2013/14 General Heat Discussion Thread

[MyFlamesFirst]

Originally Posted by Drury18

If Ward is fired, that leaves (I believe) only Ftorek on staff as a coach.

With the way Conroy has been taking increased responsibility with the prospects and rookies and doing a number of on-ice activities and practice with them (at least during Prospect Camp) and being just personable with them and their go-to, does this open the door for "Coach Connie"? He's GM of the Heat, but maybe there is a place as Assistant Coach as well and to balance out Ftorek?

I almost made a thread about this a year ago and then kind of forgot about it. I always thought Conroy could be a pretty good player coach. He is the nicest guy who seems to get along with everybody. Also I remember at some points him actually going out to help coach on things such as face-offs. I think that developing coaches is just as important as developing players. I would however start him in CGY behind a real bench boss to learn the ropes and I also see him being a better assistant than head coach. Plus I wouldn't want that whole Jim Playfair situation again.

[Redrum]

You think Ward is in firing territory right now? Yeah this game was a disaster but he's .500 with a pretty inexperienced team. I've seen a very small sample size and not a big fan of some of his actions in the past, just asking.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Redrum

You think Ward is in firing territory right now? Yeah this game was a disaster but he's .500 with a pretty inexperienced team. I've seen a very small sample size and not a big fan of some of his actions in the past, just asking.

I don't think Ward is in firing territory, I don't think anyone that regularly watches the Heat does either.

You pointed out something big, that being the inexperience of this team. The Heat have seen 27 players dress this year, they used 13 rookies so far and 5 others are sophomores. When 2/3 of your roster are first and second year pros you need to expect a lot of ups and and downs.

[thymebalm]

I've always liked what I've seen from Ward as a coach. I like the way he thinks the game.

However, I don't know enough about the other AHL teams to rank him among the other coaches in the league.

I think he's the most important part of the rebuild actually, as he's involved in turning boys to men. The way he preaches professionalism is quite inspiring. But I think we lost 2 asst coaches this year and only brought in 1, so he could probably use another set of eyes in that sense.

[Drury18]

As per the AHL Transaction page, the Heat moving some bodies:

10/23/2013 Brett Lyon (LW) Abbotsford DEL Released from PTO

10/23/2013 David Eddy (RW) Abbotsford DEL Reassigned by Calgary (NHL) to Alaska (ECHL)

[Drury18]

Roman Horak on his way back:

Pat Steinberg ‏@Fan960Steinberg 2m
Horak will be officially assigned to Abbotsford in the next little bit. #Flames

[FBI]

That was quick.. Didn't get a chance to show much.

[Drury18]

4 minutes in the Phoenix game and done. Which I thought in that 4 minutes, he played alot "tougher" then I've seen him do so before. Initiated a hit on a Coyotes player going for the puck. Attempted to stand up Klesla to take the puck away, managed to get the puck away and out of his zone.

Hopefully he'll be back up later in the season for a proper showing with the team. I can't imagine that in 4 minutes he completely ruined his chances.

[Ozy_Flame]

There has to be some underlying reason for doing this to Horak.

I can't imagine this young man is thrilled with how he's been used so far.

[Drury18]

My belief so far has been waiver wire status. He can pass between Calgary and Abbotsford freely without fear of losing him to another team.

He seems to be coachable (both coaches have said it, Ward seems to like him), he seems to be okay in the locker room/good teammate (no one seems to say anything about him being negative or too mouthy), he seems to be stepping up into a bigger role that's asked of him (took on leadership at prospects camp, shooting more because they told him to, getting a little bigger in size), he seems to be in shape (Top 5 at prospect camp) so I have to believe he's getting a raw deal because they can bounce him back and forth freely. And he doesn't complain about it and at least from a public view, he doesn't seem to be rattled by it.

Perhaps PMM can shed more light though whether Horak has some issues that we don't see or know about. I've only talked to him once and nothing really jumped out at me. Quiet kid definitely, but polite and grounded.

I don't know how he doesn't go off on a chair tossing tirade myself though. He's obviously a more composed person then most.

[Freeway]

Roman Horak doesn't have to go through waivers. I'm guessing he was told to keep doing what he's doing and he'll be first recall.

[Drury18]

Hopefully his next audtion is a little more then a 4 minute bench warming session. Maybe I overvalue him, but I think he has a ton to add to the Flames. And concerned that if he doesn't get up there and show what he has, he won't get a qualifying offer at the end of the season by the Flames and just fade off into obscurity when he really is better then that. (Although he would be qualified at around $600,000 and I would think a heck of a steal at that price to keep around in reserves).

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

So Sieloff has a staph infection. He's still in Calgary with Flames doctors.

I spoke to Ward this morning and he said he's "going to be a while." After he's recovered from the infection, he's going to have to get back into game shape. So yeah, poor guy's going to have a rough go of his first pro season.

Ward just loves the guy though. He couldn't say enough good things about him. Here's an exact quote of what he said today:

"We miss the 19-year-old. He's the youngest D in the league and we miss him because he's physical and he's honest. It's like playing against a 32-year-old. He's so mature in his approach to the game. He knows his role. He just gets it. This kid gets it."

[Drury18]

Oh man those are ugly. Poor kid.

It's not related to the broken cheekbone at all is it? That would not be a pleasant place for a staph infection.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Drury18

Oh man those are ugly. Poor kid.

It's not related to the broken cheekbone at all is it? That would not be a pleasant place for a staph infection.

From what I understand it was from his last injury with Windsor.

[Drury18]

Ugh, I just looked up what that last injury might be.

That would be #2 on my list of least desired places to have a staph infection. That's a major blood freeway there and easily spread.

Again, poor kid. That's just unpleasant.

[Drury18]

Gameday!

Abbotsford Heat (3-3-0-1) vs Lake Erie Monsters (Colorado Avalanche) (3-3-0-0)

Preview from Abbotsford Heat Website: http://abbotsfordheat.com/news/?article_id=599
Listen Live (8pm MST): http://www.teamradio.ca/abbotsford-heat/
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AHLHeatInGame

Abbotsford and Erie split the last meeting 1-1 with Abbotsford winning 5-2 the first night before falling 2-3 the second night. The Heat have a STRONG lineup with the additions of Street, Horak, Jones and Smith from the Flames.

[Alberta_Beef]

Cundari is unavailable this weekend too.

[Drury18]

Heat Scratches: Olson, Elson, McKelvie, Wotherspoon, Cundari, Sieloff, Begin
Starting Goaltender: Reto Berra
Starting Lineup: Lamb and Smith, Hanowski-Byron-Bancks

Lines:

Hanowski-Byron-Bancks
Reinhart-Street-Jones
Horak-Knight-Nemisz
Ferland-Granlund-Jooris

[Drury18]

GOAL!

Ben Street makes it 1-0 for Abbotsford.

Edits: Assist to Reinhart