Quad Beats Allen 3-2 Game Recap, Martinson Comments, Player Streaks, Minnesota High School Tourney

Prior to last night the Quad City Mallards could not buy a victory at home on Friday night as they were 1-7 with the only victory coming way back in November. Prior to last night the Allen Americans had won six straight road games. Those type of statistics don't mean a lot when it comes time to play the game and that proved to be the case last night as the Mallards beat Allen by a score of 3-2 in front of a large Friday night $1 beer and hot dog crowd of 6310 at the iWireless Center.

It was a rough start and a rough ending for the Americans. Allen took two penalties in the first three minutes of the game to give Quad City a long five on three power play opportunity which the Americans were able to kill off. However, a few minutes later Quad City got on the scoreboard with the only goal of the first period. Quad City wins 76% of the time they score first.

Allen owned the second period as they have all year (they have out scored opponents 92-49 in the second period) getting goals by Gary Steffes (38) and Chad Costello (30) to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. 

Defensive lapses led to two third period Quad City goals by veteran Kevin Baker, the game winner coming with just 12.8 seconds remaining in the game. As coach Martinson often says the best thing about losing a game like last night is the team doesn't have to wait long to do something about it as the rematch takes place tonight (Saturday) at 7:05 CST.

STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS

- We were not good on our gaps and we were weak in front of our net on the two goals in the third period. 

- I keep stressing to be aggressive but not gamble but we gave them the final rush of the game because we were not in good defensive position. With the forwards we have up in the AHL our experienced defensemen need to be better than they have been recently. 

- Our forwards were weak up the middle on both of the third period goals.

- Tyler Barr had a great fight tonight. Both he and Leroux are tough toe to toe sluggers.

OTHER COMMENTS

- One bright spot for Allen was special teams. The were outstanding on the penalty kill as they killed all six Quad City power plays including a long five on three at the beginning of the game. The Americans had a power play goal (Steffes) and were 1-4 on the power play.

- Gary Steffes scored his 16th power play goal of the season last night which makes him the Allen all time single season record holder for power play goals (tied with Bruce Graham). Gary has seven more power play goals than any one else in the ECHL this year. His 38 goals on the season is also seven more than anyone else in the league.

- Steffes was awarded a penalty shot in the second period last night which he missed. It was the third penalty shot of the season for Allen (Combs & Schaafsma the others) as the Americans have yet to score a penalty shot goal going 0-3.

- Quad City's win reduces Allen's lead in the Central Division to sixteen points which is the smallest lead the Americans have had in a while. Winning the division is not in doubt but Allen's lead for the best record in the ECHL is down to just one point over Fort Wayne. The Quad City win last night pushes their second place lead over Wichita and Rapid City to four points.

- Kale Kerbashian was the hero for Rapid City last night as they beat Missouri 3-2 in a shootout. Kale was the fifth shooter for Rapid City in the shootout and scored the game winner. It was another disappointing loss for the Mavericks at home as their slim playoff hopes slipped further away. Missouri is now eleven points out of a playoff spot with just sixteen games remaining.

- Chad Costello had two more points last night (goal & assist) and once again has a 30 point lead in the ECHL scoring race. Chad has scored a goal in the last five road games which is the longest streak of the season in the ECHL.

- Greger Hanson also has streak going to watch tonight. Greger has the current longest streak in the league as he has scored at least one point in the last eight road games.

- The South Carolina Stingrays won their fourteenth consecutive game last night and will go for number fifteen tonight (against last place Gwinnett) which would be the second longest streak in ECHL history. The all time record is seventeen set by the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2008.

- Patrik Valcak has yet to get his first goal for the Americans but has eight assists in the last four games which is three more assists than any other player on the team.

- If you haven't heard Tommy Daniels is battling the flu and did not make the trip to Quad City so no Americans broadcast tonight. Tommy will rejoin the team for the games in Rapid City next week.  

- Indulge me as I mention the greatest hockey tournament on earth, the Minnesota High School Hockey Torunament. Brian McMillin (who played in the tournament), Aaron Gens, Riley Gill and Kyle Follmer will all vouch for how big this event is in Minnesota. The semi-finals were last night with the finals tonight. The crowd at the Xcel Energy Center last night was 21,609 which set an all time record for any indoor hockey game in Minnesota. A big upset last night as the rich kid suburban school (Edina) that has been in the tournament 37 times and won it 12 times including the last two years was upset by Duluth East which had the worst record of any team making the tournament (14-10-4). The final score was 3-1. Duluth East will take on Lakeville North in the finals tonight. Lakeville North, which is a far out Minneapolis suburb like Allen, is the #1 seed in the tournament with a 28-0-0 record.  In the Class A tournamnet (smaller schools) the final pits #1 seed Hermantown (27-2-1) against #3 seed East Grand Forks (25-4-0).

