Heat Index: the Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat
Published on November 9, 2015 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
News and Notes
- Keegan Kanzig was returned to his junior club, the Calgary Hitmen, on Thursday. Kanzig made his pro debut with the Stockton Heat on October 21 in a 1-0 win over the Texas Stars. The big 6'6$B!m(B defenseman played in the Hitmen's loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday but finished the game +2.
- Jon Gillies left Friday's game after 20 minutes with a lower body injury and did not return. The goalie is day-to-day according to Head Coach Ryan Huska.
- Kent Simpson replaced Gillies in the second period of the game on Friday night. It was his first appearance in the AHL this season and first for the Stockton Heat, however it wasn't the first time he played at Stockton Arena. In fact it was the goalies first official appearance at Stockton Arena since he won the final game in Stockton Thunder (ECHL) history.
- Markus Granlund's second goal of the season put him in a tie atop the team leaderboard in points with four. However the two players that assisted on that goal, Bill Arnold and Freddie Hamilton, also earned a share of that honor as they both picked up their fourth points of the season as well. Now Granlund, Arnold and Hamilton are tied along with Kenny Agostino for the team lead in points.
- All four of Freddie Hamilton's points have come on the power play this season.
Approaching Milestones
- Freddie Hamilton is 1 goal away from scoring his 50th goal in the AHL.
- Emile Poirier is just 1 point shy of 50 in his AHL career.
- Kenny Agostino is 3 points away from 50 in his AHL career.
- Colton Orr is 2 PIMS away from 600 in his AHL career. The forward has 1186 PIMS in the NHL.
- Bill Arnold is just 8 points shy of 50 career AHL points.
- Brett Kulak is 9 games away from 50 career AHL games.
- Blair Riley is 9 games away from playing in 300 AHL games.
- Heat captain Aaron Johnson is just 12 points away from 200 career AHL points.
- In addition, Johnson is just 3 games shy of having played 700 combined NHL and AHL games.
- Garnet Hathaway is 13 games away from 100 career AHL games.
Shots Taken, Bounces Needed
The Stockton Heat have done a good job of peppering opposing goaltenders to start the season. They've outshot opponents five times and have only been outshot in a game twice.
In fact, the Heat are averaging nearly 32 shots-per-game, which puts them as the seventh most in the American Hockey League this season (Grand Rapids leads with nearly 36 per-game). However the bounces and breaks just haven't been going for Stockton as the team has struggled to score since their home opening 7-0 win, averaging just shy of 2 goals-per-game.
With a return to the Lone Star State this weekend, the Heat will hope to continue testing opposing netminders while also finding the back of the net a few more times than in recent memory.
A Look Between the Pipes
The Heat now find themselves with the potential to have three goalies on the upcoming excursion to Texas. With Jon Gillies status up in the air, the team could look to Kent Simpson and Eric Hartzell to shoulder the load until Gillies is given the go-ahead to return from the lower body injury he suffered at the tail end of the first period on Friday.
Simpson came in to relieve Gillies on Friday night and performed well against the Condors, finishing with a 18-save performance in the 2-1 loss to Bakersfield.
He got the start on Saturday but Ontario blitzed the Heat despite a good start for Stockton before Ryan Huska opted to switch goaltenders in hopes of sparking the team. Eric Hartzell came in and was perfect, stopping all 17-shots he faced in the near 38 minutes he played.
Hartzell was with the Stockton Heat in the preseason on a pro tryout but was released and sent to his ECHL home in Idaho where he has gone 2-3-0. When Gillies went down it was easy to think Hartzell would be the one to get the call after performing really well during training camp and helping the Heat to a preseason win at Sharks Ice in San Jose against the Barracuda.
Return to Texas
The Heat are set to return to the state of Texas this week when they take on the San Antonio Rampage at the building the team shares with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs on Friday before traveling to a suburb of Austin, Texas to take on the Texas Stars.
The Heat have already played these teams once before with the team beating Texas thanks to a 36-save, Jon Gillies shutout performance on October 21. However the October 24 game in San Antonio didn't go the way of the Heat as the Rampage beat Stockton in their home opening 5-1 win. The Heat are hoping things go more like the game in Cedar Park last month as the team tries to get out of a five-game winless funk.
Schedule Ramps Up from Here
After starting the season on October 10 and playing just six games in the month of October, things start to pick up in the months of November and December for the Stockton Heat with nearly 30% of the season schedule being played in these months. The team plays nine games in November (five home, four road) and 11 games in the month of December (four home, seven road).
By the time the calendar turns to 2016, the Heat will have completed approximately 38% of the team's scheduled 68 games.
With playoff positioning based on win percentage, the Heat will have to turn their recent misfortunes around and it will have to start this weekend in San Antonio and Texas!
Last year while the team was in Adirondack, a less-than stellar start was corrected by a nine-game winning streak that began in November. With many of these players, and team leaders, having a hand in that streak, a similar spike could happen this season.
