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AHL Stockton Heat

Weekly News and Notes of the Stockton Heat

February 22, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


News and Notes

Stockton's home winning streak came to an end on Sunday against San Jose after winning 10-straight games at Stockton Arena from January 2 to February 20

That is the tied-third longest streak in the AHL (Providence from 12/04 to 1/15 and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from 10/17 to 11/28)

(Providence from 12/04 to 1/15 and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from 10/17 to 11/28)

During the Streak the Stockton Heat had:

Outscored Opponents 41-21(4.10 goals-for per game - 2.10 goals-against per game)

Outshot Opponents 408-293 (40.8 shots-for per game - 29.3 shots-against per game)

Gone 12 for 39 on the power play (30.8%)

Killed off 32 of 35 penalties taken (91.4%)

Seen Kevin Poulin win six games, Joni Ortio win three and Kent Simpson win one

The Heat have also allowed two or fewer goals in all but two games, beating Texas in the shootout to start the streak (7-6 win) and beating San Jose in overtime in the final win of the streak (6-5 win)

Stockton needed extra time five of the 10 games, winning three in overtime and two in the shootout

Sunday's loss at Stockton Arena to end the streak was the first home loss for the Heat on a Sunday this season (previously 2-0-0-0)

Stockton had a lesser known streak end this week as well as the team saw their eight-games with a power play goal end on Wednesday in Ontario

Stockton has gone 9 for 32 (28.1%) in that stretch

The team had power-play goals

Mason Raymond scored his second game winner of the season, an OT goal, on Saturday

He also recorded his first multi-goal game with the Heat having scored twice in the game

That was his first multi-goal game in the AHL since November 21, 2007 in a game against the Rochester Americans that saw the now Heat forward collect a hat trick

Kenny Agostino has been red hot lately, putting up 7 goals and 7 assists in his last 10 games played

In 2016, Agostino has totaled 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 of his 37 points this season

That means 62.2% of his total offense has come since January 2

Agostino is one point away from tying Derek Grant for the team lead in points (38)

He also leads the team with 20 assists however Drew Shore is right behind him with 19

Speaking of Drew Shore, he was one game away from matching the team-high and his career-high of a seven game point streak, however it ended on Sunday vs. San Jose.

Shore had 2 goals and 4 assists during that stretch

The Freddie Hamilton, Kenny Agostino and Garnet Hathaway line continued to be good this last week. They played in three games together as a line with Hamilton with 2 goals and 2 assists, Agostino with 2 goals and an assist and Hathaway finishing with 2 assists

While the Heat have struggled to beat the San Jose Barracuda, only Kent Simpson this season has been able to best the Bay Area rival.

Simpson won on a 0-save performance on November 21, coming in for the injured Kevin Poulin in the first round of the shootout

He then won on Saturday in a 32-save win over the Barracuda in Overtime

Kenney Morrison scored his first goal in a Heat sweater on Saturday against San Jose

He also recorded his first multi-point game of the season with an assist as well

Bill Arnold returned from injury on Saturday after missing 12 games with a lower body injury

Approaching Milestones

Emile Poirier is a game away from his 100th career AHL game

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

Kenny Agostino is 2 assists away from 50 career AHL assists

Drew Shore is 8 assists from his 100th career AHL assist

Shore is also 15 games away from playing his 200th career AHL game

Bryce Van Brabant is 7 games away from playing his 100th AHL game

Bill Arnold is 8 games away from his 100th AHL game

Recently Accomplished Milestones

Gabriel Verpaelst made his American Hockey League debut on Saturday in the Heat's win over San Jose. Verpaelst finished even with 2 shots and a fighting major

Thrown into the Heat

With Stockton down to just four regular defenseman signed to either NHL or AHL contracts, the Heat dipped into the ECHL to call up Norfolk Admirals defenseman Gabriel Verpaelst and Brampton Beast defenseman Mike Vernace. Both played in the weekend series with the pair finishing even in both games.

Vernace primarily played with Kenney Morrison and showed his maturity throughout the weekend, blocking shots and steering loose pucks away from both Kent Simpson and Kevin Poulin. Vernace, who's actually played more AHL games than team captain Aaron Johnson, has played in 22 games at the NHL level, 12 with the Colorado Avalanche in 2008-09 and 10 with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010-11. Vernace is now one of just six players on the current roster classified as a veteran or veteran exempt player (Raymond, Orr, Johnson, Vernace = Veteran | Riley, Grant = Veteran Exempt)

Meanwhile, Verpaelst's AHL career didn't start the way he wanted to, being out there for San Jose's opening goal on Saturday, but was out there just minutes later for Kenny Agostino's tying goal. Verpaelst played primarily with Ryan Culkin and after settling into his own, delivered what Stockton Hockey fans already knew from their time watching him play for the Bakersfield Condors (ECHL) last season. Verpaelst is a tough customer, throwing his body around and eventually getting into a debut scrap, fighting Micheal Haley in a clear win for the AHL rookie.