Here are few video highlights from the tournament. Incidentally the color commentator on these highlights is Minnesota hockey legend Lou Nanne who played for the University of Minnesota, Minnesota North Stars and was captain of the 1968 US Olympic Team. He was also a coach and general manager of the Minnesota North Stars. He also spearheaded the campaign to have Herb Brooks named the coach of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" US Olympic Hockey Team. 

DID YOU KNOW: The first high school hockey tournament in the United States was held in Minnesota in 1945. In the early years the tournament was dominated by small schools in the northern part of the state. Eveleth beat Thief River Falls (both with populations around 6000) in 1945. Roseau (Brian McMillin's hometown, population around 2000) won in 1946.

Game Day, Bus Delayed, Nottingham Highlights, Scott Wray Jersey Retirement, How To Be a Hockey Player

It is game day for the Allen Americans as they take on the Quad City Mallards tonight at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois with a puck drop at 7:05 PM. The Americans didn't get on the road until 1:30 PM Thursday afternoon which was about fifteen hours later then originally scheduled so arrival time in Quad City depending on the weather was somewhere around 3:00-4:00 AM this morning (Friday).

For a complete game preview check the post from yesterday. As for the roster Garrett Clarke did make the trip and is good to go. Tyler Ludwig is not on the trip after the birth of his second child on Wednesday. The referee for the game is Chris Pitoscia. Friday night in Quad City is always $1 Beer/$1 Hot Dog night so you can be sure there will be a big and enthusiastic crowd on hand trying to help the Mallards break a four game losing streak at home. Friday nights have been difficult for the Mallards. Check out "DID YOU KNOW" below to see how difficult.


OTHER COMMENTS

That is all I have related to the game tonight so thought I would cover some miscellaneous items that have been accumulating.

- Mentioned yesterday Bruce Graham was injured Wednesday night as his Nottingham Panthers beat the Hull Stingrays 4-3. What I didn't mention was that Mike Berube scored his second goal of the season in that game and it was the game winner. Here are the highlights (and low lights when it comes to the hit that caused the injury to Bruce).

- Came across this poster that announces the Rapid City Rush will be retiring the #17 jersey of Scott Wray who is #4 all time in games played (739) in the CHL and was captain of the Rush for many years. Scott seemed to be at his best against Allen and will always be remembered as the guy who scored the championship winning goal in the unforgettable sixth game of the 2010 championship. Not that most of you need to be reminded but Allen had a 3-1 lead going into the third period of the sixth game of the championship finals and it looked like there would be a game seven. Rapid City scored twice in the third period to tie the score and Scott put an end to the magical first Allen Americans season when he scored the championship goal with 39.3 seconds remaining in the second overtime. Congrats to Scott and his family as this recognition is well deserved.

- There are some important games in the ECHL tonight in addition to Allen vs Quad City. Wichita is at Brampton and Rapid City is at Missouri so three of the teams (Quad City, Wichita, Rapid City) battling for a playoff spot in the Central Division are in action. Another game to keep an eye on is South Carolina vs Gwinnett as South Carolina will be going for their fourteenth straight win which would be the third longest streak in ECHL history.

- The video below was popular a year or so ago but came across it again when looking for something else on YouTube and thought you might enjoy it even if you have seen it before. It is always good for laugh or two.

DID YOU KNOW: Fellow Team Sin Bin writer Dan Foley who covers the Quad City Mallards had this interesting stat in a story this week. The Mallards have played at home on Friday night eight times this season and have only won once. Quad City is 1-6-1 on Friday night and a combined 11-5-2 on the other days of the week. Must have something to do with those $1 beers on Friday.

Allen vs Quad City Game Preview, Ludwig Baby, Messier Birthday, Graham Injured

First place Allen takes on second place Quad City on Friday and Saturday in Moline , IL. and the games are important for both teams. Allen is in a tight race for the best overall record in the ECHL and home ice advantage during the playoffs. Quad City is in a tight race for a playoff spot in the Central Division.


Because of the bad weather the team did not leave last night (Wednesday) as scheduled and will leave today for Quad City.


Quad City coach Terry Ruskowski will have the Mallards ready for the weekend series with Allen even though they were shutout 2-0 last night at home by Tulsa. For only the second time in his long coaching career he had a practice after the loss. And it was the kind of practice/skate players hate with no nets and no pucks. Ruskowski has not been happy with the inconsistent performance by the Mallards and apologized to the fans after the game calling the way the team played unacceptable.


- The two games this weekend will be the final of five regular season games between Allen and Quad City this year. Here are the results of the first three games. On December 10th Allen won 5-2 at the AEC in a game the Americans outshot the Mallards 40-27. The game was most memorable because it was the night Jack Combs had four goals. Quad City won at the AEC on February 16 beating Allen 2-1 while out shooting the Americans 34-26. Allen won the last meeting which was in Quad City February 25 by a score of 4-2 in a game where the Mallards had a 2-0 lead and gave up four unanswered goals to the Americans.


