Allen Swept, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Power Play Struggles, Month by Month Record, Player Streaks and More

 

The Allen Americans lost to the Jacksonville Icemen 3-1 last night before the second largest crowd of the season (6264) on Celebrate Texas Night. Wearing the Texas Jersey which has a record of .700 since its inception was no match for the curse of a Saturday night huge crowd, live auction which has a record just around .200 the last two seasons. 

 

- The only thing I can think of about finding positives from this series, it is like putting lipstick on a pig. As I talked to fans between periods of all three games I heard comments like we are hanging in there, we are outshooting them, we are keeping it close, we had bad puck luck, bad calls by the referees and we outplayed them that period. To be clear there are a couple of stats that are positive. Allen outshot Jacksonville 104-103 in the series. That never happens. Allen had more power play opportunities (14) than Jacksonville (11) and that rarely happens. Don't be fooled by the lipstick, this series was a pig. Here are the facts on the worst three game series of the season:

• Allen was outscored 16-2.
• Allen gave up the first goal in all three games.
• Allen scored no goals in the first period. 
• Allen gave up more goals as the game progressed.
• Allen was outscored 2-0 in the first period.
• Allen was outscored 5-1 in the second period.
• Allen was outscored 8-1 in the third period.
• Allen had 14 power play opportunities and never scored a goal. 
• Other than a 0-0 tie after the first period of game one, Allen trailed after every period in the series.

 

 - After the drubbing Allen took from Jacksonville it is timely the team has a week off  before the Americans play again. Allen plays just one game next week and that is a Sunday afternoon game (2:10 pm) against Utah. The Grizzlies are the other Mountain Division team with a point percentage under .400 (395). It may not sound exciting to have a game between the worst team in the league and the third worst team in the league, but it will be a great opportunity for Allen to get a home win against a team the Americans have a winning record against this season (3-1-1-0).

 

- Allen also needs some healing time and a week off will help not only the injured players but those that are banged up. The Jacksonville series took its toll with Dylan Wells, Mark Duarte and Nick Isaacson going down with injuries. You add in the players on 14-day injured reserve (Asuchak, Johnson, Gavin, Chambers) and the roster is very depleted. Unfortunately, several of these players will not return this season.

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams plus the video highlights:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-recap-jacksonville-completes-the-sweep  

Jacksonville Icemen: https://jacksonvilleicemen.com/news/2025/03/nadeau-extends-goal-streak-to-six-as-jacksonville-sweeps-allen 

Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/jacksonville-icemen-vs-allen-americans-mar-8-2025

OTHER COMMENTS

- Jacksonville's sweep in Allen gives them 80 points which is still third in the South Division, but is also tied for third in points in the ECHL. The Icemen's 13 game points streak (10-0-3-0) is the longest in the ECHL right now. The sweep helped two Jacksonville players extend their current longest streaks in the league. Olivier Nadeau has scored a goal in six straight games (8 goals) and Bennett MacArthur has scored a point in nine straight games (11 points).

 

- Allen's power play has not scored a goal in the last seven games. The Americans last scored a power play goal on February 21 in Kansas City. Since that game Allen has not converted on 25 straight power play opportunities including several 5-on-3 chances. The Americans are now ranked #25 on the power play at 16.7%.

That is a far cry from what I wrote about the power play at the beginning of December:

- Allen's power play has been the difference maker the last two weeks. The Americans have scored at least one power play goal in six of the last seven games and the three last night is the most all season. In the last seven games the Allen power play is 9-21 (42.9%). The power play has been steadily going up the ECHL chart. It is now ranked #3 in the league at 26.1%. 

 

-  Allen is ranked #29 in average goals allowed (4.14) and #29 in average shots allowed (38.14). The last time the same team finished last in both categories was Indy in 2016-17. The Americans goal differential crossed 100 last night. The Americans have scored 139 goals and have allowed 240 goals for a -101 goal differential, by far the worst in the ECHL. 

- Former Allen forward Grant Hebert (2022-2024) recently returned to the ECHL after starting the season in England. He is now playing for the Norfolk Admirals and scored the first goal of the game last night in a 3-2 win over league leading Florida. In eight games since returning from overseas, Grant has seven points (3G, 4A).

 

- Rapid City lost in Tahoe last night 7-1 and their playoff hopes are now all but over. Tahoe snapped Rapid City's 13 game point streak with a 5-4 win on Thursday. The teams play again this afternoon. The Rush now find themselves 12 points out of a playoff spot and must pass Idaho and Wichita to make the playoffs.

 

- Idaho beat Kansas City twice this week on the road (5-0 & 6-2) to tie Wichita for fourth place in the division. Last night the Mavericks turned the tables, blowing out the Steelheads 7-3. 

 

- Here are the Mountain Division standings including games remaining:

• 79 points - Kansas City (15)
• 72 points - Tahoe (14)
• 72 points - Tulsa (15)
• 67 points - Wichita (15)
• 67 points - Idaho (15)
• 55 points - Rapid City (16)
• 45 points - Utah (15)
• 38 points - Allen (14)

 

- Here is Allen's record this season by month:

• 0-3-1-0 (.125) - October
• 7-3-2-0 (..667) - November
• 1-10-2-0 (.115) - December
• 4-5-2-1 (.417) - January
• 1-9-1-1 (.167) - February 

 

- You may have heard I am working on an in depth story about Mark Duarte. I am planning on posting that story on Monday. It will be the only blog post next week as I will be out of town. If I do my job right, you will be even more impressed with this young man.

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about player streaks. Here are Allen's longest streaks this season:

• Goals - 4 games, Spencer Asuchak, Mark Duarte
• Assists - 5 games, Patrick Polino, Kyle Ctnkovic
• Points -  7 games, Brayden Watts

 

ECHL Player Streaks in 2024-25 (number is consecutive games)

 

CURRENT STREAK

Goals: 6 - Olivier Nadeau, JAX

Assists: 7 - Michal Stinil, WIC

Points: 9 - Bennett MacArthur, JAX

PIM: 5 - Tyler Drevitch, ATL & Troy Murray, SC

 

SEASON STREAK

Goals: 8 - Jamie Engelbert, SC

Assists: 11 - Noah Laaouan, JAX

Points: 13 - Blake Bennett, RC

PIM: 8 - Justin Nachbaur, SC

 

 

 

 

Allen Shutout, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Today's Preview, Offense Struggles, All-Time Shutouts, Home Losses Records and More

 

The Allen Americans were shutout 4-0 by the Jacksonville Icemen last night after a 9-1 loss on Thursday night. Scoring one goal in two games while allowing 13 shows how dominant the Icemen have been. It is hard to believe how Jacksonville is in third place in the South Division based on how the Icemen have played the last two games. If they were in the Mountain Division they would be in first place with 78 points.