Verpaelst fought Garet Hunt, J.T. Barnett and Klarc Wilson of the Stockton Thunder last year. He fought 15 times total last year and has 13 fighting majors with the Norfolk Admirals this season.

Ray-zor's Edge

Seeing an NHL quality player like Mason Raymond has been exciting for Stockton Heat fans as he continues to bring that shifty speed to the lineup each game, and on Saturday, he was simply magnificent, scoring a goal from the back door to increase what was a decent lead for the Heat.

Now unfortunately that lead evaporated late in the third but Raymond's night wouldn't be done quite yet. In overtime, he stripped San Jose's Barclay Goodrow at the Heat blueline and pushed the puck ahead as he raced after it, however he knocked it a touch too far, prompting goaltender Troy Grosenick to attempt to play the puck.

But there was that patented Raymond speed who was able to steal the puck from the netminder a couple feet inside the San Jose zone and deposit it into the empty net for the game winner.

Raymond has recorded 4 goals and 4 assists in 8 games with the Heat since being reassigned to the Heat on February 3.

How the Home Win Streak Matches Up!

As mentioned above, the Stockton Heat's 10-game home winning streak was something special that doesn't always happen. The streak, which is tied with the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the third longest streak in the AHL this season, one shy of tying the Albany Devils for the second longest streak and four shy of the Grand Rapids Griffins, who lead the league with 14-straight home wins.

While the streak falls far short of the 2009-10 Hershey Bears who have the AHL record for 24-straight home wins, it did make local hockey history as that streak, which lasted from January 2 to February 20, was the longest home-winning streak in Stockton hockey history.

The longest such streak the Stockton Thunder (ECHL) ever had was seven, which occurred from October 28 to November 23 in the 2012-13 season that saw the Thunder head to the Kelly Cup Final.

Heat Wrap-Up Homestand

The Heat finish their tied-season long four-game homestand this week, playing game three of four on Wednesday, February 24, Stockton will host the San Diego Gulls for Oliver Kylington oversized trading card night before finishing their four-game homestand on Sunday, February 28 in the final meeting of the season with the San Antonio Rampage for youth black replica jersey night. The first 500 kids 12 and younger will receive the black replica jersey at the doors!

The tale of the tape shows that Stockton is 2-0-0-0 against the Gulls at Stockton Arena while the team posts the same record against San Antonio. Stockton has assured themselves a winning record against the Rampage this season having gone 3-1-0-1 in the previous five meetings. !

Got 10 or more people who want to take in the fun of a Heat hockey game? Well you have a Heat group! Call 209-373-1500 and speak to one of our account executives today to learn more about group perks!

Records:

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

Overall Record: 21-21-1-2, 0.500 Win Percentage, 7th in the Pacific Division

Last Week's Results:

Feb. 17 - Stockton Heat 1 at Ontario 6

Feb. 20 - Stockton Heat 6 vs. San Jose 5 (OT)

Feb. 21 - Stockton Heat 1 vs. San Jose 4

This Week's Schedule:

Wed. Feb. 24- Stockton Heat vs. San Diego Gulls - Stockton Arena (7:00 p.m.)

Sun. Feb. 28 - Stockton Heat vs. San Antonio Rampage - Stockton Arena (4:00 p.m.)

Recent Transactions

2/20 - Gabriel Verpaelst signs pro try out with Stockton from the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL)

2/20 - Mike Vernace signs pro try out with Stockton from the Brampton Beast (ECHL)

2/19 - Tyler Wotherspoon reassigned to Calgary from Stockton

Team Leaders

Goals: Derek Grant with 23

Assists: Kenny Agostino with 20

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 2.66

SV% (Played at least 10 games): Kevin Poulin with 0.915

Team Stats

Goals For: Week: 8| Overall: 133

Goals Against: Week: 15 | Overall: 142

Power Play: 37-207 (17.9%), T-12th in AHL

Penalty Kill: 138-167 (82.6%), 16th in AHL

Records vs. Opponents

Pacific Division:

Bakersfield Condors (4-6-0-0)

Ontario (3-5-0-0)

San Antonio (3-1-0-1)

San Diego (2-2-0-1)

San Jose (2-5-1-0)

Texas (3-1-0-0)

TOTALS vs. PACIFIC: (17-20-1-2)

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: 1-3-0, 2 points

Record Overall: 26-29-3, .474 Win Percentage, 6th in Pacific Division

This Week's Schedule:

Tue. Feb. 23 - Flames at Los Angeles (7:30 p.m. PST)

Thur. Feb. 25- Flames vs. New York Islanders (6:00 p.m. PST)

Sat. Feb. 27 - Flames vs. Ottawa (7:00 p.m. PST)

Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)

Record Last Week: 2-1-1, 5 points

Record Overall: 30-16-5, .637 Win Percentage, 2nd in East Division

This Week's Schedule:

Wed. Feb. 24 - Thunder at Manchester (4:00 p.m. PST)

Sat. Feb. 27 - Thunder vs. Reading (4:00 p.m. PST)

Sun. Feb. 28 - Thunder vs. Reading (12:00 p.m. PST)

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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