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Hargrove, a native Texan, can pull off the Cowboy look He wins a custom-made hat, dinner, or steaks from sponsor Local Yocal |
Allen flipped the script on Norfolk last night, beating the Admirals 5-2 after losing 2-1 on Wednesday. The games were different in so many ways. Here is what the Americans accomplished last night that led to victory:
- Scored the first goal. Allen’s record when scoring first improved to 15-2-3-0 (.825).
- The first goal was a power play goal.
- Allen led 3-1 after the first period. Norfolk’s record when trailing after the first period drops to 0-13-0-0.
- Allen led 3-1 after the second period. The Americans’ record when leading after the second period improved to 16-0-1-0. Norfolk’s record when trailing after the second period is 0-17-0-0.
- Allen won the special teams battle, going 1-4 on the power play and 0-5 on the penalty kill. Allen’s penalty kill has climbed back up to #5 in the league (84.8%).
- Jackson Parsons stopped 27 of 29 shots for a .931 save percentage. He has played eight games in Allen this season and has had a save percentage below .909 only once.
- Allen recorded its seventh hat trick of the season.
– Spencer Asuchak got the party started, scoring his 11th goal of the season (4th power play goal) from his office, which is right in front of the goalie. Asuchak put in a rebound of an Andre Anania shot from the top of the circle. After Norfolk tied the score 1-1 at the 7:32 mark, Allen retook the lead 2-1 on a similar play as the first goal. Sam Sedley took a shot from the circle, and Colton Hargrove deflected it into the net for his 12th goal of the season. Allen had a 2-1 lead, with both goals coming on pucks to the net and guys in front.
– Allen’s third goal of the first period was a beauty from Colton Hargrove, his second of the game and 13th of the season. It was a 2-on-1 with Hank Crone, and Colton faked out the defenseman and the goalie before sliding the puck into the net. Allen took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
– Allen struggled in the second period. The Americans had to kill three penalties and managed only six shots. The six shots came from Gildon. Gursoy, Anania, Chiasson, Watts and Simmons-Fischer. Between good defense and good goaltending the Americans stopped all nine Norfolk shots and took their 3-1 lead into the second intermission. It was a good sign given Norfolk hasn’t won a game all season when trailing after the second period.
– The Admirals put the pressure on Allen in the third period. Allen killed two penalties and was outshot 12-3 before Norfolk scored with 3:53 remaining in the game to cut the score to 3-2. Allen responded with an insurance goal just over a minute later to get their two-goal lead back (4-2). It was another one of those guys at the net, pouncing on a rebound. Jake Chiasson put a puck off the crossbar from in close, and it dropped down just outside the goal line. It was not going into the net, but Danny Katic, as he has done so often this season, pounced on the puck and shoved it in the net before anyone else could get there. It was Katic’s 21st goal of the season. He leads Allen by five goals and is ranked #4 in the league despite playing 10 fewer games than those ahead of him.
– Norfolk pulled the goalie with 2:09 remaining in the game, but never managed a shot on goal. Allen spent the final two minutes trying to get Colton Hargrove a hat trick. Time and time again, Hargrove had an opportunity for an empty net goal, but it took until 15 seconds remaining to get it done. Here is how Coach Martinson described it to the season ticket holders after the game: “It was funny on that last shift, trying to get Hargrove the hat trick. I thought, okay, shoot it in. Oh, he is not shooting it now. Why is he passing it behind his back to Colby? It was like the players were saying, okay dumbass, we are going to pass you the puck one more time, and Hargrove said I am not going to shoot it in this time. He finally had a breakaway and didn’t have any other choice but to shoot it in. I have seen a lot of stuff in my day, but I have never seen anything quite like that with a pulled goalie and trying to get a guy a hat trick. Obviously, you have seen a lot of unselfish plays here with the goalie pulled, trying to get a guy a hat trick. But Hargrove giving up the puck, rather than shooting it in, is a new one.”
– How good has Hargrove been over the last month?
- Multiple points in 10 of 14 games.
- Nine goals in 14 games.
- 14 assists in 14 games.
- Points per game average of 1.64.
- Improved his plus/minus to +13, second on the team.
– Here are the game recaps and video highlights. Rewind Hargrove’s second goal several times to see just how good that move was:
TONIGHT’S PREVIEW
– You will definitely see some lineup changes tonight. Djibril Touré has been recalled to Belleville. Coach Martinson didn’t expect him to be in Allen very long. The good news is he has played the required five ECHL games to be eligible for the playoffs. It doesn’t necessarily mean he will be in Allen for the playoffs, but he is eligible. FYI, the same is true for Mark Duarte and Jake Chiasson.
– Allen has at least one player listed as day-to-day, and it still has to be determined who will start in goal. Bottom line is there will be at least one and likely more than one change to the lineup tonight.
