AHL Stockton Heat

Heat Index: the Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat

Published on November 30, 2015 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


News and Notes

The Stockton Heat went 4-4-0-1 in 9 games in November.

The Stockton Heat allowed a power play goal in every game this week taking the team who was ranked last week as the seventh best in the AHL to now the 23rd best in the AHL. Ontario scored one power play goal on Wednesday before Bakersfield scored on all three of their opportunities Friday and added an additional goal at the end of Saturday's loss to the Heat

The 49 shots the Heat fired at Laurent Brossoit on Friday ranks as the second most for the Heat in a single game this season. The Heat fired 53 shots against San Jose on the November 21 matchup, however, if you were to factor out the overtime shots, the 49 shots from Friday's game ranks as the most the Heat have put on a goaltender in regulation

The 20-shot first period of Friday's game is the most shots the Heat have taken in a single period this season

Stockton leads the league averaging just shy of 35 shots per game (34.73)

The Heat have yet to lose in regulation when outshooting an opponent on the road. The team is 1-0-0-2 when outshooting opponents on the road, however Saturday was the first win for the Heat when they outshoot an opponent away from Stockton Arena (33SF, 32SA)

The Heat have not lost when they have a first or second period lead (5-0-0-0 when leading after the first, 5-0-0-0 when leading after the second)

The exact opposite is true when the Heat trail after the first and second as they have not won a game yet (0-4-0-1 when trailing after one, 0-6-0-2 when trailing after two)

Approaching Milestones

Colton Orr is 2 PIMS away from 600 in his AHL career. The forward has 1186 PIMS in the NHL

Brett Kulak is 2 games away from 50 career AHL games

Blair Riley is 4 games away from playing in 300 AHL games

Bill Arnold is just 6 points shy of 50 career AHL points

Heat captain Aaron Johnson is just 8 points away from 200 career AHL points

Garnet Hathaway is 6 games away from 100 career AHL games

Head Coach Ryan Huska is 9 games away from coaching in his 100th AHL game. He's just 5 games away from coaching in his 600th game as a head coach (504 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL)

Turner Elson is 9 points away from 50 career AHL points

Joni Ortio is 14 games away from playing in his 100th career AHL contest

Recently Accomplished Milestones

Joni Ortio won his 50th career AHL game on Saturday in Bakersfield

Hunter Smith registered his first pro point, an assist on Friday. He followed that up with his first pro goal later on in the same game. He wasn't done though as he picked up an assist on Saturday to earn points in back-to-back games for the first time in his pro career

Jakub Nakladal scored his first goal in North America and first AHL goal on Saturday in Bakersfield. It also stood as his first game winning goal

Mr. November(s)

With November 2015 a thing of the past, it's now time to single out the Heat's top performer in November.

However there were two players at the top of the totem pole for the Heat as both Freddie Hamilton and Drew Shore led the team with 8 points each.

Hamilton scored 2 goals and added 6 assists while Shore registered just 1 goal but added 7 assists. Both players also registered two multi-point games.

Shore also has had two separate three-game point streaks during the month. He registered a goal and added three assists from November 13 through November 18. He followed that up with his current three-game point streak, one that he hopes to continue into December, as he's added 4 assists in his last three games.

Shore's two, three-game point streaks are also the longest of the season for the Stockton Heat.

Yo Joni!

After being assigned to the Stockton Heat on Thanksgiving Day, Joni Ortio made his Stockton Heat debut on Friday, but it wasn't the first impression he wanted to make after Bakersfield jumped on the Heat 4-0 early on in the game.

However the Finnish goalie bounced back on Saturday night to stop 30 of 32 shots, which earned him the first star honor on the road.

Ortio has an amazing track record in the AHL, having played now 86 games while posting a 50-26-1 record. He's now the sixth goalie (Jon Gillies, Kent Simpson, Karri Ramo, Kevin Poulin and Eric Hartzell) to suit up for the Heat this season as a rash of injuries and some bad luck has plagued the position this month.

Ortio hopes to change that, just as he did Saturday with a terrific performance in Bakersfield.

