Allen Wins First of Five Against Kansas City, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Martinson Interview, Rematch Preview and Penalty Shot History

 

In one of the most complete games of the season Allen earned its second road shutout last night by beating the Kansas City Mavericks 3-0 before a crowd of  2169 at Cable Dahmer Arena. Allen allowed the Mavericks just 16 shots on goal and only two in the third period.  The 16 shots allowed is the second fewest in the ECHL this season. Allen also holds the top spot in shots allowed in a game which was against Wichita on January 1 when the Americans gave up just 12 shots. The two shots the Americans gave up in the third period is #2 in the league this season. The #1 spot was in the same game against Wichita on January 1st when the Americans gave up one third period shot. 

- Allen out shot Kansas City in every period, they scored a goal in every period, the penalty kill was perfect (0-2), the goaltending was excellent and the power play generated a lot of shots even though they didn't score.

- It was a great night for the defensemen as they were a big part of the shutout and scored all three Allen goals. The Americans were led by Les Lancaster who scored the first goal of the game on a rare 2-on-1 defensemen rush with Turner Ottenbreit. Nolan Kneen scored his fourth goal of the season in the second period to give Allen a 2-0 lead at the second intermission. Lancaster scored his second goal of the game and fifth of the season on another rare play in the third period, a penalty shot. It was the eighth penalty shot of the season in the ECHL and just the third successful one. Allen has two of the three penalty shot goals this season, Spencer Asuchak has the other one.

 

- Jake Paterson had to make just 16 saves to earn his second shutout of the season but stopped some grade A shots. Jake improved his record to 4-1-1-0 and now has the #2 GAA in the ECHL (1.79) and the #2 save percentage (.939). Not a bad effort considering Paterson was not going to start the game until the designated starter, Justin Kaplemaster, was injured when he was hit by a puck at the pregame skate. Coach Martinson told me Justin assured him he could play through the soreness but was not 100% so Martinson opted to go with Paterson. The plan is for Kapelmaster to play on Monday. 

 

- With his two goals last night Les Lancaster is now #1 in the ECHL in goals scored by defensemen with five. Nolan Kneen, who scored his fourth goal of the season is tied for #2 in the ECHL. Matt Register didn't have a point last night but his 17 points is tied for #1 in the ECHL. A talented group of offensive defensemen but just as important, they are a big part of the Americans having the #3 ranked team in average goals allowed at 2.38. Register and Turner Ottenbreit are both in the top ten in plus/minus for defensemen.  

 

- Here is the game recap from the Allen Americans:  https://allenamericans.com/media/game-recap/americans-blank-kansas-city-behind-jake-patersons-16-saves/

  

- Here are the video highlights and the post game interview with Steve Martinson. If you have any problems you can finds these videos at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4skvqPU3CGKx-vRDPCD4tA

 

  

- The Americans are back at it this afternoon (4:05 CST) for game two of five straight against the Mavericks. Jake Paterson will get the start with Justin Kapelmaster dinged up but even if he is okay to play Martinson typically gives his goalies the next start after a shutout. Jesse Mychan didn't make the trip and Allen added forward Jared Bethune yesterday but the Americans are playing with eight defensemen and just nine forwards. Using three lines wouldn't be a problem normally but with three games in less than 45 hours Martinson will use a couple of defensemen up front at times to try and keep everyone fresh.

- Obviously Allen scored first last night as they have in their last two games, both wins. The Americans record when they score first is now 12-1-0-0. When they don't score first Allen's record is 3-4-1-0. Another good start is key tonight.

 

- The one area where there is room for improvement is on the power play. Prior to last night, when one Kansas City player took 12 penalty minutes, the Mavericks were the least penalized team in the ECHL. They are ranked #13 now averaging 11.35 PIM per game. The Americans went scoreless last night and haven't had a power play goal in their last four games. Allen looked good on a couple of their power plays against the Mavericks with three shots on goal but could not cash in. They may not get a lot of power play chances in the game tonight but it would sure help to convert on one or two. Coach Martinson is giving a lot of players power play time and you can expect more of that in the game today.

 

- Another key in the game today is controlling Kansas City's top line. The line, led by Brodie Reid, who is leading the ECHL with 24 points, had a couple of excellent opportunities last night but Jake Paterson made great stops. The top line has almost half of the Mavericks goals this season  (23 of 47). It is not reasonable to expect to hold this top line off the scoreboard completely but minimizing their damage will be key.

