Heat Vs Monsters Game Preview

Published on December 9, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


Abbotsford, BC - The Abbotsford Heat and the Lake Erie Monsters are both playing great hockey heading into their third meeting of the season tonight at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. The Heat is fresh off three consecutive road wins, while the Monsters have just a pair of regulation losses in their last ten games.

This weekend's two game set that will cap the season series between the Heat and Monsters features a pair of players going up against their old teams. The Heat's Ben Walter and Monsters' David van der Gulik will both be very familiar with the enemy as van der Gulik didn't just play for the Heat in the inaugural 2009-10 season, but is an Abbotsford product and still calls the Fraser Valley home. Meanwhile, fellow West Coast product Ben Walter was the Monsters' leading scorer last season as he recorded 70 points for a Lake Erie team that finished with 96 points in the standings last season.

The Lake Erie Monsters are the only team in the AHL that sit at .500 at home and on the road this season, while the Heat has been drastically better on the road, where it has played 17 of 25 games heading into tonight's contest. The Heat is 2-5-1-0 in eight games in front of its supporters this season as compared to 14-3-0-0 on the road, which is the most road wins in the AHL.

Following tonight's weekend opener, attention will quickly turn to a rematch between the Heat and Monsters on Saturday night. Tonight's Puck Drop is slated for 7:00 PM PST with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 PM on Country 107.1 with Ryan Pinder and Vanni De Bartolo.



American Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2011


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