General Heat discussion thread

[Johnny Rotten]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Some good quotes there from Carter Bancks.

I gotta admit though, it's kind of worrisome reading this: "Akervik told Ward he should never stay in one place for more than two or three years."

This is year two for Ward as a coach with the Heat...

Reading Feaster's quotes, he seems to really like Ward. I wouldn't be surptised if Troy Ward is the next Flames coach.

[Freeway]

Jay loves Ward.
The players who have come up love Ward.
Heck, Brent spoke to me various times about how nice it was to have players from the farm that were THAT prepared for NHL duty. He also seems to have liked Ward's work.

[Johnny Rotten]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Jay loves Ward.
The players who have come up love Ward.
Heck, Brent spoke to me various times about how nice it was to have players from the farm that were THAT prepared for NHL duty. He also seems to have liked Ward's work.

He's got to be the favourite right now, doesn't he? Unless a Ruff or Tippett come available.

[rednex50]

hmmm, Rick Tocchet would make a good head coach. And when Cunneyworth is let go in Montreal, because he doesn't speak French, would be a good addition as well.

How about Playfair? Want to see him up on the boards smashing sticks again...lol

[Ashasx]

Playfair doesn't have the maturity to be an NHL coach right now.

[getbak]

Heat defeat the Marlies 3-0 to clinch home ice advantage in the first round.

The final game of the season goes Sunday afternoon at 1:00PT.

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by getbak

Heat defeat the Marlies 3-0 to clinch home ice advantage in the first round.

The final game of the season goes Sunday afternoon at 1:00PT.

Heat have points in each of their last 8 games.
Peaking at the right time.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by getbak

Heat defeat the Marlies 3-0 to clinch home ice advantage in the first round.

The final game of the season goes Sunday afternoon at 1:00PT.

Home ice is huge. Not because of the home town fans, but more because they get to sleep in their own beds at night and see their family.

I'm hoping when the Canucks get swept all the Canucks fans will come out and watch men's hockey

These playoffs have the potential to boost attendance.

[getbak]

On the post-game show, they mentioned that this year in the first round, they're playing a best of five series that will be a 2-3 split. The higher ranked team will have the choice of either starting at home or having the 3 home games (if necessary).

They speculated that the Heat will likely choose to play the first two games on the road.

It's likely that their first round opponent will be San Antonio. They split the season series 4-4. Oddly enough, the Heat went 3-1 in San Antonio and 1-3 in Abbotsford.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by getbak

On the post-game show, they mentioned that this year in the first round, they're playing a best of five series that will be a 2-3 split. The higher ranked team will have the choice of either starting at home or having the 3 home games (if necessary).

They speculated that the Heat will likely choose to play the first two games on the road.

It's likely that their first round opponent will be San Antonio. They split the season series 4-4. Oddly enough, the Heat went 3-1 in San Antonio and 1-3 in Abbotsford.

Wow. Thanks for that info, I wasn't aware that the playoff rules had changed like that.

Pinder is completely justified in thinking that the Heat would start the series on the road. Hell, they're the winningest team in the AHL on the road.

Either way, I like the Heat's chances of advancing far in these playoffs. They've just got so much confidence right now.

[Freeway]

Current West standings, with remaining games and my presumed results in brackets.

5. San Antonio: 74 GP, 40 wins, 85 points [89 max] Sat @ Houston [W], Sun @ Oklahoma City [L]
6. Lake Erie: 75 GP, 37 wins, 84 points [86 max] Sat vs. Rochester [W]
7. Rochester: 75 GP, 35 wins, 84 points [86 max] Sat @ Lake Erie [L]
8. Milwaukee: 74 GP, 38 wins, 83 points [87 max] Sat @ Chicago [L], Sun vs. Charlotte [W]
9. Charlotte: 74 GP, 37 wins, 83 points [87 max] Sat @ Rockford [W], Sun @ Milwaukee [L]
10. Houston: 74 GP, 33 wins, 82 points [86 max] Sat vs. San Antonio [L], Sun vs. Texas [W]
11. Peoria: 75 GP, 39 wins, 82 points [84 max] Sun @ Chicago [L]

And the standings, assuming I am right (which is a stretch...):
San Antonio 87
Lake Erie 86
Milwaukee 85
Charlotte 85
Rochester 84
Houston 84
Peoria 82

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Milwaukee seriously scares me. They're a much better team than their position in the standings indicates. Puustinen has the Heat's number. He's been dominant against them this year. The only good thing, for the Heat, is that Ryan Ellis is with the big team right now.