 

- Jacksonville scored the first goal of the game and the only goal of the first period at the 10:32 mark. It is well documented the Americans do not play well from behind. After the loss last night Allen's record when trailing after the first period is now 2-25-2-0. 

 

- Despite trailing 1-0 Allen had plenty of chances to tie the score in the second period. The Americans had three power play opportunities including a very short  (9 seconds) 5-on-3. Allen had seven shots on goal, plus several other shots that missed the goal or were blocked, but were blanked over almost six straight minutes of power play time. 

 

- The back breaker came when Jacksonville scored from the blue line on what looked like a harmless shot with less than a second (.9) left in the period after Allen had full possession and failed to clear the puck. The Icemen took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission which was the kiss of death. You combine Allen's record when trailing after the second period (2-30-2-0) with Jacksonville's record when leading after the second period (26-0-3-1) and Allen was toast.

 

- The third period was all Jacksonville. The Icemen outshot Allen 19-7 and outscored the Americans 2-0 to preserve a 28 save shutout for goalie Matt Vernon, whose dad Mike had a 19 year NHL career. It was Vernon's second shutout of the season. Allen was playing shorthanded after forward Nick Isaacson was injured and defensemen Jay Powell received a game misconduct penalty in the second period. Maybe fatigue played a factor.

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-recap-americans-blanked-by-jacksonville-4-0 

Jacksonville Icemen: https://jacksonvilleicemen.com/news/2025/03/icemen-blank-americans-4-0-magic-number-at-a-dozen 

- Here are the video highlights. Jacksonville scored twice from the blue line and twice on rebounds. A formula Allen will need to win the game tonight. https://echl.com/videos/jacksonville-icemen-vs-allen-americans-mar-7-2025

 

- When you get the results Allen has been getting the last month you look for any advantage you can find. Only one I can find is the Texas jersey the Americans will wear tonight has the best record of all of the jerseys both this season and last season. I am skeptical the Texas jersey will come through tonight. It is Saturday night with a big crowd and the jerseys will be auctioned off live after the game, almost like a specialty jersey. Will the specialty jersey curse apply? 

- Some things Allen could do tonight to win the game:

• Score first - Allen has given up the first goal in 11 of the last 15 games and lost them all.
• Score a power play goal - Allen hasn't scored a power play goal in six games (0-18).
• Score an ugly goal. 
  
• Keep the net front clear on defense.
• Win 50% or more of all faceoffs.
• Don't play from behind.
• Have fun! 

 

- Here is the game preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-day-preview-final-game-of-the-series-with-jacksonville

 

- I will post the lineup on social media later this afternoon. I did hear:

• Jay Powell was not suspended for his boarding game misconduct penalty last night. 
• Forward Nick Isaacson is out after his injury last night. 
• Allen will dress eight defensemen with two playing upfront. 
• Anson Thornton will start in goal.  

OTHER COMMENTS

- After giving up six goals in three games last week against Tahoe the defense was looking good coming into the Jacksonville series. It has been the offense that has been suspect ever since Allen's three game sweep of Rapid City at the end of January. In Allen's lone win since that Rapid City sweep the defensemen scored all four goals. Allen has played 15 games since the Rapid City sweep. Here is a breakdown of goals scored in those 15 games:

• 0 goals - 2 times
• 1 goal - 4 times
• 2 goals - 4 times
• 3 goals - 4 times
• 4 goals - 1 time (the lone win)

You add it all together the total is 28 goals in 15 games for a per game average of  1.87. Even worse is of the 28 goals the forwards have scored just 21 for a per game average of 1.40. Compare that to Jacksonville's Olivier Nadeau who has averaged 1.11 goals per game all by himself over the last nine games. He has tallied four goals in the two games against Allen, four times as many goals as the entire Americans team.  

 

- Allen was shutout for the sixth time this season last night. How does that compare to prior seasons? It is not even close to the all time record. Here are the number of shutouts for each season since Allen joined the ECHL:

• 6 - 2024-25 (thru 57 games)
• 2 - 2023-24
• 2 - 2022-23
• 1 - 2021-22
• 1 - 2020-21
• 3 - 2019-20
• 9 - 2018-19
• 5 - 2017-18
• 2 - 2016-17
• 2 - 2015-16*
• 1 - 2014-15*  

*Won Kelly Cup

 

- With the loss last night Allen's home record is now 6-17-4-1. Three of the six wins came in a three game sweep of Rapid City at the end of January. Two wins were back-to-back against Utah on November 13 and 15. The sixth win was against Wichita on January 6. Allen won't set the record for fewest home wins in a season which is five. Second place is eight shared by four teams and another three teams had nine home wins. Allen needs four wins in its eight remaining home games to avoid joining the record book. Here is the list of fewest home wins in a season from the ECHL record book:

• 5 - Greenville Grrrowl (2003-04)
• 8 - Las Vegas Wranglers (2013-14)
• 8 - Stockton Thunder (2005-06)
• 8 - Texas Wildcatters (2004-05
• 8 - Victoria Salmon Kings (2004-05)
• 9 - Evansville Icemen (2014-15)
• 9 - Johnstown Chiefs (2009-10)
• 9 - Greensboro Generals 2001-02)

 

 

- Idaho has been in fifth place in the Mountain Division and outside a playoff spot for over two months. Most observers expected the Steelheads would get things turned around, but not against Kansas City on the road. Idaho not only beat Kansas City on Wednesday and last night, they spanked the Mavericks 5-0 and 6-2. The Steelheads are now tied with Wichita with 67 points for the fourth and final playoff spot. Idaho has the better schedule with eight home games remaining compared to Wichita with four. The Steelheads play Allen five times, but finish the season with three games against Kansas City at home.  Among Wichita's remaining games are road games against Indy (2), Rapid City (3), Kansas City (2) and Tahoe (3). After a great season could Wichita find themselves on the outside looking in at the playoffs once again. The Thunder have made the playoffs just twice since joining the ECHL in 2014-15. Wichita made the playoffs in 2021 (14 team season) and 2018. They lost to Fort Wayne in the first round in 2021 and to Colorado in the first round in 2018.

