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Abbotsford Heat Hot Sheet

March 8, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


The Abbotsford Heat return home for a pair of games this weekend (Friday and Saturday) versus the AHL leading Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, primary affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Abbotsford is 31-25-4-5 on the season and currently sitting in 5th place in the North Division. However, the Heat is just 3 points out of the division lead as first thru fifth in this competitive division is separated by just three points heading into this week's action.

Here is how the past week went for the Heat:

Tuesday night - Texas Stars (Heat win 5-3):

AUSTIN TX - The Abbotsford Heat scored three times in the opening thirteen minutes to skate away with a 5-3 win over the Texas Stars in AHL action on Tuesday night in the Heart of Texas.

Ales Kotalik would score twice in the win, his first two goals in a Heat uniform, while Stefan Meyer, Cam Cunning and Logan MacMillan added goals in the win.

The Heat would enjoy leads of 3-2 after one period and 4-3 after two before Kotalik sealed the deal for Abbotsford with his second of the game into the empty net in the final minute.

Leland Irving would pick up the victory for the Heat, his career high 25th win of the season.

Wednesday night - San Antonio Rampage (RAMPAGE win 3-2):

SAN ANTONIO TX - San Antonio goaltender Matt Climie turned aside 33 of 35 Abbotsford Heat shots and Matt Watkins scored a pair of goals to lead the San Antonio Rampage to a 3-2 win over the Abbotsford Heat in AHL action on Wednesday night.

After a scoreless first period, the Rampage opened the scoring midway thru the second when Watkins took advantage of a fortunate hop off the sideboards in the Heat zone, beating a surprised Irving for his 10th goal of the season. Before the period was out Ales Kotalik would tie things up for the Heat, stripping Maxim Goncharov of the puck deep in Rampage territory and faking Climie in close before tucking the puck under the crossbar. Kotalik's third goal in two nights had the two teams tied 1-1 after forty minutes.

However, in the third period, Watkins restored the Heat lead, stealing the puck from Heat defender TJ Brodie and converting his own rebound past Irving in the opening two minutes of the final frame. Matt Pope added a power play goal midway thru the third to extend the Rampage lead to 3-1. Brodie brought the Heat within one goal at 16:57, going coast to coast before snapping a puck past Climie to bring the Heat to within one, but despite a shot advantage of 35-25 on the night, the Heat would draw no closer on the evening.

Friday and Saturday night - Oklahoma City Barons (HEAT WIN 5-3)

OKLAHOMA CITY OK - The Abbotsford Heat erased a 2-1 deficit with four third period goals to bounce the Oklahoma City Barons 5-3 in AHL action on Friday night.

Stefan Meyer, Quintin Laing and Ales Kotalik once again were a force for the Heat offensively. Meyer pitched in with two goals and one assist, while Laing, in his first game back after a two game personal absence, potted a goal and added two helpers. Ales Kotalik continues to impress in Abbotsford as the winger picked up three more helpers and now has nine points over his last four games.

Also of note, the line of Ryan Stone, Logan MacMillan and Ryan MacMurchy was a factor. MacMurchy led the Heat comeback with two goals in the opening 3:56 to erase a 2-1 Barons lead and give the Heat a 4-2 advantage. The two goals were the first two of the season for MacMurchy, who was signed to a PTO just over a week ago.

Defenseman Gord Baldwin also chipped in with a strong night as he collected a career high three assists. Leland Irving was busy between the pipes for the Heat, especially in the second period. Irving faced 18 second period shots and 38 all together to pick up his league leading 26th victory.

‚¬ËœI really felt our team didn't start the way they should have and it gave them (Oklahoma City) a way to get in to the game and take the lead,' commented Heat Head coach Jim Playfair after the game. ‚¬ËœBut I thought that our Captain (Laing) did a great job at setting the pace for our club tonight and the Stone line impressed me as well.'

SATURDAY NIGHT: 2-1 Barons (OT)

OKLAHOMA CITY OK - Abbotsford native Brad Moran of the Oklahoma City Barons would score at 3:37 of overtime to rally the Barons past the Abbotsford Heat 2-1 in AHL action on Saturday night.

The Abbotsford Heat would get things started in Oklahoma City opening the scoring at 10:41 of the first period. Heat forward Lance Bouma would step in for an injured Stefan Meyer on the power play and his effort in front would pay off, as he would bang home a John Negrin rebound past Barons goaltender Martin Gerber. The power play goal would put the Heat up 1-0 over the Barons after the first period of play.