– After a great first period last night, Allen managed only 12 shots over the final two periods. The Americans need to replicate the first period again tonight, but generate more offense later in the game. They also need to stay out of the penalty box, even though Allen hasn’t allowed Norfolk to score on the power play (0-8).
– The third game of three-game series was an issue for Allen earlier in the season. Coach Martinson attributed that to the team not being in tip-top shape. The Americans were 1-4 in the third game of series through December 6. Since then, their record is 4-1.
Winning the third game of this series with Norfolk will be critical. Here is how Allen has fared in the third game of a three-game series this season:
- November 1 – 6-3 win over Rapid City
- November 15 – 4-2 loss to Tulsa
- November 22 – 5-2 loss to Idaho
- November 29 – 3-2 loss to Utah
- December 6 – 6-3 loss to Utah
- December 13 – 5-1 win over Rapid City
- December 20 – 6-0 win over Tulsa
- January 4 – 5-1 win over Tahoe
- January 11 – 7-6 win over Wichita
- February 1 – 6-3 loss to Rapid City
– Don’t forget the Police vs Fire game precedes the Allen vs Norfolk game tonight. Doors open at 4:30 pm, and the game starts at 5:05 pm. Allen Americans assistant coach Jason Deitsch will be playing for the Allen Fire Department, even though he is a firefighter in McKinney. I hear there may be ringers on both teams. One ticket is all you need for both games.
COACH’S COMMENTS
“We talked about getting off to a good start before the game and not giving up any easy scoring chances like we did on Wednesday. I told the players there were a couple of AHL guys here scouting for players for next season. They clearly responded in the first period. I wouldn’t be surprised based on what they saw, if a couple of our young guys might get a chance this season.”
“After looking at the video, I thought their first goal was goalie interference.”
“We shot the puck at the net and scored on the rebound on the first power play, but didn’t do it again. I told the guys that if it works, there is nothing wrong with doing it again ten times in a row. Keep doing it until they take it away. I think that will be my video for tomorrow.”
OTHER COMMENTS
– Colton Hargrove’s hat trick was the seventh of the season for the Allen Americans. That is #2 all-time for hat tricks in a single season, and there are still 29 games left to play. FYI, no other ECHL team has more than three hat tricks this season (see list below). Here are the seven hat tricks this season and the all-time record of eight hat tricks in 2022-23. A couple of familiar names make both lists.
- 2025-26 – 7 hat tricks (thru 43 games)
- 2 – Danny Katic
- 1 – Harrison Blaisdell
- 1 – Mark Duarte
- 1 – Brayden Watts
- 1 – Hank Crone
- 1 – Colton Hatgrove
- 2022-23 – 8 hat tricks
- 3 – Hank Crone
- 2 – Colton Hargrove
- 2 – Liam Finlay
- 1 – Jakov Novak
– Playing in every game is very difficult, and very few players will play in every game this season. About 1% of all ECHL players will play in every game. Between injuries and callups, most don’t make it.
Allen has played 43 games, so 60% of the season is in the books.
Just five players have played in all 43 games (Harrison Blaisdell, Hank Crone, Michael Gildon, Sam Sedley, and Brayden Watts). These five players
have a chance to join one of the toughest clubs possible, the Ironman
Club, by playing in all 72 games this season. Congrats and stick taps
to all Allen Ironmen past and present! It is a very exclusive club. Special stick taps to the Hall of Fame of Ironmen, Chad Costello and Kris Myllari who didn’t miss a game for three straight seasons!
- 2024-25 – None
- 2023-24 – Kris Myllari
- 2022-23 – Kris Myllari, Ryan Gagnon
- 2021-22 – Kris Myllari
- 2020-21 – Les Lancaster
- 2019-20 – None
- 2018-19 – Spencer Asuchak
- 2017-18 – Joel Chouinard, Casey Pierro-Zabotel
- 2016-17 – Chad Costello, Joel Chouinard
- 2015-16 – Chad Costello
- 2014-15 – Chad Costello, Aaron Gens, Jamie Schaafsma
- 2013-14 – Spencer Asuchak, Daniel Tetrault, Mike Berube
- 2012-13 – Jamie Schaafsma, Jason Deitsch
- 2011-12 – Jason Deitsch
- 2010-11 – Colton Yellow Horn, David Strathman
- 2009-10 – Bruce Graham, Christian Gaudet
DID YOU KNOW: How impressive are Allen’s seven hat tricks this season? Check out this stat:
There have been 40 ECHL hat tricks in 2025-26. One team has seven of them. Seven teams have none. Here is a breakdown by team:
7 – ALN
3 – MNE, UTA
2 – ADK, IDH, KAL, RC, TOL, WIC, WOR
1 – ATL, BLM, CIN, GSO, IA, FLA, ORL, NOR, REA, SAV, SC, TAH, TUL
0 – FW, GVL, IND, JAX, KC, TR, WHL