Basically here's the teams I'd least like the Heat to play in the first round (ranked from least to most preferable):

1. San Antonio Rampage - They're a HUGE team. They play their hockey hard and they have excellent offensive power. As getbak stated earlier, the season series was split 4-4. If the Heat win, they pay for it because they're going to be sore after the game. They have a fairly good goalie duo as well in Grumet-Morris and Markstrom.

2. Milwaukee Admirals - See above. They're better than their playoff position shows. Their offense is spread right throughout their lineup, from top to bottom. Also, Smith is a very good goalie. This season, their season series was 1-3 against Milwaukee.

3. Houston Aeros - The Heat have NO idea how to solve Jon DiSalvatore. He is a goal scoring machine. Shutting him down is a job for MAYBE Bouma, but he won't be playing. Matching up someone against him is very tough. The Heat have won the season series 5-3 against them, but have had to had no defensive answer for them. It may sound obvious, but the Heat can only beat them with their offense. Defense can't do anything against the Aeros.

4. Rockford Ice Hogs - Going up against Brandon Pirri is a bit of a daunting task. Still, the Heat have won the season series 4-2 against the Ice Hogs, but historically, they've been a bit of a tough opponent.

5. Lake Erie Monsters - Heat have dominated Lake Erie all season, winning the season series 4-0. Lake Erie doesn't have very many high point-getters or gamebreakers, so I really like their chances. Especially now since we've taken Hugh Jessiman away from them (their top goal scorer).

6. Charlotte Checkers - Heat have beat the Charlotte in their season series 3-1. The Heat seem to score a ton of goals against them. I like their chances if they can take Brett Sutter off his game because he is central to Charlotte's energy.

[getbak]

The Norfolk Admirals (the Lightning's farm team) are on a ridiculous 26 game winning streak right now. They haven't lost a game since Super Bowl Sunday, and they haven't even gone to overtime in their last 20 games.

Thankfully, they're in the Eastern Conference, so the Heat won't have to worry about them until the Calder Cup Finals, if they get there.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by getbak

The Norfolk Admirals (the Lightning's farm team) are on a ridiculous 26 game winning streak right now. They haven't lost a game since Super Bowl Sunday, and they haven't even gone to overtime in their last 20 games.

Thankfully, they're in the Eastern Conference, so the Heat won't have to worry about them until the Calder Cup Finals, if they get there.

Norfolk, OKC, St. John's, Hershey... they all scare me. Thankfully they're all in the Eastern conference except OKC.

[thymebalm]

This isn't the Heat squad that played those teams most of the year. The Heat are winning because suddenly all the pieces fell into place, and they have three scoring lines, two good goalies, and a simple defensive structure that works. I might have to buy some playoff games on ahllive. Do I still get Ryan Pinder as the pbp?

[J epworth]

So who is going to be the starter for the playoffs? Looks like Ward is still riding Taylor even though Irving is back from his wife having the baby. Are they playing Irving tomorrow, or is it going to be Taylor again?

Taylor has been the better of the two since Irving first got called up, and Ward really likes playing the merit system, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Taylor that gets the call in the playoffs.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by thymebalm

This isn't the Heat squad that played those teams most of the year. The Heat are winning because suddenly all the pieces fell into place, and they have three scoring lines, two good goalies, and a simple defensive structure that works. I might have to buy some playoff games on ahllive. Do I still get Ryan Pinder as the pbp?

Good point, they're a much much better team now than before. Who knows what the Heat could've been if they remained healthy and there were no call ups. Heck, they could've been one of those elite team other teams talk about.

I believe you'll be able to choose between the home and away feeds, so I think you'll be able to listen to Pinder.

