Myles Jack and Brett Ferguson Post Game Comments, Season in Review, Records Set, ECHL Playoffs and More

 

Team owner Myles Jack and coach Brett Ferguson met with the season tickets holders (aka STMs, aka Patriot Club Members) after the game last night. Here is what they shared with the group. 

BRETT FERGUSON

"On behalf of the players and myself, thank you for the support all season. Losing sucks and this will be the last of it. We will retool this summer, add some new players to the ones that we want to return and get a formula for success that I know you are accustomed to in Allen."

"On Monday I will meet with all of the players, one-on-one, to talk about this season, their summer plans, their summer jobs, who they workout with, who are their skating coaches and skill coaches if they have them, will they play in a summer league, when will they start skating. Every player is different and my goal is to be supportive."

"After I talk to the players they will see Jeff Fink and he will help them with the travel home which we pay for. Some are flying, some are driving. Jeff helps with flights and other logistic pays the player for travel home."

"The players then see our trainer, Jordan Dutton, for the medical issues. The will get physicals from our team doctor to get checked out. These guys have just finished a grueling season and everyone of them is dealing with some medical issue. Some guys will require post season surgery and will stay in Allen for a while."

"From Jordan the players will meet with equipment manager, Matt Melitich. He will get them in order with their sticks and equipment." (FYI, players will be given one of their jerseys, their sticks that have been taped and are on the stick rack as well as their pants and gloves and of course their skates).

"Then we will have to clear out of the locker room because the IIHF Under18 World Championships are coming to Frisco and Allen. They will take over. It is a great tournament I encourage you to take in some games either in Allen or Frisco. You will see many future NHL players. Every NHL general manager will be in the building (or in Frisco) as well as Directors of Player Personnel and Directors of Scouting. They are all here to watch these kids who are all going to be drafted this year."

"The players will be gone within a week with the exception of those staying for medical reasons."

MYLES JACK

"This year was definitely a learning experience for me. Being an athlete. I wanted to jump into new things like ownership and running businesses. Obviously I come from a football background and am not the smartest in hockey. I trusted people to point me in the right direction and my ignorance was preyed on a little bit to say the least. I don't blame anyone but myself  for what happened."

"Unfortunately, Brett had to deal with all of the consequences. I handed him a hurricane and told him to make a sunny day out of it. He has done a phenomenal job, he kept the ship afloat and I cannot thank him enough. What he was given was a complete disaster and that is on me. I take full blame for that."

"Moving forward I definitely want to see Brett in this building. We will talk about in what role and figure things out in the next couple of days."

"Allowing the fans to understand the direction this organization is going is my first priority. It has been hectic this year with all of the consultants, but at the end of the day the blame falls on me, not on the team, and not on the front office or anyone else."

"Me as an owner, learning and progressing through this experience, my job is to put the correct people in position and allow them to do their jobs to the fullest capacity. That is what I am looking forward to doing this off season."

"The people that have endured this season deserve to see the good side as well. I am a fan and enjoy coming to the games and watching the entire arena turn red. Holding up trophies and having fun is what this is all about."

"This time next year we are talking playoffs, that is the pressure I am putting on myself. If we achieve that the credit will all go to the team. I am just putting the right pieces together to make sure we get to where we need to get."

"In am little 29 years of life I understand money is a byproduct of doing good things. It you give people what they want, give them a reason to come out, you earn it. I played football where you go out there and do what you are supposed to do and you get paid. All that is to say you can't get to the "yellow brick road" until you do the work, put all of the pieces together and allow people to do what they need to do."

 "I feel around here there have been too many hands in the pot. I am cutting that out and allowing everybody to do their job. My job is to literally give people resources to be great and let them be great."  

        

THE GAME AND THE SEASON

- It was probably an appropriate ending to the Allen Americans season last night as the game was a reflection of so many home games in 2024-25. Allen gave up an early goal (52 seconds after puck drop), trailed 3-0 four minutes into the game and lost 7-2 while giving up 40+ shots. 

 

- The final three games of the season against Tulsa produced three losses. In those three losses Allen was outscored 22-9 and gave up 127 shots. It was quite a bookend to Allen's first three games of the season. Three losses, the Americans were outscored 22-2 and gave up 126 shots. 

 

- Most everyone who follows the Allen Americans, the Mountain Division and the ECHL predicted it would be a difficult season for Allen with the coaching change and player turnover. However, the Americans were a .500 club at the end of November. I don't think anyone, including myself, saw the wheels coming off to such historic proportions as the season progressed. 