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Wichita beat Utah 4-2 on the road last night, Rapid City beat Tulsa 2-0 at home and Fort Wayne lost in Wheeling 4-3 in overtime. Here are the Western Conference standings by points percentage:

.750 - Wichita

.738 - Allen

.595 - Utah

.500 - Fort Wayne

.479 - Tulsa

.425 - Kansas City

.375 - Rapid City

 

- After just 12 shutouts in the first two months of the ECHL season there were three last night. In addition to Jake Paterson's 3-0 shutout against Kansas City, Michael Lackey of Orlando shutout Greenville 5-0 and Adam Carlson of Rapid City shutout Tulsa 2-0. A good night for the goalies. 

 

- San Jose Barracuda lost to Texas 5-3 last night with all three players that were in Allen to start the season dressed for the game. Zach Sawchenko was the backup goalie, Joe Garreffa had no points and two shots. Jake McGrew scored his is first AHL goal. 

 

- Iowa played short with just five defensemen in its game last night. Allen has eight defensmen on the roster including two (Register and Beaulieu) under contract with the Wild. If Iowa is down to five healthy defensemen they have to be thinking about recalling a couple of defensemen from Allen. Iowa doesn't play again until Saturday.  

 

DID YOU KNOW: Allen has 25% of the penalty shots awarded in the ECHL this season and 67% of the successful penalty shots. Here are the Allen players that have had penalty shots since the Americans joined the ECHL. Prior to this season Allen had converted on three of 14 (21%) of their penalty shots. Successful penalty shots are marked with an asterisk:

2020-21 - *Spencer Asuchak, *Les Lancaster

2019-20 - Alex Breton

2018-19 - *Zach Pochiro, *Alex Breton, Adam Miller

2017-18 - Zach Hall, Zach Hall, Jonathan Lessard

2016-17 - Spencer Asuchak, *Zach Hall

2015-16 - J.P. LaFontaine, Spencer Asuchak

2014-15 - Jack Combs, Jamie Schaafsma, Gary Steffes

 

   

Allen vs Kansas City Preview Plus News and Notes

 

It is gameday for the Allen Americans as they are in Kansas City where they will play the Mavericks tonight (7:05 CST), Sunday (4:05 CST) and Monday (1:05 CST). Allen then returns home to play the Mavericks twice more (February 19 & 20). 

 

- Allen and Kansas City have played just once this season but have 10 more games to play (5 home, 5 away). On January 23 in Kansas City the Americans beat the Mavericks 2-1 with Conner Bleackley scoring both Allen goals. 

 

 - Allen's record is 14-5-1-0 with a point percentage of .725 which is #2 in the Western Conference. Kansas City's record is 7-9-2-1 with a points percentage of .447 which is #6 in the Western Conference. The Americans are 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games but have lost three of their last five games. Allen beat Utah 2-1 in a shootout in their last game. The Mavericks are 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 games and have lost three straight. They lost to Utah 3-2 in their last game. Allen's record in Kansas City over the last five seasons is 9-10-1-0.

 

-  When you compare Allen's road and Kansas City's home special teams stats a small advantage goes to the Americans. On the power play Allen is 9-44 (20.5%) and Kansas City is 6-34 (17.6%). On the penalty kill Allen is 6-38 (84.2%) and Kansas City is 5-28 (82.1%). 

- If you look at recent performance the Allen special teams have not performed well. The Americans have allowed a power play goal in seven of their last eight games. The penalty kill percentage over that time is just 70.8%. The Americans have not scored a power play goal in the last three games.

- Coach Martinson has added a forward to the roster as the Americans are very thin up front and will be missing a forward this weekend. Martinson has been rotating goalies each game so Justin Kapelmaster will get the start in goal tonight.

 

- If any of the games this weekend go extra time, advantage Allen. The Americans are 3-1 and the Mavericks are 2-3 in overtime/shootout games.  

- As always the first goal will be key. Allen scored first and won the game when these teams played in January. Their combined record when scoring first is 17-2-0-1. 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Fort Wayne opened its season last night with a 3-2 shootout loss in Wheeling. The other game of interest was Wichita winning 3-2 in a shootout in Utah. Former Allen forward, J.C. Campagna, playing in his first game for Wichita was the second player out for the Thunder in the shootout and he converted. With the win Wichita took over the Western Conference lead with a points percentage of .735.

 

- There are six games in the ECHL tonight. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview of all of them:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/2/echl-today-feb-13  

- Orlando is the only team (excluding Fort Wayne who hasn't scored a first goal) remaining that has not lost when scoring first. The Solar Bears have scored the first goal in just six of their 18 games and won them all. 

