AHL Stockton Heat

Stockton Kicks off Midwest Swing in Rockford

January 16, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


TONIGHT

For the second and final time this season, the Stockton Heat take on the Rockford IceHogs, however this time it comes with the Heat in the Midwest.

Stockton has been on a roll as of late, picking up 9 of a possible 12 points in their last six games with half of those games coming at Stockton Arena and half coming on the road.

The Heat have won their last three home games but on the road have gone 1-1-1 in their last three away games.

Meanwhile the IceHogs had won three in-a-row until last night when the San Jose Barracuda took them down 5-2, snapping their streak. It will be Rockford's "Pink in the Rink" night so the IceHogs will be wearing special jerseys while hosting the Heat on pink ice.

LAST TIME VS. ROCKFORD

The Stockton Heat, who relocated from Glens Falls, NY playing in the newly formed Pacific Division, opened up play at Stockton Arena against the Rockford IceHogs back on October 10 in the first ever game for the Heat and first ever AHL game in Stockton. What resulted was magical for the home squad.

Attempting to win over the hordes of Stockton Thunder (ECHL) fans with a faster and higher quality level of play, the Heat delivered with an incredible first performance that saw the team take down the IceHogs 7-0.

Stockton came flying out of the gate with a terrific, no-look, behind-the-back dish from Turner Elson to Derek Grant for the first ever Heat goal just 4:22 into the contest.

Then it was Bill Arnold, Markus Granlund and Oliver Kylington who tallied goals in the first period, which chased longtime NHL and AHL goaltender Michael Leighton from the cage, bringing in Mac Carruth, who didn't fair much better as Drew Shore added to the lead in the second with Grant picking up his second along with Freddie Hamilton's first of the season in the third.

Stockton went 3 for 7 on the power play while killing off both penalties they took in the game while Jon Gillies, who made his professional debut, earned the 19-save shutout for his first pro win.

WHO TO WATCH

After a great game on Wednesday against San Antonio, there could be a number of players who could easily earn the "who to watch" nod tonight, but we'll go with a guy who did appear on the stat sheet, but appeared strong on the blueline as well.

Brett Kulak has been a force to be reckoned with on the blueline in the past few games for the Heat, posting a +3 rating during the Heat's solid 9 points in the last six games, and is certainly one of the biggest contributors defensively for the Heat. He continues to find ways to break up plays and also finds ways to create turnovers in the defensive zone and calmly and effectively move the puck up the ice, be it via a pass or a strong rush up the ice.

The fourth round pick of the Flames back in 2012 has had an interesting career path thus far in his pro career, and was at his peak this season during the month of September and October, which earned him the opportunity to begin the year where he finished last year, in Calgary with the big club.

Kulak is back on a high point of his season and is one of the players to watch on the Heat lineup today as he continues to do his best breaking up plays in his own zone.

SUPER HAMILTON BROTHERS

Another player who could have easily been the player to watch was Freddie Hamilton, who posted his first three-point game of the season on Wednesday, scoring two goals and adding an assist.

The versatile forward scored again on the power play (his team leading 6th on the power play) and also earned a power-play assist in the game. He leads the team with 11 power-play points.

Interestingly enough his younger brother, Dougie (playing for the Flames) also contributed during the Flames 6-0 win over Florida on Wednesday. On six occasions this season, the Hamilton brothers have earned points on the same night with Wednesday's games being the most recent occasion. Stockton might be just 3-2-1 when the pair register points on the same night but the Flames are 5-1-0 when the Hamilton brothers score for their respective teams this year.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

With the AHL announcing their All-Star selections for the 2016 Toyota AHL All-Star Classic, Heat forward Derek Grant was selected for the first time in his pro career.

Grant is having a career season, leading the team with 16 goals and 24 points while playing in just 23 games for the Heat and 9 additional games for the Calgary Flames during this campaign.

Grant's 16 goals actually place him tied for fourth in the AHL. The centerman finds himself on what has now become a career-long and team-long six-game point streak (5-3-8). He previously had matched his career high, five games, twice this season with Grant now finding himself pushing his most recent five-game streak, to six.

The Heat All-Star will look to continue to pace the Heat tonight in Rockford. The All-Star festivities will however kick off on January 31 with a skills competition followed by that round robin tournament comprised of All-Star teams from each division.

INTERESTING FACT

Derek Grant's current six-game point streak has not only been kind to the Heat forward, but also to his team as well as Stockton is 4-1-1 during his streak.

Not only that but the Heat have scored 24 goals during the last six games, their most goals scored over any six-game period this season.

Keep scoring Derek!

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Arena: BMO Harris Bank Center

Date: January 16, 2016

Time: 5:00 p.m. PST (7:00 p.m. Central)

Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 4:45 p.m. PST (6:45 Central)

Leading Scorer: STOCKTON: C Derek Grant (23GP, 16-8-24)

ROCKFORD: C Jake Dowell (35GP, 7-17-24)

For the live, in-game tweets, follow @AHLHeatPR. Stay tuned at the end of the game for the Chase Chevrolet Big Moment of the Game with your chance to win an autographed Markus Granlund puck.

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2016


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