The Rapid City Rush made short work of Allen last night scoring the first six goals of the game on the way to an 8-4 win over the Americans.With the loss, along with Utah's 9-3 drubbing of Wichita the Americans find themselves in last place in the "Best of the Rest" standings:
- .397 - Rapid City
- .382 - Utah
- .359 - Allen
- It is hard to find anything that went well for Allen in this game. Here are a few examples:
- Allen gave up the first goal of the game.
- Rapid City outshot Allen 13-9 in the first period.
- Allen trailed 3-0 after the first period.
- Rapid City had a 6-0 lead three minutes into the second period.
- Allen gave up five goals on Rapid City's first 15 shots of the game.
- Rapid City scored five second period goals, their highest output in a period all season.
- Rapid City's eight goals was the most they have scored this season.
- Allen was outshot 39-36 in the game.
- It was the third time this season Allen has allowed eight or more goals.
- Rapid City was 2-3 on the power play.
- Allen has lost seven straight games, one game shy of the eight straight loses from December 3-20.
- Since December 3 Allen's record is 3-15-4-1 (.239).
- Goal scorers for Allen were Johnson (1), Duarte (15), Kulakov (4) and Asuchak (12). Polino had two assists in the game. Duarte's goal tied him with Watt's for the team lead (15). Crnkovic and Watts are tied for the team lead with 25 assists. Watts is the only player on the team averaging a point per game (1.05).
- Here are the game recaps from both teams along with the video highlights if you want more details on the game. When you have headlines that include "Rush Blitz Allen" and "Americans Roughed up by the Rush" you know it has been a bad night:
- Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/01/game-recap-americans-roughed-up-by-the-rush-8-4
- Rapid City Rush game recap: https://rapidcityrush.com/news/2025/01/game-recap-rush-blitz-allen-sweep-americans-with-8-4-victory
- Video Highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-rapid-city-rush-jan-25-2025
- It was after midnight when I reached out to coach Ferguson for a comment on the game. As I have done since I started the blog, when the team suffers a big loss, I always tell the coach if they don't feel like giving me a comment that is fine. I can tell you every Allen coach has taken me up on that offer at some point. To Ferguson's credit he gave me the following response:
"It was a tough one tonight. You never want to fall behind 3-0 to start a game. We were flat from puck drop and didn't have any push back. They had a couple of goals off the rush and a few seeing eye shots from the point we need to block before they get to the net. And we let the game get away from us which isn't a recipe for success on the road. It was nice to see the flurry of three goals in the second period and a bright spot was getting some offense from our defensemen. There is no other way to say it, tonight was a clunker. I know we will respond Wednesday at home."
- Allen will fly home today and have couple of days to rest, recover and figure out a plan to play better on Wednesday. The games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday will be last time these teams will play this season. Allen can ill afford to lose two of the three games against the Rush if they want to escape the last place position in the division and in the league, which they currently occupy.
OTHER COMMENTS
- In addition to Rapid City's 8-4 win over Allen there were some other impressive wins by Mountain Division teams last night. Maybe the most impressive was Kansas City beating Wheeling 7-1 on the road. Wheeling was just passed by Florida for the best record in the league. Utah had a big 9-3 win over Wichita and Tahoe beat Fort Wayne 2-0. Not sure many people had Tahoe as the best team in the division at the end of January. Tulsa beat Idaho on the road 4-3 in overtime. Not many people predicted Idaho would be on the outside looking in at the playoffs at this time of the season. Still a long way to go in the season (around 45%), but teams like Idaho need to find another gear.
- Other than Allen, the Mountain Division has been very even over the last 10 games. Here are the points earned by each team (max is 20 points). It is hard to gain or lose much ground when everyone is playing around .500 hockey.
- 12 points - Tahoe
- 11 points - Kansas City
- 11 points - Wichita
- 11 points - Idaho
- 11 points - Tulsa
- 10 points - Rapid City
- 10 points - Utah
- 7 points - Allen
- It is a pretty busy Sunday around the ECHL today with nine games on the schedule. Just two Mountain Division teams will be in action. Kansas is at Wheeling and Fort Wayne is at Tahoe. In both of these three game series they split the first two games, so the rubber matches today will determine the series winner. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/01/echl-today-jan-26
- Brayden Watts had an assist last night to extend his road assist streak to 10 games. It is the longest road assist streak in the ECHL this season. Watts is also on a 10 game road point streak and has 15 points in the last 10 road games. That is also #1 in the league this season.Second on the current road point streak list is Kyle Crnkovic who has a point in his last seven road games.
- Florida shutout Savannah 2-0 last night. Remember, the Everblades have given up two or fewer goals in over 70% of their games. Contrast that with Allen who is at 23%. Florida is allowing an average of 1.97 goals per game which is #1 in the league. Allen is #28 giving up an average of 4.18 goals per game.
- South Carolina is statistically the most balanced team in the ECHL. The Stingrays are #2 in average goals scored (3.92) and #3 in average goals allowed (2.47). That is a goal differential of +1.45. Compare that to the Americans who are #25 in average goals scored (2.56) and #28 is average goals allowed (4.18). That is a goal differential of -1.62. More than any other stat this shows how much improvement is need if Allen wants to be a contending team. It is too late for this season, but it should inform recruiting for next season.
- Brandon Hawkins, who won the ECHL scoring title last season with 93 points is back on top again this season. Hawkins is the first player to reach 50 points and has 20 goals and 30 assists. If he plays in all remaining games for Toledo, at his current scoring pace, he will finish with 88 points.
DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the goalies that have played the most minutes. Anson Thornton is not in the top five in minutes played but he is #1 in the ECHL in saves with 741.
I believe Ferguson deserves a go. I do also think he’s been put in a difficult position. He’s a good guy. However, the calls for an experienced coach, be it Costello or others will continue to gain strength unless this can be fixed fast. Most all of us have written off the season. Big decisions still need to be made.
ReplyDeletethis is a great post. Ferguson is working hard in trying to improve the team. The score last night wasn’t necessarily indicative of the play, Allen had a lot of quality challenges. Ferguson is doing all the right things.
DeleteMaybe he will win a game before the season ends
Deleteyeah he seems like a good and fun guy, but at what point? Costello and Rapid City are the laughingstock of the ECHL and they just whooped him by 4 goals...
ReplyDelete"Watts is the only player on the team averaging a point per game (1.05). " - I assume he will be playing elsewhere in a week or so?
ReplyDeleteAllen sucks!!!!
ReplyDelete"Losing Streak Reaches Seven", but Ferguson deserves a go. Not long ago he was tied with Adams in the number of takedowns by posters but suddenly he's the go to guy? HAHAHAHA!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that’s what was said, but if you interpret that way, so be it. But that’s not how I read what was posted.
DeleteFerguson absolutely deserves the support. He has to untangle what BJ blew up.
ReplyDeleteAnyone thinking we are magically going to get to the playoffs is delusional… maybe if they would have fired BJ months ago and before he traded our players. A lot of people already knew how this season was going to go after they hired BJ.
Untangling the damage of what Joe and BJ have done will take time.
At some point the players have to take a look in the mirror too. They have all played the game long enough to take some pride in what they do. Poor management decisions have definitely impacted the product on the ice but the players have to take ownership too. The leadership team in the locker room have to step up. As a player you have to feel the sense of failure and you can’t always take the easy way out by blaming the coach though we all know this has been the major concern from the beginning of the season. Battle through the rest of the season and lets hope that we can somehow rebuild the pride of playing for the American’s. “Go Red”.
ReplyDeleteThis ^^^^^^^
DeleteRemember all those loser teams we use to laugh at and joke about all those years?
DeleteWe are that now with little hope going forward. Go Red
Anyone have season ticket renewal info?
ReplyDeleteIs the expectation seriously that I just roll up in the next week without knowing pricing/terms?
Surely not.....
Go Red
DeleteOnly an email wanting me to come in on Feb 1, take pictures, get signed autographs, mingle with the Ice Angels, and pony up who knows how much to renew.....on the ice....
DeleteSome people (not in this thread) laugh and smirk when I say “coaching matters”. They reply that it’s the players who play. While yes it IS on the players to give 100% and play hard to win no matter what, coaching matters in setting tone, direction, back slapping when good and a butt chewing when bad.
ReplyDeleteCoaching matters. This is a very tough lesson for current owners (anyone, really). I don’t want to give up on this year but choosing the correct coach for next year (better be a proven winner…open the checkbook and you’ll be rewarded in spades long term) is the most critical event for this team and the fan base (for us STMs and the casual fans). Finishing the year strong is also critical.
I know this goes without saying …but saying it anyway.
Bring Costello back!!
DeleteNot good enough. Barely made the playoffs last year. Don’t start with “injuries” etc. Great coaches who know how to win find ways to win and find ways to fill gaps due to injuries, through trades, getting players to play better than they are aware they can play, etc. long term proven winners only need apply.
DeleteMaybe you'll get to de-flea Biscuit and express Tissue Boy's glands too
ReplyDeleteAnyone get their Patriot jerseys yet?
ReplyDeleteYep! Jumped on that right away - where else can you but a "Patriot" jersey from a woke woman from Evanston IL - the first city in the country to offer reparations - and was a huge supporter of it.
DeleteEnjoy this complete shitshow you allowed - the team is being destroyed by:
A) People that have only fallen down on ice
B) People that think you are toothless losers
C) Woke losers with more dollars than hockey sense'
D) ALL OF THE ABOVE
You ok Bro?
DeleteYep Sis - all good
DeleteCan you give more information about this? Maybe a link to info
DeleteSure:
Deletehttps://www.cnn.com/2024/06/05/us/evanston-reparations-lawsuit-reaj/index.html
Taking a severe beating on the ice and no one steps up to challenge the other team? A pretty good indication that the team has given up. You can only hope that ownership finds a coach with significant professional experience and makes changes.
ReplyDeleteTRADE ALERT
ReplyDeleteThe Allen Americans, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club, powered by Energy Transfer Partners, announced a trade today.
The Americans sent forward Robbie Baillargeon to the Maine Mariners, for future considerations. Baillargeon had just five points in 30 games with Allen this season (1 goal and 4 assists).
Prior to his time with Allen, he spent the last four seasons in Europe. The native Enfield, CT, is a former 5th Round Draft Pick of the Ottawa Senators in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
I find it an interesting comment by the coach that he liked the offense by the defence. Allen had an offensive dman that they recently traded away.
ReplyDeleteHe's too distracted surfing the B&H website....
Delete
ReplyDeleteAllen Americans
Added Jay Powell (D)
5102…. I emailed our ticket rep and was advised our ticket prices for next season will be the same as this season with the exception of they are adding the all star game to the season package. The all star tickets are the same price as usual game ticket prices.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Julia for the info!!! She’s very helpful!!
Jared Westcott (LW)
ReplyDelete#25
Allen Americans Added
Roster turn over worse than Amazon DC turn over
ReplyDelete