DID YOU KNOW: The best record when scoring first the last five seasons:

2019-20: 7-0-0-1  Newfoundland

2018-19: 26-4-2-0  Orlando

2017-18: 36-3-2-1  Toledo

2016-17: 35-2-0-1  Colorado

2015-16: 35-4-2-2  South Carolina

Getaway Day, Baby It's Cold Outside, Team Leaders, Stats, Martinson's Win Total and More

 

 It is getaway day for the Allen Americans as they head to Kansas City (475 miles) where they will play the Mavericks on Saturday (7:05 CST), Sunday (4:05 CST) and Monday (1:05 CST). Allen then returns home to play the Mavericks twice more (February 19 & 20). The team will not practice today before they leave with departure scheduled for 11:00 am.

 

- The Allen roster is down to 20 players with two goalies, eight defensemen and 10 forwards but that includes forward Colby McAuley who is on injured reserve. Not much room for injury or illness with so few players. As I mentioned yesterday there is no doubt Steve Martinson has been on the phone trying to add a player or two on what is a very lean roster. 

 

- Weather conditions are as bad in Allen as the team will experience in Kansas City. Over the next few days Allen could see 4-7 inches of snow with some estimates even higher and the temperature could go below zero (-1). In Kansas City the forecast is more like two inches of snow with -8 the low before the Americans get out of town. Here is what is in store for the hometowns of some of the players over the next few days. Temperatures are in Fahrenheit and are not windchill temps. Some wind chills will reach -50:

-34: Zane Franklin, Marwayne, Alberta

-27: Dyson Stevenson, Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

-27: Turner Ottenbreit, Yorkton, Saskatchewan

-27: Ben Carroll & Colby McAuley, Sherwood Park, Alberta

-22: Conner Bleackley, High River, Alberta

-21 - Phil Beaulieu, Duluth, Minnesota 

For the guys from British Columbia (Asuchak & Kneen) it will be warmer at home than it will be in Allen. Monday night could see -1 in Allen while it will be 22 at home. The player you should really feel sorry for is goalie Justin Kapelmaster as in his hometown the lowest temp the next few days will be 71. Justin hails from Coral Springs, Florida. 

 

- Not a lot of new info to cover today as you can tell by the weather information. Haven't covered Allen's individual stats for a while so here are the leaders and ECHL rank (in parenthesis) for some of the major categories:

Points - 20, Corey Mackin (#3)

Goals - 10, Jesse Mychan (#3)

Assists - 15, Matt Register (#2)

Penalty Minutes - 48, Zane Franklin (#4)

Minor Penalties - 14, Zane Franklin (#1)

Shots - 83, Jesse Mychan (#2)

Defensemen Points - 17, Matt Register (#1)

Defensemen Goals - 3, Les Lancaster & Nolan Kneen (#3)

Defensemen Shots - 51, Matt Register (#1)

Rookie Points - 13, Joe Garreffa (#4)

GAA - 2.14, Jake Paterson (#3)

Save Percentage - .933, Jake Paterson (#3)  

 

- There are some ECHL stats that seem out of whack in this pandemic season with half of the teams not playing. The one that seems really strange is hat tricks. There have been 122 games played thus far with just one hat trick. The lone hat trick was scored on January 2 by Felix Robert of Wheeling who scored the Nailers first three goals against Indy. Wheeling ended up losing the game 5-4 in overtime. The single hat trick in 122 games is less than 1%. In the shortened 2019-20 season there were 72 hat tricks in 797 games which is 9% of the games with a hat trick.

 

- There have been 12 shutouts in 122 games which is 9.8%. In the shortened 2019-20 season there were 92 shutouts in 797 games which is 11.5%. 

- The final comparison between last season and thus far this season is penalty shots. So far this season there have been seven penalty shots in 122 games which is 5.7%. Two of the seven penalty shots have been successful (one by Spencer Asuchak). The penalty shot success rate is 28.6%. Last season there were 39 penalty shots in 797 games which is 4.9%. Of the 39 penalty shots 11 were successful for a success rate of 28.2%. 

- When you look at the three stats, penalty shots and shutouts are close percentagewise from last season to this season. However, hat tricks are way down. Maybe they will catch up as the season progresses or maybe there is something else going on. Part of the reason for so few hat tricks this season could be the delayed start of the AHL that meant a lot of good goalies start the season in the ECHL who are now on AHL rosters. 

