Head Coach Dwight Mullins
“Right now we’re, playing for respect,” Mullins said, touching on the fact that he wanted his team to prove that they can be a contender, right out of the gate.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves…I still don’t know how good we really are. We’ve worked very hard and earned everything that we’ve gotten to this point, but our intentions were to not come in and take a year or two to figure out how to compete.”
The Americans began their season with a 4-0-0 start, the best by any expansion team in the Central Hockey League since its merger with the Western Professional Hockey League in 2001.
That was followed by consecutive losses against the league champion Texas Brahmas on Saturday and the Tulsa Oilers on Tuesday.
Even with those losses, the Americans remain well grounded and determined to concentrate on the little things that will make them a contender in the league’s tough Southern Conference.
“We’re more focused on improving daily as a team and just getting better each and every day at the rink and we’ll let the chips fall and let things work out from there,” goalie Charlie Effinger said.
Britt Dougherty
“I think we’ve found out we have to work, too,” Dougherty said. “There’s been times in games where we’ve gotten a little complacent and other teams have capitalized on that…if we work hard, we can play with anybody we’ve seen so far. We haven’t played a lot of teams, but I think we’ve got a really hard working team and if we do the things we’re being taught and show up every night, I think we’ll be successful.”
The Americans will travel to the Gulf Coast for their next game against the Corpus Christi Ice Rays (2-2-2) before making the long trip back to Allen for their home opener, where they will host the Ice Rays in the newly constructed Allen Events Center, which had its ribbon cutting today.
Allen Events Center
Team captain Jarret Lukin summed up the feelings of his teammates with his assessment of the Americans’ home ice.
“It’s one of the top minor league venues I’ve seen in my few years playing pro,” Lukin said. “The set up here and the people involved are second to none.”
As the only CHL member club to have an NHL affiliation (Dallas Stars), Dwight Mullins recognizes the prospect of setting the benchmark for other teams in the league to follow.
“We feel very fortunate that if we do things right here, we can be an integral part of their development process down the road,” Mullins said. “Now, we’re still the new kid on the block, so we kind of have to prove our worth in that department but we’re being given that opportunity by them and I think that all early indications are that we’re meeting the expectations that they would want, which is very positive and I think that could help set us apart from other teams or other organizations, not only in our league, but at this level.”
With 58 games remaining in the schedule, the Americans will have plenty of opportunities to make a statement with their hard work, their new venue, and their NHL affiliation.
“Our intentions are to be successful and win every night,” Mullins said. “Hopefully we’ll get a chance to compete for the championship. Obviously that’s our number one goal. I think right now, we’re more focused on playing for respect and playing to create an identity and in that process…to find ourselves in the championship at the end of it all.”
Contact the author at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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