Allen, Texas – The Allen Americans begin their very unique ‘threepeat’ quest tonight at the Allen Event Center when they kick off their ECHL Central Division Semi-Finals series against the Tulsa Oilers. The Americans were back-to-back President’s Cup Champions in the Central Hockey League the two years prior to joining the ECHL at the start of the 2014-2015 season and look to continue their winning tradition in their first ECHL post-season appearance.
Allen started the journey strong, finishing in the top spot of the Western Conference with 106 points and second overall behind Toledo by a single point; an impressive run for their first season in the 28-team league.
Allen and Tulsa met a total of 17 times during the year, with Allen taking the season series 12-4-1 against the Oilers. Four of those wins came in the final 10-game stretch, where Allen posted an 8-0-2 record. That slate gets wiped clean and the clubs start anew tonight when the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs begin – will Allen continue their dominance or will Tulsa surprise the Americans with an upset?
ECHL scoring champion Chad Costello
The Americans offense will be led, as it has been all season, by ECHL scoring champion Chad Costello (41 G, 84 A), who has been red hot against the Oilers, putting up 31 points (15 G, 16 A) this year. Complimenting that will be the return of leading goal scorer Gary Steffes (44 G, 29 A) who comes back after a stint in the AHL, where he tallied four goals in nine games for the Milwaukee Admirals.
The return of Steffes gives the Americans a big boost to their already high octane offense which averaged 4.06 goals per game with players like Greger Hanson (29 G, 33 A), Aaron Gens (8 G, 48 A), Jamie Schaafsma (18 G, 32 A), Kevin Young (8 G, 36 A) and Spencer Asuchak (12 G, 18 A) leading the charge. Newcomer’s Vincent Arsenault, Dyson Stevenson and Chris Crane have all shown to be proven contributors as well both in size, speed and scoring ability.
Special teams are always a big driver in the post season and both clubs are well acquainted with the penalty box. The Americans led the league in penalty minutes with 1,644 while Tulsa ranked eighth with 1,350.
The Americans hold the edge in special teams with their third ranked penalty kill (86.3%) compared to Tulsa at 22nd (81%). The Allen power play has been deadly all season, finishing second (21.9%), while Tulsa struggled in the 26th spot (15%). Steffes accounted for nearly a quarter of the Americans power play goals as 18 of his 44 markers came on the man advantage.
Allen’s defensive corps has been solid all season, led by Gens, Young, Nolan Descoteaux, rookie Justin Baker and Tyler and Trevor Ludwig. Konrad Abeltshauser has made quite an impression as well since being reassigned from the Americans AHL affiliate Worcester Sharks, netting seven points (5 G, 2 A) in only six games while showing he’s also solid on the backline.
Backstopping the defense will be Riley Gill who has been very reliable, compiling a league leading 33 wins in 50 games played. It is still unknown who will be the other piece of the goaltending duo as the Americans must choose between J.P. Anderson and Joel Rumpel, recently out of University of Wisconsin. There is also the hope that Aaron Dell will return to the Americans if the Worcester Sharks are eliminated from the AHL playoffs.
With only 23 roster spots, the question now is who Head Coach Steve Martinson has tabbed for the final roster. We’ll know for sure later today when the final rosters are posted.
Game 1 – Tuesday, April 14 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Allen
Game 2 – Wednesday, April 15 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Allen
Game 3 – Friday, April 17 at 7:35 p.m. CT at Tulsa
Game 4 – Saturday, April 18 at 7:35 p.m. CT at Tulsa
Game 5 – Tuesday, April 21 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Allen (If Necessary)
Game 6 – Thursday, April 23 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Tulsa (If Necessary)
Game 7 – Sunday, April 26 at 4:05 p.m. CT at Allen (If Necessary)
Contact the writer: maurice.fitzgerald@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer: les.stockton@prohockeynews.com
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