 

- There are three ECHL teams with point percentages over .700. All are in the Eastern Conference:

• .731 - Trois Riviéres
• .728 - Florida
• .705 - South Carolina 

- There are three ECHL teams with point percentages below .400, two of them in the Mountain Division:

• .333 - Allen
• .375 - Adirondack
• .395 - Utah

 

 

- There are 13 games on the ECHL schedule tonight with six Mountain Division teams in action.

• Jacksonville at Allen
• Wichita at Indy
• Idaho at Kansas City
• Rapid City at Tahoe

Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/03/echl-today-march-8  

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about point percentages of teams that have made and missed the playoffs. Last season two teams made the playoffs with losing records, both in the Mountain Division. Tulsa is the one below, but Allen also made the playoffs with a losing record (.486) and was the third seed.   

 

The top four teams in each ECHL division make the Kelly Cup playoffs. 2024-25 could see a repeat of 2023-24 when a good team missed the playoffs and a losing team made the playoffs:

 

2023-24:

- South Carolina (South Division) missed the playoffs with a .590 point percentage.

- Tulsa (Mountain Division) made the playoffs with a .479 point percentage.

 

2024-25: If playoffs started today

- Idaho (Mountain Division) would miss the playoffs on a tiebreaker with a .598 point percentage.

- Bloomington (Central Division) would make the playoffs on a tiebreaker with a .473 point percentage.

Allen Loses 9-1, Wells and Duarte Injured, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Standings Update, Best ECHL Defenses and More

 

The Allen Americans lost to the Jacksonville Icemen last night by a score of 9-1. It wasn't the worst score of the season. That is reserved for the 9-0 shutout by Kansas in the home opener. The game last night was without a doubt the worst game of the season. In addition to get embarrassed by Jacksonville the Americans lost their best goalie (Dylan Wells) to a lower body injury in the first period and their best player, Mark Duarte, to an upper body injury at the end of the second period.

 

- Allen found out just how good the third place team in the South Division is. Jacksonville is the third best team in its division, but the sixth best team in the ECHL by points and point percentage. In my mind, Jacksonville is the fastest team the Americans have played this season. It was apparent on the rush and  when the Jaguars were in control in Allen's defensive zone. 

- Allen actually had a great start, outshooting Jacksonville 10-1 in the first five minutes of the game. The Americans had a great chance to take the lead on a power play when Jacksonville took penalties at 3:56 and 4:55 of the period. Despite having over a minute of 5-on-3 time Allen couldn't score, missing the net when they did have chances to score. Allen had another power play opportunity later in the period after Jacksonville had taken a 1-0 lead, but once again failed to score. The Icemen had the better opportunities to score on Allen's power plays than the Americans. Jacksonville had at least three shorthanded chances and you could see how much speed the team had on those plays. The Icemen have scored nine shorthanded goals (#2 in the league).

 

- After starting out with a 10-1 shot advantage, the first period ended with Allen outshooting Jacksonville by one shot, 16-15. More importantly the Americans were trailing 2-0 at the end of the first frame. That was definitely a bad sign because Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 2-24-2-0. 

 

- Jacksonville took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period. Forward Olivier Nadeau scored the first three goals to get a pure hat trick and take over the team lead with 20 goals. If you read the blog yesterday or listened to coach Ferguson's pregame interview he talked about controlling Jacksonville's contracted players who are averaging over a point per game. Nadeau is one those players. He is under contract with the Buffalo Sabres. The 22 year old was the fourth round draft choice of the Sabres in 2021. He leads Jacksonville in goals (20) and is second in points (37) despite playing in only 33 games. Nadeau's goals per game average of .606 is the best in the ECHL of all of the 20+ goals scorers. Keep an eye on #68 tonight. He has scored goals in four straight games (six goals) and has nine goals in his last eight games.

 

- The Icemen built a 4-0 lead in the second period before Allen finally got on the scoreboard on Colin Jacobs eighth goal of the season. Jacksonville took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission and the game was over. The Icemen record when leading after the second period is almost unbeatable, 25-0-3-1, so the only question was the final score. 

 

- The third period was a disaster for the Americans. The Icemen scored five goals on 11 shots. Allen scored zero goals on 17 shots. The Americans actually outshot Jacksonville for the game (40-37) and stayed out of the penalty box (one minor penalty), but Jacksonville was clearly the better team. 

 

- After breaking their 12 game losing streak in Tahoe last Sunday there was hope things would turn around for the Americans. After one step forward the team has taken two steps back. With the win Jacksonville extended its point streak to 12 games. Meanwhile Allen's record over the last 14 games fell to 1-11-1-1 (.142).

 

- The challenge tonight for the Americans is huge. It is tough to bounce back from a game like last night. Coach Ferguson met with the season ticket holders after the game and gave an update on the injuries. Wells will likely not be available tonight, he is listed as day to day. There won't be a need for an EBUG as Anson Thornton can be activated from the 14-day injured reserve. Mark Duarte will be out for a while. With eight days off after the Jacksonville series a decision on whether Durate goes on the 14-day IR can be delayed. In addition a few other players are banged up pretty good.

 

- Allen's task tonight is twofold as they need to be much better at both ends of the ice. The defense has been improved the last few games, but the inconsistency has crept back in. The nine goals allowed last night was the second time Allen has given up nine goals in the last month. For the season Allen is #29 in goals allowed (233) which is over 100 more goals allowed than #1 Florida (126).

 

- The offense is every bit of a concern as the defense. Last night Allen scored one goal on 40 shots. Since the beginning of February the Americans have averaged exactly 2.00 goals per game. Allen has scored 138 goals this season. The other seven Mountain Division teams have scored between 170-203 goals.

 

- Many times when the situation looks bleak and almost impossible a big surprise happens. That is they way it looks for tonight. Can Allen pull off that surprise.   

