Americans and Brahmas Cross-Town Rivalry Showdown

ALLEN, Texas – This Friday night kicks off the showdown between cross-town rivals the Allen Americans and Texas Brahmas, a long anticipated series between the two clubs since the Americans- inception in the Central Hockey League in 2009.
A mere 41 miles separates the two barns, allowing fans of both clubs to be able to see in person, this intense rivalry taken to another level in the post-season.
 
The Americans secured second place in the Berry Conference less than two weeks ago with a weekend sweep of the Brahmas, twice at home and once on the road at the NYTEX Sports Center.
Allen completed the regular season with 87 points (39-18-9), just four points behind the Governor’s Cup Champion Wichita Thunder, while the Brahmas trailed at 74 points in third place (33-25-8) with the season series between the two teams ending decidedly in favor of the Americans at 7-2-2.
 
The best-of-seven series will follow the traditional 2-2-1-1-1 format with the following schedule.
 
Game 1 – Friday, Mar. 30 @ Allen, 7:05pm
Game 2 – Sunday, Apr. 1 @ Allen, 5:05pm
Game 3 – Wednesday, Apr. 4 @ Texas, 7:00pm
Game 4 – Friday, Apr.6 @ Texas, 7:30pm
Game 5 – Saturday, Apr. 7 @ Allen, 7:05pm
Game 6 – Tuesday, Apr. 10 @ Texas, 7:00pm
Game 7 – Wednesday, Apr. 11 @ Allen, 7:05pm
 
How do the teams stack up?
 
Allen has not been the offensive juggernaut it was last season, when they won the Governor’s Cup and this was by design. Americans Head Coach Dwight Mullins made some changes in the system and this season’s team has played a much tighter checking game than last year’s wide-open, run-and-gun offense – yet the Americans still put up good numbers, netting 212 goals for, versus 175 goals against.
 

One of the biggest differences this season has been in net as Allen has had a solid goaltending duo. The first two seasons, the lion’s share of the work fell on the shoulders of Chris Whitley, but without a solid and consistent backup goaltender and the eventual departure of Whitley to Europe, the Americans knew a change needed to be made this year.
 
This season the Americans brought in Rejean Beauchemin and Marco Cousineau and both have played extremely well for the club. Beauchemin finished the regular season nipping at the heels of the Brahmas’ Mark Guggenberger in the number one spot. Guggenberger earned this year’s CHL Most Outstanding Goaltender award, compiling a 22-11-3 record and 2.27 GAA, while Beauchemin posted a 19-9-5 record with 2.29 GAA.
Marco Cousineau had several stints in the American Hockey League but while with the Americans, Cousineau recorded a 16-4-4 record and 2.53 GAA. Goaltending always plays a major part in a team’s post-season run. This match-up should be nothing less than stellar to watch at both ends of the ice.
 
The Americans have fielded strong defensive pairings all season with Scott Langdon, Mike Berube, Tyler Ludwig, Dylan King, Joshua Hepditch and Jake Newton. Newton joined the team in the latter stages of the season, assigned by Lake Erie just this month and made an immediate impact. A smart defenseman with good speed, he notched one goal and six assists in 11 games for the Americans and has helped round out an already strong Allen backline.
Of other note, Dylan King was named to the CHL’s All Rookie Team. The Thessalon, Ontario native joined the Americans during last season’s playoff run as an amateur from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and has shown great poise and maturity in his rookie season.
 
The Americans’ forwards are once again led by founding players Bruce Graham, Jarret Lukin and Colton Yellow Horn, the only three players on the active roster since day one.
Although being sidelined with an injury for 18 games, Graham still finished in a tie for 15th (1st for the Americans) in scoring and appeared on track to make a run at the scoring title this season before sitting out several weeks. A healthy Bruce Graham in the lineup brings a much welcome scoring punch and stability to the Americans offense.
 
Rounding out the Americans’ strong offensive squad with over 40 points are captain Jason Deitsch (16 G, 44 A, 60pts), Colton Yellow Horn (24 G, 31 A, 55pts), Jim McKenzie (20 G, 24 A 44pts), Jarret Lukin (19 G, 24 A, 43pts), Brian McMillin (16 G, 27 A, 43pts) and Nick Layton (13 G, 28 A, 41pts).
Surprisingly absent from the post-season roster is Jeff Martens, who was picked up after being waived by Arizona and was an integral part of the Allen ‘Alphabet Line’ of Layton, Martens and Mark Nebus.
 
Special teams are another key to successful post-season play and Allen will need to continue to pick up the pace with the man advantage if they are to make a deep playoff run. The Americans finished 5th on the power play at 18.85%, but only yielded six short-handled goals against as opposed to last season’s league leading 17. Texas has had troubles with the power play, finishing dead last in the regular season with a poor 12.2%.
 
Penalty kill units for both teams are evenly matched with the Americans and Brahmas finishing 6th and 7th respectively, Allen with 83.46% effectiveness to Texas’ 83.33%.
The Americans have played a more disciplined game, finding themselves short-handed only 266 times in comparison to last seasons 314. Expect the special teams to get a good workout in this series – it should be interesting to watch who is able to take the upper hand and capitalize with the extra man.
 
The numbers are in the Americans favor but once the ‘second season’ begins, those numbers go by the wayside and new streaks and heroes are made. With the intense rivalry between these two clubs, anything can happen. This is a series that will be one to watch closely.
 
The series kicks off Friday night at the Allen Event Center, puck drop is at 7:05 pm CST.
  Contact the author at maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at chip.crail@prohockeynews.com