Weekend Preview: Games 49, 50 vs. Texas Stars

February 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


Saturday, February 8th - 7:00 PM PST - Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre

Sunday, February 9th - 4:00 PM PST - Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre

Radio: CIVL RADIO 101.7FM

Streaming: TEAMRADIO.CA

*Pre-Game Show begins 15 minutes prior puck-drop

Abbotsford, BC - The Abbotsford Heat had a solid two-game series earlier this week, sweeping the Charlotte Checkers at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC). The Heat are enjoying a four game win streak and have earned at least a point in seven straight games. Markus Granlund continued his productive play, pushing his goal scoring streak to five games (5-4-9). During the series sweep of Charlotte, 15 of 18 Heat skaters registered at least one point.

The Heat appear to have regained their momentum from the first half of the season, with the offence operating at a torrid pace. In the last four games, the team has tallied a total of 21 goals and have only allowed five against. They have also stepped up their penalty kill play, netting three shorthanded goals and killing off all 29 opposition man advantages in their last six outings.

The Heat have regained first place in both the Western Division and the Western Conference with a 30-14-3-1 record and 64 points.

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

This weekend will be the first time the Heat host the Stars this season, with all three previous meetings taking place at Cedar Park Center in Texas. In the season series, the Heat and Stars have scored a combined 27 goals. In fact, all three games have been blowouts, with the closest game coming with a five goal differential.

The Stars will be looking to get back in the win column as they come into the Fraser Valley coming off two straight losses. Like many of their games this season, both games were high scoring. 38 of the 48 Stars games this season have ended with one team scoring at least 4 plus goals. This may be due to the fact that the Stars have four players in the league's top ten scorers. Travis Morin holds the top spot in AHL scoring with 66 points (27-39-66), and is riding a four game point streak, followed by his line mate Colton Sceviour who is third in points with 50 (27-23-50).

2013-14 Heat head to head stats vs. Texas Stars:

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

Individual leaders in season series (among active skaters):

ABB: Jones: 5 points in 1 GP (3-2-5), Street: 4 points in 2 GP (2-2-4), Billins: 3 points in 3 GP (1-2-3), MacDonald: 1 GP (0-1-0-0, 38/43 saves)

TEX: Sceviour: 7 points in 3 GP (4-3-7), Ritchie: 6 points in 3 GP (2-4-6), Morin: 5 points in 2 GP (2-3-5), Nilstrop: 3 GP (2-1-0-0, 69/78 saves)

NEWS & NOTES

Corey Locke and Sven Baertschi are both riding four game point streaks, accumulating a combined total of nine points.

Saturday, February 8th will be Country Night, so come in your best country get-up and have the chance to win tickets to Florida Georgia Line, Dean Brody, or $15,000 dollars in The Honda Way Shoot Out. Saturday will also feature the third $3 $2 $1 Brew Dog 'N Pop night.

February 9th will be the annual Pink in the Rink in support of the BC Cancer Foundation. Fans looking to attend this Sunday's game should use the offer code PINK14 on Ticketmaster.ca, with partial proceeds from all tickets sold using this promo code benefitting the BC Cancer Foundation.

In addition to the offer code above, proceeds from 50/50 and Chuck a Puck sales will be donated to the BC Cancer Foundation. Through this promotional night, the Heat aim to raise awareness and funds to support cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency. In support of cancer awareness, players will be using pink tape and pink skate laces during the game.

Sunday's game is also an Abbotsford Heat Family Day, featuring a postgame skate with the entire Heat team, $2 pop, $2 popcorn, and $2 hotdogs.

The American Hockey League announced that during the NHL Olympic break, AHL action will be heard live on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio this month. The Abbotsford Heat vs Texas Stars game on Sunday, February 9th is one of those games to air on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. SiriusXM NHL Network Radio can be found on Sirius 207 and XM 211, providing more than 20 million subscribers in Canada and the United States with ground-breaking 24/7 hockey talk, news, expert opinion and exciting play-by-play. This marks the ninth consecutive season that AHL action will air on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, including the annual AHL All-Star Game, the Calder Cup Finals and other regular-season and playoff games.

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.



American Hockey League Stories from February 7, 2014


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