 

- If you want the goal by goal details here are the game recaps from both teams plus video highlights or more appropriately low-lights:

 Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-recap-jacksonville-explodes-for-9-1-win-over-the-americans 

Jacksonville Jaguars game recap: https://jacksonvilleicemen.com/news/2025/03/nadeaus-hat-trick-leads-to-icemen-winning-9-1-tying-club-record-in-goals-scored    

Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/jacksonville-icemen-vs-allen-americans-mar-6-2025   

 

- It will be a two referee game again tonight. Trevor Wohlford (#38) and Hayden Verbeek (#57) will work the game as they did last night. They let the players play last night, calling only five minor penalties with four of the five on Jacksonville. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- In the only other ECHL game last night, Rapid City lost in Tahoe 5-4 in a game the Rush had a 46-40 shot advantage. The loss snapped Rapid City's 13 game points streak and was a big setback to its slim chance to make playoffs. Here is a point update on the Mountain Division. Each team's maximum points if they won all remaining games is in parenthesis:

• 77 points - Kansas City (111)
• 70 points - Tahoe (102)
• 70 points - Tulsa (102)
• 67 points - Wichita (101)
• 65 points - Idaho (99)
  
• 55 points - Rapid City (91)
• 45 points - Utah (77)
• 35 points - Allen (70)

 

- If Allen loses tonight and Wichita wins or loses in overtime the Americans will become the first ECHL team to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. 

 

- There are 12 games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Six of eight Mountain teams are in action. 

• Jacksonville at Allen
• Wichita at Cincinnati
• Idaho at Kansas City
• Tulsa at Utah

Here is the ECHL Today with previews on all 12 games.

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the best defensive teams. FYI, Allen is ranked #29 in average goals allowed (4.16) and #28 in average goals scored (2.46)

If defense wins championships the 2025 Kelly Cup will go to one of the six ECHL teams allowing an average of 2.65 or fewer goals per game. Each team’s average goals scored is in parenthesis:

 

2.25- Florida (3.30)

2.34 - South Carolina (3.73)

2.49 - Trois Rivières (3.58)

2.56 - Kansas City (3.55)

2.61 - Jacksonville (3.33)

2.65 - Toledo (3.28)

 

Statistically South Carolina is the best team in the ECHL, ranked #1 in goals scored and #2 in goals allowed.    

Allen vs Jacksonville Game Preview Including Zawyer Factor, Playoff Race, Allen's Magic Number, Jersey Record, NHL/AHL Contracted Players and More

 

It is game day for the Allen Americans as the Jacksonville Icemen are in town for three games in the next three nights. The ECHL schedule is full head scratchers and this is yet another one. Allen plays three games in three days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) and then the Americans have eight days off before playing Utah at home on Sunday afternoon. Go figure!

 

- This series against the Jacksonville Icemen or should I say Zawyer Icemen has many plot twists. Jacksonville was the first ECHL purchase by Zawyer back in July of 2019. They have expanded greatly since that time, but the Jacksonville Icemen has been the shining star as the original purchase and is locally owned since Zawyer is headquartered in Jacksonville. Allen Americans owner, Myles Jack, first got involved in hockey as a minority owner of the Icemen when he was playing for the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The Jacksonville ECHL franchise has been wildly successful from a business perspective growing from an average attendance of 5993 when Zawyer bought the team to a league leading average of 9358 this season. Jacksonville's attendance would rank it #4 of 32 teams in AHL attendance. 

As has been well documented things didn't go well between Zawyer and Allen. Zawyer was a minority owner in Allen, but was hired by majority owner Myles Jack as a consultant. That relationship ended on January 31 after a contentious divorce. 

That is a long winded way to say this series is a lot more important than South Division Jacksonville visiting Mountain Division Allen. There is no doubt both Zawyer and Myles Jack want to win this series.

 

-  Obviously the Allen locker room is not focused on the ownership/Zawyer divorce. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see Myles Jack make a trip to the locker room to address the team as he has done several times in this season.

 

- The on ice challenge in this series for Allen will be a formidable one. The Americans come into the series with a win in their last game, but are 1-7-1-1 in the last 10 games. Jacksonville arrives in Allen with with a 10 game point streak (7-0-3-0), the second longest current point streak in the ECHL (Rapid City #1 with 13). If you look at a longer time frame, in the last two months (24 games) Allen's record is 5-14-3-2 (.313) and Jacksonville's record in 16-5-3-0 (.729).  

- Jacksonville is solidly in third place in the South Division. The Icemen have a six point advantage (74 vs 68) over fourth place Orlando with three games in hand. The Icemen trail second place South Carolina by five points and first place Florida by seven points. The South Division is the toughest in the league. South Carolina and Florida both have better records then Mountain Division leader, Kansas City.  

 

- Here is how Allen and Jacksonville rank in some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #26 (2.49) - Jacksonville #12 (3.23)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #28 (4.07) - Jacksonville #5 (2.64)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #19 (28.98) - Jacksonville #15 (30.63)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (38.16) - Jacksonville #17 (31.14) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #20 (18.1%) - Jacksonville #14 (19.6%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #16 (79.9%) - Jacksonville #8 (83.1%) 

It is no surprise given where Allen and Jacksonville are in the standings that Allen is ranked lower in every stat above. The most glaring difference is in goals allowed. Allen gives up almost a goal and a half (1.43) per game more than Jacksonville. To be fair the Americans are much improved in goals allowed recently. In the last six games the average is 3.33 and in the just completed three game series in Tahoe the average was just 2.00. 

 

- Sometimes home vs road special teams percentages are very similar. Not the case with Jacksonville's power play. I can't remember ever seeing such a wide discrepancy. The Icemen's home power play is ranked #27 (13.0%), but their road power play is ranked #2 at (26.4%). Allen on the other hand has the exact same power play percentage at home and on the road (18.1%). 

- Allen snapped its losing streak in Tahoe on Sunday by scoring the first goal and never surrendering the lead. Allen still has a losing record when scoring first, 8-9-5-2 (.479). That is better than giving up the first goal to Jacksonville, who is #5 in the league when scoring first, 22-3-4-1 (.817).

 

- Jacksonville is another one of those teams Allen does not want to play catch up with. Allen's record when trailing after the first period is 2-23-2-0 and when trailing after the second period is 2-28-2-1. You combine that with Jacksonville's record of 17-2-3-1 when leading after the first period and 24-0-3-1 when leading after the second period and you can see why Allen can't be playing from behind.