Originally Posted by J epworth kendal

So who is going to be the starter for the playoffs? Looks like Ward is still riding Taylor even though Irving is back from his wife having the baby. Are they playing Irving tomorrow, or is it going to be Taylor again?

Taylor has been the better of the two since Irving first got called up, and Ward really likes playing the merit system, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Taylor that gets the call in the playoffs.

Ward said the starter for tomorrow night's game will be Irving. He said in last night's post-game interview that Irving was their guy. He took his time off because of the birth of his baby, now he has to get back into game mode.

It's definitely a good problem to have though. If one goalie struggles, put the other one in. But Ward has definitely made it clear that Irving is the #1.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

I just found this gem of an article from Dan Kinvig from September. I can't believe I missed this. Basically, it outlines the differences between Playfair and Ward. I'll post some articles from it, but I encourage anyone who hasn't read this to read it:

http://www.abbynews.com/sports/heat/news/130214828.html

Playfair brought the fiery intensity of a former player to the head coaching role. He was an old-school bench boss who wasn't afraid to crank up the volume when delivering his message to the players.

Ward, an assistant under Playfair last season, would be classified as more of a player's coach. The St. Paul, Minn. native, when prompted, will wax eloquent on how he hopes to foster a family atmosphere within the team, and help his players overcome the insecurities that keep them from reaching their potential.

"Last year, a lot of what he would talk to me about was maturity off the ice. Like if he came to my house, would my bedroom be clean, and the dishes be clean? It's a little bit different," said T.J. Brodie.

Brodie was a frequent resident in Playfair's doghouse over the first half of last season – the head coach employing a tough-love approach to modify the rookie blueliner's occasional lack of attention to detail in the defensive zone.

To hear Brodie tell it, Ward essentially played the good cop to Playfair's bad cop. When the bench boss was breathing fire in his direction, Ward would sidle up afterward and translate the high-decibel message.

"At times, I didn't know what he (Playfair) wanted me to do different, so it was tough," Brodie explained. "But Wardo helped me out a lot last year, because he knew what he meant. If I didn't understand it, I'd go to him and he'd tell me, or go through video and show me."

[flamesrule14]

According to his twitter Turner Elson will be playing his first pro game tomorrow. Wonder if any of the other guys like Reinhart and Leach will be getting into the game as well.

[Freeway]

Okay, here we go...

#1: Oklahoma City
#2: Toronto
#3: Chicago
#4: Abbotsford

Rochester has 86 points (36 wins, 30 ROW) and is done.
Milwaukee (39 wins, 35 ROW), San Antonio (40 wins, 35 ROW) and Charlotte (38 wins, 32 ROW) have 85 points and 1 game left each. (Any of these teams can finish in 5th OR miss the playoffs)
Houston has 84 points (34 wins, 29 ROW) and 1 game left. They're in 9th. They lose all tie-breakers, if it comes to that.

Charlotte plays Milwaukee, so ONE of them will have 87 points.
San Antonio plays Oklahoma City. They might lose.
Houston plays Texas. They might win.

Based on this, Abbotsford plays WHOEVER WINS between Charlotte and Milwaukee, unless San Antonio also wins. San Antonio and Milwaukee would tie on non-shootout wins (Milwaukee wins on head-to-head points), while San Antonio would get the tie-breaker over Charlotte.

-Charlotte beats Milwaukee, San Antonio beats Oklahoma City -> San Antonio plays Abbotsford
-Charlotte beats Milawukee, Oklahoma City beats San Antonio -> Charlotte plays Abbotsford
-Milwaukee beats Charlotte (in regulation), San Antonio beats Oklahoma City (in regulation) -> Milwaukee plays Abbotsford
-Milwaukee beats Charlotte (in shootout), San Antonio beats Oklahoma City (in regulation) -> San Antonio plays Abbotsford
-Milwaukee beats Charlotte (in regulation), San Antonio beats Oklahoma City (in shootout) -> Milwaukee plays Abbotsford
-Milwaukee beats Charlotte, Oklahoma City beats San Antonio -> Milwaukee plays Abbotsford