Coach’s Corner With Steve Martinson, The Playoffs, The Trade Deadlines and More

 COACH’S CORNER WITH STEVE MARTINSON

“Just when it looks like we will get everyone back, somebody else gets injured. Eric Roy broke his finger and will be out for the remainder of the regular season.”

“Ryan Lohin has been assigned to Allen and will be on the trip to Toledo.”

“Ben Carroll is back and hopefully Darian Skeoch will be able to play as well.”

“I still have some decisions to make on the roster and who will travel to Toledo.”

“We will work today at practice on the power play. Chad Butcher is now 100% after being out with an injury. Butcher moves the puck well on the power play and will get more power play time.”

THE PLAYOFFS

– The ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs are less than a month away and the differences between the four divisions are many. Everything from style of play to number of games played to points percentages vary between divisions. Here are a few of the statistical differences between the divisions.

– The number of games played in the North Division ranges from 53 (Trois-Riviéres) to 58 (Maine & Adirondack). Add the other end of the spectrum is the North Division where every team but one has already played 60 games. The range is from 58 (Allen) to 64 (Kansas City).

– Only one team in the North Division is planning to play 72 games. All of the teams in the Mountain and Central Divisions will play 72 games. All of the teams in the South Division with the exception of Orlando will play 72 games.

– Here are the top four teams in each division by points percentage. The teams that would make the playoffs if they started today. The team’s rank in overall ECHL points percentage is in parenthesis:

NORTH DIVISION

• .684 – Reading (#2)
• .657 – Newfoundland (#3)
• .526 – Worcester (#14)
• .509 – Trois-Riviéres (#18)

SOUTH DIVISION

• .656 – Atlanta (#4)
• .642 – Florida (#5)
• .619 – Jacksonville (#6)
• .517 – Orlando (#16)

CENTRAL DIVISION

• .703 – Toledo (#1)
• .595 – Fort Wayne (#8)
• .552 – Wheeling (#10)
• .542 – Cincinnati (#11)

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

• .615 – Utah (#7)
• .583 – Rapid City (#9)
• .533 – Idaho (#13)
• .526 – Allen (#15)

– While the Western Conference has the #1 team in the league (Toledo) the overall depth is clearly in the Eastern Conference. Five of the top six teams in the ECHL in points percentage are in the East. The Western Conference has dominated the Kelly Cup since 2014, winning all of the championships with the exception of Newfoundland in 2019. The odds say the Kelly Cup champion comes from the Eastern Conference this season.

– Another way to compare divisions is the record when playing the other three divisions. It is not a perfect stat because of the uneven number of games and which teams are the opponents, but it is worth noting how the divisions fared against the other divisions. Here are the records with points percentage in parenthesis:

• Central Division: 53-26-3-4 (.657)
• North Division: 34-21-6-0  (.607)
• Mountain Division: 33-38-4-2 (.468)
• South Division: 22-32-5-1 (.417)

– How has the Central Division fared against the North Division? Not so well, the North Division is 11-6-2-0 against the Central. OTHER COMMENTS– Allen fans will watch with interest tonight as two of the eight games on tap could impact the Americans quest for a playoff spot. Wichita is at Idaho and Tulsa is at Utah. Here is the ECHL Today with previews on all of the games: https://www.echl.com/en/news/2022/3/echl-today-march-23– Luke Peressini was selected as the ECHL Goaltender of the Week for his performance last week. He joins Antoine Bibeau who was Goaltender of the Week back in December. Prior to Peressini and Bibeau winning the award, you have to go back to 2016 to find the last Allen goalie to win Goaltender of the Week. Riley Gill won the award in back to back weeks. In the two weeks he had three shutouts, a GAA of 0.53 and 1.24 and save percentages of .987 and .952. Riley went on to win the Goaltender of the Year that season.  DID YOU KNOW: TRADE DEADLINES– Trade deadline moves impact all three pro leagues depending on whether your affiliated teams are buyers or sellers at the deadline. Some ECHL teams will get players assigned and others will get players recalled or loaned. What has already happened in the NHL and will happen in the AHL next week could impact the ECHL playoff rosters.NHL – There were 33 trades involving 54 players made on Monday, the NHL trade deadline.AHL – The trade/loan deadline is next Monday, March 28, at 3 p.m. ET.ECHL – The trade deadline is Thursday, March 31, at 3 p.m. ET.

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