 

- Here are some other keys to success in this series:

• Get pucks behind the Icemen's defense and avoid neutral zone turnovers.
• Win the special teams battle.
• More scoring from the forwards.
• Continued good goalie play.

 

- Here is coach Ferguson's scouting report on Jacksonville:

"They are a well balanced team with scoring throughout the lineup, especially with a couple of point per game AHL guys."

"They like to control the middle of the ice defensively, with their big defensemen."

"The challenge for us will be to get to the net and find some rebounds."

"They have a good, quick goalie on the smaller side, so we need to take away his eyes and create traffic in front of him."

"We need to stay out of the penalty box. We can't give their skill guys too many looks on the power play." 

 

- It will be a two referee game tonight. Trevor Wohlford (#38) and Hayden Verbeek (#57) will work the game. Yes, Verbeek is from the famous hockey family. His uncle is Pat Verbeek who played in over 1400 NHL games. Hayden had a good pro career himself. He played in 90 AHL games and 31 ECHL games (Maine, Adirondack, Toledo).   

 

- Here is the series preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-day-preview-americans-welcome-jacksonville-to-allen-for-the-first-of-three 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Some interesting results in the Mountain Division last night. Wichita was on the road playing Toledo and was outshot 43-17 but earned a valuable point with a 2-1 overtime loss. Meanwhile Idaho, who has been toiling in fifth place for a long time, went on the road and beat Kansas City 5-0, scoring all five goals in the first two periods. Many have been predicting Idaho would make a run into a playoff position. Could this be the start of that move? Here are the standings for the four teams battling for three playoff spots:

• 70 points - Tulsa
• 68 points - Tahoe
• 67 points - Wichita
• 65 points - Idaho

 

- There are just two games on the ECHL schedule tonight. Jacksonville at Allen is interesting from the ownership dynamic. The other game is Rapid City at Tahoe. Rapid City is hanging on to playoff hopes by a thread, with 55 points. They must sweep Tahoe who they play three times to have a chance. Tahoe is in a battle to make the playoffs and will be very motivated. The Knight Monsters play great at home with a .712 point percentage. Rapid City is .444 on the road. 

 

- Allen's maximum points if it wins all 17 remaining games is 72 points. Once teams ahead of them in the standings reach 73 points, even if Allen wins, the Americans will be mathematically eliminated. The Americans are already eliminated from first place and could easily become the first ECHL team to be eliminated from the playoffs by the end of the weekend if they get swept. 

 

- Allen's playoff hopes are long gone. The Americans only hope is to avoid having the worst record in the Mountain Division, which will be a challenge. Last place will belong to either Allen or Utah. Both have difficult remaining schedules. Last place will likely be decided by how they play against each other. Allen will play Utah four more times, once at home and three times on the road.  

 

-  Allen will wear its red jersey tonight, black jersey tomorrow night and Texas jersey on Saturday. There will be a live auction of the Texas jerseys after the Saturday game. It is a small sample size and Allen's home record is horrible, but here are the point percentages by jersey:

• .333 - Texas jersey
• .250 - Black jersey
• .222 - Red jersey 
• .200 - Grey jersey
• .200 - Specialty jersey 

With 10 home games remaining the point percentages will change, but thus far the numbers are the same as last season. The Texas jersey has the best record and the specialty jerseys have the worst record.

 

DID YOU KNOW: NHL/AHL contracted skaters on each ECHL team. Excludes goalies and players on 14 day IR. Overall numbers are dwindling:

 

10: SC

8: REA

7: CIN, GVL, *KC, ORL, SAV

5: JAX

4: ADK, *FLA, IND, TAH, TUL, UTA, WHL, WIC

3: ATL, BLM, KAL, RC, WOR

2: ALN, FW, IDH, NOR, *TR

1: IA, MNE, *TOL

 

*Division leaders - You can see you don’t need a roster full of NHL/AHL contracted players to be successful. The numbers above do not include goalies and what the four division leaders do have in common is two good NHL/AHL contracted goalies.

 

Losing Streak Snapped, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Mountain Division Remaining Schedule, 14 Goalies Below 2.50 GAA and More

 

The Allen Americans got the monkey off their back yesterday afternoon with a 4-1 victory over the Tahoe Knight Monsters. The Americans finished .500 for the weekend with a record of 1-1-1-0. Allen's defense and goalie play has been great recently giving up just eight goals in the last four game. The problem has been the offense which hadn't scored four goals in a game since the end of January. 

 

- The Americans were strong from the opening puck drop. The shot total was 11-3 when J.C Brassard scored the first and only goal of the opening period at the 5:36 mark. Patrick Polino threaded a perfect cross ice pass to Brassard who was charging in from the point and took the shot from the faceoff dot. The goalie partially stopped the puck, but it trickled in. Allen would never surrender the lead from that point forward.

 

- Allen increased its lead to 2-0 midway through the second period when Jay Powell, who was seeing his first action of the series, took a nifty pass from Kyle Crnkovic in the high slot and scored his first goal of the season. It looked like Allen would take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission until Tahoe's leading goal scorer, Simon Pinard, who is tied for #3 in the league with 26 goals, got the Knight Monsters on the scoreboard with just over a minute remaining in the period. 

 

- As the third period started with Allen leading 2-1 it was easy for doubt to creep in given the Americans had blown several third period leads during their 12 game losing streak. The back breaker goal came from Quinn Warmuth who picked up the puck inside the defensive blue line, skated unchallenged through the neutral and scored unassisted from the top of the faceoff circle. The goal was Quinn's second in the series and fourth of the season.

 

- J.C. Brassard ended the game as he started it scoring his second goal of the game and fourth of the season. Watch the replay of this empty net goal as Brassard shot the puck from inside the blue paint right in front of the goalie. It was a bullseye of a shot. You see those between period contests where you have to shoot from the red line to try to score into the net that has a slot just wider than the puck. Brassard would have made that shot and he did it from the length of the ice. 

