General Heat discussion thread

[Roof-Daddy]

Well, if Carson gets claimed that would drop us to 48.

Could sign him then, and still have one freed up contract for flexibility.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Don't get me wrong, I really like watching Kolanos. He's an exciting player to watch. He makes offence look so easy.

BUT, he's practically useless defensively. When the puck's not on his stick, he does little, if any, backchecking. He'll float around the neutral zone looking for a pass while his teammates grind it out in their own end.

However, would it be a waste of contract if they signed him? No. The fans love him here in Abbotsford and at the very very least, he continues to score and impress fans here. At the most, he fills a top 9 role with the Flames in case of injury next season.

[Muta]

I say go for it. Not every player has to be young and upcoming to earn a contract. Kolanos' offense is something lots of younger guys will attempt to develop into and still never have.

Kolanos might not have great defense, but we could try him in a limited offensive role, and on the PP, here in Calgary. I'd give it a go. I don't care at all that he's 30, athletes are better conditioned these days than they were before, and the guy's go serious talent.

[thymebalm]

I don't see the harm in giving him a two-way. I think he's a perfect depth piece for the organization. We are not deep in scorers.

I'm happy to see Carson land back with the Heat, I thought someone else might want to take a chance on him as we did. But I guess the injury history scared them away. We needed another strong defenseman down there. The Heat lost half of their top 4 in Mikkelson and Brodie. Carson is likely to stay down for the remainder of the regular season. Good for him, he can get his legs back.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by thymebalm

I don't see the harm in giving him a two-way. I think he's a perfect depth piece for the organization. We are not deep in scorers.

I'm happy to see Carson land back with the Heat, I thought someone else might want to take a chance on him as we did. But I guess the injury history scared them away. We needed another strong defenseman down there. The Heat lost half of their top 4 in Mikkelson and Brodie. Carson is likely to stay down for the remainder of the regular season. Good for him, he can get his legs back.

Yep.

Getting Wilson back, and adding Carson full time should hopefully help the Heat get back to their winning ways.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yep.

Getting Wilson back, and adding Carson full time should hopefully help the Heat get back to their winning ways.

Not to mention Byron. He's a real game changer down here. Especially on the PK.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Not to mention Byron. He's a real game changer down here. Especially on the PK.

Plus I'm pretty sure Horak gets sent down once bodies come back from IR. Good for the Heat - they've had such a depleted lineup for a long time so I'm happy they're getting some quality players back from Calgary.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Heat sign Robby Dee (LW) to a PTO.

Here's his AHL profile: http://theahl.com/stats/player.php?id=4398

He's played in the ECHL so far this year. He's put up 18 points in 20 games for the Bakersfield Condors.

He'll likely be gone tomorrow when Byron is able to play.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Some notes on tonight's game:

Heat lost 5-0 to Brett Sutter (their captain) and the Charlotte Checkers tonight.

Not much positive to say about tonight's game as you can tell from the score.

The best players tonight were easily Aliu and Leblond. They were literally the only ones working their butts off tonight. Aliu was constantly checking and had good speed in all ends of the ice. Leblond was being a jerk the whole night. He got into a fight in which he won. Then he tried to fight the same guy later on and the guy wouldn't drop his gloves. Leblond did what he could to get the team sparked, but no one was willing to follow his lead. Wilson had a few signs of being good tonight, but for the most part was no better than the rest of the team.

Taylor let in a few weak ones. It was definitely an off night for him.

Ward had some harsh words after the game regarding the play of the team. He said something along the lines of "this current team isn't capable of being a high energy team" (I'm sure the interview will be uploaded soon). To me, that quote speaks volumes. Ward tried very hard tonight to mix and match lines trying to get anything working. It just didn't work. Ward will welcome with open arms Byron and Carson tomorrow.

Worst players tonight IMO were Henry and Kolanos. Henry was a turnover machine, made stupid decisions pinching and always left poor Negrin out to dry on 2-on-1's. Kolanos was so slow, he'd make Pelech look like Usain Bolt.

I gotta hand it to Charlotte though. They stifled what little offence the Heat have. The shot total for the Heat wasn't indicative of the types of shots they took. Most of them were weak and didn't have a chance in hell of going in.