-  Here is a statistical comparison of Allen and Quad City:
Points: Allen (81) - Quad City (63)
Goals For: Allen (225) - Quad City (165)
Goals Allowed: Allen (156) - Quad City (151)
Goal Differential: Allen (+69) - Quad City (+14)
Team Plus/Minus: Allen (+240) - Quad City (+20)


Allen is ranked #1 in league standings. Quad City is ranked #11.
Allen is #1 in average goals scored per game (4.17). Quad City is #19 (2.89).
Allen is ranked #8 in average goals allowed (2.89). Quad City is #5 (2.65).


- Allen's record is 37-10-4-3 compared to Quad City at 28-22-4-3. In their last ten games Allen is 5-2-2-1 while Quad City is 5-4-0-1.


- Allen has a small advantage on special teams when you look at overall stats but when you look at the home and away stats the Allen advantage is substantial on the power play. On the road Allen is #1 on the power play at 23.6% and #3 on the penalty kill at 87.8%. Quad City at home is #17 on the power play at 16.7% and #4 on the penalty kill at 87.0%.


- Quad City has only one player (Mario Lamoureux) scoring at a point a game clip. Allen has three players averaging a point a game (Costello, Steffes, Hanson). Allen has four defensemen (Gens, Young, Baker, Tyler Ludwig)  in the top twelve in the league in scoring by defensemen, Quad City has none.


- The key to victory for Allen will be to got off to a fast start and get shots on goal.  In addition the  Americans need to get traffic in front of the net and pick up some of those dirty goals. This has been an area of emphasis by coach Martinson this week. Finally, the Americans need to take advantage of having the better special teams and get some power play goals.


- The Americans have been struggling recently but that has been primarily at home where they have lost six games in a row. The road has been another story as Allen has won five in a row on the road and seven of the last eight. This road trip may turn out to be just what the doctor ordered.


- Quad City has been struggling at home as the loss last night to Tulsa was their fourth straight home loss.


- You never know how games will evolve and both of the teams need a win but Allen may be looking to even the score for what they saw as a sucker punch thrown by Paxton Leroux which injured Garrett Clarke. Quad City may be looking to even the score for what they saw as Riley Gill repeatedly shoving Mario Lamoureux's head into the ice and only getting a minor penalty. You can bet neither team has forgotten these incidents. The only question is, will what happened a week ago in Quad City carryover into the upcoming series?


OTHER COMMENTS

- Congrats to Tyler and Taylor Ludwig on the birth of their second daughter yesterday. Hayden Tyler Ludwig was born at 11:28 am, weighed in at 9 lbs 10 oz and was 21.5 inches long.

Hayden Tyler Ludwig

- Happy Birthday to Jesse Messier who turns 27 today. 

Happy Birthday Jesse Messier - photo by scenebykimberly.com

- The Allen "French Connection" from last year both scored goals last night. Alex Lavoie got is 13th goal of the season as his Florida Everblades shutout Cincinnati 3-0 and Jonathan Lessard got is 14th as his Bakersfield team lost 6-5 in overtime to Colorado.

- In other former player news Bruce Graham was injured last night as his Nottingham Panthers beat the Hull Stingrays. According to a Nottingham press release, "X-rays have shown the potentially serious hand injury suffered by Bruce Graham when he was checked from behind into the boards during the home game against Hull is not a broken bone. But there are other just as serious possibilities and Bruce is booked in to see a specialist." Hope it is not as serious as the press release sounds.

Bruce Graham injured

- The race for the final three Central Division playoff spots tightened up again last night as Tulsa beat Quad City 2-0 and Wichita beat Rapid City 3-2 in overtime. Only four points separates second and fifth place. Here are the standings for first thru fifth place.
1. Allen (81 points)
2. Quad City (63 points)
3. Tulsa (60 points)
4. Wichita (59 points)
5. Rapid City (59 points)

- The Brampton Beast announced yesterday that Phil Oreskovic who retired from playing earlier this week has been named as the assistant head coach for Brampton.



DID YOU KNOW: Penalty minutes don't predict how good a team is. Case in point is the last place team in the Western Conference (Stockton) has the most penalty minutes in the ECHL (1277). The team with the best record in the ECHL (Allen) has the second most penalty minutes in the ECHL (1261).

Get Away Day for Allen, Martinson Working on Playoff Roster, Costello Honored, Playoff Race Details

- It is get away day for the Allen Americans as they will leave tonight on the first leg of a twelve day, two city, five game road trip. Unless bad weather changes the plan, the team will practice this morning (10:00 am) and depart on the 790 mile trip to Quad City around 8:00 pm. tonight. If the trip goes as planned the team will arrive in Quad City mid morning on Thursday and will have a short practice in preparation for the Friday and Saturday games with the Mallards.

