The playoff journey begins this morning when the Allen Americans fly to Idaho to take on the ECHL's #3 team during the regular season. By any measurement it will be an uphill battle for the Americans whose regular season record against the Steelheads was 3-7-1-0. The first two games of the series will be in Idaho (Monday and Wednesday) before returning to Allen for games on Friday (7:10 pm), Saturday (4:10 pm) and Sunday (4:10 pm). - Here is a comparison of a handful of stats between Allen and Idaho. Of the 12 on the list Idaho is better in 11 of them. The lone exception is team save pe ..read more

  If it seems like it has taken forever for Allen's first round playoff series to start it is well founded. Of the eight first round series the Allen vs Idaho matchup will be the last to commence (Monday, April 22). However, once the series begins things will go very fast. In fact it will take only one day less to play the series than the wait the Americans had between the last game of the regular season and their first playoff game. If the series with Idaho goes seven games it will mean seven games in 10 days with two trips to Idaho.   - The Americans will have a final practice toda ..read more

  While some ECHL teams had two days to prepare for the Kelly Cup playoffs the Allen Americans have seven days, the longest playoff prep time ever. After two days of full speed practices the team will take a day off the ice today and devote time to video review. The coaching staff has spent an inordinate amount of time going through every aspect of a hockey game looking at video from Allen's recent games, Idaho's recent games and the head-to-head games this season. The result of all of that work will be shared with the team in a video review session today followed by a team dinner tonight ..read more

  The Kelly Cup playoffs kick off tomorrow night with two of the eight first round series getting underway. The Allen vs Idaho series will be the last one to start (April 22) so the Americans have a full week to prepare. The Kansas City vs Tulsa series starts tomorrow (April 17) and if the Mavericks sweep the series it will be over the same day Allen is playing game one.   - The big news yesterday was the release of the Allen Americans playoff roster. The ECHL will issue a press release with all of the playoff rosters today, but individual teams can put out their list if they desire ..read more

  The Allen Americans finished the regular season yesterday with a 4-1 loss in Tulsa. Not going to spend much time recapping the game that was meaningless for the Americans and very important to Tulsa. With the win the Oilers claimed the final playoff spot in the Mountain Division and eliminated Utah.   - Allen managed to score the first goal of the game at the 8:12 mark of the opening period on a power play goal by Blake Murray, his 21st goal of the season. Liam Finlay and Hank Crone had the assists. Unfortunately that was the extent of Allen's offense for the game.    -&n ..read more

  It took a seven game point streak, but the Allen Americans made the Kelly Cup playoffs in style last night, a 6-3 win over Tulsa before a crowd of 5394 at the CUTX Event Center. The Americans earned 13 of 14 points (6-0-1-0) over the last two weeks and not only made the playoffs but vaulted into third place in the Mountain Division.   - It wasn't a good start for Allen as Tulsa scored the first goal of the game and had a lead of 2-1 after the first period. The second period  has been trouble for Allen much of the season. The Americans have allowed more second period goals than ..read more

  The Allen Americans continued their streak of playoff style hockey last night beating Tulsa 3-2 before a crowd of 4920 at the CUTX Event Center. The Americans last six games have all been decided by a single goal with five of the six going extra time. Allen's record over the last six games is 5-0-1-0 and its six game point streak is the fourth longest in the league. Over this six game point streak the Americans have allowed just 12 goals.   - Last night Allen had the trifecta of scoring the first goal, leading after the first period and leading after the second period. As a reminde ..read more

  It is the last weekend of the ECHL regular season and every team in the Mountain Division except Rapid City can still make the playoffs. Kansas City and Idaho are already locked in while Tulsa (67 points), Allen (66 points, Utah (66 points) and Wichita (63 points) will be vying for the final two playoff spots. - Here is the weekend schedule: 67 points: Tulsa - Allen (A) Friday, Allen (A) Saturday, Allen (H) Sunday 66 points: Utah - Idaho (A) Friday, Idaho (A) Saturday 66 points: Allen - Tulsa (H) Friday, Tulsa (H) Saturday, Tulsa (A) Sunday 63 points: Wichita - Rapid City (A) Friday ..read more

  The Allen Americans have reached the final three games of the regular season. As many predicted months the Americans playoff fate comes down to the upcoming series against the Tulsa Oilers. I will have a complete series preview tomorrow, but have a bunch of miscellaneous items to cover today, so here goes.   - How has Allen fared against its Mountain Division foes. Here is the Americans record against each team. The teams are listed from top to bottom in points percentage order: Kansas City: 4-10-1-0 Idaho: 3-7-1-0 Tulsa: 7-5-1-0 Utah: 3-4-0-0 Wichita: 8-1-0-0 Rapid City: 3-3-0-0 ..read more

  The Allen Americans wrapped up their three game series against Adirondack Sunday afternoon with another third period comeback before a crowd of 4206 at CUTX Event Center. Trailing 2-1 as the game wound down, Hank Crone scored his 16th goal of the season to send the game to overtime. Adirondack prevailed in overtime but the Americans earned an important point in the standings. It was a great series for Allen earning five of six points against the #1 team in the North Division. - The Sunday afternoon matinee followed a familiar script. Just like the first two games Adirondack scored the ..read more