 

- There are four games on tap in the ECHL tonight. If you are scoreboard watching the game to keep an eye on is Wichita at Utah, the two teams right behind Allen in the standings. These teams will also play each other on Saturday and Sunday. The other game of interest is Fort Wayne finally starting their season as they will be in Wheeling. Here is the ECHL Today with a preview on all of the games tonight:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/2/echl-today-feb-12 tonight.  

 

- I sure don't have the answer to what advantage Fort Wayne may have in playing so few games (50 vs 72) compared to the rest of the teams in the league. You would think playing a grinding style like the Komets would benefit by a shorter season. On the other hand they need to play well right from the get go as there is not as much time to sort things out if they get off to a poor start. Also, the advantage of fewer games is offset by a more condensed schedule. The first month of their season Fort Wayne plays only two teams. The best team in the league, Indy, with a points percentage of .806 they play five times. The worst team in the league, Wheeling, with a points percentage of .333 they play nine times. Still seems strange they play only six of their 50 games against opponents in their own conference and those six games don't happen until the last two weeks of the season. As coach Martinson always says, all you can worry about is beating the team your are facing and if you beat them all you will win the championship. Good advice rather than carping about all the things you think are unfair.

DID YOU KNOW: Steve Martinson's regular season record since joining the Allen Americans in 2012-13 is a lofty 330-184-35-25 which is a winning percentage of .627. Martinson now has 1057 wins, second most all time. He trails all time leader Scotty Bowman by 187 wins and don't count Martinson out in catching Bowman.  

  

 

A Deep Dive on the 2020-21 Allen Americans Schedule, How Travel Has Changed from the Big Red Days, Fort Wayne in Western Conference in Name Only

 

The ECHL final schedule was published yesterday. It is a little late since the Americans have already played 28% of their games but I thought it would be worthwhile to do the annual "deep dive" on the Americans schedule. It is probably more information than you would ever want to know about the schedule but it will give you many different views of what coach Martinson and the team have been dealing with and will be dealing with in 2020-21.


- From a travel standpoint the Americans will make two more trips to Rapid City and two more trips to to Utah. They have been to each place once already. Allen will have just three games with opponents outside the Western Conference when they visit Greenville later this month (February 25, 26, 27). 

- Below is a complete list of Allen's 72 games by opponent. Teams with an asterisk are Western Conference foes.
                                                                                       

 18 games - Utah (8 home 10 away)*                
 16 games - Rapid City (7 home 9 away)*            
 13 games - Tulsa (8 home 5 away)*                      
 11 games - Wichita (8 home 3 away)*
 11 games - Kansas City (5 home 6 away)*
 3 games - Greenville (0 home, 3 away)                      


- Note the emphasis on conference play. Allen will play 96% of their games (69 of 72) against Western Conference foes. It is noteworthy and disappointing the Americans play just six different teams (only five at home) compared to 12 or 13 different teams the last three seasons. 

 

- Given the pandemic it is a surprise that Allen is playing Tulsa and Wichita fewer times than normal while playing Utah and Rapid City more times than normal. Playing one team (Utah) 18 times is an all time record by far. 

 

- Allen does not play again in Wichita but will play the Thunder five more times at the Allen Event Center, April 20, 30, May 1,2 and June 2. The three games at the end of April and beginning of May are makeup games for postponed games in January. 

 

- Here is a breakdown of the schedule by month.

 December - 6 games (5 home, 1 away)

January - 10 games (0 home, 10 away)

February - 12 games (5 home, 7 away)

March - 11 games (6 home, 5 away)

April - 15 games (12 home, 3 away)

May - 15 games (5 home 10 away)

June - 3 games (3 home, 0 away)

 

- Allen's worst month is behind them as they spent the entire month of January on the road. April and May will be a long grind with 30 games in 59 days.  

- With the exception of one trip for three games in Rapid City (April 14,16,17) the Americans will be at home for 50 days between March 22 and May 6. The longest road trip remaining on the schedule is the last half of May when the Americans play nine straight road games. 