After a scoreless second period the Abbotsford Heat would retain their one goal lead going in to the final twenty minutes of play. Abbotsford would be forced to kill a huge third period 5 on 3 for 1:20 with goaltender Leland Irving standing on his head and making a couple key stops to preserve the Heat lead. Despite some unbelievable late play by Irving, O.K. City's Colten Teubert would find a way to get a shot past Irving partially deflecting the puck off Heat defender T.J. Brodie to tie the game at 1-1 with 17.1 seconds remaining, setting up Moran's heroics in the extra period.

Sunday night - The Houston Aeros (HEAT WIN 5-4):

HOUSTON TX - Heat forward Ales Kotalik would score the game winning goal with just 45.5 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the Abbotsford Heat over the Houston Aeros 5-4 in an exciting game that featured five different lead changes.

Abbotsford Heat forward Gaelan Patterson collected his seventh goal of the season to open the scoring at 3:16 of the first to give the Heat an early 1-0 lead over the Houston Aeros. Patterson would be the beneficiary of a Matt Keith slap shot lifting the rebound over the shoulder of Houston goaltender Josh Tordjman to put the Heat up 1-0. The score remained 1-0 Heat after the first period of play.

The Houston Aeros evened things up early in the second period with forward Jon DiSalvatore sneaking one past Heat keeper J.P. Lamoureux to make it a 1-1 game. Heat blue liner T.J. Brodie restored the Heat's one goal lead with a long shot through traffic past a screened Josh Tordjman to restore the Heat lead 2-1 at 8:29. DiSalvatore then picked up his second goal of the game on the power play at 10:43 to even things up for the second time in the period. The two teams headed to the dressing room after forty minutes of play knotted 2-2.

In an eventful third period Chad Rau of the Houston Aeros would give his team their first lead of the game on the power play, snapping a big rebound over Heat keeper J.P. Lamoureux to give Houston a 3-2 advantage. Heat captain Quintin Laing again would even things up with a power play marker of his own to tie the game back up at 3-3. Houston Aeros forward Jarod Palmer then put his team up 4-3 with a high deflection past Lamoureux at 6:33 of the third. Cam Cunning answered back minutes later, slamming home a rebound at 10:02 to once again tie the score, this time 4-4. DiSalvatore, who scored two goals in this game on the power play, ironically tripped up Heat forward Ryan MacMurchy, who was in the penalty box for both DiSalvatore's goals, with just over two minutes to play, setting the stage for Kotalik in the final minute.

After a Heat time out, Abbotsford would control the puck in Houston's zone. John Negrin shifted the puck over to Gord Baldwin from the left point to the top of the right side of the Aeros zone. Baldwin's quickly snapped a pass cross ice to Kotalik, and the forward hammered home a one-time slap shot from the face off dot in the left circle with 45.5 seconds to play. For Kotalik, it was his fourth of the season and proved to be the game winner in this see saw contest.

The Race and the Chase for the 2011 Playoffs:

North Division:

Hamilton - 18 games left - 74 points.  The Bulldogs have the most games left of anyone in the division and they are tied for the lead with Manitoba.  Abbotsford will get to play the Bulldogs 6 times before the season ends ‚¬Â¦huge games!  Four of those games will be here in Abby.

Manitoba - 17 games left - 74 points.  The Moose are 4-3 so far on their 11 game road trip, which ends this week when the Moose play games in Texas, OK City, San Antonio and Houston, (sound familiar ).  When the Moose return, they will have 13 games left on their schedule, with ten of their final 13 at home, including two versus Abbotsford.

Toronto - 14 games left - 73 points.  The Marlies have 14 games left on the schedule; ten of them are home games.  Toronto is only 14-12-4 thru thirty games at home, so this is not necessarily an advantage.  Game 80 of the season will be the Heat vs. the Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.

Lake Erie - 15 games left - 72 points.  The Monsters are the hottest team in the division right now, having posted a 7-3 record over their past ten games.  However, ten of Lake Erie's final fifteen are on the road, where they have a conference low 11 wins on the season away from home ice.  Lake Erie has NEVER made the playoffs and the Heat also will play them on the final weekend of the season.

Abbotsford - 15 games left - 71 points.  OK ‚¬Â¦the Heat have run the gauntlet twice this season and passed with flying colours, now on to the meat of the schedule.  The Heat on their last two road trips played five games in six nights on the last trip and seven games in nine nights on the trip before.  In those twelve games, the Heat had 8 wins, 3 losses and an OT loss.  Now, the schedule is manageable, but nothing is easy.  AHL leading Wilkes-Barre is in this weekend, but remember, they have to travel to us and it will be the first time ALL season that they will be playing outside their time zone.  These games in Abbotsford start at 10 PM EST, so the Heat will want to jump on this team.  After WBS, the Heat will play their final 13 within the division, including six versus the Hamilton Bulldogs, three versus the Grand Rapids Griffins, and two versus the Manitoba Moose.  What we know is this ‚¬Â¦the Heat has beaten every team in the division this season, so they can compete with everyone.

