The Allen Americans 2023-24 season has come to an early end, but there were many highs to take out of the season, as well as some lows.
Regular Season Stats
The Allen Americans finished the 2023-24 regular season third in the Mountain Division, eighth in the Western Conference, and 18th in the league. Allen had an overall record of 33-35-3-1 with a record of 17-18-1-0 at home and 16-17-2-1 on the road, as well as a record of 22-8-1-1 when scoring first. The Americans were outscored 133-109 at home and were outscored 143-124 on the road. They finished the season with a 5-3-2-1 record in overtime and shootout after they went 3/9 in finding success on shootout attempts and went 7/9 in stopping shootout attempts against.
The Americans ended the season with a 20.2% success rate for the powerplay, putting them at 14th in the league, with their home powerplay finishing at 18.9% (19th) and their road powerplay finishing at 21.5% (t-10th with the Wheeling Nailers). Their penalty kill finished at 78.2% (t-18th with the Savannah Ghost Pirates and Trois-Rivieres Lions). While their home penalty kill finished at 74.0% (23rd), and their road penalty kill finished at 82.7% (t-9th with the Norfolk Admirals). The Americans finished second in the league for penalty minutes with 1211, averaging 16.82 penalty minutes per game. The Americans had 348 minor penalties, 25 majors, 27 ten minute misconducts and 12 game misconducts.
The two teams the Americans struggled with the most during the 2023-24 season were the Idaho Steelheads (3-7-1-0) and the Kansas City Mavericks (4-10-0-1). The teams the Steelheads had the most success against were the Wichita Thunder (8-1-0-0) and the Tulsa Oilers (9-6-1-0). The team the Americans most evenly matched with was the Rapid City Rush, who they went 3-3-0-0 against during the 2023-24 season.
Playoff Stats
The Allen Americans had a very short playoff run, going 1-3-1-0 during their run. They were outscored 22-14 with one shorthanded goal and two powerplay goals. The Americans had a powerplay percentage of 12.5% and a penalty kill percentage of 80%, killing 16 of 20 penalties.
League Leaders
The Allen Americans had a few players who finished in the top of the league for their respective stats. Gavin Gould was tied for second in the league for shorthanded goals with four. He was tied with Alex Kile from the Maine Mariners and Tyler Bird from the Orlando Solar Bears.
Colby McAuley was tied for fourth in the league for powerplay goals with 12. McAuley was tied with Francesco Arcuri from the Idaho Steelheads.
Kris Myllari led in many stats amongst the league and defensemen. Myllari was second among defensemen in powerplay points with 28, and he was tied for second among defensemen in powerplay goals with six. He was tied with Robert Calisti from the Atlanta Gladiators. Myllari was fourth among defensemen in powerplay assists with 22, and he was seventh among defensemen in overall points with 48. Myllari was also fifth in the league for powerplay assists with his 22 powerplay assists.
Shining Five
The Americans had many successful seasons, but five players stood out the most: Colby McAuley, Hank Crone, Kris Myllari, Blake Murray, and Easton Brodzinski.
Colby McAuley had arguably one of the best offensive seasons for the Americans as he led the team in goals, assists, and points throughout the regular season. McAuley played in 68 of the 72 regular season games, where he had 25 goals and 38 assists for 63 points. He had 77 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -18. McAuley played in five playoff games with the Americans where he had one goal and one assist for two points. He had ten penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -2.
Hank Crone did not play a lot of games this season, as he only played in 40 games. But he had a lot of success in the games he played in. Even with playing fewer games, Crone finished the regular season second in assists and points and fourth in goals among the Americans. Crone had 17 goals and 38 assists for 55 points with 33 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -8. Crone averaged 1.375 points per game in the 2023-24 season. In the playoffs, Crone played in five games where he had one goal and two assists for three points. He had two penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -6. In the playoffs, Crone was fourth among the Americans in assists and fourth in points.
Kris Myllari was another player on the Americans who had an outstanding season as he not only was one of the Americans top players but was also one of the top defensemen in the league and played in all 72 regular season games. Myllari was third on the Americans in assists and points and was fifth in goals. In the playoffs, he was sixth on the team in assists and points. Through his 72 games played, Myllari had 11 goals and 37 assists for 48 points. He had 22 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -17. In the playoffs, Myllari played in five games where he had one goal and two assists for three points. He had four penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -4.
Blake Murray joined the Americans later in the season after playing for the Norfolk Admirals and Florida Everblades. Murray was third on the Americans in goals and was fourth in assists and points. He played in 49 games with the Americans, where he had 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points. He had 32 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +4. In the playoffs, Murray played in five games where he had three assists. He had six penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -5. Murray was third on the team in assists for the playoffs.
The final player of the top five is Easton Brodzinski. Brodzinski is still very early in his career, having played only his second full professional season in the 2023-24 season, but he is already finding success. Brodzinski played at St. Cloud State from 2017-2022 and played in 176 games, where he had 67 goals and 58 assists for 125 points. He had 198 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of 0. Brodzinski then spent the rest of the season playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL before joining the Jacksonville Icemen in the ECHL. In the 2023-24 season, Brodzinski played in 62 games for the Allen Americans, where he had 22 goals and 17 assists for 39 points. He had 91 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of 0. Brodzinski finished the regular season second in goals, eighth in assists, and fifth in points with the Americans.
Brodzinski continued to find success even in the playoffs, playing in five games where he had two goals and three assists for five points with two penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -2. Brodzinski was first on the Americans in goals and points and was second in assists.
Downfalls
The Americans did not have as successful of a season as they did in the 2022-23 season, as they could not get their win percentage above .500. One of their biggest downfalls was special teams, specifically at home. Struggling on home ice is not a common issue, as most teams tend to do better on home ice, but that was not the story for Allen’s special teams in the 2023-24 season. The Americans finished the season ranked 23rd for their home penalty kill, allowing 38 powerplay goals against them in 146 chances. The Americans allowed 62 powerplay goals to be scored against them, meaning 61% of the powerplay goals scored against them were scored on home ice.
The Americans at home did not finish as low with their powerplay, but they still finished 19th in the league only scoring 23 powerplay goals on 122 chances. Allen scored about 47% of their powerplay goals on home ice in the 2023-24 season. The easiest way to fix this special teams issue, specifically the penalty kill issue, would be to not make the stupid, little mistakes that are avoidable. If the Americans play a bit cleaner of a game and not take penalties that are avoidable, they would not have to worry about having to kill off so many powerplays.
Positives
One of the positives of the season was that even though the Americans had to kill off a lot of penalties, they were still able to find ways to win. The Americans played a very physical game, which allowed them to have the upper hand on many teams that did not play as physical of a game. Even though the Americans struggled to find wins at times and were unable to get their win percentage above .500, they were still able to find a way to push through and earn a playoff spot. Even though Allen did not go far in the playoffs, they were still able to avoid getting swept by a hot Idaho Steelheads team and were able to hold their own against the Steelheads at times. Allen was also able to hold leads a lot, as they were able to go 22-8-1-1 when scoring first. The Americans were able to to hold leads throughout the season which was a massive help when it came to clinching their playoff spot.
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