Heat Hot Sheet

January 3, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE ABBOTSFORD HEAT THIS WEEK:

1) The HEAT return from a five game road trip that began in Winnipeg versus the Moose on Dec 27 and ended in Houston on Sunday night. The HEAT posted a loss, 4-1 on Dec 27th, followed by a shootout loss to the Moose, 2-1, on Dec 28th. Abbotsford then followed up with a trip to the Alamo and two games versus the San Antonio Rampage. On New Year's Day, the HEAT gave up three power play goals in a 3-1 loss. The following night, despite giving up two more first period power play goals, the Heat battled back to win their first of the road trip, 3-2 in a nine round shootout. Abbotsford's game winner came off the stick of Abbotsford native David VanderGulik, while Matt Keetley picked up the win. On Sunday, the HEAT met the Houston Aeros for their first of four dates in the month of January. It was the HEAT that drew first blood, as they beat the Aeros 0-0.

2) HEAT forward Jason Jaffray has been selected to represent TEAM CANADA at the upcoming AHL ALL STAR GAME, January 19th in Portland, Maine. Jaffray, 28, is now in his eighth season of professional hockey, and his first in the Calgary Flames organization after five seasons in the Vancouver Canucks organization. Jaffray leads the HEAT in goals (13), assists (17), points (30), plus/minus (+11), power play goals (5) and shorthanded goals (3).

3) The Texas Stars will make their first appearance to the AESC this weekend. The Stars are currently in first place in the West Division after a torrid start to the season. However, the Stars are stumbling and allowing the rest of the red hot West to catch up. Over their past ten games, the Stars are just 2-6-0-2. Their double digit division lead is now just four points, and every team in the West Division is now within 11 points and over.500. Fabian Brunnstrom, the once highly sought after free agent coveted by the Vancouver Canucks, will be skating for the Stars as their NHL affiliate, the Dallas Stars, have sent Brunnstrom to Austin on a rehab assignment until January 14th. This season, Brunnstrom, 24, has scored one goal and six assists with Dallas in 23 games. This will be the only visit to Abbotsford this season for the Texas Stars.

4) December saw the Abbotsford Heat post a 4-5-0-1 record after starting the month out with back to back wins. Two of the four wins came against front running Rochester Americans, which saw their undefeated at home start to the season end with a 2-1 loss at the hands of the HEAT on December 11. The Heat played just four times in December at home, posting a 2-2 record. January will see the Abbotsford Heat play 13 games at home, including a season high eight game home stand from January 8th through to January 23rd. The Heat will face the Texas Stars (Jan 8 and 9), the Manitoba Moose (Jan 12 and 13), the Lake Erie Monsters (Jan 15 and 16) and the Houston Aeros (Jan 22 and 23). The month will end with a pair of games on Jan 30 and 31 in Austin as the HEAT will face the Texas Stars.

5) The Manitoba Moose will make their first visit of the season on January 12th and 13th. So far this season, the HEAT has posted a 1-1-0-2 record versus the Moose, with all games being played at the MTS CENTRE in Winnipeg. Abbotsford won the first game back on October 12th by a 4-2 count, with former Moose forward Jason Jaffray scoring the game winner on a breakaway in the third period. On October 13th, the excitement continued, as the Moose built up a 4-1 lead mid way through the third period, only to see the HEAT come back and tie the game in dramatic fashion, as Jamie Lundmark converted a Kris Chucko pass in the final minute to force overtime. The Heat would fall in that game in the shootout after owning the overtime session. On December 27th, the Heat would suffer their worse defeat at the hands of their closest division rivals, as they would fall 4-1. However, the following night, another classic mid-season matchup saw these two teams battle to a 1-1 draw after 65 minutes, before the Moose would once again prevail in the shootout. Following the shootout, Jamie Lundmark and Michael Grabner would engage in a fight as the Moose piled off the bench to celebrate the victory. Lundmark sought out Grabner and rained punches on the forward, as it was learned later that Grabner did a 'fly-by' past the Heat bench and showed up goaltender Leland Irving, whom Grabner had just scored upon. Lundmark was then grabbed by Guillaume Desbiens and P.C. Labrie and punches were exchanged and thrown at Lundmark, which elicited a reaction from the HEAT players and a full scale 20 on 20 throw down. Cooler heads would prevail, but it will set up a great rematch in Abbotsford. In excess of 4000 tickets have been sold for both mid week games, which will establish new highs for Tuesday and Wednesday attendance at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. The HEAT will practice during the week leading up to their games on Friday versus Texas. On Friday the 8th, the Heat will have their game day skate from 10 am to 11 am, while the Stars will follow with their game day skate from 1115 to 1215. Please note that all home games on Saturday (January, 9, 16 and 23) during the month of January will be 4 pm start times. The Heat have made this scheduling move to allow their fans the ability to watch the Vancouver Canucks home dates, which all begin at 7 pm on those respective nights. The Abbotsford Heat would like to extend an open invitation to any media who would like to come out to the Manitoba games on January 12 and 13. Any media member who would like to attend the game with their family or friends will be given tickets to either game, while supplies last. The Heat would like to thank all media members for their coverage of the Abbotsford Heat and the American Hockey League.



American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2010


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