It is a Positive News Only Day and a Bunch This "N That

 

Wasn't planning on a blog this morning, but came across so much good news yesterday decided to write a good news only blog this morning. Not sure how long it will be, but here goes.

 

- Allen just made a trade with Cincinnati for rookie forward Noah Kane who started the season in Finland where he had 18 points (7G, 11A) in 28 games before signing with Cincinnati at the end of January. Here is a story about Noah and his more famous cousin (Patrick Kane) a local television station did when Noah was attending college at Mercyhurst University.

 

  

- In his two years as the coach of the Allen Americans, Chad Costello defied the odds by taking a last place team in December to the playoffs. I will never forget literally eating crow chili after predicting there was no way Allen would make the playoffs. Could he do this again in Rapid City? The Rush beat Idaho at home last night 4-3 in overtime. Rapid City has now won 10 straight games. The last time the Rush lost a game was in Allen on February 1st.  After that game Rapid was dead last in the Mountain Division with a .389 point percentage and I once again predicted there was no way the Rush would make the playoffs (Allen and Utah also) feeling very confident there was no crow chili in my future. 

After its win last night Rapid City has reached the .500 mark (22-22-5-3). It is still unlikely Rapid City can make the playoffs. The Rush have 20 games remaining, have 52 points, and will have to pass both Idaho (61 points) and Tahoe (64 points) to make the playoffs. No matter how it ends up it has been amazing turn around. How good have Costello's teams been this time of year. If you combine his best stretches around this time the last three seasons his record was 26-8-0-0 (.765).    

- Easton Brodzinski was loaned by Tulsa to its AHL affiliate, San Diego, on Tuesday and was in the Gulls lineup last night. All he did was score his first AHL goal and was selected as the #2 star of the game. Easton's younger brother Bryce, plays for Greenville (ECHL) and has 17 goals. His older brother, Jonny, plays for the NHL New York Rangers and has six goals in 27 games. Allen fans will remember another Brodzinski brother, Mike, who is retired. Mike played in 289 ECHL games and 64 AHL games, including 23 with Allen. Mike was the only defensemen of the brothers. FYI, here are their ages:

• 31 - Jonny
• 29 - Mike
• 28 - Easton
• 24 - Bryce 

 Easton's goal is at the 2:15 mark of this highlight package:

 

- Another former Allen player, Jakov Novak, (2022-23) just got recalled to the AHL Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the Trois Riviéres Lions. Jakov leads the Lions in points with 46 (20G, 26A) in 39 games. He is under contract with Laval, was recalled on Monday and played in his first AHL game of the season last night. Jakov had an assist in Laval's win over the Toronto Marlies.

 

- Mikael Robidoux was traded from Greenville to Bloomington yesterday. He only played 83 games for Allen, but is #4 on the all-time PIMS list with 366 minutes. He cracks the top five in all-time in average penalty minutes per game (PIMPG). Of Allen's all time time top 20 in penalty minutes five averaged more than four  penalty minutes per game. Here are those five players who brought a special and important set of skills to the Americans and much entertainment to the fans.

• 5.4 PIMPG - Brett Lyon
• 4.7 PIMPG - Garrett Klotz
• 4.6 PIMPG - Derek Mathers
• 4.4 PIMPG - Mikael Robidoux
• 4.3 PIMPG - Kip Brennan 

- Here is your odd stat of the day. Kansas City beat Utah at home last night 8-3 and only three players scored goals for the Mavericks. Damien Giroux and Max Andreev both had hat tricks and David Cotton scored two goals. It was just the second time this season (Orlando the other) two players from the same team had hat tricks in a game.

 

- The two best records in the ECHL over the last 10 games come from the Mountain Division:

• 10-0-0-0 - Rapid City
• 8-1-0-1 - Kansas City

 

- Which ECHL teams have favorable and unfavorable schedules remaining? Wichita has just six home games remaining, Indy has 14. Tahoe has just six away games remaining, Savannah has 15. 

- Blake Bennett (Rapid City) was named ECHL Player of the Week on Tuesday. Since returning from Europe he has played in 17 games and tallied 25 points (14G, 11A) which is a points per game average of 1.47. At that pace, if he had played all season for Rapid City, his projected point count would be 106 (59G, 47A).   

- The most successful former Allen player in Europe this season is Justin Kirsh. If you don't remember Justin you are probably not alone. He signed with Allen in 2012-13 after completing his junior career in the WHL. He played in no regular season games, but five games in the playoffs and had one goal and two assists to help Allen win its first championship. In 2013-14 he went to to college. Justin has been playing in Germany for many years and this season is playing in the third level league for the Hanover Scorpions.

• He is second in the league in scoring with 62 points (30G, 32A) in 43 games.
• His team is in second place in the 12 team league.   

 

- I put this together yesterday. Florida seems to be well situated for yet another run at a Kelly Cup. You can see Florida's formula in the stats below. The Everblades typically get key NHL/AHL contracted players assigned, but not too many. They don't have a lot of rookies and always have the maximum four veterans. Having only one player on the 14-day IR is also a big help. Any of these teams could win the Kelly Cup this season:

Comparing rosters of the ECHL division leaders (Trois Rivières, Florida, Toledo, Kansas City):

 

NHL/AHL contracted players

10: KC

6: FLA

4: TR

4: TOL

 

Rookies

10: TR

8: TOL

7: KC

6: FLA

 

Veterans

4: FLA

4: TOL

2: TR

1: KC

 

Players on 14-day IR

4: TOL

1: FLA

1: KC

1: TR

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about overtimes. Allen has been involved in 12 overtime games this season ranking #12 in most overtime games. The most ever was 21 (see below):

OVERTIMES

 

ECHL teams with most overtimes this season:

 

22 - Orlando

18 - Idaho

16 - Jacksonville

16 - Iowa

16 - Tulsa

 

 

Most overtimes last 15 seasons: 

 

26 - Greenville (2020-21)

25 - Adirondack (2023-24)

22 - Colorado & Utah (2017-18)

22 - Utah & Wheeling (2012-13)

22 - Elmira (2011-12)

21 - Allen (2019-20)

21 - Rapid City (2018-19)

21 - Indy (2014-15)

21 - Ontario (2013-14)