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Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads Game Day Storylines - Game 1 of Mountain Division Semifinals

April 13, 2018 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Steel Reel

The Steelheads and Allen Americans both seek their third Kelly Cup championship, a journey that begins in Boise on Friday night. It's the second time in three seasons that the two teams have met in the playoffs, with Allen earing a seven-game victory over Idaho in the first round in 2016 en route to their second straight Kelly Cup. This time the Steelheads hold the higher seed, finishing 18 points ahead of the third-place Americans.

Idaho and Allen squared off ten times during the regular season, with both teams winning five games. The teams met in Texas for the final two games of the season, the Americans grabbing a 5-4 overtime win last Friday and the Steelheads answering with a 4-2 win the following night. The Steelheads finished the year on a 9-0-1 run and also won their final seven games at CenturyLink Arena.

Scoring in Bunches...

The Steelheads face an Allen team that surrendered 3.22 goals per game in 2017-18, 15th in the league. The Steelheads finished the season third in shots per game and seventh in scoring, and they raised their level in the final ten games. Idaho scored 37 goals during the season-ending unbeaten streak and netted four goals or more in each of their last seven. Cole Ully and Max French led the charge, with French posting an eight-game points streak (9-5-14) and Ully earning six multipoint games in his last seven (9-3-12).

Net Gain...

Idaho Head Coach Neil Graham has a decision to make in net. Philippe Desrosiers was sent down to Idaho from AHL Texas earlier this week after a one-month call-up. Desrosiers saw limited game action during his stint in Texas, but he finished fifth in the ECHL in wins this season with a 23-9-3 record. During Desrosiers' absence, Tomas Sholl was 9-0-2 with the Steelheads, was twice named Goaltender of the Week, and was Goaltender of the Month for March. Sholl was unbeaten in regulation during his rookie season, but the Americans did earn an overtime win and a shootout win against Sholl.

Been There...

Corbin Baldwin, Zach Bell, and Philippe Desrosiers are the only Steelheads on the Game 1 roster who were with the team to face Allen in 2016, while five Americans- David Makowski, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Eric Roy, Tristan King, and Spencer Asuchak remain for Allen. Steve McParland is the only Steelhead to reach a Kelly Cup Final, last year with South Carolina, while Allen has several and Pierro-Zabotel has won each of the last two Kelly Cups in Allen and in Colorado. Eight Steelheads will see their first pro playoff action. Ten Americans will make their playoff debut, four of whom have fewer than ten professional games on their resumes.

Idaho 2017-18 Leaders Americans 2017-18 Leaders

Goals: McParland (31) Goals: Guptill (27)

Assists: J. Dahl (41)* Assists: Pierro-Zabotel (50)

Points: J. Dahl (61)* Points: Pierro-Zabotel (69)

Plus/Minus: McParland (+23) Plus/Minus: Makowski (+28)

Power Play Goals: McParland (9) Power Play Goals: Chouinard (8)

Goals-Against Average: Sholl (1.54) Goals-Against Average: Williams (3.14)*

*Not currently with team*

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