Heat Index: the Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat
December 14, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
News and Notes
- Joni Ortio's third win of the season made him the first Heat goalie to win three this season
- The Texas Stars were the first team to outshoot the Heat in a game on December 12 since November 25 in a game against Ontario. The Heat have been outshot just four times this season, all on the road, and have a 1-3-0 record in those games
- The game on Thursday in San Antonio was the first time that the Heat were able to win a game after surrendering the first goal of a game
- It was also the first win for the Heat when trailing after the first period
- Emile Poirier notched his second multi-point game of the season and first multi-goal game on Thursday in San Antonio in his return from injury. It was Poirier's first multi-point game since Opening Night on October 10
- Turner Elson assisted on both of Poirier's goals to secure his fourth multi-point game of the season. Elson is second on the team behind Kenny Agostino (5) with four multi-point games this season
- Pat Sieloff scored his first goal as a member of the Heat on Saturday in Texas
- Bryce Van Brabant notched a goal and an assist in Texas to secure his first multi-point game of the season
Approaching Milestones
- Colton Orr is 2 PIMS away from 600 in his AHL career. The forward has 1186 PIMS in the NHL
- Garnet Hathaway is 2 games away from 100 career AHL games
- Bill Arnold is just 3 points shy of 50 career AHL points
- Head Coach Ryan Huska is 5 games away from coaching in his 100th AHL game. The game on Wednesday against Bakersfield will be Huska's 600th game as a head coach (504 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL)
- Blair Riley is 5 points away from 50 in his AHL career
- Turner Elson is 6 points away from 50 career AHL points
- Heat captain Aaron Johnson is just 7 points away from 200 career AHL points
- Joni Ortio is 10 games away from playing in his 100th career AHL contest
- Kenny Agostino is 14 games away from playing in his 100th AHL game
Recently Accomplished Milestones
- Brett Kulak played his 50th career AHL game in Texas on December 12, 2015
- Blair Riley played in his 300th career AHL game in Texas on December 12, 2015.
Heat Heading Outside on Friday
On Friday, December 18, the Stockton Heat will host the Bakersfield Condors at Raley Field in West Sacramento, California for the first AHL outdoor game west of the Mississippi River!
The game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m., is part of the Golden State Hockey Rush presented by Allstate event that saw the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, transform from the home of the future Major League Baseball stars to the home of future stars of the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers rivalry!
Tickets are going quick but are still available on Ticketmaster.com.
If your cable or satellite provider offers the NHL Network, be sure to DVR the game as it will be played to a national audience on Friday.
Get prepared for the game by watching a few of the Heat players talk about how much they're looking forward to the experience by clicking below.
A couple Heat outdoor veterans talk about playing in the elements in the first video while the second video features the Heat's leadership group talking about the opportunity. In the most recent video, goalie Joni Ortio along with two forwards talk about playing in the elements!
Poirier Return Ignites Heat
Following a three-game absence, forward Emile Poirier returned to the Heat lineup Thursday night in San Antonio in impressive fashion.
The 21-year-old scored not only the goal that tied the game up at two in the second period, but also netted the eventual game-winner less than two minutes into the third period.
Both goals came on all-effort plays from Poirier. His game-winner was especially nice, as he wheeled down the farside boards, beat the defender to the outside, made a quick power move to the front of the net and tucked the puck in past the goaltender's outstretched pad.
It's been, by his own admission, a slow year for the former first rounder, but a game like he had Thursday might just be the spark needed for him to build up steam moving forward.
Heat Done in Texas
Last week's games against San Antonio and Texas were the final two games the Heat have on their schedule in the Lone Star State this season; however, they haven't seen the last of the Rampage and the Stars, as both teams will make three trips respectively to Stockton Arena during the second half of the season.
So far, the Heat hold a 3-2-0-1 record against the two Texas teams - an impressive statistic considering where the three rank in the Pacific Division.
It shows that Stockton can compete with anyone in their division and it will be interesting to see how the six games at Stockton Arena between the Heat and the two teams from Texas play out.
The first meeting in California comes in the first game of 2016 for the Stockton Heat, as they'll take on the Texas Stars January 2nd.
Final Period Brings Best out of the Heat
The final 20 minutes of games have not been an issue for the Heat, as they have outscored opponents 22-10 through 18 games thus far.
Recently Stockton has been even better in final frames, seeing as they haven't allowed a goal that wasn't an empty netter since November 28th (4 games) and they haven't allowed a five-on-five goal since November 21st (7 games).
Ten of the Heat's 18 games have been decided by one goal and all three of the games they've played that were decided by two goals involved an empty netter. This means that essentially 13 games this season could have gone either way for the Heat and that they're in every game they play.
The Heat have been a difficult team to put away and continue to shine during the final period. They just have to avoid digging a hole for themselves during the first 40 minutes.
Records:
Last Week's Record: 1-1-0-0, 2 points
Overall Record: 8-9-0-2, 0.474 Win Percentage, 7th in the Pacific Division
Last Week's Results:
Dec. 10 - Stockton Heat 3 at San Antonio 2
Dec. 12 - Stockton Heat 2 vs. Texas 5
This Week's Schedule:
Wed. Dec. 16 - Stockton Heat vs. Bakersfield Condors - Stockton Arena (7:00 p.m.)
Fri. Dec. 18 - Stockton Heat vs. Bakersfield Condors - Raley Field in West Sacramento, CA (7:30 p.m.)
Sun. Dec. 20 - Stockton Heat at San Jose Barracuda - SAP Center (3:00 p.m.)
Recent Transactions
No Transactions during the last week
Team Leaders
Goals: Derek Grant with 7
Assists: Drew Shore with 10
Points: Freddie Hamilton with 14
PIMs: Dustin Stevenson with 31
Wins: Joni Ortio with 3
Losses: Kent Simpson with 4
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: 5 | Overall: 53
Goals Against: Week: 7 | Overall: 56
Power Play: 15-96 (15.6%), 17th in AHL
Penalty Kill: 61-76 (81.2%), 26th in AHL
Records vs. Opponents
Pacific Division:
Bakersfield Condors (1-2-0-0)
Ontario (0-2-0-0)
San Antonio (1-1-0-1)
San Diego (2-1-0-1)
San Jose (1-2-0-0)
Texas (2-1-0-0)
TOTALS vs. PACIFIC: (7-9-0-2)
Central Division:
Rockford (1-0-0-0)
TOTALS vs. CENTRAL: (1-0-0-0)
Calgary Flames (NHL)
Record Last Week: 3-0-0, 6 points
Record Overall: 13-14-2, .483 Win Percentage, 5th in Pacific Division
This Week's Schedule:
Tue. Dec. 15 - Flames at Nashville (5:00 p.m. PST)
Thr. Dec. 17- Flames at Dallas (5:30 p.m. PST)
Sat. Dec. 19- Flames at St. Louis (Noon PST)
Sun. Dec. 20- Flames at Detroit(4:00 PST)
Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)
Record Last Week: 1-1-1, 3 points
Record Overall: 15-3-2, .800 Win Percentage, 2nd in East Division
This Week's Schedule:
Wed. Dec. 16 - Thunder vs. Elmira (4:00 p.m. PST)
Fri. Dec. 18 - Thunder at Norfolk (4:30 p.m. PST)
Sat. Dec. 13 - Thunder at Norfolk (4:15 p.m. PST)
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