- There will be a full game preview tomorrow but one of the most interesting facts about Allen and Quad City is their struggles at home and success on the road. Allen has lost six games in a row at home and won five in a row on the road. Quad City has played better on the road than at home all year as reflected in their losing home record (12-11-2-1) and winning road record (16-10-2-2).  The Mallards have lost their last three home games and have won back to back home games only once since before Christmas.

- Garrett Clarke is expected to go on the trip and is hoping to be in the line up in Quad City but that is yet to be determined. Tyler Ludwig will not be on the bus tonight as he and his wife Taylor will welcome their second daughter (Hayden) into the world this morning.

- This week and next will be very busy for Steve Martinson as it is the time of year coaches need to start making decisions on rosters for the playoffs. With the AHL trade deadline March 9 and ECHL trade deadline March 12 lots of conversations will take place with other teams, agents and the Allen affiliates ( San Jose & Worcester). One of the issues for Allen with expanded rosters for the playoffs is the salary cap. During the regular season the roster limit is 20 active players and two on reserve. In order to live within the salary cap Allen has had only 18 players on the active roster for most of the year. In order to have the playoff limit of 24 players (20 active 4 reserve) the salary cap has to be divided between the 20 active players. Coach Martinson has to decide the best approach for success. His options are to go into the playoffs with less than 20 active players, trade a high cost player or players to reduce salary, or ask players to take a small pay cut knowing they will make alot more money if the team is stronger and makes a deep playoff run. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

- Sometimes it seems like a better title for the blog this year would have been the Chad Costello Blog as every day there is something new to report on Chad's great season. Chad was named the ECHL Sher-Wood Player of the Week yesterday for the week of February 23-March 1. It was the second time this season Chad has been selected as player of the week and to be honest there were a couple of other weeks he had the best week but was not selected. He is the first repeat winner all year. Congratulations to Kale Kerbashian who was one of the runners up to Costello for player of the week.

Chad Costello named ECHL Player of the Week for second time - photo by Lauren Lyssy

- It was a quiet night around the ECHL last night with just four games on tap but the outcomes were interesting. In all four games the team that had the fewer points in the standings won the game and in three of the four there were shutouts. Here are the results.
Wheeling beat Elmira 5-0
Cincinnati beat Orlando 3-0
Alaska beat Ontario 3-0
Missouri beat Tulsa 6-3

- The Missouri win over Tulsa once again gave Mavericks fans hope for a playoff spot. It is a real long shot as Missouri would have to jump over two teams to get to the playoffs and make up nine points in 17 games. Not impossible but highly unlikely.

- The race for a playoff spot is between Quad City, Tulsa, Rapid City and Wichita as three of the four will make the playoffs. Which teams make it most likely won't be decided until the last game of the season. Tulsa and Quad City go head to head in Quad City on April 11. Rapid City finishes their season on April 10 in Allen and Wichita finishes the season at home against Allen on April 11.

- Other factors that might determine who makes the playoffs include:
Wichita plays their last six games at home including three games against Tulsa and two against Allen.
Rapid City plays Quad City four times and Brampton three in their last ten games of the season.
Quad City plays six of their last nine games on the road including four in Rapid City.
Tulsa finishes the season with three road games, two in Wichita and one in Quad City.

- Another way to look at who makes the playoffs is strength of schedule based on who these teams play for the remaining of the season. Here is the combined winning percentage of the opponents for the four teams:
.527 - Quad City
.550 - Wichita
.557 - Rapid City
.560 - Tulsa


DID YOU KNOW: One way to look at the different style of play between the ECHL Eastern Conference and Western Conference is by comparing penalty minutes. The Western Conference has seven teams with over 1000 penalty minutes while the Eastern Conference has just two. The Eastern Conference has seven team with less than 800 penalty minutes while the Western Conference has none.

Allen Readies For Long Road Trip, Quad City Payback, Combs on a Thunder Roll, Assist Records

It is practice day for the Allen Americans as they get ready to leave tomorrow for the longest road trip of the year. They will be gone twelve days and play just five games. Allen will take on Quad City Friday and Saturday and then travel to Rapid City for three games next week (Tuesday, Friday, Saturday) before arriving back in Allen March 15.

- The Americans will have some down time between games and practices so you might expect to see some pictures of the famous haunted hotel where they stay in Quad City and with two days between games in Rapid City will almost guarantee a group picture at Mount Rushmore.

- Should be able to find out at practice today what the roster will look like for the road trip. Tyler Ludwig and Garrett Clarke are currently on reserve. Tyler's wife is about to give birth to their second child so he will not be on the bus tomorrow. Clarke has an upper body injury that kept him out of the last game but would assume he will be on the trip.

