A Deep Dive 0n Remaining Schedule, Allen’s 25 goal Scorers, Some WOW ECHL Stats and More

The Allen Americans have had week after week of critically important games and have done quite well. Since the beginning of 2023 the Americans points percentage is .682 on a record of 15-7-0-0. That has allowed Allen to move from last place in the Mountain Division to fourth place and into the final playoff spot. Because the Americans had such a poor start to the season, despite the great record since the first of January, the Americans are still ranked #18 in the ECHL in points percentage (.500). Allen has a lot of work to do over the final 23 games of the season.

– Realistically there are four teams (Allen, Kansas City, Utah and Rapid City) vying for two playoff spots. The four teams are separated by just five points in the standings with Kansas City (50 points) at the top and Rapid City (45 points) at the bottom. If you want to stretch it, there are six teams vying for three playoff spots. Wichita has 56 points in second place and Tulsa has 42 in seventh place. Allen is in the middle of the group with 49 points, seven points out of second place and seven points out of seventh place.

– The goal for Allen isn’t to make the playoffs, the goal has to be to finish in second or third place in the division. The team that finishes fourth in the Mountain Division has two big obstacles facing them. The first is the idea that once you make the playoffs anything can happen. The facts say otherwise. Since Allen joined the ECHL there have been 24 first round series and the fourth seeds have won just three times. Those three teams all lost in the second round. Second, the fourth seed this season will have to play Idaho in the first round. Idaho currently has a points percentage of .806 which is tied for the best points percentage all-time in the ECHL. The Steelheads home record is 20-3-0-0. It is hard to see the fourth seed winning three or four games in Idaho to win the opening round series.

– Which Mountain Division team has the best schedule for the remaining of the season. One way to look at it is home and away games:

• 16 home, 8 away – Utah
• 13 home, 10 away – Allen
• 13 home, 10 away – Idaho
• 12 home, 11 away – Rapid City
• 10 home, 15 away – Kansas City
• 9 home, 16 away – Tulsa
• 7 home, 15 away – Wichita

– Another way to look at the remaining games is how difficult are the opponents. Here is the percentage of remaining games against opponents with a points percentage above .550.

• 56% – Kansas City, 14 of 25, (6 Idaho, 3 Wichita, 3 Florida, 2 Cincinnati)
• 48% – Rapid City, 11 of 23, (5 Wichita, 3 Idaho, 3 Fort Wayne)
• 46% – Utah, 11 of 24, (5 Wichita, 3 Idaho, 3 Cincinnati)
• 30% – Allen, 7 0f 23, (5 Idaho. 2 Wichita)
• 28% – Tulsa, 7 of 25, (3 Cincinnati, 3 Maine, 1 Wichita)
• 14% – Wichita, 3 of 22, (2 Toledo, 1 Cincinnati)
• 13% – Idaho, 3 of 23, (all 3 against Maine)

– Conclusions when looking at the data above:

• Kansas City has the toughest schedule with 56% of its remaining games against top teams and 15 of 25 remaining games on the road. The Mavericks have the second lowest road points percentage in the division (.333).
• Idaho has the easiest remaining schedule. Maine is the only opponent with a points percentage above .550. Idaho has 13 remaining home games where it has a league leading .870 points percentage. The Steelheads have an excellent chance to have the best regular season in the history of the ECHL.
• Wichita has only seven home games remaining where it has a .707 points percentage and 15 road games remaining where it has a .357 points percentage. In Wichita’s favor 19 of its remaining games are against teams with a points percentage below .550
• Top teams outside the Mountain Division will have a lot to say down the stretch. Allen is the only team in the division that does not play a team outside the division with a points percentage above .550.

– It should be a quite the finish in the Mountain Division and there is little doubt it will come down to the final weekend to determine the top four seeds in the playoffs. If it does, here is the schedule for the final two games of the season:

• Allen vs Wichita (home and home)
• Idaho at Rapid City
• Cincinnati at Kansas City
• Tulsa at Utah

– Liam Finlay’s next goal will give Allen four 25 goals scorers this season with 23 games remaining. I looked back to see how many 25 goal scorers Allen had in each of its seasons since joining the ECHL. Here is what I found:

• 2021-22: 3 (Asuchak, Costello, Troock)
• 2020-21: 2 (Mackin, Lancaster)
• 2019-20: 2 (Sheehy, Topping)
• 2018-19: 1 (Pochiro)
• 2017-18: 1 (Guptill)
• 2016-17: 4 (Hanson, Costello, Moore, Asuchak)
• 2015-16: 0
• 2014-15: 3 (Steffes, Costello, Hanson)

– I will have a complete Allen vs Utah series preview on Wednesday but here are a couple of interesting stats. Allen is 4-1-1-0 against Utah this season, last season Utah was 5-0-0-0 against Allen. In the six games against Utah this season, the Americans have outscored the Grizzlies 26-13.

– There are two games in the ECHL today. Newfoundland is at Reading and Utah is at Orlando. Utah has a game in hand over Allen and if the Grizzlies win tonight, they will close to within one point of the Americans for the final playoff spot. The upcoming three game Allen vs Utah series will decide which team is in a playoff position at the end of the week.

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about some wow stats. If I had to pick out an Allen wow stat it would be the Americans have the top three goals scorers in the ECHL, Combs. Crone and Hargrove. In terms of team stats Allen has one of the best records in extra time games with a points percentage of .800. The Americans are 3-1 in overtimes and 1-0 in shootouts.

Some #1 teams in stats that make you say wow (points percentage and record):1.00 (11-0-0-0) – Idaho’s record when it is outshot by opponents.1.00 (12-0-0-0) – Florida’s record when leading after the 1st period.1.00 (19-0-0-0) – Worcester’s record when leading after the 2nd period..935 (21-1-1-0) – Jacksonville’s record when scoring the 1st goal of the game..870 (20-3-0-0) – Idaho’s home record.

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