- One of the many things the team looks at when the schedule comes out is how many times they have to play three games back to back to back. Three games in three days is stressful especially if there is travel involved. Players are more prone to injuries in these situations. In 2018-19 three-in-three happened eight times. In the shortened 2019-20 Allen was scheduled to play three games in three days seven times. In 2020-21 Allen will play three-in-three eight times. Between now and the end of the season the Americans have five:

 Dec. 31, Jan. 1,2  - Wichita (H), Wichita (A), Wichita (A)
 January 29, 30, 31 - Utah (A), Utah (A), Utah (A)
 February 13, 14, 15 - Kansas City (A), Kansas City (A), Kansas City (A)
 March 12, 13, 14 - Utah (A), Utah (A), Utah (A)
 April 1, 2, 3 - Utah (H), Utah (H), Utah (H)
 April 23, 24, 25 - Utah (H), Utah (H), Utah (H)
 May 7, 8, 9 - Tulsa (A), Tulsa (H), Tulsa (H)

 May 28, 29, 30 - Rapid City (A), Rapid City (A), Rapid City (A) 

- Allen has a few times where they play the same team four or five games in a row. It starts this weekend as the Americans will play Kansas City five straight (3 away, 2 home). Between March 3-14 Allen plays Utah four straight (1 home 3 away) and follow Utah with four straight against Tulsa (2 home. 2 away). Allen plays Tulsa four straight again between May 5-9 (3 home, 1 away). Allen's final four straight against the same team comes on May 19 when the Americans play the Grizzlies four times in five days in Utah.

 

- Here is the current point percentage for the six teams on Allen's schedule. The number of times Allen plays each team is in parenthesis:

.725 - ALLEN

.719 - Wichita (11 games)

.632 - Utah (18 games)

.605 - Greenville (3 times)

.452 - Tulsa (13 games)

.447 - Kansas City (11 games)

.381 - Rapid City (16 games) 

- Here is the press release issued by the Allen Americans with more details on the final phase of the schedule including a link to the schedule: https://allenamericans.com/news/general/americans-announce-final-phase-of-the-regular-season-schedule/

 

- Here is the ECHL press release on the final phase of the schedule which includes a calendar where you can see the schedule for all teams: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/2/echl-announces-remainder-of-2020-21-schedule

 

 - It is disappointing that Fort Wayne, who was added to the seven team Western Conference and is about to start play, is not on Allen's schedule. As a matter of fact, Fort Wayne only plays six of their 50 games within the Western Conference, three each against Wichita and Utah. Fort Wayne gets a break by only playing 50 games instead of 72, but they play 88% of their 50 games outside the Western Conference. If you were a conspiracy theorist you would really go nuts because the league has scheduled Fort Wayne to play the worst team in the league (Wheeling) with a points percentage of .333 a whopping 19 times. That's 38% of the Komet's 50 game schedule. C'MON MAN!
 



DID YOU KNOW: Travel has certainly gotten easier for the Americans from the days of "Big Red" when the team bused everywhere. Now the team flies everywhere except Wichita, Tulsa and Kansas City. The only bus trips the Americans will make the remainder of the season are two trips each to Tulsa and Kansas City. 

A far cry from the past as I pulled this out of the archives:  During the 2015-16 season the Allen Americans were scheduled to travel 30,000 miles to their 36 road games with 22,000 miles being on the bus. They flew on the 8,000 mile round trip to Alaska.
 

 

Allen Gets Shootout Win, Game Recap, Video Highlights, News and Notes

 

The Allen Americans ended their two game losing streak last night with a 2-1 shootout win over the Utah Grizzlies. A win is a win and any time you can add two points in the standings is a good night, especially at home, but there is still a lot of work to be done to get back to the Allen team that started the season with a record of 12-3. 

 

- Maybe the die was cast when Allen scored the first goal of the game. The Americans had given up the first goal in four straight games prior to last night. It took until 1:27 of the second period but they managed their first and only goal of the game (until the shootout) when Corey Mackin scored shorthanded. Allen is almost unbeatable when scoring first with a record of 11-1.

 

- If you watched the game and look at the box score there are several things that stand out. The first being the fact Utah was playing with a short bench. They just had two of their best players loaned to their AHL affiliate (Colorado) so the Grizzlies played last night with 14 skaters instead of the 17 allowed. Despite being shorthanded the Grizzlies outshot the Americans 32-25 including a lopsided 15-6 in the third period when Allen should have been the fresher team. Coach Martinson's comment to me was, "Utah's forwards had more energy in the third period than we did."  Jake Paterson made a spectacular save on what should have been a sure goal with just over two minutes remaining in the game. It was definitely a game saver.

- Utah's only goal came on the power play. The Americans have allowed a power play goal in seven of their last eight games. The penalty kill percentage over that time is a meager 70.8%.

- Allen was scoreless on the power play (0-2) and have not scored a power play goal in the last three games. However, the Americans have had few power play opportunities the last three games going 0-5.