- The two games with Quad City are very important to the Mallards as they have put a little bit of space (five points) between themselves and the others for second place in the Central Division. So you have two games between the first and second place teams in the division which should make for some good hockey. Add in the fact that the Mallards gave up four unanswered goals to Allen in a 4-2 loss last Wednesday along with some hard feelings on the part of both teams from that game and you have a recipe for some excitement. Allen may be looking to even the score for what they saw as a sucker punch thrown by Paxton Leroux which injured Garrett Clarke. Quad City may be looking to even the score for what they saw as Riley Gill repeatedly shoving Mario Lamoureux's head into the ice and only getting a minor penalty. You can bet neither team has forgotten these incidents. The only question is will what happened last Wednesday carryover into the upcoming series?

- Saw this quote in a preview story written by Bobby Metcalf  of the Quad-City Times about the upcoming weekend Allen vs Quad City series. It is high praise for Chad Costello which every team in the league must agree with at this point. Bobby's preview said, "It is not about shutting down Chad Costello, that has proven more than difficult for the entire league. It's about limiting the damage Costello does while shutting down the rest of the high powered Allen team." 

Jack Combs was all smiles after assisting on all four goals in Stockton's 4-2 win

- It didn't take long for Jack Combs to get on an "Thunder Roll" in Stockton. Jack didn't score in his first game for the Stockton Thunder, had a goal in his second game and broke out big time in his third game which was last night. Stockton beat Utah 4-2 and Combs assisted on all four goals. With the four points Jack leap frogged a bunch of players and is in third place in the ECHL scoring race. When you go to the ECHL stats page the top three scorers are listed on the top of the page. Nice to see Jack back on that list.

Leading Points
1	Chad Costello	92
2	Drew Fisher	62
3	Jack Combs	61

- You would normally be worried about how your favorite team will perform heading out on a five game road trip but in Allen's case they have lost six in a row at home and won five in a row on the road. The Americans have fewer regulation road losses (five) than any team in the ECHL. 

- I mentioned yesterday that in addition to all of the regular places you can get to Allen Americans Blog like "Allen American Blog" on Facebook, @allenamericans1 on Twitter and at my web site allenamericansblog.blogspot.com the blog will also now be posted at thesinbin.net. If you are the type of fan that can't get enough information about what is happening with other teams in the ECHL you will want to be a regular visitor to thesinbin.net. Lots of information all in one place. There are currently seven writers contributing with more to come in the near future. If you are on Twitter give these writers a follow. Here is the list.

Joe Rozycki - Joe founded Sin Bin and put all of this together. He is the official blogger of the Missouri Mavericks. His Twitter handle is @SinBinMavs.

Eric Rogers - Eric is the writer for the Tulsa Oilers. He lives in Oklahoma City and has been following the hockey scene in OKC for years. Eric's Twitter handle is @SinBinOilers.

Ryan Gibson - Ryan brings a unique perspective to Team Sin Bin as he is the color analyst for the Missouri Mavericks broadcasts. His Twitter handle is @RGibby6.

Dakota Johnson - Dakota will be covering the Cincinnati Cyclones and also brings the perspective of being a goalie in a men's league. Dakota's Twitter handle is @SinBinCyclones.

Dan Foley - Dan will be covering the Quad City Mallards and has been following the team since 2000. Dan's Twitter handle in @sinbinmallards.

Justin Strohm - Justin will be covering the Reading Royals. He describes himself as a Royals aficionado who bleeds purple. Justin's Twitter handle is @Purple_We_Bleed.

ECHL Memes - Maybe the best part of thesinbin.net will be the return of the meme king. He was great with CHL Memes and has been reincarnated as ECHL Memes. Let the fun begin. ECHL Memes Twitter handle is @ECHL_Memes.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the past courtesy of ECHL Memes:

DID YOU KNOW: Chad Costello has already broken the Allen Americans single season record for assists which was held by Colton Yellow Horn who had 55 assists in 2010-2011. Chad currently has 63 assists and is on pace to finish the season with 84 assists which would place him in the top five all time in the ECHL. Dan Gauthier holds the ECHL record for assists at 94 which he set in 1990-1991 playing for Knoxville. The single season assist record that will never be broken is the NHL assist record held by Wayne Gretzky. In the 1985-1986 season Gretzky had 163 assists in 80 games.

Allen Beats Wichita 6-4, Game Recap, Martinson Comments, Dell Signs NHL Deal, Joining Team Sin Bin

 The easiest thing to say about the Allen Americans game last night against Wichita is Allen came out on top by a score of 6-4 before a very disappointed crowd of 6418 at Intrust Bank Arena. Other than that it was one of the more bizarre games you will ever witness. To begin with the referee was the same one that was the referee Saturday night in Allen. Jake Brenk is well known to Allen fans from the days in the CHL. A former professional hockey player turned referee, he was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2001 NHL draft and was a teammate of Kevin Young when they both played in Holland. There have been many unusual games over the years when Brenk has been the referee and not all of them were issues against Allen. If you recall, last year he threw Quad City Mallard  coach Terry Ruskowski out of a game in Allen in the second period. An indication of the frustration on the part of both coaches on how the game was handled is the only comment from coach Martinson after the game had to with the officiating and Martinson's team won the game. Will spare you all of the details but this quote from Martinson sums it up, "I can only think of one thing more frustrating than that game and it would be going through that and losing the game." You can only imagine the frustration of Wichita coach Kevin McClelland after losing the game. Not positive about this but I remember hearing somewhere that McClelland once cut Brenk from his team.

