Allen, Wheeling ready for Kelly Cup battle

ORLANDO, FLA – Whenever a league championship series takes place, history is rewritten for the teams involved as well as the league itself. Saturday night will be no exception when the Allen Americans and Wheeling Nailers meet in game one of the 2016 ECHL Kelly Cup final series at the Allen Event Center. This time however, history will be written starting before the first puck is dropped.

The defending Kelly Cup and back-to-back Western conference champion Americans and the Eastern conference champion Nailers will mark a first for the 28-year old double-A hockey league when they step on the ice. The series will be the first to pit the ECHL affiliates of the two finalists for the NHL’s Stanley Cup in the same season. The Pittsburgh Penguins (Wheeling) and the San Jose Sharks (Allen) begin their finals series at the Consol Energy Center in the Steel City on Monday.

WHAT’S AT STAKE:

Allen is looking to become just the third team and first since the 1992-93 and 1993-94 Toledo Storm to win back-to-back ECHL titles. The only other franchise to win two straight crowns was the Hampton Roads Admirals who accomplished the fete during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 campaigns.

Should the Americans complete their quest, the franchise will also lay claim to four straight championships. Allen claimed the Ray Miron Cup as the best team in the Central Hockey League during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons before the league was absorbed by the ECHL.

For Wheeling, it would be the franchise’s first Kelly Cup triumph but as it turns out not the first crown. The Nailers are descendants of the Carolina Thunderbirds who won the inaugural Riley Cup as champions of the then-titled East Coast Hockey League during the 1988-89 season. They were renamed the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds before the 1989-90 campaign and got to the finals again before losing to Greenville.

The team later moved to Wheeling where the Thunderbirds fell victim to the Toledo Storm in the 1992-93 Riley Cup finals. Since becoming the Nailers in 1997, the franchise has yet to return to the finals.

THE ROAD TO KELLY:

As the defending champs, the Americans constantly faced everyone’s best effort. In the post-season, that meant a fourth seed for Allen and a tough conference quarterfinal matchup with the Idaho Steelheads. It took seven games and overtime to do it but the Americans prevailed, coming back from down three games to two win games six and seven at home.

Facing the top-seeded Missouri Mavericks
in the semifinals, Allen quickly raced to a three games to one series lead. Following a game five loss on home ice, the Americans won their second road game of the series in game six to close out the Mavericks. The conference title series against the Fort Wayne Konets proved to be a cake walk as the Americans won the first two games in Fort Wayne and cruised to a four to one series victory.

Wheeling’s path from the number five seed in the Eastern conference was an arduous one. The Nailers had to battle hard to upend the fourth-seeded Florida Everblades in six games in the conference quarterfinals.

The semifinal round against the Reading Royals was an epic battle. Game four went into the third overtime before the Nailers pulled out the victory. The series came down to a deciding seventh game that Wheeling took in overtime to move on. Against South Carolina in the conference final, the Nailers found themselves down three games to two going back to North Charleston against an experienced Stingrays team. Wheeling won game six in overtime before using a big third period push to claim game seven.

THE COACHES:

Wheeling’s Jeff Christian has done a remarkable job for the situation he was put in. Hired mid-season to be the assistant to David Gove when Gove took over for Clark Donatelli who was shifted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by the Penguins, he played a key role in stabilizing the team down the stretch.

Following the Florida series, Gove took a sudden leave of absence, turning over control of things to Christian. To this point, Christian has handled everything thrown his way in getting the Nailers to the finals.

On the other bench stands Steve Martinson, one of the most accomplished coaches in minor league hockey. In 19 years behind the bench in the WCHL, ECHL, UHL and CHL, Martinson’s teams have failed to make the playoffs only once while giving him nine championship rings.

In the last four regular seasons (including the 2015-16 campaign), Martinson’s record is 167-78-0-31 and three championships with a shot at a fourth on the way. Not many coaches are better than Martinson is at developing a roster and setting up a winning game plan.

PLAYOFFS BY THE NUMBERS:

Allen’s overall post-season record is 12-6 with a 7-3 mark at home and a 5-3 record on the road. The Americans have scored 56 goals while giving up 47 to go along with 244 penalty minutes. Allen is also a perfect 3-0 in overtime contests.

The Americans currently have the best power play of any team that has played in the post-season. They have been successful 21 times in 79 chances (26.6 percent success rate) with both their road (10-for-39) and home (11-for-40) percentages above 25 percent. Allen’s penalty killing units hold the sixth-best PK rate at 84 percent (12 goals allowed in 75 times short) with the numbers at home (88.9 percent kill rate) being much better than on the road (79.5 percent).

Allen has scored an average of 3.11 goals per game on an average of 29.22 shots recorded per contest. Defensively, the Americans have allowed 2.61 goals per game while giving up an average of 30.5 shots each time out.

