Keys to the Weekend, Allen Trades for a Goalie, Massicotte Recalled by Belleville, Best ECHL Teams Last 10 Games and More

The Allen Americans had Thanksgiving (American) to regroup after the 7-4 loss to Idaho on Wednesday. There was a team dinner last night before Allen takes on Idaho tonight and Saturday. It has not been a relaxing day off for coach Costello. Since the loss on Wednesday, he found out goalie Logan Flodell “won’t be back for a little longer” so he had no choice but trade for a goalie. The Americans have been using an EBUG and that can’t continue. Roster update:

• Allen made a trade with Tulsa to obtain rookie goalie Eric Dop in exchange for cash considerations. Dop played in three games with Tulsa, all coming in relief and had a save percentage of .854. Dop is a rookie who played at Boston College last season after four years at Bowling Green. In his NCAA career he played in 113 games with a 2.50 GAA and .907 save percentage.
• Another loss yesterday was defenseman Zachary Massicotte being recalled by Belleville. Massicotte played eight games since being loaned to Allen and had four points (1G, 3A) and was +2.
• The bottom line is Allen now has no assigned players from its affiliate and an Allen signed player (Nick Albano) has been loaned to Belleville since November 11. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great opportunity for Albano as he has played in all six games since being loaned.
•  It is hard to track the number of NHL/AHL players assigned to ECHL teams. I do it by tick marks from the transactions report each day. My data shows Allen is the only ECHL teams with no assigned players. In addition, 20 of 28 ECHL teams (including Idaho) have five or more assigned players, including several with more than ten.

–  Allen learned last week in Cincinnati it can hang with any team in the league by handing the Cyclones their only regulation loss of the season. What does Allen have to do to get points this weekend?

• Obviously, Allen needs to be ready to go at the opening puck drop and get off to a better start. You can’t comeback if you give up the first four goals of the game. Keep in mind Allen hasn’t won a game this season when they give up the first goal.
• The last three games Allen has allowed 49, 42 and 41 shots. This after allowing an average of 25 shots per game the first nine games of the season. The Americans will need to cut down on shots allowed to be successful.
• Allen won the special teams battle in the loss on Wednesday. Three of Allen’s four goals were scored by the special teams (two power play, one shorthanded). The Americans took just two minor penalties compared to four by Idaho. The Americans need to continue the excellent special teams play from Wednesday to be successful.

– Here are the game notes from the Idaho press release which recapped the game on Wednesday. It gives you a good idea of what Allen is up against this weekend:

• Idaho finished 1-for-2 on power-play while Allen was 2-for-4
• Steelheads outshot the Americans 42-33.
• Idaho has points in six straight games (5-0-0-1).
• Idaho is (1-0-0-0) vs. Allen this season and 21-16-5 all-time including 13-6-3 in Boise.
• Owen Headrick increased his point streak to six games with two assists (3-5-7).
• Ty Pelton-Byce has points in five of his last six (6-4-10).
• Ryan Dmowski recorded his sixth multi-point game of the season and led the game with nine shots. He is tied for the league lead with 11 goals.
• Jade Miller recorded the first two goal game and first three-point game of his career.
• Colton Kehler, Jack Becker, and Zane Franklin each tallied two assists.
• Patrick Kudla (1-1-2) recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season and leads all defenders in scoring (4-12-16).
• Matt Register finished (+3) and leads the league with a (+18) rating.
• Casey Johnson (IR), Willie Knierim (INJ), Cody Haiskanen (IR), and Jordan Kawaguchi (IR), Wade Murphy (DNP), and Jake Kupsky (DNP) did not dress for Idaho.

– It is hard to overstate how important it is to come away from Idaho with some points. It is only Thanksgiving, but history would say teams below .500 at this point have a very low chance of making the playoffs. Allen is already in a hole; they don’t want to dig that hole any deeper. Despite all of the obstacles, I am reminded of something coach Costello said to me last week which is very important going into the weekend, “We have things to improve upon as a team, but effort, attitude, leadership and caring for one another will never be a problem with this group.”

OTHER COMMENTS

– it is a big night in the ECHL tonight with 12 games on the schedule. All seven Mountain Division teams are in action:

• Wichita at Tulsa
• Kansas City at Rapid City
• Allen at Idaho
• Trois Rivieres at Utah

Here is the ECHL Today with previews of all 12 games: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/11/echl-today-nov-25

–  Norfolk has played more games (16) than any other ECHL team. Kalamazoo, Toledo and Iowa have played the fewest games (11). Norfolk has played 11 of its 16 games on the road and lost them all. The Admirals have lost 12 straight games and are within striking distance of making the list of longest winless streaks in one season. It will take 15 losses to make the list, 16 to be tied for #2 and 20 straight losses for the all-time record set by the Victoria Salmon Kings in 2004-05.

DID YOU KNOW: With the exception of Reading, who lost its first four games of the season before winning seven of next nine, the top ECHL teams continue to win. Here are the five teams that have won seven or more games in their last 10. The team’s current points percentage is in parenthesis.8-1-0-1: Cincinnati (.875)8-1-0-1: Idaho (.821)8-2-0-0: Worcester (.867)7-2-1-0: Newfoundland (.833)7-3-0-0: Reading (.577)