In talking to coach Martinson he would like to get an explanation for some of the calls in the last two games which happened to be officiated by Brenk. The players are frustrated when blatant penalties are not called and then soft penalties are called. Non calls like two handed slashes which cause a player to lose portions of his teeth or a cross check to the face that results in only a two minute penalty. The ECHL is interested in protecting players as they did when Garrett Clarke recently got an eight game suspension but Martinson is baffled why other head shots seem to be minimized. Would guess after the game last night both coaches will be sending video tape to the league office looking for answers.

Enough about the officiating, here are a few of the things that made the game last night unique.
- Allen scored the first three goals of the game but then gave up two power play goals in 52 seconds to let Wichita back in the game.
- Six of the ten goals were scored on the power.
- The game included a goal scored after the goalie was pulled and an empty net goal.
- Wichita scored three power play goals (3-11) which is the most they have scored all year
- Wichita was awarded a penalty shot on a breakaway as Kirill Tulupov got the puck as he was leaving the penalty box. He bounced the shot off the post.
- Josef Fojtik appeared to be hooked from behind on a breakaway but no penalty shot was awarded.
- Allen took a 5-2 lead into the third period but almost blew the lead as Wichita scored twice including a goal with one minute left to play after they pulled the goalie.
- Wichita appeared to tie the game with 35 seconds remaining but the referee disallowed the goal saying the play was dead before the puck crossed the goal line.
- Gary Steffes scored an empty net goal with 19 seconds remaining to make the final score 6-4.
- A mini line brawl broke out at the end of the game (less than one second remaining) which ended with eight fighting majors being called. Haven't seen the video but would assume this was started by a frustrated Wichita team. The players involved from Allen (Baker, Descoteaux, Hanson & Steffes) are not the brawl starting types. It was the first fighting major of the year for Baker and Descoteaux and the second for Hanson. With the way Wichita and Allen play each other it is hard to believe they are owned by the same people.
- Two Gordie Howe hat tricks for Allen in the same game may be a record as Gary Steffes (2 goals 1 assist) and Greger Hanson (1 goal 1 assist) both accomplished the feat.
- Goal scorers for the Allen Americans were Schaafsma (13), Steffes (36 & 37), Gens (8), Costello (29) & Hanson (19).
- A balanced scoring night for Allen as nine different players had points and six different players had at least two points (Gens, Steffes, Costello, Hanson, Schaafsma & Valcak). 
- After having some low scoring games earlier in the year Allen and Wichita have had six straight high scoring games. Here are the scores of the last six games.
Allen 6 at Wichita 4 (March 1)
Wichita 6 at Allen 5 (February 18)
Allen 6 at Wichita 5 (February 16)
Wichita 5 at Allen 4 (February 14)
Wichita 4 at Allen 6 (January 17) 
Wichita 2 at Allen 8 (January 16)

- Here are the video highlights from the game courtesy of the Wichita Thunder:

 



OTHER COMMENTS

-  Coach Martinson has said on several occasions that Wichita chirps more than any team in the league. His quote from last night was, "Wichita talks so much it has become more than just a game with them. Makes the wins that much better." He has also said in the past Wichita always wants to fight when Allen has a short bench or the tough guys are out of the line up but when Allen has a full line up Wichita is all talk and no action. With five more games remaining against Wichita (two at home and three away) this rivalry will only get better.

- The points keep coming for Chad Costello as last night he had a multi point game for the eighth time in the last ten games. He now has 92 points and a 30 point lead in the ECHL scoring race. Not much of a race anymore as Costello is lapping the field.

- Aaron Gens is having a break out career year and with two more points last night (1 goal 1 assist) he now has forty points to lead all ECHL defensemen. He already has more goals (8), assists (32), points (40) and penalty minutes (170) than any season as a collegian or professional. He is also +25 in plus/minus to lead all Allen defensemen and is third among all ECHL defensemen.

- The next Allen Americans all time single season record to fall will be the record for power play goals which is held by Bruce Graham who had 16 in 2010-2011. Gary Steffes is currently second on the all time list with fifteen power play goals.

