After a long wait, today is the first day ECHL teams can hold team meetings, register, and complete physicals. Tomorrow is the first day teams can have organized on-ice sessions. Each team's schedule can vary, but these are the earliest dates they can start.
- For the Allen Americans, players have been arriving this week and getting settled in the apartments. There have been captain practices for those in town. Most of the players participating in AHL training camps have arrived back in Allen or will arrive over the next few days.
- The players who attended the Tucson Roadrunners camp, Andre Anania, Brett Mirwald, and Lukas Sillinger are already back in Allen.
- Sam Sedley was at camp with the Manitoba Moose and was just released from his PTO. Sedley is unsigned, but Allen has his ECHL rights. He is on his way to Allen, and I expect he will be signed in the next day or two.
- The players attending camp with Belleville that have been released include Chase Coughlin, Riley Kidney, Zackary Shantz, and Cal Uens, and are on their way to Allen.
- Quinn Warmuth was in camp with Cleveland and has also been released.
- That leaves Mark Duarte (unsigned, but rights owned by Allen) as the only Allen-connected player left in the AHL. When Landon Hookey was injured at Ottawa's Prospect Tournament, Coach Martinson thought Belleville might keep Duarte. That appears to be what is happening.
- Belleville opens its season with two home games, tomorrow (Friday) night and Sunday afternoon. It remains to be seen if Duarte plays in those games.
- The unanswered question is when will NHL/AHL contracted players get assigned to Allen. Coach Martinson is expecting players to be assigned from both Belleville and Tucson. Players and positions should start being announced on Saturday. These contracted players are key because they only count $625 per week against the salary cap.
- The Allen roster now stands at 20, which includes three veterans and five rookies.
Goalies
- Brett Mirwald: rookie
Forwards
- Divyne Apollon - rookie
- Spencer Asuchak - veteran
- Cole Bishop - rookie
- Chase Coughlin - rookie
- Hank Crone
- Mathieu De St. Phalle
- Michael Gildon
- Riley Kidney
- Chase Maxwell
- Anthony Rinaldi
- Zackary Shantz - rookie
- Lukas Sillinger
- Brayden Watts - veteran
Defense
- Andre Anania
- Jackson Decker
- Nolan Kneen - veteran
- Troy Murray
- Quinn Warmuth
- Cal Uens - rookie
- If you look at the Training Camp roster, here are the additions from above:
- Sam Sedley should be officially added in the next two days.
- There will be 5 or 6 tryout players at training camp. Three or four from Topeka (FPHL), a player who played for Martinson in Athens, and a local defenseman.
- NHL/AHL contracted players could arrive as soon as Sunday, and that will continue into next week.
- Here is the Training Camp Schedule issued by the Americans on September 24: https://allenamericans.com/news/2026/09/americans-announce-training-camp-schedule
As mentioned above, more players are arriving each day this week. In addition to dealing with housing, players will have physicals, deal with other paperwork, and practice by themselves. The team doesn't have ice on Saturday, and Coach Martinson plans a team scrimmage on Sunday. The first on-ice practice with coaches will be Monday.
UPDATE: I just got an update from Coach Martinson, and he has made arrangements for the team scrimmage on Sunday (3:15-4:15) to be open to the public. The Americans will be issuing a press release with all of the details.
- On a personal note, we leave Tuesday for Minnesota. Nancy will stay in the Twin Cities to visit family and friends, while my best friend and lifelong hunting partner, Dave, and I head to North Dakota with his superstar black lab, Bear, for a week of pheasant hunting.
When Dave and I were hunting in high school, we once met a hunter who was 80 years old. We talked about how cool it was that he was still out there hunting and wondered if we would still be doing it when we were 80.
More than 65 years later, here we are. Next week, with both of us in our 80th year, we will be busting through the fields, sloughs, and cattails of North Dakota chasing pheasants.
Back then, 80 seemed a lifetime away. Turns out it was--and what a gift to still be doing what we loved doing together all those years ago.
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| 160 years of hunters and one young superstar |
OTHER COMMENTS
- If you haven't already seen this elsewhere, Coach Martinson has selected a new Head Athletic Trainer, Allison Beazley, and Head Equipment Manager, Brian Garcia.
Allison was the Assistant Athletic Trainer in Allen in 2021-22 and spent the last four seasons as the Head Athletic Trainer for the SPHL Peoria Rivermen.
Brian has over 20 years of equipment manager experience, including serving as the Head Equipment Manager for the AHL Texas Stars (12 years) and AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds (2 years).