Elmira Jackals Season In Review: 2015-2016

Three points. That’s how far off the Elmira Jackals were from a spot in the ECHL playoffs.

The Jackals finished with a record of 37-30-3-2 and 79 points, three shy of Reading for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

In the end, the Toledo Walleye led the conference with 99 points, while the Missouri Mavericks led the league with 109 points in the regular season.

With the Elmira Jackals season over, now seems like as good a time as ever to reflect back on the season at hand and start to think about what’s coming in the future for the Buffalo Sabres’ ECHL affiliate.

The Elmira Jackals’ longest winning streak of the season lasted seven games, from December 5, 2015 through December 18, 2015. That stretch saw them defeat Kalamazoo, Wheeling, Norfolk (twice), Manchester, Adirondack and Reading.

But just a few short weeks later, the Jackals faced their longest losing streak: six games, from January 3, 2016 through January 17, 2016. Those losses came at the hands of Toledo, Manchester (twice), Norfolk, Reading and Adirondack.

The Elmira Jackals would also put up a six-game winning streak later in the season, from February 27 till March 11.

Overall, throughout the course of the season, the Jackals would generally be better on the road than at home.

In games at First Arena, the Elmira Jackals won 16 of 36. But they won 21 of 36 on the road.

Here’s how the Elmira Jackals fared against each team they faced this season:

• vs. Adirondack Thunder: 7 wins, 4 losses
• vs. Brampton Beast: 6 wins, 4 losses, 1 shootout loss
• vs. Florida Everblades: 0 wins, 1 loss, 1 shootout loss
• vs. Kalamazoo Wings: 3 wins, 2 losses
• vs. Manchester Monarchs: 5 wins, 6 losses
• vs. Norfolk Admirals: 4 wins, 3 losses, 1 shootout loss
• vs. Orlando Solar Bears: 1 win, 1 overtime loss
• vs. Reading Royals: 5 wins, 7 losses
• vs. South Carolina Stingrays: 1 win, 1 loss
• vs. Toledo Walleye: 1 win, 1 loss
• vs. Wheeling Nailers: 4 wins, 1 loss, 1 overtime loss

Of course, the interesting thing here to keep in mind is the structure of the ECHL schedule.

This season, the Elmira Jackals didn’t face ANY Western Conference teams.

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They played exclusively against Eastern Conference teams, but didn’t even play against every team in the conference, missing the Atlanta Gladiators and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (which is a terrific name for a hockey team, by the way.)

As can perhaps be expected, the Elmira Jackals played more than half of their season (42 games) against fellow East Division rivals. They went 21-20-0-1 in those games, earning 43 of a possible 84 points.

That included 12 games against Reading, 11 each against Adirondack and Manchester, and eight against Norfolk. (As I said, an interesting structure.)

The Elmira Jackals also played 24 games against teams in the North Division, including a whopping 11 against the Brampton Beast, the ECHL’s lone Canadian team.

Meanwhile, they played Wheeling six times and Kalamazoo five, but Toledo only twice. Overall, the Jackals went 14-8-1-1 against North Division teams.

Finally, the Elmira Jackals faced the South Division six times, with two games each against South Carolina, Florida and Orlando. They went 2-2-1-1.

Despite appearing in only 59 games with the Elmira Jackals, rookie forward Cason Hohmann led the team with 57 points, averaging just shy of a point per game.

He was 17th in the league in assists overall and third in rookie scoring in the ECHL.

Allan McPherson was second on the team in scoring, with 19 goals and 30 assists for 49 points in just 47 games.

Chris Langkow registered 47 points (13-34) in 69 games, while rookie defenseman Jacob MacDonald had 37 points (17-20) in 72 games as the only Elmira Jackals player to appear in every game for the team this season.

MacDonald led the LEAGUE in shorthanded goals, with four on the season. He also had two shorthanded assists and two overtime goals.

Six goaltenders appeared in at least one game for the Elmira Jackals this season, led by rookie C.J. Motte, who went 15-22-1-1 with a 2.83 GAA and .910 save percentage.

Shane Owen and Niklas Lundstrom each appeared in 13 games for the Jackals, while Sam Marotta played six games with Elmira.

Alex Vazzano appeared in five games, while Alain Valiquette played twice for Elmira.

As can often be expected in the ECHL, the Elmira Jackals saw a lot of player turnover this season. In all, 16 defensemen appeared in at least one game for the Jackals, while 27 forwards suited up.

In addition, a whopping six netminders appeared for the ECHL squad this season, as mentioned above.

Of the 49 players who appeared on the Elmira Jackals’ roster this season at one point or another, 23 were considered rookies. That’s a lot of young, inexperienced talent.

As per usual, lots of players were signed throughout the season, as others were loaned or reassigned to AHL teams or claimed off waivers.

Nick Petrecki, Alex Vazzano, MacDonald and Tyler Currier were all loaned to AHL teams in Hartford (Petrecki) or Springfield (the other three).

McPherson, Hohmann, Matt Garbowsky and Spiro Goulakos were all recalled at one point or another by the AHL’s Rochester Americans, while both Colin Jacobs and Justin Kea also split time between the ECHL and AHL teams.

Throughout the season, the Elmira Jackals added many players via standard playr contracts or amateur tryouts, including former Buffalo Jr. Sabres forward Tyler Gjurich and fellow forwards Sean Rudy, Steven McParland, Blake Hietala, and defenders Evan Moore, Ian Young and Taylor Love, among others.

They also thrice had to sign an emergency backup goaltender, picking up Matt Cooper in November and then Chris Bourgeois in January and March.

Next: Rochester Americans Season Review

In the end, the Elmira Jackals narrowly missed the ECHL playoffs. A point here, a point there, could’ve made all the difference in their bout for the postseason, but alas – now we’ll have to wait until next season to see them raise the Kelly Cup.

Last season, the ECHL released its schedule on April 27, the earliest in recent history. It’s unclear at this point whether the schedule for the 2016-2017 season will come that early, or more toward June as in typical years.