Records:
Last Week's Record: 0-2-0-0, 0 points
Overall Record: 2-5-0-1, 0.313 Win Percentage, 7th in the Pacific Division
Last Week's Results:
Nov. 6 - Stockton Heat 1 vs. Bakersfield 2
Nov. 7 - Stockton Heat 0 vs. Ontario 4
This Week's Schedule:
Fri. Nov. 13 - Stockton Heat at San Antonio Rampage - AT&T Center (5:30 p.m.)
Sat. Nov. 14 - Stockton Heat at Texas Stars - Cedar Park Center (5:00 p.m.)
Recent Transactions
11/7 - Eric Hartzell (G) signs pro tryout contract with the Stockton Heat
11/5 - Keegan Kanzig assigned to Calgary Hitmen (WHL) by the Calgary Flames
Team Leaders
Goals: Derek Grant & Freddie Hamilton with 3
Assists: Kenny Agostino 4
Points: Freddie Hamilton, Markus Granlund, Bill Arnold and Kenny Agostino 4
PIMs: Hunter Smith with 14
Wins: Jon Gillies with 2
Losses: Jon Gillies with 3
GAA (Played at least 5 games): Jon Gillies with 2.31
SV% (Played at least 5 games): Jon Gillies with 0.920
Team Stats
Goals For: Week: 1 | Overall: 15
Goals Against: Week: 6 | Overall: 21
Power Play: 7-43 (16.3%), T-15th in AHL
Penalty Kill: 27-32 (84.4%), 14th in AHL
Records vs. Opponents
Pacific Division:
Bakersfield Condors (0-1-0-0)
Ontario (0-1-0-0)
San Antonio (0-1-0-0)
San Diego (0-1-0-1)
San Jose (0-1-0-0)
Texas (1-0-0-0)
TOTALS vs. PACIFIC: (1-5-0-1)
Central Division:
Rockford (1-0-0-0)
TOTALS vs. CENTRAL: (1-0-0-0)
Calgary Flames (NHL)
Record Last Week: 2-1-0, 4 points
Record Overall: 5-9-1, .367 Win Percentage, 6th in Pacific Division
This Week's Schedule:
Tue. Nov. 10 - Flames at Florida (4:30 p.m. PST)
Thr. Nov. 12 - Flames at Tampa Bay (4:30 p.m. PST)
Fri. Nov. 13 - Flames at Washington (4:00 p.m. PST)
Sun. Nov. 14 - Flames at Chicago (5:30 p.m. PST)
Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)
Record Last Week: 2-1-0, 4 points
Record Overall: 8-1-0, .889 Win Percentage, 1st in East Division
This Week's Schedule:
Fri. Nov. 13 - Thunder at Atlanta (4:35 p.m. PST)
Sat. Nov. 14 - Thunder at Greenville (4:00 p.m. PST)
American Hockey League Stories from November 9, 2015
- Reign Weekly: Reign Salute the Men and Women of the Armed Forces Wednesday - Ontario Reign
- Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Forward Mike Blunden from Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Chicago Wolves Weekly Notes - Chicago Wolves
- Panthers Assign Brickley to Portland - Portland Pirates
- Forwards Derek Arnold and Kenton Miller Return to ECHL - Ontario Reign
- IceHogs Extend Point Streak to Eight Games - Rockford IceHogs
- Syracuse University Women's Ice Hockey to Hold Six Games at War Memorial Arena - Syracuse Crunch
- San Antonio Rampage Weekly - San Antonio Rampage
- Texas Recalls Molin from ECHL - Texas Stars
- Heat Index: the Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat - Stockton Heat
- Utica Comets Weekly Notebook - Utica Comets
- Texas Stars Weekly Update - Texas Stars
- Ricoh Rock Report - St. John's IceCaps
- Jets Re-Assign Patrice Cormier - Manitoba Moose
- Toronto Marlies Goaltender Garret Sparks Named Ccm/AHL Player of the Week - Toronto Marlies
- Nastasiuk and Nedomlel Reassigned to Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Toronto's Garret Sparks Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- Wolf Pack Weekly - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Falcons Weekly - Springfield Falcons
- Mackenzie Skapski Returns from ECHL Greenville, Jeff Malcolm Loaned to Greenville - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Mazanec Recalled by Nashville - Milwaukee Admirals
- Manitoba Moose Weekly - Manitoba Moose
- Moose Partner with Red River Co-Op for "Share the Warmth" Winter Clothing Drive - Manitoba Moose
- Gabriel to Minnesota, Eberle to Quad City - Iowa Wild
- Hershey Weekly - Hershey Bears
- Canucks Reassign Bachman & Recall Markstrom from Comets Conditioning Assignment - Utica Comets
- Islanders Recall Pelech - Bridgeport Islanders
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.