Wheeling carries a 12-8 playoff record into the series with identical 6-4 marks both home and away. The Nailers have netted 61 goals while allowing 59 and have been called for 285 penalty minutes. Like Allen, Wheeling is unbeaten in overtime, sporting a 4-0 recond in games that have gone beyond sixty minutes.

The Nailers power play comes in with the fourth best overall success rate, connecting 16 times on 85 chances (18.8 percent success) with a 9-for-46 mark (19.6 percent) at WesBanco Arena and a 7-for-39 rate (17.9 percent) on the road. Wheeling’s penalty killing is tied for the best in the league with recently-ousted South Carolina at 87.6 percent (12 goals allowed in 85 times short). The Nailers hold the second-best mark away from home having given up just three goals in 49 times short (93.9 percent success rate) while killing off opposition power plays at a rate of 81.3 percent (9 goals allowed in 48 chances) at home.

Wheeling has scored an average of 3.05 goals per game while giving up 2.95 goals per game to its opposition. In the shots on net category, the Nailers have averaged 33.55 shots for while giving up 31.4 shots to their opponents.

KELLY’S HEROES:

Each team has four players among the top 17 scorers so far this playoff season.

Allen is led by right wing Chad Costello. Costello leafs the entire ECHL with four goals and a league-leading twenty assists for 24 points. Defenseman David Makowski is tied for third with five goals and fourteen assists for 19 points. Next on the list is left wing Greger Hanson who has eleven goals to lead the league and six assists for 17 points (tie-9th) followed by rookie defenseman Eric Roy who I’d tied for 16th with three goals and twelve assists for 15 points.

Of Costello’s points, 16 have come on the power play (3 goals, 13 assists) while Makowski has contributed 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) and Hanson has chipped in with 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) on the man advantage. Casey Pierro-Zabotel leads the Americans with two game-winning goals.

Wheeling’s offense is led by Riley Brace who is second in the league with five goals and fifteen assists for 20 points. Right behind him is defenseman Mathew Maione who is tied with Allen’s Makowski with five goals and fourteen assists for 19 points. Rookie forward John McCarron has added eight goals and ten assists for 18 points (tie-7th) while another rookie, Cody Wydo has put up eight goals and nine assists for 17 points (tie-9th).

Brace leafs the Nailers with 7 power play points (1 goal, 6 assists) while Maione has put 5 man advantage points (1 goal, 4 assists) on his record. Forward Jarrett Burton has earned the nickname of “Mr. Clutch” with four game-winning goals including two big overtime winners against South Carolina while Maione has three game winners and Brace has two.

BETWEEN THE PIPES:

Brian Foster has become the go-to goalie for the Nailers. He has posted an 8-5 record with a 2.60 goals against average and a .916 goals against average. Franky Palazzese is a solid second netminder with a 4-3 record, a 2.34 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.

Riley Gill has been Allen’s top goalie for most of the season and into the playoffs. He has a 9-4 record, a 2.37 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and one shutout to his credit. Gill was dinged up in the Fort Wayne series, forcing Jack Hildebrand to finish off the Komets. Hildebrand posted a 2-2 record with a 3.18 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

KEYS TO THE CUP:

Allen needs solid goaltending from Gill and/or Hildebrand along with continued balanced scoring. It would also help if the Americans can force Wheeling to commit penalties, allowing the power play to do its thing.

Wheeling has to stay disciplined to keep the Americans power play off the ice. Failing that, the penalty killing units led by Foster and/or Palazzese will have to be even better that they have been.

Expect the five-on-five play to be physical – a game that Allen plays well but Wheeling can also – as both teams try to intimidate the other.

Coming off a long, grueling series with a short turnaround, the Nailers need to split the back-to-back games one and two in Allen before heading home. If Allen wins two at home, it could be a short series because as they proved against Fort Wayne, the Americans know how to finish.

SCHEDULE:

Game 1 – Saturday, May 28 at 8:05 p.m. CT at Allen Event Center – Allen, Texas
Game 2 – Sunday, May 29 at 4:05 p.m. CT at Allen Event Center – Allen, Texas
Game 3 – Wednesday, June 1 at 7:05 p.m. ET at WesBanco Arena – Wheeling, W.V.
Game 4 – Friday, June 3 at 7:35 p.m. ET at WesBanco Arena – Wheeling, W.V.
Game 5 – Saturday, June 4 at 7:35 p.m. ET at North WesBanco Arena – Wheeling, W.V.*
Game 6 – Thursday, June 9 at 7:05 p.m. ET at Allen Event Center – Allen, Texas *
Game 7 – Saturday, June 11 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Allen Event Center – Allen, Texas *