- I am sure most of you have seen by now that Aaron Dell has signed a one year, two way (NHL/AHL) deal with the San Jose Sharks for $550,000. Lots of congratulations are coming to him from all directions. When researching a story about Aaron two years ago a couple of things struck me that you might find interesting. First, is the fact that he was home schooled back in Alberta where he grew up in a community just to the north of Calgary which may account for his quiet introspective demeanor. The other fascinating thing I found was he has earned everything in his hockey career through hard work and determination. He was never the hot shot goalie that was going to be the star. As a matter of fact from his time in juniors in Calgary, to college at the University of North Dakota, to his first professional year with the Allen Americans to his recent success in the AHL he never started out as the main guy. In every situation it was through his hard work, perseverance and performance that enabled Aaron to beat out the player or players that were playing ahead of him. That is why it is so special to see a guy like Aaron Dell succeed. Nice guys can finish first and you can expect when he gets to the NHL he will over achieve there just as he has all along the way. And Allen fans will be saying they knew him when he was playing in the Central Hockey League.


TEAM SIN BIN

Finally, I wanted to mention that I have joined up with several other bloggers/writers around the ECHL to become part of a new venture started by Joe Rozycki who most of the you might know as "Sin Bin" who is the official blogger of the Missouri Mavericks. The Sin Bin was created by Joe in September 2012, with the premise of being a source of unique and in-depth information for the fans, by a fan.

Here is how Joe describes what he is trying to do in his own words. "Over the years, I have been lucky enough to interact with people from many different fan bases, thus spreading the reach of The Sin Bin. Since I was only covering the Missouri Mavericks, I felt as though a great portion of my supporters were missing out on the true interaction that takes place within the realm of The Sin Bin. So, over the course of the last few months, I considered expanding The Sin Bin into new markets, and broadening our reach to fans across the country. Now, I am proud to welcome writers in six new markets to Team Sin Bin. Those familiar with the ECHL will recognize most of the names, and we'll also welcome some fresh faces to the scene. At the end of the day, our goal is not to become some behemoth conglomerate, but to continue to give fans a voice in the always-exciting world of minor league hockey.

Barry Janssen is someone that I have a great deal of respect for, and a terrific writer. His passion for the Allen Americans and their fans is something that I would like to clone in every market, as he is the epitome of what I'm looking for at The Sin Bin. When I first started to consider making this expansion, he was the first person that I thought of, and I am beyond honored that he is a part of our team. The Allen vs. Missouri rivalry has brought us so many great moments over the years. Barry and I have developed a fantastic relationship from this, and I know that he will represent Team Sin Bin with dignity, integrity, and tremendous insight."

I appreciate the kind words from Joe and look forward to working with him and the entire Team Sin Bin. For Allen Americans fans that read my blog on a regular basis there will be no change in how you access the blog whether it is through Facebook, Twitter or directly from the web site. What will be different is my blog will also be posted on the Sin Bin web site which is at thesinbin.net for others to see along with content from the other Sin Bin writers. It will be a place to go to get information from all over the ECHL so I encourage you to check it out.

I have already been asked why I am becoming part of Team Sin Bin when I am already writing for the Minor League Hockey Report (MLHR).  The details will come out at a later date but I want everyone to know I am making the move to Team Sin Bin with the knowledge and endorsement of MLHR who had this to say,  "We wish Barry all the best in his new endeavor. Barry is a well-respected blogger, not only in Allen but throughout the ECHL. His knowledge of the sport and the people in it is second to none and provides a great resource to fans."

The Allen Americans Blog is now a member of Team Sin Bin

DID YOU KNOW: In the strange stat category Gary Steffes had two goals against Wichita last night and leads the ECHL in goals scored with 37. In second place is his teammate Chad Costello with 29 goals. The strange stat is Gary has not scored just one goal in a game for over a month. The last time he had just one goal was January 29. In fourteen straight games Steffes has had either no goals or two goals.

Allen Falls to Brampton 6-5, Game Recap, Coaches Comments, Jersey Auction & More

Kyle Follmer drops the gloves to defend a teammate - photo by scenebykimberly.com

The home woes continued for the Allen Americans last night as they lost for the sixth straight time at the Allen Event Center (AEC) before the largest crowd of the season (5816). Chad Painchaud scored his third goal of the game at the 2:56 mark of overtime to give the Brampton Beast a 6-5 win over the Americans after Allen had tied the score with just nine seconds remaining in the game on a goal by Kevin Young. Defensive lapses once again cost Allen the game as they allowed the #26 ranked team in goals scored to get six goals. It was the most goals scored by Brampton all season.

The goal scorers for Allen were Josef Fojtik (4), Tyler Ludwig (14), Greger Hanson (18), Trevor Ludwig (6), and Kevin Young (7).  If you look at the box score a lot of stats are favorable as Allen scored the first goal of the game (they win 83% of the time when scoring first), they won the special teams battle (Allen 1-5 on the power play, Brampton 0-5), and they out shot the Beast 40-37. However, if there is not a commitment to playing defense by the entire team you will get beat more often than not. It happened early in the season and has been happening more and more recently.

Might be hard to believe but the good news is Allen boarded the bus after the loss to Brampton. The Americans had to travel 361 miles through the night in some marginal weather where they will play the Wichita Thunder at 5:05 pm tonight. As poorly as the Americans have played at home recently they have been great on the road. They have won four in a row and six of the last seven road games. Let's hope that streak continues against the Thunder.