Grand Rapids - 17 games left - 67 points.  Don't write off the Griffins yet.  They have two games in hand on Abbotsford and are just four points back, so they are still in the equation.  Grand Rapids, like Lake Erie, has a tough schedule to finish their season, as 11 of their last 17 is away from the Van Andel Arena.  However, the Griffins home record and road record are identical, so there should be no excuse.  The Griffins play the Heat three more times, with two being here at the AESC.

Rochester Americans - 15 games left - 64 points.  While the team is still mathematically alive, the reverend has been called to deliver the last rites.  Too many teams to pass, too little time.  Rochester would need at least 12 wins over the final 15 to make the playoffs and they would still need help to get there.  Divisional games between teams above them make it nearly impossible for the Americans to finish any higher than 5th.

Crossover:

A little more intrigue has crept into the crossover race ‚¬Â¦right now Chicago holds down the crossover spot with 74 points, just two points better than fourth place Lake Erie and three better than Abbotsford.  If the fourth place team in the North finishes ahead of the fifth place team in the West, NO crossover.

A month ago, it seemed almost a sure thing that the West would qualify five teams for the playoffs, now that is unclear.  The Heat still must shoot for the division title, but may not have to worry about the crossover if they keep playing their game.

Upcoming Schedule:

Hamilton (Last week 1st) - 4 games all at home. Wed vs. Rockford, Friday vs. Lake Erie, Saturday vs. Texas and Sunday versus Rochester. The Bulldogs will then travel to Rochester on Mar 16 before flying cross country to take on the Heat Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th.

Manitoba - (Last week 2nd) - 4 games on the road to finish off an 11 game road trip, (currently 4-3 after seven games). Tues @ OK City, Fri @ Houston, Sat @ San Antonio and Sunday @ Houston. Manitoba will then play 10 of their final 13 at home.

Toronto - (Last week 4th) - 3 games this week with an awful turnaround from Friday to Saturday. Friday night in Rochester, Saturday afternoon home to Lake Erie, Sunday afternoon home to Texas.

Lake Erie - (Last week 3rd) - 2 games this week. Friday night in Hamilton, Saturday afternoon in Toronto.

Abbotsford - (Last week 5th) - 2 games this weekend versus the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (Fri-Sat)

Grand Rapids - (Last week 7th) - 4 big road games this week for Grand Rapids may determine if they are still contenders. Tues night @ Peoria, Fri and Sat @ OK City, Sunday afternoon @ San Antonio.

Rochester - (Last week 6th) - After back to back losses versus Grand Rapids, the Americans are on life support. This week, three games in three nights. Home to Toronto on Friday, in Syracuse on Saturday, in Hamilton on Sunday.

WILKES-BARRE SCRANTON:

The AHL's top team makes their only appearance to the Fraser Valley this weekend. After 62 games, the Penguins have a record of 45-17, the only team to hold a perfect record in extra time in the AHL this season. WBS has done this with fantastic goaltending and great overall team play. At one point a few weeks back, the Penguins had their top seven point producers recalled to Pittsburgh, as the big club was suffering through a litany of injuries. Currently, three of their top players, (Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson and Eric Tangradi) are still with Pittsburgh.

Goaltending is the key to playoff success. If this holds true, Wilkes-Barre will have a long run, thanks in large part to Aldergrove's Brad Theissen. Theissen is having a career year. 1st in the AHL in goals against average with a stunning 1.87 GAA, only two other goalies in the AHL have an average under 2 per game. His 27 games won this season are first in the AHL, one ahead of Heat work horse and off season training partner Leland Irving. Theissen leads the AHL in shutouts with six, Irving has five. Recently, Thiessen edged out Irving for the AHL player of the Week award. While Irving was posting a 4-0 record with a 1.00 average and .943 save percentage, Theissen posted a 4-0-1 record, with a .79 goals against average and a .971 save percentage. Goals may be at a premium this weekend in Abbotsford.

BC Connections:

Besides Theissen, two other Penguins call BC home. Ryan Craig from Abbotsford BC is having a great season, scoring 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points thru 50 games this year, earning the Abbotsford product a call to the big club. In Pittsburgh, Craig appeared in 6 games and picked up 22 PIM. Ben Street makes his off season home in Coquitlam BC. Street, 24, is in his first AHL campaign and has 12 points (9G-3A) in just 18 games.

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