It is Allen Getaway Day, Roster Update, Historical Allen Win Streaks, Bunch of Birthdays, Defensemen Assist Leaders and More

It is getaway day for the Allen Americans. The team will practice this morning and then get on the bus right after lunch for the 370-mile trip to Wichita. Allen plays Wichita tomorrow night (7:05 pm) and then will travel to Kansas City for a game Sunday afternoon (4:05 pm).

– I have been getting a lot of roster related questions this week so here is an update from my reporting on the current status:

• Spencer Asuchak – he is still hoping to return to the lineup for the last part of the season. No specific target date.
• Stephen Baylis – he is out for the season and back home in Canada where he will rehab after having surgery.
• Aidan Brown – still on IR after upper body injury. Expected to be out for a while longer.
• Dalton Gally – day to day
• Mikael Robidoux – still serving a seven-game suspension. He has sat out four games and will miss the games in Wichita (Friday), Kansas City (Sunday) and at home against Kansas City on January 25. His first game back will be at home against Tulsa on January 27.
• I can confirm the additional player coach Costello has been referencing in interviews recently has arrived in Allen. The details should be made public today.

– By my count there have been over 10 roster changes in the last month as coach Costello tries to improve the roster. There is no reason to believe he is done making more changes if it will strengthen the roster.

– Allen has relied heavily on three players to provide the offense recently. Hank Crone has a six game points streak with 12 points (4G,8A). Colton Hargrove has scored nine goals in his last eight games. Jack Combs has a point in eight of the last nine games with a total of 13 points (5G, 8A). What Allen needs is more players contributing consistently. With Liam Finlay back from injury with his 1.09 points per game average, the addition of Grant Hebert (2 points in 3 games) and the new player that will be announced today, the Americans have added a lot more firepower to the lineup.

– Allen will try and extend its three-game win streak in Wichita tomorrow night. The last time the Americans won four straight games was over a year ago (January 2, 2022). Long win streaks are rare with the ECHL schedule. In Allen’s 2015-16 Kelly Cup winning season the Americans longest win streak was only four games, but they had four of them. Here is Allen’s longest win streak for each season since joining the ECHL:

• 3 games: 2022-23
• 5 games: 2021-22
• 6 games: 2020-21
• 6 games: 2019-20
• 4 games: 2018-19
• 6 games: 2017-18
• 8 games: 2016-17
• 4 games: 2015-16*
• 9 games: 2014-15*

*Won Kelly Cup

OTHER COMMENTS

– Lots of celebrations in the Allen locker room this week and next with a flurry of late January birthdays. Happy birthday to all:

• January 18 – Jackson Leppard (22)
• January 20 – Jared Bethune (26)
• January 25 – Chad Butcher (27)
• January 26 – Jack Combs (35)
• January 26 – Dalton Gally (25)

– Former Allen defenseman Cole Fraser, who has been in Toledo the last two seasons, has left the Walleye   after signing with the Dundee Stars (Scotland) in the EIHL. Dundee is in eighth place in the 10 team EIHL.

– The longest win streak in the ECHL this season is 12 games (Idaho) and the longest winless streak is also 12 games (Norfolk).

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL stats post today is about defenesemen that lead their team in assists. It doesn’t happen often. In 2020-21 Matt Register (41) and Les Lancaster (38) finished #1 and #2 in assists for the Americans. In 2019-20 defenseman Alex Breton tied with Tyler Sheehy for the team lead in assists with 44.

ECHL defensemen that currently lead their team in assists:Tristan Thompson (18) – SavannahAndrew Nielsen (20) – Utah*Josh Maniscalco (20) – Wheeling*Maniscalco also leads Wheeling in points (28).Last season (2021-22) four defensemen led their team in assists:51 assists: Ben Finkelstein, Newfoundland41 assists: Marcus Crawford, Kansas City35 assists: Mike Brodzinski, Orlando33 assists: Tim Davison, Atlanta