AHL Stockton Heat

Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat

February 8, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


News and Notes

Derek Grant is on a five-game point streak with 6 goals and 4 assists during the streak. In that same timespan, Grant has a four-game goal streak which is the longest in Stockton Heat team history.

Grant's 23 goals leads the AHL

It's also his career high

Grant's 38 points matches his career high set last year. He played 72 games then, he's played just 30 this season

His four-game goal streak is the longest of his career

Kenny Agostino has three multi-point games in his last four games

Stockton has at least one power play goal in their last five games

Approaching Milestones

Colton Orr is 2 PIMS away from 600 in his AHL career. The forward has 1186 PIMS in the NHL

Joni Ortio's next win will put him in 7th on the all-time list of Calgary's top affiliate wins list

Garnet Hathaway is 3 points away from 50 career AHL points

Kenny Agostino is 5 assists away from 50 career AHL assists

Emile Poirier is 7 games away from his 100th career AHL game

Bill Arnold is 10 games away from his 100th AHL game

Drew Shore is 11 assists from his 100th career AHL assist

Bryce Van Brabant is 13 games away from playing his 100th AHL game

Derek Grant is 14 games away from playing his 300th AHL game

Recently Accomplished Milestones

Aaron Johnson recorded his 200th AHL point on a power-play assist against the San Diego Gulls last Friday

Leading the League

Derek Grant has had quite the season for the Stockton Heat and added to his list of accomplishments last week as he became the sole person leading the AHL in goals with 23.

After tying Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Scott Wilson for the lead with 22 after a power-play goal against San Diego, Grant took the lead himself with his 23rd, again on the power play, against the Condors.

Grant ranks tied ninth in the AHL in points with 38 as he matched his career high with that league-leading goal. Grant also ranks among the league leaders in shots as his 139 is just three short of Ontario's Sean Backman for tops in the league.

Road Woes? How about some home cooking?

The road has not been friendly to the Heat this season, going 6-12-1-2 this year away from Stockton being outscored by 21 goals and have yet to win back-to-back road games this year.

The Heat, who are in the midst of a three-game homestand have lost their two in a row, both on the road. They've only won 3 of 12 road games since December and have just 13 more road games scheduled through the remainder of the season.

However, at home, the script has been flipped. Stockton is 12-6-0-0 and has outscored teams by 16.

Stockton also went undefeated at home during the month of January, winning all seven games they played at Stockton Arena.

The Heat return home this weekend to take on the Ontario Reign and the San Antonio Rampage before playing a road game in Ontario and coming back to Northern California for another four-game homestand.

Rising Up the Goalie Leaderboard

Heat goaltender Joni Ortio has played parts of five seasons for the Flames top affiliate, suiting up for the Abbotsford Heat, the Adirondack Flames and now the Stockton Heat so it was not inconceivable that Ortio would be around the leaderboard for wins during his terrific AHL career.

He started this season ranking ninth all-time with 49 wins, but after earning nine with Stockton, Ortio has surpassed Jean-Sebastian Giguere (51) for sole possession of eighth all-time. That's not the only big name that Ortio could surpass soon as he's one win away from passing Dwayne Roloson for seventh all-time (59) and six wins back of tying Curtis McElhinney for sixth all-time.

Ortio has also played in 103 games for the Flames top affiliate which puts him 10th all time, 10 in front of former Stanley Cup Champion Mike Vernon who helped the Flames capture the Stanley Cup in 1989. The Finnish netminder is also eight games away from Giguere for ninth all-time and nine games away from Levente Szuper for eighth all-time.

The goalie on top of the games played list is Marc D'Amour who has played 198 games with the Colorado Flames (CHL), Moncton Golden Flames (AHL) and Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) from 1982-1986 and again from 1987-1988.

Week Full of Transition

With just three transactions in all of the month of January, including activating their team captain from his Spengler Cup victory, the Heat had four last week alone as Mason Raymond was assigned to the Heat on the same day Jakub Nakladal was reassigned to the Flames.