 

- Here are the video highlights and it is worth using the 10 second rewind button multiple times to see the great passing, great shots, individual effort and bullseye empty net goal. Also take a look at the reaction of the Allen players who thought a goal had been scored. It got behind the goalie but did not cross the goal line. (20 second mark of the highlights). https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-tahoe-knight-monsters-mar-2-2025    

- Here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/americans-end-losing-streak 

Tahoe Knight Monsters: https://knightmonstershockey.com/news/2025/03/tahoe-falters-in-game-3-loses-4-1 

- I had a chance to check in with coach Ferguson after the game last night and again very early this morning. The team's wake-up call was something like 2:30 am Tahoe time. Here is what he had to say:

"Our compete level has been there for a long time, so it was great to see it finally pay off. Credit to our guys, they played the right way the whole weekend. Today we finally got rewarded."

"We have been preaching to our defensemen over and over again to get shots through and they have done a great job of that. And tonight they got rewarded."

"Richardson was great in net, it was great to get him a win."

"All in all we went .500 against the best home team in the Western Conference, which is a good feeling."

"We are excited to get back on home ice this week after two weeks away."

"We talked about finding that seam in their defense on Brassard's goal. It was nice to see it come to fruition."

"The guys were very relieved to end the losing streak!"

 

- I can't remember the last time Allen had a game where it scored multiple goals and all were scored by defensemen. The Americans only scored seven goals in the three games in Tahoe, but the Knight Monsters only scored six. Of the seven goals scored by the Americans, five were scored by defensmen. It is great to get four goals from defensmen, who have struggled to score all season. Prior to this series the defensemen had a total of 16 goals in 52 games. To get five goals in three games is outstanding. The flip side to all of the goals by defensemen is the forwards scored only two goals in the three games. As a group the forwards have scored only 20 goals in the last month (13 games) an average of just 1.54 goals per game. That will have to improve if Allen expects to win consistently the last 17 games of the season.  

 

- Allen did not score a power play goal in Tahoe going 0-3 in all three games. Tahoe scored power play goals in the first two games of the series which were the difference in the games. The Allen power play was ranked as high as #3 earlier in the season, but has fallen to #21 (18.1%) after this weekend. The penalty kill is ranked #17 and has fallen to 79.9% after going 2-9 (77.8%) in Tahoe. The Americans will have to improve on special teams to win consistently in the last 17 games of the season.

 

- Next up for the Americans is taking on a non division foe, the Jacksonville Icemen on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Not sure how the players feel about the series, but there is no doubt in my mind ownership wants to beat the "shining star" of the Zawyer empire more than they want to beat any other team. 

 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- It is getting down to crunch time in the Mountain Division with teams having between 16-18 games remaining. Here are the standings by point percentage with games remaining for each team:

• .713 - Kansas City: 6 IDH, 3 UTA, 3 RC, 3 WIC, 3 GVL, 
  
• .625 - Tulsa: 4 ALN, 3 RC, 3 BLM, 2 UTA, 2 TAH, 1 WIC, 1 IDH
• .611 - Wichita: 3 KC, 3 RC, 3 TAH, 2 UTA, 2 IND, 1 ALN, 1 TUL, 1 IA, 1 CIN, 1 TOL
• .607 - Tahoe: 6 IDH, 3 RC, 3 WIC, 2 TUL, 2 UTA
• .583 - Idaho: 6 TAH, 6 KC, 5 ALN, 1 TUL
  
• .509 - Rapid City: 3 KC, 3 TUL, 3 TAH, 3 WIC,, 3 UTA, 3 IA
• .402 - Utah: 4 ALN, 3 KC, 3 RC, 2 TUL, 2 WIC, 2 TAH
• .345 - Allen: 5 IDH, 4 TUL, 4 UTA, 3 JAX,, 1 WIC  

• Idaho plays only four teams the rest of the season, The Steelheads fate will be decided by playing six games against the best team in the division (Kansas City), five games against the worst team in the division (Allen) and six games against Tahoe. 
• Wichita plays 10 different teams in its last 18 games with 14 of the games on the road.
• Tulsa probably has the easiest schedule of the group. No games against Kansas City and six games against Allen (4) and Utah (2). 

 

- The ECHL goal scoring champion is coming down to two players. Brandon Hawkins (TOL) and Cade Borchardt (KC) are tied with 32 goals. No other player has more the 26 goals. Hawkins has a commanding lead in points. He has 72 points, #2 is Michal Stinil (WIC) has 61 points. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the many goalies this season with a GAA below 2.50. The last Allen Americans goalie to have a GAA under 2.50 was Jake Patterson in 2020-21. Jake played in 27 games that season, had a record of 18-6-2-0, a 2.31 GAA and a .927 save percentage. 

 

What a difference one season makes. Last season just two ECHL goalies finished with a GAA under 2.50. So far this season there are 14. Six of the 14 have GAA’s under 2.20. (minimum 1080 minutes played). Here are the top six in GAA:

 

1.92: Cam Johnson, Florida

2.03: Luke Cavallin, Trois Riviéres

2.04: Garin Bjorklund, South Carolina

2.13: Mark Sinclair, Bloomington

2.17: Jack LaFontaine, Kansas City

2.19: Justen Close, Jacksonville

 

Why the big difference?

Allen Streak Reaches 12, Game Recap, Today's Preview, Losing Streak Goal Scorers, Former Players Update, Division Standings, Perfect Teams and More

 

The Allen Americans lost to the Tahoe Knight Monsters 2-1 last night, extending their franchise all time longest losing streak to 12 games. I have been asked several times how this streak compares to all time ECHL losing streaks. It is not even close. The all time record is 20 set back in 2004-05. To reach the top five all time would take 16 losses. Allen's 12 game losing streak is not even #1 this season. Utah had 14 straight losses in November-December.

 

- Allen's defense is ranked #28 in the league allowing 4.18 goals per game, but that has not been the problem recently. In the last three losses the scores were 2-1, 3-2 (OT) and 2-1. Allen's offense has been anemic during this entire 12 game losing streak. The team hasn't scored more than three goals since January 31st. Here are the number of goals scored during this losing streak:

• 3 goals - 4 times
• 2 goals - 4 times
• 1 goal - 3 times
• 0 goals - 1 time  

You add it all together and the total is 23 goals in 12 games for a 1.92  average goals scored per game.

 

- The game last night was similiar to many of the losses during this losing streak. 