 

- Neither team did much in the overtime period with each getting just one shot on goal. It was another story when the game went to a shootout. The shootout didn't even go three rounds as Allen's shooters, first Conner Bleackley and then Corey Mackin both scored and Jake Paterson stopped Utah's first two shooters to the secure the win. Allen caught a break as the Grizzlies switched goalies for the shootout which has to be tough for the goalie that sat on the bench the entire game and overtime to come in cold for the shootout. Haven't seen any comments about the reason for the switch but injury is the only plausible reason you would make a change. 

 

- Allen is now 2-0 in shootouts (both against Utah) and has the best conversion percentage in the ECHL at 60% (3-5) and are also tied for #1 in shootout goals allowed with zero (0-5).

 

- Here are the video highlights with the goals, the fights, the shootout and the Paterson's remarkable save. Remember, you can find the video at this link if you have problems opening it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PWpLYmvqnA   

Here is the game recap issued by the Utah Grizzlies: https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/grizzlies-news/allen-defeats-utah-2-1-in-a-shootout

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- The Americans now prepare for a trip to Kansas City where they will play the Mavericks on Saturday (7:05 CST), Sunday (4:05 CST) and Monday (1:05 CST). Allen then returns home to play the Mavericks twice more (February 19 & 20). The Allen roster is down to 20 players with two goalies, eight defensemen and 10 forwards but that includes forward Colby McAuley who is on injured reserve. Martinson has players coming but not sure if anyone will be available for this weekend. You can be sure he is on the phone talking to players, agents and coaches.   

 

- The Allen Americans released Braylon Shmyr yesterday. Braylon returned to Allen this season after playing for the Americans as a rookie in 2018-19 when he had 44 points (20G, 24A). Shmyr was injured in training camp and spent the first two months of the season on injured reserve. He played in three games since he returned to the lineup and had no points. In talking to coach Martinson he knows he has forwards coming soon and he wanted to release Shmyr now rather than later because teams are looking for forwards and Braylon will be claimed off waivers. 

- Conner Bleackley made a great pass to Corey Mackin for Allens only goal last night. The two also scored the Allen goals in the shootout. Bleackley has played in 12 games since signing in Allen and has yet to have a negative plus/minus game. He leads the team in plus minus (+11), Matt Register is second at +9.

- Three of the top six Allen players in points per game are no longer with the team as they have been recalled by their AHL team; #1 Joe Garreffa (1.18), #5 Tyler Sheehy (.92) and #6 Jake McGrew (.73). Now #2 Corey Mackin (1.00), #3 Jesse Mychan (.95) and #4 Matt Register (.94) are carrying the load. Register leads all ECHL defensemen in points per game (minimum 10 games).

- Wichita signed former Allen forward Bryan Moore last week but he refused to report. The Thunder have now signed another former Allen forward, J.C. Campagna.

 

- The Americans had the smallest crowd of the season last night with 1246 attending the game. When you combine it was a rare Tuesday night game, the Dallas Stars were playing and the weather forecast was iffy it was a tough combination of factors. Allen's average attendance after eight home games is now 1835 which places them #9 of the 13 teams playing. Look for the average attendance to increase as the season progresses.

- Here is my post from ECHL stats today. Quite a tribute to Allen that of the five players in ECHL history that have won three or more championships, two of them have won championships  in Allen.

With Tom Brady winning his seventh championship it is time to look at the players with the most ECHL championships. Only five players in the history of the ECHL have won three championships and just one has four:

 

4 - Nick Vitucci (Goalie) - Carolina 1989, Greensboro 1990, Toledo 1994, Charlotte 1996

3 - Scott Burt (Forward) - Idaho 2004, 2007, Alaska 2011

3 - Riley Gill (Goalie) - Reading 2013, Allen 2015, 2016

3 - Matt Register (Defenseman) - Allen 2016, Colorado 2017, 2018

3 - Patrick Wellar (Defenseman) - Alaska 2006, South Carolina 2009, Reading 2013

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: No players were with coach Martinson in all four championship seasons in Allen. Six players won three championships with the Americans. Spencer Asuchak is the only one on this list still playing pro hockey and has a chance to win a fourth championship in Allen.

 

 

Tyler Ludwig - 2013, 2014, 2015

Trevor Ludwig - 2013, 2014, 2015

Brian McMillin - 2013, 2014, 2015

Jamie Schaafsma - 2013, 2014, 2015

Spencer Asuchak - 2014, 2015, 2016

Greger Hanson - 2014, 2015, 2016

Allen vs Utah Preview, Wild Games Postponed After COVID Breakout, WOW Stats Around the ECHL and More

 

The Utah in Allen tonight for one game before the Grizzlies travel to Wichita for three games this weekend. It will be the fourth time this season Allen has played the Grizzlies, the Americans won two of three games in Utah at the end of January.