COACHES COMMENTS

Had the chance to catch up with Steve Martinson, Erik Adams and Kevin Colley after the game to get their collective thoughts on the loss to Brampton. It was obvious they are tired of losing at home and the performance against the Beast was not acceptable.

- Putting the puck in the net is too much on the mind of the players. They need to be aggressive but we need a better balance between offense and defense. We should not be allowing six goals in a game like tonight.

- We didn't play last night while Brampton played in Wichita and didn't get to Allen until around 5:00 am this morning and we allow them to comeback like that in the third period and beat us in overtime.  A performance like that is just not good enough.

-  It seemed like everytime we made a mistake tonight the puck ended up in our net.

- Unlike the NHL where you can have scorers and grinders the roster size in the ECHL requires everyone to do both. Skill guys need to be able to play without the puck. We are not getting that consistently right now. Tonight we got beat on the rush and we got beat in our zone.

- We have not played well in four on four situations this year whether it is in overtime or because of penalties. That is a big red flag of poor defensive play.

- Steve Tarasuk will be in the line up in Wichita and Riley Gill will be in goal. I am not sure who will be the healthy scratch. Everyone will go on the trip and I will decide tomorrow who won't play.

- I thought we started to get traffic to the net in the third period which was good to see.

- One of the decisions I will have to make soon is whether we have too many offensive players and not enough guys that are good defensively. It might be time to make a move with the ECHL trade deadline coming up on March 12.

- We had several odd man rushes where we didn't even get a shot. Sometimes you need to slow down and make a play.


OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen has had a slump most every year around this time but the current six game home losing streak is very similar to the seven game losing streak in 2012-2013. The team went a month without winning at home that year and it has been a month (January 29) since Allen has won at home this year. In 2012-2013 four of the seven games in the losing streak went to overtime so the Americans were getting points. This year three of the six game losing streak have gone to overtime. In 2012-2013 the long home losing streak lead to a championship so let's hope that pattern continues this year as well.

- The coaches mentioned how poorly Allen seems to play in four on four situations and overtime stats would back that up. Last night was the sixth time this year a game was decided in overtime and Allen has lost four of the six. You combine the 2-4 overtime record with the 2-3 shootout record and you have the second worst record in the ECHL. As good as Allen has been overall this year they are ranked #27 in the ECHL when games are not decided in regulation. The Allen record is 4-7 with a win percentage of just .364.

- Chad Costello had three assists last night and now has 90 points on the season. His lead in the ECHL scoring race has increased to an incredible 28 points. Chad won the ECHL MVP award in 2012 and is the odds on favorite to win the award again this year. If he does he will be the first player to win the award twice in the history of the league.

- Aaron Gens had an assist last night and now leads all ECHL defensemen in points with 38.

- In the Police vs Fire game which was played prior to the Americans game the winner was the Fire Department. The Fire department leads the annual series 4-2. With four Allen players being involved in the Fire department intern program this year watch out if any of them eventually get hired as firemen after their playing days are over.

- The Americans wore specialty jerseys (Fire Department) last night that were auctioned off after the game. Here is a partial list of what some of the jerseys went for courtesy of a fan who attended the auction and sent this information along:
Schaafsma - $850
Young - $450
Descoteaux - $350
Barr - $550
Steffes - $450
Gill - $450
Follmer - $400
Tyler Ludwig - $650
Valcak - $750
Hanson - $750
Trevor Ludwig - $700
Messier - $450
Fojtik - $450
Costello - $600
Gens - $600
Baker - $500

Auctioneer Tommy Daniels auctioning off the Gary Steffes jersey - photo by Lauren Lyssy

- Jack Combs got his first goal as a member of the Stockton Thunder last night in a losing cause. It was his first ECHL point since January 11th when he was playing for Allen. Despite playing as many as 21 fewer games than those ahead of him in the ECHL scoring race Combs is eighth in scoring with 57 points and just five points out of second.

- South Carolina beat Florida last night 4-3 and has now won a league leading thirteen games in a row.

- In the AHL last night Ian Schultz (Iowa) won 3-2 over Lake Erie. Ian had one shot on goal and had a fight. Spencer Asuchak (Providence) beat Norfolk 4-3 with Spencer having all zeros except he was a -1.  Worcester was shutout by St. John's 2-0. Aaron Dell did not play and Rylan Schwartz had two shots on goal.

- Congratulations to Aaron Dell who was just signed to a one year, two way NHL contract by the San Jose Sharks for $550,000. 

Aaron Dell signs NHL contract

DID YOU KNOW: Chad Costello is now the all time single season record holder for the Allen Americans in both points (90) and assists (62). When the season is over Costello will have more assists than any other player in Allen history has had points in a season with the possible exception of Bruce Graham and Colton Yellow Horn. Pretty amazing!