• Allen trailed after the 1st period (1-0). Its record when trailing after the 1st period is 2-23-2-0.
• Allen trailed after the 2nd period (2-0). Its record when trailing after the 2nd period is 2-28-2-1.
• Allen played its best period in the 3rd, outshooting Tahoe 15-7 an outscoring them 1-0.
  
• Allen was 0-3 on the power play, Tahoe 1-4.  

 

- Allen's lone goal was scored by Miko Matikka with less than three minutes left in the game just as the Americans added an extra attacker. The Americans pulled Dylan Wells again with 1:22 left in the game. They had a couple of chances to tie the game, but once again came up short.  

- Matikka's goal was his second in the last four games to go along with two assists. Here are the video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-tahoe-knight-monsters-mar-1-2025

- Here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/03/game-recap-americans-score-late-but-lose-to-tahoe-2-1 

Tahoe Knight Monsters: https://knightmonstershockey.com/news/2025/03/tahoe-turns-back-the-clock-in-game-2-win 

 

- If Allen is going to salvage a win today (5:00 pm Allen time start) the Americans will have to score more than the combined three goals in the first two games. The Americans can't get behind and they have to win the special teams battle. Allen did not score a power play goal in the first two games. Tahoe had a power play goal in both games. When you lose games by one goal that is the difference. 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen has been involved in 22 one goal games this season and lost 17 of them. The American have lost three straight one goal games. During this 12 game losing streak Allen has scored just 23 goals. Here are the goal scorers of those 23 goals:

• 3 - Blaisdell
• 2 - Watts
  
• 2 - Duarte
• 2 - Matikka
  
• 2 - Gorman
  
• 2 - Isaacson
• 2 - Nault
• 1 - Asuchak
• 1 - Kulakov
  
• 1 - Westcott
  
• 1 - Jacobs
  
• 1 - Warmuth
• 1 - Wilson 
• 1 - Polino
• 1 - Guy

When coach Ferguson repeatedly talks about your best players have to be your best players this is what he is talking about. If Allen is going to start winning the top six forwards have to score more goals. 

 

- Rapid City lost to Idaho in overtime last night 4-3 with Hank Crone getting the game winner for the Steelheads. Rapid City had its 11 game winning streak snapped but still has its 13 game point streak intact. 

 

- The Mountain Division winners last night were Kansas City, Tahoe, Idaho and Utah. The losers were Tulsa and Allen in regulation, Rapid City and Wichita in overtime. First place and last place in the division are pretty solid. Four teams are within five points and fighting for three playoff spots. Rapid City's 13 games point streak has them with an outside, but unlikely, chance to make the playoffs. Here are the division standings with each team's record over the last 10 games in parenthesis. Who is hot and who is not?

• 77 points - Kansas City (8-2-0-0)
• 68 points - Tahoe (6-4-0-0)
• 68 points - Tulsa (4-4-1-1)
• 66 points - Wichita (6-2-2-0)
• 63 points - Idaho (4-3-2-1)
• 55 points - Rapid City (9-0-1-0)
• 45 points - Utah (3-5-1-1)  
• 36 points - Allen (0-8-1-1)

  

-  There are nine games on the schedule today with four Mountain Division in action. In addition to Allen at Tahoe, Utah is at Tulsa. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2025/03/echl-today-march-2 

- Colton Hargrove, who leads first place Florida in assists, was injured in the Everblades loss to South Carolina on Friday night. Colton was checked from behind and crashed into the boards. It was a rough game with a total of 139 penalty minutes. Four players ended up getting suspended and none were related to fighting. The suspensions were for boarding (2 games), butt-ending (1 game), cross-checking (1 game) and spearing (1 game). Three of the suspensions went to Florida. The Everblades played with just 15 skaters last night and still beat South Carolina 3-1. Florida has the most points (81) and best point percentage (.736) in the ECHL. Hargrove has been placed on the 14-day injured reserve. 

 

- Hank Crone leads Idaho in points with 51 (14G, 37A) even though he has missed 11 games with injuries. Hank's overtime game winner last night was his third of of the season. 

 

- Only three ECHL teams have point percentages above .700. Florida (.736) in the South, Trois Riviéres (.721) in the North and Kansas City (.713) in the Mountain. The Central Division has no .700 teams. 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about teams with a perfect record when leading after the first and second period. Here are Allen's stats:

• 5-2-3-2: Leading after the 1st period
• 10-1-3-1: Leading after the 2nd period
• 6-0-3-0: Leading after the 2nd period on the road

 

You don’t want to play from behind against these ECHL teams: 

 

Perfect when leading after the 1st period

24-0-0-0: Kansas City

22-0-0-0: South Carolina

13-0-0-0: Bloomington 

 

Perfect when leading after the 2nd period

25-0-0-0: Wheeling 

 

Perfect when leading after the 2nd period on the road

13-0-0-0: Wheeling

12-0-0-0: Norfolk

9-0-0-0: Fort Wayne

8-0-0-0: Indy

7-0-0-0: Idaho

Allen Loses 3-2 in OT, Game Recaps, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments. Tonight's Preview, Division Home & Away Games, NHL, AHL, ECHL Trade Deadlines

 

It was a late night if you stayed up to watch the ending of the Allen Americans game and once again came away disappointed. The Americans lost 3-2 in overtime to Tahoe in a game that didn't finish until 12:13 am Allen time. It was another one goal loss and the 11th straight for the Americans.

 

- Unlike recent losses, last night the Americans were ready to go from the opening puck drop and were the better team for much of the  first two periods, but ran out of gas in the third period. Maybe the altitude (6232 ft.) was a factor. There was no scoring in the first period. Allen took a 2-0 lead in the second period on goals by Jared Westcott, his first since joining the Americans and Quinn Warmuth, his third of the season. Tahoe cut the score to 2-1 at the 14:21 mark of the second period. 

 

- The Americans took their 2-1 lead into the second intermission and the statistical odds were definitely in Allen's favor. Third period comebacks in the ECHL are a rarity even though Tahoe has one of the better records when trailing after the second period (6-17-1-0). Allen's record when leading after the second period was 10-1-2-1. 