 

- The franchise records set this season for ineptness will hopefully stand forever. Prior to this season the 2018-19 season was the worst in franchise history. Allen missed the playoffs and tied for the worst record in the ECHL. Here is a comparison of this season to the 2018-19, the worst season ever until this season. It gives you the proof  just how bad this season has been. The first number in each category is 2024-25, the second is 2018-19:

• Wins - 16 vs 25
• Home wins - 7 vs 15
• Points - 46 vs 56
• Points percentage - .299 vs .389
• Goals scored - 175 vs 208
• Goals allowed - 311 vs 269 

- There are many stats that I will remember forever to help describe how bad the 2024-25 season was, but this one covers Allen's futility at both ends of the ice. Allen lost the same number of games this season by six or more goals (8) than in the entire history of the franchise. Let me say it again. In the first 15 years of the Allen franchise the team lost by six or more goals eight times. This season (2024-25) Allen lost by six or more goals eight times.

 

- In addition to all the franchise records Allen has also made the ECHL official record book in several categories. The ECHL has been around for a long time (37 years) with many bad teams. To make the all-time list in any category is not easy. Here are records that will live in infamy for the Americans:   

 

• Fewest wins - Allen's 16 wins is tied for #6 all-time
• Fewest home wins - Allen's 7 home wins is #2 all-time
  
• Most home losses - Allen's 24 home losses is tied for #5 all-time
• Fewest shots on goal one game - Allen's 7 shots vs Indy (12/13/24) is #1 all-time
• Most games shutout - Allen's 9 is #10 all-time. 

- This is the last list, I promise. We looked at Allen's franchise records and ECHL all-time records. Here are most (but not all) of the stats in the ECHL daily report that Allen is ranked last. Let's call it the #29 list.

 

• #29 - Wins (16)
• #29 - Losses (45)
• #29 - Points (43)
• #29 - Point percentage (.299)
• #29 - Goals scored (175)
• #29 - Goals allowed (311)
• #29 - Home wins (7)
• #29 - Home point percentage (.264)
• #29 - Overtime point percentage (.214)
• #29 - Scoring 1st point percentage (.483)
• #29 - Fewest shorthanded goals scored (4) 
• #29 - Most goals allowed 1st period (99)
• #29 - Most goals allowed 2nd period (110)
• #29 - Average goals scored (2.43)
• #29 - Average goals allowed (4.32)
• #29 - Average shot allowed (38.43)
• #29 - Worst record when trailing after 2nd period (2-41-2-2)
• #29 - Worst record when outshooting opponent (3-9-0-2)
• #29 - Winless home streak (10 games)
• #29 - Winless road streak (12 games)
  

 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

 

- So much for home ice advantage. The last week of the Mountain Division season, with all the marbles on the table for some teams, the road teams clean up. There were 12 total games and the road teams record was 11-1-0-0.

 

• Wichita swept Tahoe on the road and rose to the #2 seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Tahoe fell from the #2 seed to the #4 seed.
  
• Kansas City swept Idaho on the road to eliminate the Steelheads from the playoffs.
  
• Tulsa swept Allen on the road to secure the #3 seed in the playoffs.
• Utah won two of three games on the road in Rapid City in a series that had no playoff implications.

 

 

- It was quite a weekend for two time Kelly Cup champion with the Allen Americans, Riley Gill. Friday night Riley was inducted into the Reading Royals "Wall of Fame" for his contributions to the Reading organization, which included leading the team to the 2013 Kelly Cup. Last night, Riley's collegiate team, Western Michigan, won its first NCAA championship in its first trip to the Frozen Four. Riley played for Western Michigan from 2006-10. Here is an article about the Western Michigan win last night: https://www.nhl.com/news/western-michigan-wins-ncaa-mens-hockey-national-championship  

- There are six ECHL teams with over 1000 penalty minutes this season. The Mountain Division has completed regular season play but the other divisions have games remaining today. Here are the ECHL teams with over 1000 penalty minutes plus those with more than 950 penalty minutes and a game to play today. It is striking that the Mountain Division has no teams on this list. The days of the tough Mountain Division and Western Conference seem to be long gone.

 

North Division

• 1198 - Worcester
• 1113 - Adirondack*
• 1034 - Norfolk
• 990 - Trois Riviéres*

South Division

• 1319 - South Carolina*
• 1129 - Florida
• 983 - Orlando*
• 980 - Jacksonville*

Central Division

• 1155 - Iowa*
• 959 - Indy*

Mountain Division

• None

*Teams with one game remaining

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: How do the 16 ECHL Kelly Cup playoff teams rank in their respective divisions in penalty minutes. It varies a lot. The top four teams in penalty minutes in the South Division made the playoffs. In the Mountain Division the two least penalized teams made the playoffs. Will higher PIMS teams prevail? Teams with over 1000 PIMS are marked with an asterisk:

 

North

3rd - Norfolk*

4th - Trois Rivières

5th - Wheeling

7th - Reading

 

South

1st - South Carolina*

2nd - Florida*

3rd - Orlando

4th - Jacksonville 

 

Central

1st - Iowa*

2nd - Indy

3rd - Fort Wayne

6th - Toledo

 

Mountain

1st - Kansas City

4th - Tulsa

7th - Wichita

8th - Tahoe