The Allen Americans defeated the Wheeling Nailers 4-2 Thursday night to claim the ECHL’s Kelly Cup / Photo by Kimberly Sauer (PHN)
ALLEN, Texas – Make it two in a row for the Allen Americans. Or is it four in a row? Any way you slice it, the former two-time Central Hockey League champions rose above their competition once again, claiming their second Kelly Cup (one for each of their two seasons in the ECHL) with a 4-2 series-clinching win over the visiting Wheeling Nailers in front of a crowd of 5,904 at the Allen Event Center on Thursday night.
Amazingly, the Americans have been fortunate enough to clinch all four championships on home ice.
Leading the best-of-seven series 3-2, the Americans’ power play would be the deciding factor, as Allen scored three times out of four chances with the man advantage.
Greger Hanson’s PP goal gave Allen 2-0 first period lead / Photo by Kimberly Sauer (PHN)
Tristan King and Greger Hanson each netted power play goals in the first period, giving Allen a 2-0 lead in the first intermission. King opened the scoring 4:44 into the game with his seventh goal of the playoffs, on assists from Eric Roy and Playoff MVP Chad Costello. Hanson added his 15th postseason goal just under five minutes later, with Costello and Roy once again providing the assists.
Allen held the 2-0 lead after one, with a 16-9 shot advantage, but a determined Nailers squad wasn’t ready to hand over the cup. Out-shooting Allen 17-7 in the middle frame, Wheeling cut the lead in half when John McCarron netted his 11th of the postseason at 9:32 of the period, making it 2-1. That score would hold the remainder of the period as the two teams entered their locker rooms to prepare for the third period.
Roy pushed the Allen lead back to two goals, scoring the third power play goal of the night at 10:04 of the third, with Casey Pierro-Zabotel and and Costello picking up the assists.
Wheeling’s Cody Wydo scores in the third period to pull within one goal / Photo by Kimberly Sauer (PHN)
Wheeling still battled though, out-shooting Allen 18-5 in the period, and pulled back within one goal just under three minutes later when Cody Wydo lit the lamp to make it 3-2 with 7:06 remaining.
From there, Riley Gill (12-5), who posted 42 saves on the night, and the Americans defense held tight to deny another Nailers score. Then, Gary Steffes secured the win with an empty net goal with 32-seconds remaining and the Americans skated the Kelly Cup across the rink under the scoreboard that read Allen 4, Wheeling 2.
During the 2015-16 regular season, some may have questioned whether or not the Americans had what it would take to get back to the Kelly Cup Finals, let alone to claim the cup once again. However, the Americans appear to have had their competitors exactly where they wanted them all along.
Allen Americans players rush the ice to celebrate their second-straight Kelly Cup title / Photo by Kimberly Sauer (PHN)
Overshadowed by a dominate Missouri Mavericks team that posted an incredible 52-15-5 record, Allen finished second in the Central Division. The Americans had to settle for second, as they finished the regular season 20-points behind the Mavericks. However, if you look closer at the standings, a 41-24-7 record is nothing to dismiss. In fact, the Americans were one of just seven teams in the 28-team ECHL to post 40 or more wins this season.
Then there was the fact that this was a Steve Martinson coached team. Previous to the season, Martinson’s teams had won nine championships, across four different leagues. After Thursday night, we’ll round that number up and call it an even 10.
The championship in itself is a fantastic accomplishment, but four in a row? It just begs for the following question to be asked – Will next year be number five in a row? We will find out soon enough, but until then, fans and competitors should know not to look past the Kelly Cup Champion Allen Americans.
Contact the writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer: Kimberly.Sauer@prohockeynews.com
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