Win or Go Home Road Trip, Travel Roster, Goalie Assignments, Special Teams Stats

As tight as the Mountain Division standings were during the regular season as the Allen Americans were fighting back from last place, it seemed like every road trip was critical to make the playoffs. With the Americans flying to Boise this morning it gives critical road trip an entirely new meaning. Four games in five days and the Americans have to win two of the four to get the series back to Allen, if not the season is over. I know it might sound like a cliche, but coach Costello’s goal is more immediate and that is winning the game tomorrow night and tie the series 1-1. The only focus for the team is one game.

– There are plenty of players battling bumps and bruises as is the case with all teams this time of year. Just two players will not be traveling with the team, defenseman Ty Farmer is out with an upper body injury and Jakov Novak is back at school finishing his master’s degree. Here is the travel squad which includes two goalies, 12 forwards and six defensemen:

Goalies

• #34 – Kevin Mandolese
• #35 – Chase Perry

Defensemen

• #3 – Ryan Gagnon
• #4 – Kris Myllari
• #20 – Eric Williams
• #23 – Colton Saucerman
• #24 – Dalton Skelly
• #49 – Zachary Massicotte

Forwards

• #7 – Colton Hargrove
• #15 – Liam Finlay
• #17 – Chad Butcher
• #21 – Jack Combs
• #25 – Aiden Brown
• #26 – Spencer Asuchak
• #28 – Justin Young
• #29 – Colby McAuley
• #32 – Mikael Robidoux
• #44 – Stefan Fournier
• #67 – Hank Crone
• #77 – Grant Hebert

– It is a slim roster for the Americans going into a tough playoff road trip with only one extra forward and no extra defensemen. Four games in five days are always stressful physically and given the stakes, trainer Jordan Dutton will likely be a busy guy this week. Hopefully Allen can stay away from having to play shorthanded.

– The revised schedule for this series now has the teams playing four games in five days and six games is eight days with one of the days off (15th) being for travel back to Allen. In my opinion there is no way the teams can play one goalie in every game as they have thus far in the playoffs. With Thursday off you would expect Kevin Mandolese and Adam Scheel will play on Wednesday and Friday. With games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon you will see the backup goalies at some point. If you compare save percentages of the backup goalies Allen has the advantage. Chase Perry has played 1417 minutes in the regular season for Allen with a .923 save percentage. Idaho’s backup, Josh Boyko, played 506 minutes in the regular season with a .901 save percentage. The cat and mouse of the goalie matchups will be something to watch over the next four games.

– I was asked about the likelihood goalie Remi Poirier, who played 23 games for Idaho in the regular season and had a record of 19-2-1-1 and .928 save percentage might be sent back to the Steelheads for one of the home games this week. Poirier has been with the Texas Stars since early March. Texas has three goalies on the playoff roster. Poirier hasn’t played in the playoffs but has been serving as the backup for Texas. I looked up the schedule and the Stars have playoff games on the 12th, 13th and 17th. While it is possible, I would say it is highly unlikely you will see a goalie sent back to Idaho.

– I will have a complete game preview tomorrow but a stat you will notice in the “Did You Know” section today is telling. Thus far in the playoffs Idaho has the worst special teams stats of the remaining eight teams, as measured by combining power play and penalty kill percentages. Allen is ranked #4 based on its #1 penalty kill percentage.

– Here is a glass half full or half empty stat about playing the Idaho Steelheads at home.

• Glass half empty – During the entire regular season the Idaho Steelheads never lost two of four consecutive games at home.
• Glass half full – Idaho has lost two of three home games in the playoffs.

OTHER COMMENTS

– I had a chance to talk to team president, Jonny Mydra, yesterday about all that went into coming up with a new schedule after the game on Saturday was postponed. Jonny told me the league was open to all options except the series could not go past the established May 17th date for completion of the second round because of the impact it would have on the rest of the playoffs. Mydra also had this to say:

“Commissioner Ryan Crelin and Idaho president, Eric Trapp, were easy to work with and flexible in coming up with a new schedule.”

“If the series returns to Allen, which I expect, we plan on honoring the victims, their families, and the first responders in a major way for game six.”

– There is one game on the schedule tonight, Newfoundland at Reading. Newfoundland has a 2-0 lead in the series and could put Reading in a big hole with a win tonight. The Growlers are the #1 seed in the North Division but had to start the series on the road in a 3-4 format. If Newfoundland wins tonight and takes a 3-0 lead in the series, with the final four games at home, it will be lights out for the Royals.

– It is hard to look at the playoff stats thus far and not conclude Toledo and Newfoundland are the favorites as the Kelly Cup finalists. Toledo is undefeated (6-0) and Newfoundland is 6-1 (.857). They are averaging 4.86 (NFL) and 4.67 (TOL) goals per game which is almost 1.50 goals more than any other team. They are #1 and #2 in power play percentage and #1 and #2 in road records. Newfoundland has 18 NHL/AHL contracted players on the roster which is #1. Toledo has nine contracted players which is #3. The #2 team for contracted players is Reading with 10 (Newfoundland’s current opponent). There is still a long way to go for both teams, but you have to like their chances.

– The defending Kelly Cup champion Florida Everblades are the #4 seed in the South Division but look very dangerous. Florida upset #1 seed South Carolina 4-2 in the first round and has taken a 2-0 lead in the second round with two road wins against #2 seed Jacksonville. Florida acquired forward Sean Josling from Wheeling for future considerations in the middle of March. Josling leads the ECHL playoffs with six goals.

DID YOU KNOW: Best ECHL playoff special teams. Power play and penalty kill percentages combined for the eight teams remaining in the playoffs. Above 105% considered outstanding special teams:132.6% – Toledo114.7% – Newfoundland109.1% – Florida106.9% – Allen97.5% – Reading96.8% – Jacksonville93.6% – Cincinnati92.3% – Idaho#1 Power play: 44.4% Toledo.#1 Penalty kill: 94.4% Allen.