Another Busy Week Ahead For The Abbotsford Heat

Published on February 7, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


CLEVELAND OH - The Abbotsford HEAT will finally see their 10 game road trip come to an end this week, but the week will remain busy as Abbotsford will play four games over five nights over the next seven days. In total, when the week is complete, the Abbotsford Heat will have played seven games over their past nine days, their busiest stretch of the season.

Over the weekend, the Heat managed one win against two losses on a grueling three games in two and a half day span. On Friday night, The Heat would erase two leads and then a third deficit in the shootout to defeat the Chicago Wolves 4-3. Stefan Meyer would score twice for Abbotsford, his first multi-goal game for the Heat since arriving from Calgary, and Jon Rheault would score in regulation for the Heat, while Matt Keith and Greg Nemisz would pot shootout goals to get the Heat the victory. Leland Irving would win his AHL leading 20th game of the season for Abbotsford and also run his shootout record to a remarkable 9-2.

On Saturday, the Heat would jump out to a 2-0 lead over the Rockford Ice Hogs in the first seven minutes of the game. Despite that pressure, the Heat could not find another goal past Hogs keeper Alec Richards and the Ice Hogs would claw back and squeak out a 3-2 win over the Heat with a late third period goal by Kelowna native Kyle Beach on a late Rockford power play. Richards would finish with 28 saves, while JP Lamoureux would take the loss for the Heat.

On Sunday afternoon, the Heat would arrive in Cleveland and fall behind early, allowing two goals in 14 seconds to trail 2-0 after twenty minutes. For the Heat, it was a matter of playing catch up, and Abbotsford would be unable to climb all the way back, falling 3-2 to the Lake Erie Monsters in a pre-Super Bowl tilt. Former Heat forward David Van Der Gulik would open the scoring for the Monsters, while Cam Cunning and Matt Keith would tally for the Heat in the loss. Leland Irving started the game for the Heat and was pulled after the second Monsters goal, only to return for the start of period two.

THIS WEEK:

Four games in five nights within the division for Abbotsford. On Tuesday night, the Heat will face the defending North Division leaders, the Hamilton Bulldogs. The following evening, Abbotsford will wrap up their 10 game trip with a visit to the Rochester Americans. After a travel day to return to the West Coast, Abbotsford will begin a home stand versus the Toronto Marlies on Friday and Saturday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre.

HEAT NOTES:

IRVING LEADS - Heat goalie Leland Irving leads the AHL with 20 wins this season. More compelling, the Heat goalie has a remarkable 9-2 record in the shootout. Irving has 3 shutouts this season and is second in the AHL in minutes played with 2380, tenth with a 2.45 GAA and third in saves with 944 on the season.

KOTALIK DISHES - Heat forward Ales Kotalik opened up his tenure in Abbotsford with three assists in his first three games. Head Coach Jim Playfair has deployed Kotalik on the point of the Heat power play and Kotalik has taken 17 shots in his first three appearances for Abbotsford.

KEITH CLOSES IN - Aldergrove resident Matt Keith leads the team with sixteen goals on the season. Last year, Keith scored 21 goals with the Rockford Ice Hogs.

BOUMA CHECKS IN - Lance Bouma earned a promotion to the Calgary Flames this past week. The Heat winger has scored eleven goals this season as a Heat rookie, and made his NHL debut on Saturday night in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Bouma played just under five minutes in his first ever game, registering one shot and a rating of even.

THIS WEEK:

TUESDAY - THE HAMILTON BULLDOGS - The Dogs are second in the AHL's North Division with 61 points (28-16-1-4). This meeting marks the first of seven meetings between these two clubs in the Heat's final 28 games.

WEDNESDAY - THE ROCHESTER AMERICANS - This will be the fourth and final meeting between these two playoff opponents from one year ago. The Heat have won six of seven games played lifetime at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, including three wins in last year's playoffs. Abbotsford defeated Rochester 1-0 earlier this season in upstate New York.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY - The Toronto Marlies - The Heat and Marlies always play tight exciting games, with the last game between these two clubs decided in the shootout. The Marlies prevailed 3-2 on January 16th.

All of the Heat action can be heard on Country 107.1 FM. Dave Sheldon has the call of every game. For road games, the pregame show will get things started 15 minutes before faceoff, while at home Dave and Craig MacEwen of Roger's Sportsnet will get the Diamond Bar Equipment Pregame Show underway thirty minutes prior to puck drop.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from February 7, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central