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The Allen Americans are an ice hockey team headquartered at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009 in the Central Hockey League (CHL) where they played for five seasons, winning the Ray Miron President's Cup twice. The CHL folded in 2014 and the ECHL accepted the remaining CHL teams as members for the 2014–15 season. Currently, the Americans are affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and the American Hockey League's San Jose Barracuda. In their first season in the ECHL, the Americans defeated the South Carolina Stingrays in seven games to win their first Kelly Cup. They are the first team to win the Kelly Cup in their first ECHL season since the Idaho Steelheads accomplished the feat back in 2004 (the Steelheads also joined the ECHL via merger, having previously played in the West Coast Hockey League). ==History== On April 15, 2009, the Central Hockey League announced an expansion team for Allen, to begin play in the 2009–10 season. The new team was owned by EXCO Resources chairman Douglas H. Miller and former NHL defenseman Steve Duchesne. That same day, the team announced an affiliation with the NHL Dallas Stars. Through this affiliation, they will also affiliate with the Austin-based AHL Texas Stars. On April 27, 2009, the ownership group unveiled the team's name, logo, and colors. Prior to the Americans third season, on September 1, 2011, it was announced that the Americans signed a one-year affiliation deal with the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL and by extension the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. This agreement officially made the Americans affiliates of the Avalanche after having a working relationship with the Monsters over the previous two years. This affiliation is no longer in place as Colorado and Lake Erie are now affiliated with the Denver organization. On May 4, 2012, the Allen Americans announced that former Dallas Stars Mike Modano, Craig Ludwig, and Ed Belfour partnered up to become minority owners. Shortly after the Allen Americans announced that they would not retain GM and Head Coach Dwight Mullins, along with Associate Coach Bill McDonald. Richard Matvichuk was announced as the Assistant General Manager and Defensive Coach. On May 11, 2013 the Allen Americans won the Ray Miron President's Cup for the first time in front of a sold out crowd. After falling behind 2-0 in the first two periods of game 7 against the Wichita Thunder, Allen scored 2 third period goals to tie the game. In overtime, Todd Robinson scored the winner to give Allen their first championship win. On May 10, 2014, the Allen Americans became only the third CHL team to win back-to-back Ray Miron President's Cup championships, and the first since the Memphis RiverKings achieved the feat in 2003. Allen scored 4 2nd period goals to defeat the Denver Cutthroats 5-2, winning the finals series 4 games to 1 in front of a sold out crowd. On October 7, 2014, soon before the 2014-15 Central Hockey League season was set to begin, it was announced that the Central Hockey League ceased operations and the Americans, along with the Brampton Beast, Quad City Mallards, Missouri Mavericks, Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder, were all approved the expansion membership application into the ECHL for the 2014-15 season. On October 14, 2014, the Allen Americans announced that they have become the ECHL affiliates for the San Jose Sharks.〔 The Americans finished its inaugural ECHL season atop the Central Division which encompassed the former CHL members, having the second best overall regular season performance and the best offense in the league, with 192 goals. During the 2015 playoffs, they beat both the Tulsa Oilers and Rapid City Rush to reach the Western Conference Finals against the Ontario Reign. The Americans would win the first game before losing the following three games to the Reign. The Americans would come back to win the following three games to in order to clinch the series. They were the fifth team in ECHL postseason history to win a series after trailing 3 games to 1.〔(Allen, Reign o’er Ontario: Americans bound for ECHL Finals after dramatic series comeback )〕 On June 14, 2015, the Americans defeated the South Carolina Stingrays in seven games to win their first Kelly Cup. They are the first team to advance to and win the Kelly Cup in their first ECHL season since the Idaho Steelheads accomplished the feat in 2004.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Allen Americans」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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