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Week Preview: Games 58, 59 vs. Texas Stars

March 3, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


Abbotsford, BC - The Grand Rapids Griffins swept the Heat in a two-game series this past weekend at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre. Despite the losses, Flames prospects Max Reinhart and Sven Baertschi combined for eight points in the weekend games. Reinhart scored four goals, while Baertschi had one goal and three assists and added a shootout goal on Friday night. On Saturday night, goaltender Joey MacDonald returned to action after missing more than a month due to an injury.

Tuesday morning's game against the Texas Stars is the annual "School day game". Abbotsford Middle School kids will flock to the stands inside the AESC and will sure to make it one of the loudest games of the home schedule.

The Heat currently sits in second place in the West Division with a 33-18-4-2 record and 72 points.

HEAT vs. STARS (AHL AFFILIATE OF THE DALLAS STARS)

The season series between the Heat and the Stars has been an interesting one to say the least. Four out of the five games have been blowouts with three of those meetings having a combined score of nine or more goals. In total, 41 goals have been scored, with 24 different skaters having at least tallied one goal through the five games. Stars forward Colton Sceviour leads all players with six goals, while Blair Jones leads the Heat with three.

Texas comes into the Fraser Valley with one loss and an unfinished game in their last two, and overall holds a 33-16-3-5 record for 74 points. They continue to lead the Western Conference in goals with 205 in 57 games played and have four of top 10 scorers in the AHL on their roster. Centre Travis Morin continues to lead the American Hockey League in scoring with 72 points (28-44-72), which is a new career high for the five year veteran.

2013-14 Heat head to head stats vs. Grand Rapids Griffins:

10/20/13 - ABB 3 TEX 9 @ Cedar Park Center

11/13/13 - ABB 7 TEX 3 @ Cedar Park Center

01/10/14 - ABB 0 TEX 5 @ Cedar Park Center

02/08/14 - ABB 3 TEX 2 @ AESC

02/09/14 - ABB 2 TEX 7 @ AESC

Individual leaders in season series (among active skaters):

ABB: Jones: 5 points in 3 GP (3-2-5), Street: 5 points in 4 GP (2-3-5), Knight: 4 points in 5 GP (1-3-4), Roy 2 GP (1-1-0-0, 54/60 saves)

TEX: Sceviour: 10 points in 5 GP (6-4-10), Ritchie: 8 points in 5 GP (4-4-8), Morin: 7 points in 4 GP (2-5-7), Nilstrop: 5 GP (3-1-1-0, 127/140 saves)

NEWS & NOTES

The American Hockey League announced on Monday, March 3rd, that Abbotsford Heat centre Markus Granlund has been selected as the CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month for February. In 10 games with Abbotsford during February, Granlund recorded five goals and seven assists for 12 points along with a plus-6 rating as the Heat continued to jockey for positioning atop the AHL's Western Conference. A second-round draft choice (45th overall) by Calgary in 2011, Granlund leads all AHL rookies with 23 goals and ranks third with 44 points in 50 games with Abbotsford this season.

The Calgary Flames announced today that they have assigned defenceman Chad Billins to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. Billins did not play during his most recent recall to the Flames. He appeared in his first two career NHL games for the Flames during a recall in November recording two assists. Billins is in his first season with the Heat and currently leads the team in scoring for defencemen with 36 points netting nine goals and 27 assists in 52 games. He ranks 6th in the League for scoring among defencemen and was named to the 2014 AHL All-Star Game.

The Abbotsford Heat announced on February 28th that forward Jordan Kremyr has been loaned to the Heat from the Alaska Aces, the Heat's developmental affiliate in the ECHL. The Heat also announced the signing of forward Brett Lyon from the Ontario Reign in the ECHL.

Brandon Astle will bring all live Heat action this week on 101.7 CIVL FM and on www.teamradio.ca. The pre-game show begins 15 minutes before puck drop.

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