 

- The third period was dominated by Tahoe who outshot Allen 11-3. The tying goal was scored on the power play after Allen took a hooking penalty. It was scored just two seconds into the power play. It was even more strange that the Tahoe faceoff guy was thrown out of the faceoff circle and another forward had to take the faceoff. He won the faceoff cleanly to a player at the opposite point and it was in the net. 

 

- Allen managed just one shot in the last seven minutes of the game compared to six by Tahoe. Dylan Wells, as he did all night, kept the Americans in the game. Allen took a penalty late in the period (17:51) and Tahoe took one at 19:04 which carried over to overtime. Allen had 64 seconds of 4-on-3 power play time to start the overtime.

 

- The overtime was a disappointment, especially the 64 seconds of power play time. Allen lost the faceoff to start the overtime so had to go back into their own zone to breakout. Then the puck jump a stick on the first entry into the offensive zone and they had to chase it back into their own zone. When Allen did finally get set up, they did a good job of moving the puck, but shooters seemed to pass up good shots. The Americans finally shot three times in the last 10 seconds of the power play with one being blocked and two missing the net. 

There were three faceoffs in overtime with Tahoe winning all three. Allen didn't manage a single shot on goal in overtime. At 2:30 mark Slava Demin was left all alone when two players went to the puck carrier. Demin, who played in Allen 2023-24, skated in uncontested and beat Dylan Wells. It was bad enough that a former player scored the game winner, but even worse considering it was Demin's first goal of the year (32 games) and just the third of his ECHL career (86 games).

 

- Here are game recaps from both teams plus the video highlights:

• Allen's game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2025/02/game-recap-americans-lose-heartbreaker-in-ot
• Tahoe's game recap: https://knightmonstershockey.com/news/2025/03/tahoe-lights-up-the-night-in-ot-defeats-allen-3-2
  
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-tahoe-knight-monsters-feb-28-2025

 

- I went to sleep after the first period, but had asked coach Ferguson before the game started to send me his thoughts after the game as I would be sleeping. I typically contact him shortly after the game ends. To show you how different our schedules are he left me his comments at 1:20 am Tahoe time and I got up at 3:30 am (1:30 am Tahoe time). Asked him a followup question about the overtime, if he was still up, and sure enough he responded right away. At 1:40 am Tahoe time he was just going to sleep and I was just getting up. Go figure.

I was able to watch the second and third periods before starting to write the blog. Here is what coach Ferguson had to say about the game:

"We played really well tonight. We were able to get pucks behind their defense and hunt them down which led to some success early on. "

"As the game wore on we started to get too cute with the puck, especially inside their blue line that led to chances against. Too many times we went away from what made us successful."

"Wells held us in the game with some big, timely saves. It was a tough bounce on the power play tying goal. A wobbly puck that is hard to track."

"We responded well and had a big kill at the end of regulation. 

"The overtime was disappointing, especially the minute of power play time. We lost the faceoff and had trouble getting set up in the offensive zone. When we did get set up we moved the puck well, but our shooters didn't like the looks of their shots. When we finally did get some shots at the end of the power play we had one blocked and two missed the net."

"Tahoe is a team fighting for their playoff lives, clinging on to its position. We need to match their desperation and intensity in the next two games."

 

- Allen has been so close to ending this losing streak and they do not need much to get over the hump. If they get another good start tonight, win the special teams battle and get another good goalie performance they will win. Last night Allen was 0-3 on the power play and Tahoe was 1-3. 

 

- Allen will be playing short one player again tonight as Cole Fraser will be serving the last of his three game suspension. Allen played with only five defensemen last night and 12 forwards. If Ferguson opts to do that again tonight he will have to make sure the defensmen manage the puck and manage their shifts with the high elevation.  

 

- The referee tonight will be the same as last night, #25 David Lily. He only called six minor penalties in the game last night, so pretty much let the players play.

 

      

OTHER COMMENTS

- Allen played well enough to win last night and did manage to earn a point. With that said they lost ground in the "Best of the Rest" race as Utah beat Kansas City 3-2 and Rapid City beat Idaho 8-5. Rapid City has now won 11 straight while Allen has lost 11 straight. The Rush no longer belong in the "Best of the Rest" race as they are 11 points ahead of Utah and 18 points ahead of Allen. Rapid City is seven points from fifth place (Idaho) and 11 points from a playoff spot (Wichita). Here are the Mountain Division standings by points with total games remaining broken down home (H) and Away (A) in parenthesis:

• 75 points - Kansas City (19 - 11H, 8A)
• 68 points - Tulsa (18 - 9H, 9A)
• 66 points - Tahoe (18 - 12H, 6A)
• 65 points - Wichita (19 - 5H, 14A)
• 61 points - Idaho (19 - 8H, 11A)
• 54 points - Rapid City (19 10H, 9A)
• 43 points - Utah (18 - 7H, 11A)
• 36 points - Allen (19 - 10H, 9A)   

 

- Another full schedule in the ECHL tonight with 14 games. All Mountain Division teams are in action with some different opponents.

• Allen at Tahoe and Idaho at Rapid City remain the same.
•  Kansas City lost to Utah at home last night and travels to Wichita to take on the Thunder tonight. 
• Tulsa beat the Thunder in Wichita last night and will be at home tonight against Utah.

Here is the ECHL Today with previews of all 14 games tonight: https://echl.com/news/2025/03/echl-today-march-1 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the upcoming NHL, AHL, and ECHL trade deadlines. It is hard to tell if  Utah and Tucson will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Tucson is currently in fifth place in the AHL North Division, but five teams make the playoffs. Utah is currently outside the playoffs, in fourth place in the wild card race in the Western Conference. The top two teams get the wild card spots. How the deadline trades workout in Utah and Tucson could impact Allen. If the affiliates are buyers and add prospects, Allen could get additional players assigned for the tail end of the season. If they are sellers and trade away players the contracted players in Allen could get recalled.

 

Trade deadline dates mean a lot of player movement in the next couple of weeks: 

 

NHL: deadline is next Friday, March 7 at 3:00 pm ET.

 

AHL: deadline is Friday, March 14 at 3:00 pm ET.

 

ECHL: deadline is Thursday, March 20 at 3:00 pm ET

 

ECHL teams could be impacted by the NHL/AHL deadlines whether their affiliates are buyers or sellers. Some ECHL teams will get more players assigned and some will get players recalled/loaned.