Heat Index: The Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat
October 12, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
Records:
Last Week's Record: 1-0-0-0, 2 points
Overall Record: 1-0-0-0, 1.000 Win Percentage, T-1st in the Pacific Division
Last Week's Results:
Oct. 10 - Stockton Heat 7 vs. Rockford IceHogs 0
This Week's Schedule:
Thr. Oct. 15 - Stockton Heat vs. San Jose Barracuda - Stockton Arena (7:00 p.m.)
Recent Transactions
10/9 - Garet Hunt signs Professional Tryout Contract
10/6 - Markus Granlund assigned to Stockton from Calgary (NHL)
10/6 - Michael Kirkpatrick assigned to Adirondack (ECHL) from Stockton
10/5 - Freddie Hamilton assigned to Stockton from Calgary (NHL)
Team Leaders
Goals: Derek Grant with 2
Assists: Kenny Agostino with 3
Points: Kenny Agostino with 3
PIMs: Two players tied with 2
Wins: Jon Gillies with 1
Losses: Two players tied with 0
GAA: Jon Gillies with 0.00
SV%: Jon Gillies with 1.000
Team Stats
Goals For: Week: 7 | Overall: 7
Goals Against: Week: 0 | Overall: 0
Power Play: 3-7 (42.9%), 5th in AHL
Penalty Kill: 2-2 (100%), T-1st in AHL
Records vs. Opponents
Central Division: Rockford (1-0-0-0)
Calgary Flames
Record Last Week: 1-1-0, 2 points
Record Overall: 1-1-0, .500 Win Percentage, 4th in Pacific Division
This Week's Schedule:
Tue. Oct.13 - Flames vs. St. Louis (6:00 p.m. PST)
Fri. Oct. 16 - Flames at Winnipeg (5:00 p.m. PST)
Sat. Oct. 17 - Flames vs. Edmonton (7:00 p.m. PST)
News and Notes
- The Heat and the Ontario Reign are the only teams to have not allowed a single goal on opening weekend. Three of the new Pacific Division teams did record a shutout during opening weekend with Jon Gillies (STK), Peter Budaj (ONT) and Laurent Brossoit (BAK) the only goalies to have pitched a shutout during the opening weekend of games.
- Oliver Kylington's 2 points is tied for the league lead among rookie defenseman. Kylington made his North American pro debut on October 10, but has suited up in 67 pro games in the top two leagues in Sweden.
- Only two players made their pro debuts with the Stockton Heat on October 10. Forward Hunter Smith suited up in his first pro game after winning the Memorial Cup last year with the Oshawa Generals. Jon Gillies was the other player making his pro debut after winning an NCAA Championship last season with Providence College.
Approaching Milestones
- Freddie Hamilton is 3 games away from playing his 200th game in the AHL.
o In addition, Hamilton is 4 goals away from scoring his 50th AHL goal.
- Kenny Agostino is 4 points away from 50 in his AHL career.
- Emile Poirier is just 2 points shy of 50 in his AHL career.
- Drew Shore is 3 games away from playing his 150th game in his AHL career.
- Blair Riley is 14 games away from playing in 300 AHL games.
- Colton Orr is 7 PIMS away from 600 in his AHL career. The forward has 1186 PIMS in the NHL.
- Heat captain Aaron Johnson is just 14 points away from 200 career AHL points.
Recently Accomplished Milestones
- Oliver Kylington had a goal and an assist in his AHL debut on October 10. While Kylington has played pro in Europe, it was his first pro game in North America.
- Turner Elson suited up in his 100th career AHL game on October 10. He made it memorable as he had the primary assist on the first ever Stockton Heat goal and added another assist to finish the game with 2 points.
- Jakub Nakladal may have been playing pro hockey since 2006-07 but he made his North American pro debut on October 10 and recorded 2 assists in his first AHL game played.
- Hunter Smith played his first pro game on October 10.
Perfect Debut
Jon Gillies made his long awaited, professional debut on Saturday for the Stockton Heat, making all 19 saves required of him to earn his first pro shutout in his first pro game. While the goaltender might credit the defense in front of him for helping him accomplish the shutout, Gillies deserves credit for making all the saves the team needed him to make, including a couple key saves to keep the Rockford IceHogs off the scoresheet.
The Heat netminder, who played the last three seasons at Providence College (NCAA), was one of just three goalies to record a shutout during the opening weekend of AHL play.
Making an Impression
While you could have easily tabbed veteran defenseman and Heat team captain Aaron Johnson as the top quarterback on the Heat power play, it was longtime European pro Jakub Nakladal that stole the show in game one for the Heat.
The defenseman from the Czech Republic who signed with the Calgary Flames in the summer after a terrific World Championship showing, displayed poise, patience and ultimately a cannon from the point on the power play and turned some heads on the Heat coaching staff.
"He surprised us a little bit with his puck handling ability at the point and on the power play in particular," Head Coach Ryan Huska said of the Czech defenseman after the game. "Often times when a power play is good there is one guy up top that makes the difference. He was that difference for us tonight."
Setting the Bar High
The Heat certainly set the bar high for what hockey fans in Stockton can expect to see this season after a 7-0 victory over the Rockford IceHogs.
A total of 13 players on the Heat registered points in the team's first game. Of those 13, seven of them recorded multipoint efforts including Oliver Kylington (1-1-2), Turner Elson (0-2-2), Kenny Agostino (0-3-3), Emile Poirier (0-2-2), Markus Granlund (1-1-2), Derek Grant (2-0-2) and Jakub Nakladal (0-2-2).
It's a Hamilton Thing
October 10 was a good day for the Hamilton family. While Freddie Hamilton scored the last goal of the evening just before the midway mark of the third period for the Stockton Heat, his younger brother, Dougie, scored his first goal as a member of the Calgary Flames earlier that night in a game the Flames would end up winning in overtime against the Vancouver Canucks.
Both goals for the Hamilton's came on the power play as well.
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