- Allen's schedule is always dominated by games with Tulsa (230 miles from Allen) and Wichita (360 miles form Allen). That is not the case with the current schedule. The schedule for the last two months of the season (April 4 to June 6) hasn't been released but you can assume their will be a heavy dose of games against Tulsa and Wichita. What is clear is the current schedule has a lot of games against Utah (1240 miles from Allen). Between January 29 and April 3 the Americans schedule has 29 games, 11 of them (38%) are against Utah. 

 

- Allen's record is 13-5-1-0 (27 points) with a points percentage of .711. Utah's record is 11-4-1-0 (23 points) with a point percentage of .639.

 

- Utah arrives in Allen on a three game win streak. Their last loss was in a shootout at home on January 30 against Allen. The Americans enter the game tonight having lost three of their last four games. 

 

- In their three head to head games Allen had the edge in goals (11-8) but Utah had the edge in shots (85-83). Utah was 4-14 (28.6%) on the power play, Allen was 3-14 (21.4%). Allen took 16 penalties for 40 minutes, Utah took 17 penalties for 40 minutes. Based on the head to head stats these teams are evenly matched.

 

- If you compare special team rankings Utah on the road is #5 (18.2%) on the power play and #1 on the penalty kill. Allen at home is ranked #6 (15.6%) on the power play and #8 (82.1%) on the penalty kill. Utah has the stats edge on special teams both head to head and overall. This will be a key tonight for the Americans. 

 

- With the advantage scoring the first goal of the game provides it is not a surprise the team that scored first won all three games these team recently played in Utah. Allen's record when scoring first is 10-1, Utah's record when scoring first is 7-1-1-1. Allen has given up the first goal in their last four games and lost three of them. The Americans have to get off to a better start tonight if the expect to win. Being ready to play from the first puck drop will be more important than ever for Allen to get out of this mini-slump.

 

- The top scorers for Allen in the three head to head games against Utah were Jesse Mychan with five points (1G, 4A) and Matt Register with four points (1G, 3A). Corey Mackin had two goals in the three games. Utah had four players with three points in the three games against Allen but two of them were loaned to Colorado (AHL) yesterday. They lost their top scoring defenseman, Miles Gendron and forward Riley Woods.

 

- A couple of other team stats worth noting are shooting percentage and save percentage. Allen scores on 10.3% of their shots on goal, Utah on 9.7%. Team goalie stats shows Allen with a .922 save percentage and Utah at .901. 

 

- With the exception of Colby McAuley, who is on injured reserve, everyone else should be available for the game tonight which means one defenmseman will sit out.  Jake Paterson will get the start in goal and if you notice what looks like a new player on the ice it is just Zane Franklin sans the big red beard. 

 

- Jesse Mychan has the current second longest point streak in the ECHL. He has at least one point in six straight games. In those six games he has three goals and six assists. Matt Register has also been on a points scoring binge with points in six of his last eight games. In those eight games Matt has 10 points (2G, 8A). He is now #2 in the ECHL in points by defensemen with 16, just one point behind the leader.

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen's NHL affiliate has had a big COVID breakout. The Minnesota Wild had five players on the COVID list last week but that increased to nine on Sunday and 11 on Monday. More games have been postponed and the team isn't sure when they will return to play. In the story it says Minnesota will not call up a bunch of players from Iowa to replenish the roster so this should not impact Allen. Here is a story with all of the details: https://www.kvrr.com/2021/02/08/minnesota-wild-has-2-more-games-postponed-as-covid-19-issues-continue/   

- Here is the Allen Americans weekly update from Tommy Daniels:  https://allenamericans.com/news/press-release/americans-weekly-update-5/

 

- Allen's roster has been stable for a couple of weeks. Based on past history Steve Martinson is always trying to improve the roster and that is even more the case when the team is struggling. My guess is you will see roster changes soon. 

 

- Allen's AHL affiliate, Iowa Wild, is off to a 1-1-1-0 start after three games. Tyler Sheehy has played in all three games, has one assist and is in the top five on the team in plus/minus (+2). Tyler wasn't given much of a chance to show what he could do at the next level last season as he had a MVP type season in the ECHL (he was runner-up). If given a chance to play regularly in Iowa it may be playoff time before Sheehy is back in Allen. 

