Bruce Almighty: Graham a finalist for CHL MVP

Missing multiple weeks is usually enough to derail a player’s season.

Bruce Graham doesn’t fit that bill as the Allen Americans forward is a finalist for the CHL’s MVP award despite being out the past five weeks with an upper body injury.

“Bruce Graham has been a huge part of our organization from the beginning,” said Dwight Mullins, Allen head coach and general manager. “Bruce was on his way to his best season ever with the Americans before being sidelined by injury.”

That much is evident in the numbers.

Despite playing in at least eight games less than any of Allen’s other top-five scorers (Colton Yellow Horn, Jason Deitsch, Jim McKenzie, Jarret Lukin and Nick Layton), Graham leads the team in goals and points with 25 and 58, respectively.

That is nothing new for Graham.

He led the Americans in scoring during their inaugural season in 2009-10 with 79 points and was second last season, behind Yellow Horn, with 73 points. That has netted the Moncton, New Brunswick native (one of four players on the Allen roster in all three seasons along with Erik Adams, Lukin and Yellow Horn) three straight CHL All-Star selections.

Graham, a former second round draft pick of the New York Rangers, is an MVP finalist alongside Evansville’s Todd Robinson, Wichita’s Matt Robinson, Rapid City’s Shawn Limpright and Quad City’s Brandon Marino.

The winner will be selected by CHL coaches, communications departments and media members.

Americans clinch playoff berth

Last week, Mullins talked about his team, “Adjusting our identity to what we do best.”

Those adjustments were apparently made and have started to pay off as Allen won three straight games on three consecutive nights over the weekend. The Americans three-game winning streak, their first in five weeks, was enough to clinch a playoff spot.

Allen reignited its winning ways last Thursday night with a 3-2 victory over the Quad City Mallards. Jeff Martens scored in the first with Jake Newton, making his team debut after being assigned from the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, and Keith Johnson scoring respective second- and third-period goals to secure the win.

Allen triumphed again Friday, posting a 4-2 road victory over the Laredo Bucks, but introduced a new cast of scorers to do so.

After giving up the first goal, the Americans had a 3-1 advantage after two periods thanks to a goal from Brian McMillin and a pair by Brett Clouthier. The Bucks made it interesting with a third-period goal from Matt Boyd, but Allen closed things out emphatically courtesy of an empty-net goal from Joshua Hepditch with seven seconds remaining to set the final at 4-2.

While the scorers changed from Thursday to Friday, Allen had a constant with Marco Cousineau. The goalie (15-4-4) won both games, but wasn’t between the pipes Saturday as he was called up for the second time this season to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.

That was part of a bevy of moves between the CHL and AHL.

Lukin was briefly called up by Lake Erie, but was back with Allen by Tuesday. The same could not be said for Layton. Mere days after Mullins was able to say, “It’s nice to have Nick back,” after he was returned to the Americans, the forward was recalled by the Texas Stars. Allen did get some reinforcements from the AHL though as Lake Erie assigned forward Ben Wilson to the club.

Add in the return of defenseman Mike Berube from injury and McKenzie going on the 10-day injured reserve and Mullins’ search for “continuity” will no doubt continue.

However, those changes didn’t affect Allen on the ice Saturday.

There, the Americans extended their win streak to three with a 4-3 triumph over the Missouri Mavericks.

Deitsch can usually be counted on for assists as he is seventh in the league with 38 and just six away from the 300th of his professional career, but he brought the scoring stick Saturday as he tickled the twine twice. Deitsch’s second goal was assisted by Yellow Horn, registering the 200th point of his pro career. Allen closed out the 4-3 win with third-period goals from Mark Nebus and Johnson.

Next up for Allen (which lost to the Rapid City Rush, 5-2, on Tuesday) is a three-game set with the Texas Brahmas.

The two teams, who appear likely to open the playoffs against one another, have both constructed three-game winning streaks in the past week. Allen (33-17-9) will host 7:05 p.m. games Friday and Saturday with the action moving to North Richland Hills Sunday for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

Allen, which leads Texas by three points for second place in the Berry Conference with seven games left, will need a strong weekend to keep that advantage, which is vital considering the Brahmas are 21-5-4 at the NYTEX Sports Centre this season.

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