- Other Watts information:

• 6'0" 182 pound left shot forward
• Served as captain in Wichita
• Led Wichita in assists (44) last season
  
• ECHL All-Star in 2022-23
• Played in 3ICE 
• Selected as Wichita MVP in 2022-23  
  

- Brayden is married and his wife, Briley, is a nurse. She just graduated from nursing school last December. She is currently doing some home health pediatrics, but will start her first hospital job in October right around the time the Americans begin their season. 

 

- Away from the rink Brayden enjoys golf and fishing. He told me he really hopes to get his son, Bowie, into golf as soon as possible so they can enjoy that together and make it a little father-son thing. He also told me he hasn't been able to do much fishing as of late but hopes to find some spots around Allen.

 

- Watts has been more of a playmaker than a goal scorer during his pro career but shared this with me after the press conference, "A couple of years ago I started shooting the puck a little more and it started going in the net (he had 23 goals in 2022-23) so I know I have that ability. Last season I was dealing with some hand stuff so I didn't shoot the puck as much. I plan on shooting the puck more in Allen, but my big strength is definitely my playmaking."

- Here is a video from a couple of years ago when Brayden was the first player signed by the Wichita Thunder for the 2022-23 season:

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Coach B.J. Adams shared with the fans that he played with Daniel Tetrault, who won a championship in Allen in 2014. They played together in Port Huron. Here is the story coach Adams shared. "Tetrault is a really great guy. We were actually cribbage partners on the bus. We played on every trip on the bus. When you get zero points in cribbage we called it Tetsy because he got them a lot." 

I know Tetrault still reads the blog so will await his response and a matching Adams story I am sure he will be willing to share. haha