 

- Posted this on my ECHL Stats page today. Some stats that got my attention.

WOW numbers from the stat sheet:

 

- Florida has killed 49 of 51 (96.1%) power plays at home

- Greenville has gone to OT in 58% of their games

- Indy is 7-1-1-0 when out shot by their opponents

- Wheeling has a shorthanded goal in 36% of their games (5 of 14)

- Allen and Wichita are 10-1 when scoring first

- Wichita leads the ECHL with a team save percentage of .932

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW: Tuesday night home games were good to the Americans last season. They played four, won three and lost the other in overtime. The score in the three wins were 5-1, 6-5 and 4-0.  The overtime loss was 6-5. If the Tuesday night luck holds look for the Americans to score a lot of goals tonight.  

Allen Hits A Rough Patch, The Stats, The Fix, Salaries and the Recent History of .700 ECHL Teams

 

After earning 80% of the possible points (24 of 30) in their first 15 games the Americans have hit a rough patch. Allen will be back at practice today preparing for a home game against Utah tomorrow (Tuesday) night, hoping to avoid losing their fourth game in the last 10 days. Allen has lost three of their last four games and earned 38% of the possible points (3 of 8). 

- There are a lot of stats that show what has happened recently with the Americans. A good example is the penalty kill which is ranked #8 in the league at 83.3%. In their first 13 games Allen's penalty kill gave up five goals. In the last six games the penalty kill unit has given up six power play goals.

 

- Allen is ranked #4 in average goals allowed (2.58) but a week ago the were ranked #1 (2.35). In their last four games the Americans have allowed 16 goals for an average of 4.00 goals per game.

 

- The Americans are scoring enough to win. In their last seven games they have been held to fewer than three goals just once. They had two goals in Wichita on Saturday. It is the defensive zone play that needs improvement to turn things around. I am sure at practice today coach Martinson will be talking about the usual culprits when the team isn't playing well defensively. He will talk about puck possession. winning puck battles, avoiding neutral zone turnovers, trying to make plays that aren't there, getting pucks in deep, finishing checks, being aggressive in jumping into the play but not gambling and avoiding odd man rushes. Having watched Martinson over the years at practice it is the mental mistakes and low hockey IQ decisions that he tries to erase through drills and repetition. 

- If you track roster sizes around the ECHL you may have noticed the Allen Americans have consistently had the fewest players under contract. As of this morning according to Elite Prospects the Americans have 22 players under contract, two fewer than any other team. Two teams have 24, one team has 25, five teams have 26, two teams have 27, one team has 28 and one team has 29. It is important to note coaches and general managers have to deal with the salary cap (up to 20 players on the active roster) when it comes to players salaries but they also have an overall salary budget to pay for all players under contract. What it says to me is the Allen Americans are paying less in total player salaries (not average salary) than any other team in the ECHL. Martinson is doing more with less. The thing to remember as the Allen roster changes is Martinson has to make sure the salaries meet the salary cap as well as  the overall budget caps. While the salary cap is set in the Collective Bargaining Agreement the overall salary budget is set by each team's President/Owner and can vary greatly from team to team. 

 

- Here are the ECHL team stats that are expressed in averages. Looking at raw numbers is not very accurate this season because teams have played as few as 14 games and as many as 21. Here are the numbers for Allen expressed in average per game or percentage and the ECHL rank:

Penalty Minutes - 13.32   #4

Power Play - 18.4%   #5

Penalty Kill - 83.3%   #8

Goals For - 3.58   #2

Goals Against - 2.58   #3

Shots For - 34.26   #2

Shots Against - 33.00   #11

 

- Here is the Western Conference Weekly with info on all of the teams and their schedule for the week:  https://www.echl.com/en/news/2021/2/western-conference-weekly-feb-8

 

- I am sure you saw or heard a lot of sports quotes if you watched much Super Bowl coverage yesterday. This one from Vince Lombardi struck me because it applies to a lot more than sports, "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization."

 

DID YOU KNOW: So far this season there are four teams with a points percentage above .700 led by Indy at.794. Here are the number of teams that finished the season above .700 since 2014-15 with the top team and point percentage in parenthesis:

2019-20: 4 teams (.742, South Carolina & Florida)

2018-19: 2 teams (.764, Cincinnati)

2017-18: 4 teams, (.778, Florida)

2016-17: 2 teams, (.736, Toledo)

2015-16: 1 team, (.757, Missouri)

2014-15: 5 teams (.743, Toledo)

None of the top teams went on to win the Kelly Cup