The Big Rig is on the Board

Rookie forward Hunter "Big Rig" Smith became the fourth rookie to earn his first AHL point this season with the Heat. On Friday night at home, Smith earned his first AHL assist and followed that up with his first AHL goal later in the game. It was the first multi-point game for the rookies on the Heat since Kylington's multi-point effort on the season opening win against the Rockford IceHogs.

He wasn't done though as he became the first rookie this season to earn points in back-to-back games when he added an assist on Saturday's game against the Condors.

Of the six rookies on the Stockton Heat, there is only one still looking for their first career pro points and that is Morgan Klimchuk. Klimchuk just returned from missing time due to an upper body injury.

Great Heat Promotions this Month

This December the Heat have some fun and even once in a lifetime promotions that will make the Heat games the place to be this holiday season.

First off this weekend on December 5, the Stockton Heat will be giving away white Heat t-shirts to the first 1,000 adults 18-years-old and over. On December 16 the team will give away an oversized Turner Elson card to the first 1,000 fans just days before the Heat and Condors head outside where hockey is meant to be played!

That's right, the Golden State Hockey Rush game at Raley Field in West Sacramento will be played on December 18 in a once in a lifetime opportunity to see your hometown team play in the elements outside!

Finally on December 29 the Heat will hand out t-shirts to our youngest fans, as the first 500 children 12-years-old and younger will receive the shirt!

Records:

Last Week's Record: 1-2-0-0, 2 points

Overall Record: 6-7-0-2, 0.467 Win Percentage, 7th in the Pacific Division

Last Week's Results:

Nov. 25 - Stockton Heat 1 vs. Ontario 2

Nov. 27 - Stockton Heat 5 vs. Bakersfield 6

Nov. 28 - Stockton Heat 3 vs. Bakersfield 2

This Week's Schedule:

Fri. Dec. 4- Stockton Heat at San Jose Barracuda - SAP Center (7:30 p.m.)

Sat. Dec. 5- Stockton Heat vs. San Diego Gulls - Stockton Arena (7:30 p.m.)

Recent Transactions

11/27 - Ladislav Smid recalled from Conditioning Assignment by Calgary

11/26 - Joni Ortio assigned to Stockton by Calgary

11/26 - Markus Granlund recalled from Stockton to Calgary

11/25 - Ladislav Smid assigned to Stockton (Conditioning)

11/25 - Pat Nagle (G) signs pro tryout with Stockton

11/25 - Ryan Lomberg loaned to Adirondack by Stockton

11/25 - Eric Hartzell released from pro tryout

11/23 - Eric Hartzell (G) signs pro tryout with Stockton

Team Leaders

Goals: Markus Granlund, Derek Grant and Freddie Hamilton with 5

Assists: Drew Shore with 8

Points: Freddie Hamilton with 11

PIMs: Dustin Stevenson with 17

Wins: Jon Gillies and Kevin Poulin 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: 9 | Overall: 41

Goals Against: Week: 10 | Overall: 42

Power Play: 12-73 (16.4%), 19th in AHL

Penalty Kill: 49-61 (80.3%), T-22nd in AHL

Records vs. Opponents

Pacific Division:

Bakersfield Condors (1-2-0-0)

Ontario (0-2-0-0)

San Antonio (0-1-0-1)

San Diego (1-1-0-1)

San Jose (1-1-0-0)

Texas (2-0-0-0)

TOTALS vs. PACIFIC: (5-7-0-2)

Central Division:

Rockford (1-0-0-0)

TOTALS vs. CENTRAL: (1-0-0-0)

Calgary Flames (NHL)

Record Last Week: 0-2-1, 1 point

Record Overall: 8-14-1, .370 Win Percentage, 6th in Pacific Division

This Week's Schedule:

Tue. Dec. 1- Flames vs. Dallas (6:00 p.m. PST)

Fri. Dec. 4- Flames vs. Boston (6:00 p.m. PST)

Sat. Nov. 28- Flames at San Jose(7:00 p.m. PST)

Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)

Record Last Week: 2-0-1, 5 points

Record Overall: 12-2-0, .833 Win Percentage, 1st in East Division

This Week's Schedule:

Thr. Dec. 3 - Thunder at Brampton (4:15 p.m. PST)

Fri. Dec. 4 - Thunder vs. Brampton (4:00 p.m. PST)

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from November 30, 2015


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