Anyways, that's really all there is to say about tonight. Just an awful performance by everyone.

[flamesrule14]

How's Negrin looking lately Pierre? Showing signs of maybe getting back to where he used to be?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by flamesrule14

How's Negrin looking lately Pierre? Showing signs of maybe getting back to where he used to be?

He certainly doesn't stand out. Let's put it that way. His skating has definitely taken a hit with his mechanical knees now.

He can still read plays fairly well and pass well enough. He continually gets powerplay time, but hasn't been able to do much in that time.

It's a toss up as to whether or not he'll get re-signed this offseason. It's too bad because he was a pretty promising young prospect in his first year. I'd like nothing more than to see him get back to where he was, but I don't see it happening.

[Freeway]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

He certainly doesn't stand out. Let's put it that way. His skating has definitely taken a hit with his mechanical knees now.

He can still read plays fairly well and pass well enough. He continually gets powerplay time, but hasn't been able to do much in that time.

It's a toss up as to whether or not he'll get re-signed this offseason. It's too bad because he was a pretty promising young prospect in his first year. I'd like nothing more than to see him get back to where he was, but I don't see it happening.

The Flames will probably sign Joey Leach from Kootenay, so he's on his way in. There's a possibility that John Ramage comes in, too.

That means that in the pros, likely two contracts are going to be moved out. (Although moving Mikkelson likely opens a spot up for next year, too).

[Roof-Daddy]

I'd be more upset with the described performance if the Heat were loaded with our prospects right now, but they're not. Brodie, Irving, Byron, Bouma, Horak all with the big club right now, Howse and Nemisz out with injury (I think still?), and Wahl loaned to another team ATM.

Glad to hear Aliu was looking good though. Really interested to see what happens with him.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

^^ Exactly. Plus I forgot to mention that Rheault is hurt. That's a huge blow to this team's offence. Plus we have so many guys from the ECHL like Blackwater, Dee, Sinkewich, and Dowling.

[Roof-Daddy]

Aw man, didn't hear about Rheault getting hurt.

That is a blow.

Absolutely amazing how many injuries the entire organization has suffered this season.

[Roof-Daddy]

Heat bounce back and win 5-2, with 4 unanswered goals in the third.

Byron with 3 assists.
Bancks, Sylvester, Martin, Wilson and Dee with the goals.

Ortio stopped 35 of 37 shots for his first AHL win!

[Jaybird]

Kudos to the heat. Nice to see lots of different playes with points tonight. Kolanos is great but it is important for the team to know that they can win without their top goal scorer. Good lesson for Ward as well tonight.

[Freeway]

-Ortio's first start since November.
-Flames drafted players on Heat roster: Ortio & Gaelan Patterson
-Team was missing Nemisz, Rheault, Howse (injured), Wahl (in transit), Bouma, Brodie, Irving (Calgary)

[Jaybird]

I didnt realize there were so few drafted players on the team this year. Nine seems like a low number. I wonder how many drafted players there are on other farm teams. I would like to see Patterson get some time on a scoring line. He showed good playmaking skills last year and has a ton of speed. It is a shame to see some of the young players have there development sidelined. I do think it is important to win but I also feel that it is critical to develop the young guys. Also I noticed that Wahl is in Utah now. I was told that once you were loaned you would not come back to your original team. Any thoughts?

[Roof-Daddy]

Wow. Wahl landed in Utah again?

I'm starting to wonder if he is a bit disgruntled, or has an attitude problem and as a result management is keeping him as far away from the Heat as they can.

As for the part about drafted players on our farm team......I like what Feaster and company are doing with that. I don't think just giving ice time to players because they are your prospects is a great idea. The way it's set up now the following is happening IMO:

1. Prospects are competing with AHL vets for ice time, it's not given to them
2. When they do earn the ice time, they have seasoned AHL vets to play with to help gain confidence
3. The team wins, breeding a winning mentality

No matter what, not all of our prospects are going to develop and make the NHL one day, and this is a good way to weed out the lesser of the bunch right off the hop.

...and having a team full of prospects, who go out and get the crap kicked out of them regularly isn't a great way to go IMO.