That sent Ryan Lomberg to the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL and after two injuries to defenseman Aaron Johnson and Oliver Kylington on Friday, Ryan Culkin got the call to the Heat and could be poised to play as the Heat have just six healthy defenseman on their roster. Stockton played a d-man short against Bakersfield on Saturday.

One player who returned from injury after missing 28 games with an upper body injury was Colton Orr who played against the Condors last Saturday.

Raymond Returns to AHL

Newly assigned winger Mason Raymond made his Stockton Heat debut in San Diego and picked up where his AHL career left off back in 2008.

His last two AHL games with the Manitoba Moose saw Raymond score a goal and add 2 assists against the San Antonio Rampage. He picked up an assist on Grant's power-play goal. He hadn't played an AHL game since 1/15/08 until last week.

Raymond has played 542 NHL games with the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames, meaning he becomes the most seasoned NHL veteran to ever suit up for the Heat.

Records:

Last Week's Record: 0-2-0-0, 0 points

Overall Record: 18-18-1-2, 0.500 Win Percentage, 6th in the Pacific Division

Last Week's Results:

Jan. 27 - Stockton Heat 2 at San Diego 4

Jan. 30 - Stockton Heat 3 at Bakersfield 4

This Week's Schedule:

Tue. Feb. 9 - Stockton Heat at Bakersfield Condors - Rabobank Arena (7:00 p.m.)

Sat. Feb. 13 - Stockton Heat vs. Ontario Reign - Stockton Arena (7:30 p.m.)

Sun. Feb. 14 - Stockton Heat vs. San Antonio Rampage - Stockton Arena (4:00 p.m.)

Recent Transactions

2/6 - Ryan Culkin reassigned to Stockton by Calgary from Adirondack

2/5 - Ryan Lomberg assigned to Adirondack by Stockton

2/3 - Jakub Nakladal recalled by Calgary from Stockton

2/3 - Mason Raymond assigned by Calgary to Stockton

Team Leaders

Goals: Derek Grant with 23

Assists: Kenny Agostino with 17

Points: Derek Grant with 38

PIMs: Hunter Smith with 58

Wins: Joni Ortio with 9

Losses: Joni Ortio with 9

GAA (Played at least 10 games): Kevin Poulin with 2.40

SV% (Played at least 10 games): Kevin Poulin with 0.920

Team Stats

Goals For: Week: 5 | Overall: 114

Goals Against: Week: 8 | Overall: 119

Power Play: 33-187 (17.6%), T-12th in AHL

Penalty Kill: 126-154 (81.8%), T-19th in AHL

Records vs. Opponents

Pacific Division:

Bakersfield Condors (4-5-0-0)

Ontario (2-4-0-0)

San Antonio (2-1-0-1)

San Diego (2-2-0-1)

San Jose (1-4-1-0)

Texas (3-1-0-0)

TOTALS vs. PACIFIC: (14-17-1-2)

Central Division:

Iowa (1-0-0-0)

Rockford (1-1-0-0)

Manitoba (2-0-0-0)

TOTALS vs. CENTRAL: (4-1-0-0)

Calgary Flames (NHL)

Record Last Week: 2-1-0, 4 points

Record Overall: 23-25-3, .480 Win Percentage, 6th in Pacific Division

This Week's Schedule:

Tue. Feb. 9 - Flames vs. Toronto (6:00 p.m. PST)

Thr. Feb. 11 - Flames at San Jose (7:30 p.m. PST)

Fri. Feb. 12 - Flames at Arizona (6:00 p.m. PST)

Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)

Record Last Week: 1-1-0, 2 points

Record Overall: 27-12-4, .674 Percentage, 2nd in East Division

This Week's Schedule:

Tue. Feb. 9 - Thunder vs. Elmira (4:00 p.m. PST)

Fri. Feb. 12 - Thunder vs. Wheeling (4:00 p.m. PST)

Sat. Feb. 13 - Thunder at Reading (4:00 p.m. PST)

Sun. Feb. 14 - Thunder at Reading (1:00 p.m. PST)

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2016


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